Many people in and around the college hockey world will tell you that the 2022-23 season was a down one for the NCHC.
On the surface, at least, it’s not hard to see why someone would think that.
The NCHC is 10 years old now, and aside from the 2020 NCAA tournament that never was due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, last season was the first in which the conference had no participants in the Men’s Frozen Four.
Only one NCHC team reached a regional final, and St. Cloud State lost 4-1 to eventual runner-up Minnesota. Denver, the 2022 national champion, was upset in the first round of last year’s regionals as a 1-seed against Cornell.
“I don’t think there’s any hiding from that,” Denver coach David Carle said last week when asked about perceptions of the NCHC coming off a down season. “In the same light as to what our expectation is as a program, it’s the same for our league. To not have representation at the Frozen Four, I think we’re all disappointed by that.
“It wasn’t up to our standard as a conference, and I’m sure that for a lot of people around our league, that didn’t sit well with us all this summer. We’ve had so much success as a league, and the standard is so high that when you have a down year, it stings and I would expect a resurgence from all of us compared to what we saw last year.”
The USCHO.com preseason poll indicates cautious optimism in that regard.
Denver is fourth behind three 2023 Frozen Four qualifiers, with North Dakota seventh and St. Cloud State eighth. Western Michigan being 12th suggests that half the NCHC might make the NCAA tournament again, same as last season.
In the NCHC preseason poll, it’s tight at the top. Denver was picked first for a second consecutive season, but second-place North Dakota got one more first-place vote from pollsters than the Pioneers did. St. Cloud State in third, Western Michigan in fourth and Minnesota Duluth in fifth all got at least one first-place vote, too.
And fair enough, that won’t mean much once NCHC teams start conference play in the coming weeks. Between now and the end of the regular season in March, we’ll learn a lot about how close NCHC teams will be toward finding the right balance between several factors.
“At the end of the day, our league is so strong every year that everybody now, with graduation, guys signing pro and the transfer portal, things look a lot different than they used to be,” North Dakota coach Brad Berry said. “You’re trying to have continuity within your team, with those three things I mentioned, being a part of everyday life in college hockey.
“I don’t know if I’d say our league was down (last season), but I think every individual member institution is trying to build consistency, knowing that you’re going to be facing those three things, and you have to be ready for that. We’re looking at how other leagues are trying to maximize their chances of advancing to Frozen Fours, too, but I know our league is a hard league.”
And that won’t change, but NCHC teams are hoping that their collective absence from last year’s Frozen Four will prove to be a mere aberration. Let’s see, though, shall we?
COLORADO COLLEGE
HEAD COACH: Kris Mayotte (entering his third season at CC)
LAST SEASON: 13-22-3 (6-15-3 for 7th in NCHC)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Noah Laba (So., 11g-11a-22pts); F Stanley Cooley (Jr., 6g-14a-20pts); G Kaidan Mbereko (So., 9-16-2, 2.29 GAA, .925 SV%)
KEY LOSSES: F Hunter McKown (21g-7a-28pts); D Brian Yoon (1g-14a-15pts); F Matthew Gleason (4g-6a-10pts)
KEY ADDITIONS: F Klavs Veinbergs (Lincoln Stars, USHL); F Zaccharya Wisdom (Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, USHL); G Henry Wilder (Boston College transfer)
2023-24 PREDICTION: Colorado College was three wins better last season than it was in 2021-22, and the Tigers were a very tough out. They upset Western Michigan in the first round of the NCHC playoffs, then beat archrival Denver in the conference semifinals. McKown was their top scorer by 10 goals, and he’ll be missed but this will again be a tough CC team to beat. Team chemistry should be good on a Tigers squad that brought in zero transfers last year and only one this time around in Wilder. The prevailing wisdom seems to be having CC picked to finish seventh, but even with a huge piece gone in McKown, I’m giving the Tigers the benefit of the doubt.
2023-24 PREDICTED FINISH: 6th
DENVER
HEAD COACH: David Carle (entering his sixth season at DU)
LAST SEASON: 30-10-0 (19-5-0 for 1st in NCHC)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Massimo Rizzo (Jr., 17g-29a-46pts); F Aidan Thompson (So., 10g-22a-32 pts); D Shai Buium (4g-17a-21 pts)
KEY LOSSES: F Carter Mazur (22g-15a-37pts); D Mike Benning (13g-21a-34pts); G Magnus Chrona (22-9-0, 2.19 GAA, .916 SV%)
KEY ADDITIONS: F Sam Harris (Sioux Falls Stampede, USHL); D Garrett Brown (Waterloo Black Hawks, USHL); D Zeev Buium (U.S. Under-18 Team)
2023-24 PREDICTION: I’ve got Denver first here, partly because I’ve felt in recent years that going against the Pioneers at this point in a season is a bit of a fool’s errand. I can also see why five NCHC teams got first-place votes in the preseason poll. Denver only brings back one of its top four point-producers from last season in Rizzo, and Chrona has left after what felt like a thousand years at DU, but sophomore Matt Davis had a .925 save percentage in 13 appearances last season and could end up being every bit as good as the graduated Swede. Denver won’t like how last season ended, losing to CC in the conference playoffs and then getting dumped out of the NCAA tournament right away by Cornell, but there’s enough here to convince me that this Pioneers team can three-peat as NCHC regular-season champions, and maybe do a lot more than that.
2023-24 PREDICTED FINISH: 1st
MIAMI
HEAD COACH: Chris Bergeron (entering his fifth season at Miami)
LAST SEASON: 8-24-4 (3-18-3 for 8th in NCHC)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Matthew Barbolini (Sr., 10g-15-25pts); F PJ Fletcher (Sr., 5g-10a-15 pts); D Hampus Rydqvist (Sr., 3g-11a-14pts)
KEY LOSSES: F Joe Cassetti (10g-5a-15pts); F Red Savage (7g-7a-14pts); G Ludvig Persson (8-19-4, 3.66 GAA, .891 SV%)
KEY ADDITIONS: F Ryan Sullivan (Massachusetts transfer); F Raimonds Vitolins (Green Bay Gamblers, USHL); D Spencer Cox (Long Island transfer)
2023-24 PREDICTION: Bergeron hit the transfer portal hard this offseason, bringing in players with a lot of prior NCAA hockey experience. That should help a Miami team that is yet to win 10 games in a season under its current head coach, and the RedHawks have struggled to regain the momentum they last had nearly a decade ago, when they reached the NCAA tournament nine times in 10 years. Miami was a long way adrift at the bottom of the NCHC preseason poll this year (61 points behind seventh-place CC), and as much as we want to see a resurgence from this program, we’re starting to approach believe-it-when-we-see-it territory.
2023-24 PREDICTED FINISH: 8th
MINNESOTA DULUTH
HEAD COACH: Scott Sandelin (entering his 24th season at UMD)
LAST SEASON: 16-20-1 (10-14-0 for 5th in NCHC)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Ben Steeves (So., 21g-7a-28pts); F Dominic James (Jr., 10g-18a-28pts); G Matthew Thiessen (Gr., 2.64 GAA, .905 SV%)
KEY LOSSES: D Wyatt Kaiser (5g-18a-23pts); D Drew Daschke (2g-14a-16pts); F Jesse Jacques (4g-5a-9pts)
KEY ADDITIONS: F Anthony Menghini (Fargo Force, USHL); F Matthew Perkins (Youngstown Phantoms, USHL); D Aaron Pionk (Waterloo Black Hawks, USHL)
2023-24 PREDICTION: Missing last season’s NCAA tournament won’t have been what UMD was looking for after Sandelin’s contract was extended through the 2026-27 season. I think the Bulldogs will be better this time around, and so much of last season’s roster back helps. There are only four freshmen, and I like the level of continuity this squad has now, only a year after there was a lot to replace. The issue is that, although I see an improved UMD team this season, much if not all of the rest of the conference is going to be better, too.
2023-24 PREDICTED FINISH: 5th
NORTH DAKOTA
HEAD COACH: Brad Berry (entering his ninth season at UND)
LAST SEASON: 18-15-6 (10-10-4 for 6th in NCHC)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Jackson Blake (So., 16g-26a-42pts); F Riese Gaber (Sr., 20g-17a-37pts);
KEY LOSSES: F Judd Caulfield (10g-9a-19 pts); D Chris Jandric (4g-29a-33pts); G Drew DeRidder (13-9-4, 2.56 GAA, .899 SV%)
KEY ADDITIONS: F Jayden Perron (Chicago Steel, USHL); F Cameron Berg (Omaha transfer); G Ludvig Persson (Miami transfer)
2023-24 PREDICTION: Last season was a tale of two halves for a North Dakota team that was picked to finish second in the NCHC. The Fighting Hawks were far more consistent in the second half, but a tough first half came back to bite them, and they missed out on the NCAA tournament. UND has 14 new faces for this season, and that feels like a lot, but the last time the Hawks had that many newcomers, two years ago, they were Penrose Cup winners as the NCHC’s regular season champions. I’ve got the Hawks second again, and I’m very interested to see what Persson will do with his new team, but after what happened last season, this is another wait-and-see pick.
2023-24 PREDICTED FINISH: 2nd
OMAHA
HEAD COACH: Mike Gabinet (entering his seventh season at UNO)
LAST SEASON: 19-15-3 (13-9-2 for 3rd in NCHC)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Jack Randl (Gr., 18g-16a-34pts); F Matt Miller (13g-12a-24pts); G Simon Latkoczy (So., 11-6-1, 2.32 GAA, .919 SV%)
KEY LOSSES: F Tyler Weiss (6g-21a-27pts); F Cameron Berg (10g-14a-24pts); D Johnny Tychonick (8g-18a-26pts)
KEY ADDITIONS: F Jesse Lansdell (Notre Dame transfer); F Tanner Ludtke (Lincoln Stars, USHL); G Seth Eisele (Lake Superior transfer)
2023-24 PREDICTION: Gabinet might’ve been the NCHC’s coach of the year last season if Pat Ferschweiler hadn’t brought Western Michigan above expectations at a similar rate. UNO was a better team last season than many expected, myself included. They’ve since lost several key pieces, though, and I get why the Mavericks get overlooked at this point in a season when the program is still yet to reach the NCHC playoff semifinals. It probably won’t look great that I have them seventh this time, but the middle of the league is such a toss-up that I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m really wrong on this pick.
2023-24 PREDICTED FINISH: 7th
ST. CLOUD STATE
HEAD COACH: Brett Larson (entering his sixth season at SCSU)
LAST SEASON: 25-13-3 (12-9-3 for 4th in NCHC)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Zach Okabe (Gr., 18g-18a-36pts); F Dylan Anhorn (Gr., 5g-20a-25pts); G Dominic Basse (Sr., 11-5-2, 2.30 GAA, .911 SV%)
KEY LOSSES: F Jami Krannila (21g-19a-40pts); F Grant Cruikshank (23g-15a-38pts); G Jaxon Castor (14-8-1, 2.01 GAA, .924 SV%)
KEY ADDITIONS: F Barrett Hall (Green Bay Gamblers, USHL); F Verner Miettinen (Fargo Force, USHL); D Warren Clark (Steinbach Pistons, MJHL)
2023-24 PREDICTION: St. Cloud State finished the 2022-23 regular season right where we thought the Huskies would, but they were the pride of the NCHC in, for the rest of the conference, a forgettable NCAA tournament. SCSU loses its top two scorers from last season, but there’s a lot to like in terms of what returns. Husky fans will be thrilled with Okabe coming back for his graduate year, and Anhorn was a Hobey Baker Award candidate last season. I think the Huskies will be at least as good this time around.
2023-24 PREDICTED FINISH: 3rd
WESTERN MICHIGAN
HEAD COACH: Pat Ferschweiler (entering his third season at WMU)
LAST SEASON: 23-15-1 (15-8-1 for 2nd in NCHC)
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS: F Luke Grainger (12g-20a-32pts); D Carter Berger (5g-18a-23pts); G Cameron Rowe (Sr., 22-14-1, 2.49 GAA, .884 SV%)
KEY LOSSES: F Ryan McAllister (13g-36a-49pts); F Jason Polin (30g-17a-47pts); F Max Sasson (15g-27a-42pts)
KEY ADDITIONS: F Alex Bump (Vermont transfer); F Joe Cassetti (Miami transfer); F Sam Colangelo (Northeastern transfer)
2023-24 PREDICTION: Western Michigan has been a fun surprise over the last couple of years, punching above its perceived weight and making Ferschweiler the NCHC’s first non-North Dakota coach of the year since before the pandemic. The 2022-23 Broncos were without their top five point-producers from the previous season, and now they’re without their top three from last winter. Can Western keep the good times rolling? We think so, even if we’re hesitant to put the Broncos as high as they finished last spring.
2023-24 PREDICTED FINISH: 4th
