2022–23 UMass Minutemen ice hockey season

The 2022–23 UMass Minutemen ice hockey season was the 91st season of play for the program, the 33rd at the Division I level, and 28th in Hockey East. The Minutemen represented the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season were coached by Greg Carvel in his sixth season, and played their home games at Mullins Center.
==Season==
In the offseason, Garrett Wait suffered a potentially career-ending knee injury during a workout. He was medically disqualified from playing during the 2022–23 season. Beside Wait, the Minumemen would have to deal with the loss of several key players as their leaders on offense (Bobby Trivigno), defense (Matthew Kessel) and in goal (Matt Murray) all had to be replaced. Coach Carvel brought in a talent-laden recruiting class to do just that with 4 freshmen who were already NHL draft picks as well as two drafted transfers. UMass was ranked highly entering the season, making the top 10 in both polls and was picked to finish 3rd in Hockey East.
Early on, everything looked to be going well for the Minutemen. After an iffy start, the team swept the defending national champions, Denver, and were undefeated through their first 6 games. An overtime loss to Merrimack dented their record slightly but by the beginning of November, UMass was in the top-5 and seemingly well on their way to another NCAA tournament. Unfortunately, once the team got into conference play, the defense began to falter. Massachusetts was unable to provide its netminders with much support, allowing more than 34 shots against per game. The increased opportunities turned into goals and, despite having a nearly identical save percentage, the Minutemen allowed 15 more goals against in 2 fewer games. While those numbers weren't disastrous by themselves, the team had also declined on the offensive side. None of the team's players were able to make up for the loss of its top three forwards and just one player was able to get into double-digit goal totals. The team scored 23 fewer goals than the year before, putting them at a -38 goal differential.
Despite the trouble, UMass recovered during the holidays and held a winning record in early January. At the Frozen Fenway, the team began a 6-game losing streak and dropped out of the polls for the first time in years. They were able to recover to finish out the final 8 games at a .500 clip. The Minutemen had done so poorly in their conference games that the team finished 9th in the standings and were forced to start in the first round. They faced Boston College in a battle between two disappointing teams. UMass hardly put up a fight, getting outshot 18–42 and ending its season with a 2–5 loss.
==Departures==
Matt Baker 	Forward 		Graduation (signed with Adirondack Thunder)
Anthony Del Gaizo	Forward 		Graduation (retired)
Slava Demin 	Defenseman		Graduate transfer to Merrimack
Cam Donaldson 	Forward 		Graduation (retired)
Ty Farmer 	Defenseman		Graduate transfer to North Dakota
Colin Felix 	Defenseman		Graduation (signed with Lehigh Valley Phantoms)
Matthew Kessel 	Defenseman		Signed professional contract (St. Louis Blues)
Josh Lopina 	Forward 		Signed professional contract (Anaheim Ducks)
Oliver MacDonald 	Forward 		Transferred to Western Michigan
Matt Murray 	Goaltender		Graduation (signed with Texas Stars)
Bobby Trivigno 	Forward 		Graduation (signed with New York Rangers)
==Recruiting==
Mikey Adamson 	Defenseman		21	Quincy, MA
Harrison Ballard 	Forward 		18	Scottsdale, AZ
Cole Brady 	Goaltender		21	Pickering, ON; transfer from Arizona State; selected 127th overall in 2019
Michael Cameron 	Forward 		20	Berwyn, PA
Kenny Connors 	Forward 		19	Glen Mills, PA; selected 103rd overall in 2022
Tyson Dyck 	Forward 		18	Abbotsford, BC; selected 206th overall in 2022
Noah Ellis 	Defenseman		20	Urbandale, IA; selected 184th overall in 2020
Matt Koopman 	Forward 		24	Marblehead, MA; graduate transfer from Providence
Elliott McDermott	Defenseman		23	Kingston, ON; transfer from Colgate
Owen Murray 	Defenseman		19	Decker, MB
Joshua Nodler 	Forward 		21	Oak Park, MI; transfer from Michigan State; selected 150th overall in 2019
Kennedy O'Connor 	Defenseman		21	Springfield, MA
Cole O'Hara 	Forward 		20	Richmond Hill, ON; selected 114th overall in 2022
==Roster==
As of August 6, 2022.
==Standings==
==Schedule and results==
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!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular Season
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!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular Season
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==Scoring statistics==
 	D 	35	9 	22 	31 	16
 	C 	32	9 	17 	26 	8
 	D 	32	8 	16 	24 	25
 	RW 	30	8 	14 	22 	6
 	F 	31	7 	14 	21 	29
 	RW 	32	4 	13 	17 	14
 	RW 	33	4 	10 	14 	20
 	C 	35	3 	11 	14 	33
 	C/LW	32	10	2 	12 	54
 	C 	31	9 	3 	12 	0
 	C 	28	5 	4 	9 	8
 	C 	35	5 	4 	9 	0
 	D 	25	2 	7 	9 	8
 	LW 	33	1 	6 	7 	16
 	F 	32	1 	5 	6 	8
 	C/RW	27	2 	3 	5 	8
 	F 	32	2 	1 	3 	8
 	D 	21	1 	2 	3 	12
 	D 	35	1 	2 	3 	10
 	D 	11	1 	1 	2 	4
 	D 	23	1 	1 	2 	6
 	D 	21	0 	2 	2 	2
 	D 	11	1 	0 	1 	6
 	G 	12	0 	1 	1 	2
 	C/RW	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	8 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	23	0 	0 	0 	0
Total	 	 	94	161	255	393
==Goaltending statistics==
 	11	256:16 	1 	2 	1	10 	117 	0	.921	2.34
 	24	1265:40	8 	10	4	58 	671 	2	.920	2.75
 	17	600:06 	4 	5 	0	31 	303 	1	.907	3.10
Empty Net	- 	14:01 	- 	- 	-	4 	- 	-	- 	-
Total 	35	2122:02	13	17	3	103	1091	3	.914	2.89
==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	10 	- 	13 	13 	6 	5 	5 	11 	16 	17 	15 	13 	15 	- 	15 	19 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	NR 	- 	NR
USA Today	10 	10 	13 	14 	6 	5 	5 	10 	15 	17 	15 	12 	15 	15 	15 	17 	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
UMass
UMass
UMass
UMass