2021–22 CCHA season explained


Color:	color:white; background:#143159;
Color Text:	white
Season:	2021–22
Season:	2021–22
Conference:	Central Collegiate Hockey Association
Shortconference:	CCHA
Division:	Division I
Sport:	ice hockey
Pixels:	250 px
Duration:	October 2, 2021– April 9, 2022
No Of Teams:	8
Regular Season:
Season Champs:	Minnesota State
Mvp:	Dryden McKay
Mvp Link:	CCHA Player of the Year
Top Scorer:	Brian Halonen
Tournament:
Tournament Champs:	Minnesota State
Tournament Place:	Bemidji State
Top Scorer2:	Sam Morton (7)
Ncaa:
Bids:	2
Conf Rec:	3–2
Best:	National runner-up
Ncaa Team:	Minnesota State
Prevseason:	2012–13
Nextseason:	2022–23
Labelstyle:	background:#eeeeee;

The 2021–22 CCHA season was the 43rd season of play for the Central Collegiate Hockey Association and part of the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season. The regular season began on October 2, 2021, and concluded on February 26, 2022.^[1] The conference tournament began on March 4 and ended on March 19, 2022.

Revival

On February 18, 2020, 7 schools that had previously announced their departure from the WCHA after the 2020–21 season in order to form a new conference officially announced that their new conference would be a reestablished CCHA.^[2] Bowling Green, which had been a founding member of the CCHA in 1971 and remained in the conference until its dissolution in 2013, had retained control of the name in the interim.

A year earlier, St. Thomas was involuntarily removed from the MIAC, which would take effect after the 2020–21 scholastic year.^[3] In July 2020 the NCAA gave permission for the university to promote its athletic programs from Division III directly to Division I without the normal waiting period or ineligibilities.^[4] Within two weeks time, St. Thomas applied for and was approved as the 8th member of the conference to begin play this season.^[5]

After the conclusion of the 2020–21 season, Alabama–Huntsville, another WCHA team, submitted a bid to be accepted as the conference's 9th member. On May 5, 2021, the CCHA rejected Alabama–Huntsville's inclusion.^[6]

Coaches

Enrico Blasi, formerly the head coach at Miami, was announced as St. Thomas' first head coach at the Division I level on April 2, 2021.^[7] At the start of his tenure with St. Thomas, Blasi was just 2 wins shy of 400 for his career.^[8]

Records

Team	Season at school	Record at school	CCHA record
Bemidji State	21	335–307–92	0–0–0
Bowling Green	3	41–23–5	0–0–0
Ferris State	30	462–538–107	247–277–72
Lake Superior State	8	99–133–27	0–0–0
Michigan Tech	5	74–64–13	0–0–0
Minnesota State	10	236–90–24	0–0–0
Northern Michigan	5	75–64–10	0–0–0
St. Thomas	1	0–0–0	0–0–0

Non-Conference record

Of the sixteen teams that are selected to participate in the NCAA tournament, ten will be via at-large bids. Those 10 teams are determined based upon the PairWise rankings. The rankings take into account all games played but are heavily affected by intra-conference results. The result is that teams from leagues which perform better in non-conference are much more likely to receive at-large bids even if they possess inferior records overall.

The CCHA was a bit of a mixed bag with their nonconference results. As many teams finished with losing records as winning marks and the league had nearly an even finish overall. The biggest drag on the CCHA was the performance against the Big Ten, which put the league in poor standings for the postseason. While the record was improved by their results against ECAC Hockey, that conference was one of the weakest for this season and didn't help as much as it might have in other years.

Regular season record

Team							Total
Bemidji State	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	1–1–0	1–5–0	2–6–0
Bowling Green	0–0–0	0–2–0	2–0–1	0–1–0	0–0–0	1–0–1	3–3–2
Ferris State	1–1–0	0–2–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	1–3–0	2–6–0
Lake Superior State	0–0–0	0–2–0	3–0–1	0–0–0	0–0–0	1–1–0	4–3–1
Michigan Tech	0–0–0	2–2–1	1–1–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	3–3–1
Minnesota State	0–0–0	0–1–0	0–0–0	3–0–0	2–0–0	3–1–0	8–2–0
Northern Michigan	0–0–0	0–1–0	2–0–0	2–0–0	0–0–0	2–0–0	6–1–0
St. Thomas	0–0–0	0–2–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–4–0	0–2–0	0–8–0
Overall	1–1–0	2–12–1	8–1–2	5–1–0	3–5–0	9–12–1	28–32–4

Statistics

Leading scorers

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes^[9]

Class	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Senior	26	16	20	36	18
Senior	22	13	21	34	0
Junior	22	13	20	33	18
Senior	26	10	22	32	24
Senior	25	10	21	31	18
Sophomore	26	9	21	30	8
Junior	26	11	18	29	8
Senior	22	9	19	28	10
Junior	26	10	18	28	25
Senior	26	11	17	28	20

Leading goaltenders

Minimum 1/3 of team's minutes played in conference games.
GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average^[10]

Class	GP	Min	W	L	T	GA	SO	SV%	GAA
Senior	25	1482	23	2	0	26	6	.942	1.05
Junior	26	1503	16	8	2	50	5	.911	1.99
Sophomore	16	953	8	8	0	36	3	.925	2.27
Sophomore	11	658	5	5	0	29	0	.911	2.64
Freshman	14	686	5	3	0	32	0	.907	2.80

Bracket

See main article: 2022 CCHA men's ice hockey tournament. Note: * denotes overtime periods

NCAA tournament

See main article: 2022 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament.

Regional semifinal

West

Regional final

East

National championship

Scoring summary
Period	Team	Goal	Assist(s)	Time	Score
1st	align=center style=";"	MSU	Sam Morton (9) – PP	Sowder and Sandelin	align=center	13:59	align=center	1–0 MSU
2nd	None
3rd	align=center style="color:white; background:#862633; "	DEN	Ryan Barrow (8)	Benning and Devine	align=center	44:46	align=center	1–1
	align=center style="color:white; background:#862633; "	DEN	Michael Benning (15) – GW	Buium and Wright	align=center	47:33	align=center	2–1 DEN
	align=center style="color:white; background:#862633; "	DEN	Massimo Rizzo (12)	Mazur and Lee	align=center	53:34	align=center	3–1 DEN
	align=center style="color:white; background:#862633; "	DEN	Brett Stapley (18) – EN	unassisted	align=center	57:28	align=center	4–1 DEN
	align=center style="color:white; background:#862633; "	DEN	Cameron Wright (23) – EN	Mazur	align=center	58:00	align=center	5–1 DEN
Penalty summary
Period	Team	Player	Penalty	Time	PIM
1st	align=center style="color:white; background:#862633; "	DEN	Michael Benning	Tripping	align=center	12:23	align=center	2:00
1st	align=center style=";"	MSU	Nathan Smith	Roughing	align=center	15:28	align=center	2:00
2nd	align=center style=";"	MSU	Bench	Too Many Men	align=center	27:07	align=center	2:00
3rd	align=center style=";"	MSU	Sam Morton	Tripping	align=center	45:26	align=center	2:00

Shots by period
Team	1	2	3	T
align=center style="color:white; background:#862633; "	Denver	align=center	3	align=center	5	align=center	12	align=center	20
align=center style=";"	Minnesota State	align=center	8	align=center	10	align=center	10	align=center	28

Goaltenders
Team	Name	Saves	Goals against	Time on ice
align=center style="color:white; background:#862633; "	DEN		align=center	27	align=center	1	align=center	60:00
align=center style=";"	MSU		align=center	15	align=center	3	align=center	58:22

Ranking

See main article: 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey rankings.

USCHO

Bemidji State	14	15	20	19	17	20	NR	20	20	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR
Bowling Green	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
Ferris State	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
Lake Superior State	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
Michigan Tech	NR	NR	16	18	18	18	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	18	20	19	17	18	15	14	14	14	15	13	15	14	14
Minnesota State	5	1	1	2	3	2	3	3	1	2	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2
Northern Michigan	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	19	NR	NR	NR	19	20	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR
St. Thomas	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

^[11]

USA Today

Bemidji State	15	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
Bowling Green	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
Ferris State	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
Lake Superior State	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
Michigan Tech	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	14	14	13	13	15	13	14	14	14	14
Minnesota State	5	2	1	2	2	2	3	3	1	2	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2
Northern Michigan	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
St. Thomas	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

^[12]

Pairwise

Bemidji State	14	49	39	24	26	19	13	14	17	16	21	23	20	18	26	26	27	26	29	29	30	29	29
Bowling Green	14	38	29	19	20	9	19	14	24	23	25	30	31	32	32	31	32	31	34	36	35	34	34
Ferris State	13	44	51	45	42	36	43	48	49	47	47	46	46	48	44	47	48	50	51	48	49	49	49
Lake Superior State	12	31	23	21	29	22	30	34	34	33	32	31	32	38	38	33	34	33	32	30	31	32	32
Michigan Tech	14	25	7	11	9	14	16	10	10	12	14	13	15	11	9	7	8	10	12	12	10	12	bgcolor=gold	12
Minnesota State	5	9	10	6	6	6	5	4	5	3	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	bgcolor=gold	2
Northern Michigan	14	15	25	35	39	34	34	30	29	25	26	28	27	26	24	26	26	28	25	26	25	26	25
St. Thomas	14	32	41	48	51	55	53	53	55	57	58	57	57	56	56	58	58	59	59	59	59	59	59

Note: teams ranked in the top-10 automatically qualify for the NCAA tournament. Teams ranked 11-16 can qualify based upon conference tournament results.^[13]

Awards

NCAA

Award	Recipient
		Dryden McKay, Minnesota State
		Mike Hastings, Minnesota State
^[14]
West First Team	Position	Team
Dryden McKay	G	Minnesota State
Nathan Smith	F	Minnesota State
West Second Team	Position	Team
Brian Halonen	align=center	F	Michigan Tech

CCHA

Award	Recipient
		Dryden McKay, Minnesota State
		Nathan Smith, Minnesota State
		Jake Livingstone, Minnesota State
		Dryden McKay, Minnesota State
		Bradley Marek, Ferris State
		Mike Hastings, Minnesota State
		--->

First Team^[15]	Position	Second Team^[16]
Dryden McKay, Minnesota State	align=center	G	Blake Pietila, Michigan Tech
Jake Livingstone, Minnesota State	align=center	D	Colin Swoyer, Michigan Tech
Elias Rosén, Bemidji State	align=center	D	Jacob Bengtsson, Lake Superior State
Nathan Smith, Minnesota State	align=center	F	Owen Sillinger, Bemidji State
Brian Halonen, Michigan Tech	align=center	F	Louis Boudon, Lake Superior State
Julian Napravnik, Minnesota State	align=center	F	Trenton Bliss, Michigan Tech
	align=center	F	AJ Vanderbeck, Northern Michigan
Rookie Team^[17]	Position
Mattias Sholl, Bemidji State	align=center	G
Charlie Glockner, Northern Michigan	align=center	G
Eric Parker, Bowling Green	align=center	D
Bennett Zmolek, Minnesota State	align=center	D
Bradley Marek, Ferris State	align=center	F
Austen Swankler, Bowling Green	align=center	F
Josh Nixon, Lake Superior State	align=center	F

NCAA tournament


Player	Pos	Team
		Minnesota State
		Minnesota State

2022 NHL Entry Draft

See main article: 2022 NHL Entry Draft.

7	217	Reese Laubach^†	Minnesota State	San Jose Sharks
7	219	Cade Littler^†	Minnesota State	Calgary Flames

† incoming freshman^[18]

Notes and References

Web site: Composite Schedule . Central Collegiate Hockey Association . August 30, 2021.
Web site: Seven NCAA hockey schools leaving WCHA rebranding themselves as new CCHA conference . USCHO.com . February 18, 2020 . February 19, 2020.
Web site: D-III Powerhouse St. Thomas Is Getting Kicked Out of Its Conference Because It's Too Good at Sports . Sports Illustrated . May 22, 2019 . July 29, 2020.
Web site: At the rink, it's 'Tommie Time,' as St. Thomas moves hockey programs to Division I . Duluth News Tribune . July 15, 2020 . July 29, 2020.
Web site: St. Thomas men’s team moves to Division I, will join new CCHA for 2021-22 season . USCHO.com . July 29, 2020 . July 29, 2020.
Web site: As CCHA rejects Alabama Huntsville membership, Atlantic Hockey yet to respond, UAH suspends operations immediately . USCHO.com . May 5, 2021 . July 29, 2020.
Web site: Staff and Board. You Can Play Project. August 30, 2021.
Web site: Men's Ice Hockey Coaching Records. NCAA. 2015. March 9, 2016.
News: 2021-2022 Men's Ice Hockey Conference Statistics . CCHA . July 16, 2022.
News: 2021-2022 Men's Ice Hockey Conference Statistics . CCHA . July 16, 2022.
Web site: USCHO Division I Men's Poll . USCHO.com . November 26, 2019.
Web site: USA Today Men's Poll . USCHO.com . November 26, 2019.
Web site: Men's Division I PairWise Rankings . USCHO.com . November 26, 2019.
News: Four players return to 2021-22 Division I men’s All-American teams, led by three-time pick Dryden McKay . USCHO.com . April 8, 2022 . April 8, 2022.
Web site: Six players earn All-CCHA First Team honors . CCHA . March 15, 2022 . March 16, 2022.
Web site: Four teams represented on All-CCHA Second Team . CCHA . March 15, 2022 . March 16, 2022.
Web site: Six teams represented on CCHA All-Rookie Team . CCHA . March 14, 2022 . March 16, 2022.
News: NCAA player rankings, selections in 2022 NHL Draft . USCHO.com . July 9, 2022.