{"id":142514,"date":"2023-10-12T10:00:22","date_gmt":"2023-10-12T15:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/?p=142514"},"modified":"2023-10-09T15:38:07","modified_gmt":"2023-10-09T20:38:07","slug":"2023-24-nchc-season-preview-coming-off-no-frozen-four-appearance-conference-teams-aiming-to-maximize-their-chances-this-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2023\/10\/12\/2023-24-nchc-season-preview-coming-off-no-frozen-four-appearance-conference-teams-aiming-to-maximize-their-chances-this-year\/","title":{"rendered":"2023-24 NCHC Season Preview: Coming off no Frozen Four appearances in 2023, conference teams aiming to ‘maximize their chances’ this year"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Colorado College goalie Kaidan Mbereko makes a save last season against Minnesota Duluth (photo: Casey B. Gibson).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Many people in and around the college hockey world will tell you that the 2022-23 season was a down one for the NCHC.<\/p>\n

On the surface, at least, it\u2019s not hard to see why someone would think that.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s Frozen Four.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s regionals as a 1-seed against Cornell.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s any hiding from that,\u201d Denver coach David Carle said last week when asked about perceptions of the NCHC coming off a down season. \u201cIn the same light as to what our expectation is as a program, it\u2019s the same for our league. To not have representation at the Frozen Four, I think we\u2019re all disappointed by that.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t up to our standard as a conference, and I\u2019m sure that for a lot of people around our league, that didn\u2019t sit well with us all this summer. We\u2019ve 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

The USCHO.com preseason poll indicates cautious optimism in that regard.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

In the NCHC preseason poll, it\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

And fair enough, that won\u2019t mean much once NCHC teams start conference play in the coming weeks. Between now and the end of the regular season in March, we\u2019ll learn a lot about how close NCHC teams will be toward finding the right balance between several factors.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt 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,\u201d North Dakota coach Brad Berry said. \u201cYou\u2019re trying to have continuity within your team, with those three things I mentioned, being a part of everyday life in college hockey.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if I\u2019d say our league was down (last season), but I think every individual member institution is trying to build consistency, knowing that you\u2019re going to be facing those three things, and you have to be ready for that. We\u2019re 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that won\u2019t change, but NCHC teams are hoping that their collective absence from last year\u2019s Frozen Four will prove to be a mere aberration. Let\u2019s see, though, shall we?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Noah Laba was a top freshman player last season for Colorado College (photo: Casey B. Gibson).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

COLORADO COLLEGE<\/h4>\n

HEAD COACH<\/strong>: Kris Mayotte (entering his third season at CC)
\nLAST SEASON<\/strong>: 13-22-3 (6-15-3 for 7th in NCHC)
\nKEY RETURNING PLAYERS<\/strong>: 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%)
\nKEY LOSSES<\/strong>: F Hunter McKown (21g-7a-28pts); D Brian Yoon (1g-14a-15pts); F Matthew Gleason (4g-6a-10pts)
\nKEY ADDITIONS<\/strong>: F Klavs Veinbergs (Lincoln Stars, USHL); F Zaccharya Wisdom (Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, USHL); G Henry Wilder (Boston College transfer)
\n2023-24 PREDICTION<\/strong>: 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\u2019ll 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\u2019m giving the Tigers the benefit of the doubt.
\n2023-24 PREDICTED FINISH<\/strong>: 6th<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Shai Buium has had two solid seasons on the Denver back end (photo: DU Athletics).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

DENVER<\/h4>\n

HEAD COACH<\/strong>: David Carle (entering his sixth season at DU)
\nLAST SEASON<\/strong>: 30-10-0 (19-5-0 for 1st in NCHC)
\nKEY RETURNING PLAYERS<\/strong>: F Massimo Rizzo (Jr., 17g-29a-46pts); F Aidan Thompson (So., 10g-22a-32 pts); D Shai Buium (4g-17a-21 pts)
\nKEY LOSSES<\/strong>: F Carter Mazur (22g-15a-37pts); D Mike Benning (13g-21a-34pts); G Magnus Chrona (22-9-0, 2.19 GAA, .916 SV%)
\nKEY ADDITIONS<\/strong>: F Sam Harris (Sioux Falls Stampede, USHL); D Garrett Brown (Waterloo Black Hawks, USHL); D Zeev Buium (U.S. Under-18 Team)
\n2023-24 PREDICTION<\/strong>: I\u2019ve got Denver first here, partly because I\u2019ve felt in recent years that going against the Pioneers at this point in a season is a bit of a fool\u2019s 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\u2019t 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\u2019s 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.
\n2023-24 PREDICTED FINISH<\/strong>: 1st<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
John Waldron went for 14 points last season as a Miami freshman (photo: Harrison Barden\/Clarkson Creative Photography).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MIAMI<\/h4>\n

HEAD COACH<\/strong>: Chris Bergeron (entering his fifth season at Miami)
\nLAST SEASON<\/strong>: 8-24-4 (3-18-3 for 8th in NCHC)
\nKEY RETURNING PLAYERS<\/strong>: F Matthew Barbolini (Sr., 10g-15-25pts); F PJ Fletcher (Sr., 5g-10a-15 pts); D Hampus Rydqvist (Sr., 3g-11a-14pts)
\nKEY LOSSES<\/strong>: F Joe Cassetti (10g-5a-15pts); F Red Savage (7g-7a-14pts); G Ludvig Persson (8-19-4, 3.66 GAA, .891 SV%)
\nKEY ADDITIONS<\/strong>: F Ryan Sullivan (Massachusetts transfer); F Raimonds Vitolins (Green Bay Gamblers, USHL); D Spencer Cox (Long Island transfer)
\n2023-24 PREDICTION<\/strong>: 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\u2019re starting to approach believe-it-when-we-see-it territory.
\n2023-24 PREDICTED FINISH<\/strong>: 8th<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Ben Steeves surpassed the 20-goal mark last season for the Bulldogs (photo: Terry Cartie Norton).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MINNESOTA DULUTH<\/h4>\n

HEAD COACH<\/strong>: Scott Sandelin (entering his 24th season at UMD)
\nLAST SEASON<\/strong>: 16-20-1 (10-14-0 for 5th in NCHC)
\nKEY RETURNING PLAYERS<\/strong>: F Ben Steeves (So., 21g-7a-28pts); F Dominic James (Jr., 10g-18a-28pts); G Matthew Thiessen (Gr., 2.64 GAA, .905 SV%)
\nKEY LOSSES<\/strong>: D Wyatt Kaiser (5g-18a-23pts); D Drew Daschke (2g-14a-16pts); F Jesse Jacques (4g-5a-9pts)
\nKEY ADDITIONS<\/strong>: F Anthony Menghini (Fargo Force, USHL); F Matthew Perkins (Youngstown Phantoms, USHL); D Aaron Pionk (Waterloo Black Hawks, USHL)
\n2023-24 PREDICTION<\/strong>: Missing last season\u2019s NCAA tournament won\u2019t have been what UMD was looking for after Sandelin\u2019s contract was extended through the 2026-27 season. I think the Bulldogs will be better this time around, and so much of last season\u2019s 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.
\n2023-24 PREDICTED FINISH<\/strong>: 5th<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Riese Gaber will again be a top player this season for North Dakota (photo: Mark Kuhlmann).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NORTH DAKOTA<\/h4>\n

HEAD COACH<\/strong>: Brad Berry (entering his ninth season at UND)
\nLAST SEASON<\/strong>: 18-15-6 (10-10-4 for 6th in NCHC)
\nKEY RETURNING PLAYERS<\/strong>: F Jackson Blake (So., 16g-26a-42pts); F Riese Gaber (Sr., 20g-17a-37pts);
\nKEY LOSSES<\/strong>: F Judd Caulfield (10g-9a-19 pts); D Chris Jandric (4g-29a-33pts); G Drew DeRidder (13-9-4, 2.56 GAA, .899 SV%)
\nKEY ADDITIONS<\/strong>: F Jayden Perron (Chicago Steel, USHL); F Cameron Berg (Omaha transfer); G Ludvig Persson (Miami transfer)
\n2023-24 PREDICTION<\/strong>: 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\u2019s regular season champions. I\u2019ve got the Hawks second again, and I\u2019m 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.
\n2023-24 PREDICTED FINISH<\/strong>: 2nd<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Omaha’s Matt Miller and St. Cloud State’s Chase Brand battle for the puck during a game last February at Baxter Arena (photo: Mark Kuhlmann).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

OMAHA<\/h4>\n

HEAD COACH<\/strong>: Mike Gabinet (entering his seventh season at UNO)
\nLAST SEASON<\/strong>: 19-15-3 (13-9-2 for 3rd in NCHC)
\nKEY RETURNING PLAYERS<\/strong>: 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%)
\nKEY LOSSES<\/strong>: F Tyler Weiss (6g-21a-27pts); F Cameron Berg (10g-14a-24pts); D Johnny Tychonick (8g-18a-26pts)
\nKEY ADDITIONS<\/strong>: F Jesse Lansdell (Notre Dame transfer); F Tanner Ludtke (Lincoln Stars, USHL); G Seth Eisele (Lake Superior transfer)
\n2023-24 PREDICTION<\/strong>: Gabinet might\u2019ve been the NCHC\u2019s coach of the year last season if Pat Ferschweiler hadn\u2019t brought Western Michigan above expectations at a similar rate. UNO was a better team last season than many expected, myself included. They\u2019ve 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\u2019t look great that I have them seventh this time, but the middle of the league is such a toss-up that I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if I\u2019m really wrong on this pick.
\n2023-24 PREDICTED FINISH<\/strong>: 7th<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Dominic Basse was strong in net during the 2022-23 season for SCSU (photo: St. Cloud State Athletics).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

ST. CLOUD STATE<\/h4>\n

HEAD COACH<\/strong>: Brett Larson (entering his sixth season at SCSU)
\nLAST SEASON<\/strong>: 25-13-3 (12-9-3 for 4th in NCHC)
\nKEY RETURNING PLAYERS<\/strong>: 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%)
\nKEY LOSSES<\/strong>: F Jami Krannila (21g-19a-40pts); F Grant Cruikshank (23g-15a-38pts); G Jaxon Castor (14-8-1, 2.01 GAA, .924 SV%)
\nKEY ADDITIONS<\/strong>: F Barrett Hall (Green Bay Gamblers, USHL); F Verner Miettinen (Fargo Force, USHL); D Warren Clark (Steinbach Pistons, MJHL)
\n2023-24 PREDICTION<\/strong>: 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\u2019s 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.
\n2023-24 PREDICTED FINISH<\/strong>: 3rd<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Luke Grainger will serve as Western Michigan’s captain this season (photo: Ashley Huss).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

WESTERN MICHIGAN<\/h4>\n

HEAD COACH<\/strong>: Pat Ferschweiler (entering his third season at WMU)
\nLAST SEASON<\/strong>: 23-15-1 (15-8-1 for 2nd in NCHC)
\nKEY RETURNING PLAYERS<\/strong>: F Luke Grainger (12g-20a-32pts); D Carter Berger (5g-18a-23pts); G Cameron Rowe (Sr., 22-14-1, 2.49 GAA, .884 SV%)
\nKEY LOSSES<\/strong>: F Ryan McAllister (13g-36a-49pts); F Jason Polin (30g-17a-47pts); F Max Sasson (15g-27a-42pts)
\nKEY ADDITIONS<\/strong>: F Alex Bump (Vermont transfer); F Joe Cassetti (Miami transfer); F Sam Colangelo (Northeastern transfer)
\n2023-24 PREDICTION<\/strong>: Western Michigan has been a fun surprise over the last couple of years, punching above its perceived weight and making Ferschweiler the NCHC\u2019s 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\u2019re without their top three from last winter. Can Western keep the good times rolling? We think so, even if we\u2019re hesitant to put the Broncos as high as they finished last spring.
\n2023-24 PREDICTED FINISH<\/strong>: 4th<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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\u2019s 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":138190,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[666],"tags":[812],"coauthors":[810],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n2023-24 NCHC Season Preview: Coming off no Frozen Four appearances in 2023, conference teams aiming to 'maximize their chances' this year - College Hockey | USCHO.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Many people in and around the college hockey world will tell you that the 2022-23 season was a down one for the NCHC. 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