2022–23 Lindenwood Lions men's ice hockey season

The 2022–23 Lindenwood Lions men's ice hockey season was the inaugural season of varsity play for the program. The Lions represented Lindenwood University and were coached by Rick Zombo, in his 13th season.
==Season==
With nearly two years lead time into their first season, Lindenwood was able to compile a full slate of games against Division I opponents. Predictably, as the team was still populated by club team players, the Lions were one of the worst squads in the nation. However, among the poor results there were bright spots. Lindenwood got a baptism of fire by playing both Minnesota and Michigan, two prohibitive favorites for the NCAA championship, in the first two weeks of the season. While the Lions lost all four games, they did show the ability to score. Over the course of the year, Lindenwood averaged just over 3 goals per game, which was well on par with most other D-I programs.
The biggest problem for the Lions was keeping the puck out of their own net. Lindenwood allowed an average of almost 42 shots against per game, much higher than the nominal 30 shots. Their three besieges goalies were unable to handle the sheer volume of chances that were thrown in their direction with each surrendering more than 4 goals per game on average. The defensive situation didn't get any better as the season progressed but that didn't stop the Lions from winning several games in their first season.
Despite having several extended layoffs during the campaign, as well as mostly playing on the road, Lindenwood was able to win 7 games during the season. While each victory came against a team with a low national ranking, they had performed far better than other recent entries to D-I (Stonehill, St. Thomas) and would look to continue their transition to the top level of college hockey next year.
==Departures==
Coltin Craigo 	Forward 		Graduation (retired)
Praveen Dhaliwal 	Forward 		Left program (retired)
Vegard Faret 	Forward 		Graduation (retired)
Blake Finley 	Defenseman		Left program (retired)
Stephen Friedland 	Goaltender		Left program (retired)
Max Helgeson 	Forward 		Transferred to Alaska Anchorage
Ryan Leonard 	Defenseman		Left program (retired)
Zach Martin 	Forward 		Graduation (retired)
Niki Molson 	Defenseman		Left program (retired)
Brendan Murphy 	Defenseman		Graduation (retired)
Kyler Newman 	Defenseman		Graduation (retired)
Ethan Paulin-Hatch	Goaltender		Left program (retired)
Jack Radley 	Forward 		Graduation (retired)
Hayden Ursulak 	Forward 		Graduation (retired)
==Recruiting==
Adisen Brueck 	Forward 		21	Plantation, FL
Adam Conquest 	Forward 		22	Milford, MI; transfer from Bowling Green
Cade DeStefani 	Forward 		21	Bedford, NH
Kabore Dunn 	Defenseman		20	Mill Bay, BC; transfer from Maine
Hunter Johannes 	Forward 		18	Eden Prairie, MN; transfer from American International
Drew Kuzma 	Forward 		19	St. Albert, AB
Matt Ladd 	Goaltender		24	Getzville, NY; graduate transfer from Canisius
Shane LaVelle 	Forward 		21	Chaska, MN
Max Neill 	Forward 		21	Portage la Prairie, MB
Joe Prouty 	Defenseman		20	Apple Valley, MN
Kieran Ruscheinski	Defenseman		21	Calgary, AB; selected 206th overall in 2019
Roni Salmenkangas 	Goaltender		23	Tampere, FIN; graduate transfer from Ferris State
Coltan Wilkie 	Defenseman		22	Elkhorn, NE
==Roster==
As of August 16, 2022.
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==Standings==
==Schedule and results==
|-
!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular Season
==Scoring statistics==
 	LW	30	13	17 	30 	16
 	F 	28	13	16 	29 	87
 	F 	26	8 	15 	23 	12
 	F 	28	7 	13 	20 	26
 	F 	29	6 	14 	20 	6
 	C 	26	7 	8 	15 	42
 	RW	22	6 	6 	12 	6
 	D 	30	2 	10 	12 	8
 	F 	26	6 	5 	11 	48
 	D 	30	2 	9 	11 	36
 	D 	30	3 	7 	10 	12
 	LW	30	3 	7 	10 	48
 	D 	30	2 	8 	10 	23
 	D 	23	2 	6 	8 	14
 	F 	30	2 	5 	7 	28
 	D 	26	1 	6 	7 	12
 	C 	26	5 	1 	6 	19
 	F 	25	2 	3 	5 	23
 	D 	29	1 	2 	3 	20
 	LW	19	1 	1 	2 	17
 	F 	9 	0 	1 	1 	4
 	F 	12	0 	1 	1 	4
 	D 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	F 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	7 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	8 	0 	0 	0 	6
 	G 	16	0 	0 	0 	0
Total	 	 	92	161	253	517
==Goaltending statistics==
 	16	946:02 	5	10	1	67 	610 	0	.901	4.25
 	8 	438:33 	1	6 	0	32 	269 	0	.894	4.38
 	7 	417:54 	1	6 	0	33 	238 	0	.878	4.74
Empty Net	- 	12:21 	-	- 	-	2 	- 	-	- 	-
Total 	30	1812:50	7	22	1	134	1117	0	.893	4.44
==Rankings==
Poll 	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week
Poll 	Pre 	1 	2 	3 	4 	5 	6 	7 	8 	9 	10 	11 	12 	13 	14 	15 	16 	17 	18 	19 	20 	21 	22 	23 	24 	25 	26 	27 (Final)
USCHO.com	NR 	- 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	- 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	- 	NR
USA Today	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR
Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 1, 13, or 26.
==References==
2022-23
Lindenwood
Lindenwood
Category:2023 in sports in Missouri
Category:2022 in sports in Missouri