2021–22 Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey season explained

The 2021–22 Michigan Wolverines men's hockey team was the Wolverines' 100th season of play. They represented the University of Michigan in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season. They were coached by Mel Pearson, in his fifth year, and played their home games at Yost Ice Arena. The Wolverines won the 2022 Big Ten men's ice hockey tournament and received an automatic bid to the 2022 NCAA Tournament, where they reached their NCAA record 26th Frozen Four and were eliminated in the semifinals by eventual national champion Denver.

Previous season

During the 2020–21 season, Michigan went 15–10–1, including 11–9–0 in Big Ten play. They received an at-large bid to the 2021 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament, however, they were removed from the tournament due to positive COVID-19 test results within the program.

Departures

Jack Becker	Forward		Graduate transfer to Arizona State
Josh Groll	Forward		Transferred to Minnesota State
	Goaltender		Signed professional contract (Skellefteå AIK)
Dakota Raabe	Forward		Graduate transfer to Sacred Heart
	Defenseman		Signed professional contract (Philadelphia Flyers)

Recruiting

	Forward		18	Strongsville, OH selected 126th overall in 2021
Ethan Edwards	Forward		19	Grande Prairie, AB selected 120th overall in 2020
Mark Estapa	Forward		19	St. Clair, MI
	Defenseman		18	Manchester, NH selected 4th overall in 2021
	Forward		18	Newtown, CT selected 24th overall in 2021
Noah West	Goaltender		20	Pittsboro, IN transfer from Robert Morris

Roster

As of August 30, 2021.^[1]

Coaching staff

		5th
	Associate Head Coach	5th
Brandon Naurato	Assistant Coach	1st
Bryan Hogan	Volunteer Assistant Coach	1st
Rick Bancroft	Director of Hockey Operations	4th
Joe Maher	Head Strength and Conditioning Coach	9th
Reference:^[2]

Schedule and results

|-!colspan=12 style=";" | Exhibition|-!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular season|-!colspan=12 ! style=""; | |-!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular season|-!colspan=12 style=";" | |- style="background:#bbbbbb"| December 30| 7:00 PM| #4 Western Michigan*| align=center|#3| Yost Ice Arena • Ann Arbor, MI (Great Lakes Invitational)| colspan=5 rowspan=1 style="text-align:center"|Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic^[3] |-!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular season|-!colspan=12 style=";" | |-!colspan=12 style=";" | |-

Rankings

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

Poll	Week
	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 (Final)
USCHO.com	3	3	3	1	2	3	2	1	4	3	3	3	6	4	3	4	3	4	2	2	5	4	4	2	2 ^	3
USA Today	2	3	3	1	3	4	2	1	3	2	3	3	7	5	4	4	4	4	2	2	4	4	4	2	2	3

^USCHO.com did not release a Week 24 poll.

Awards and honors

Weekly Awards

Player	Award	Date Awarded	Ref.
Brendan Brisson	Big Ten First Star of the Week	October 12, 2021	^[4]
Owen Power	Big Ten Second Star of the Week
Brendan Brisson	Big Ten First Star of the Week	October 19, 2021	^[5]
Matty Beniers	Big Ten First Star of the Week	November 9, 2021	^[6]
Matty Beniers	Big Ten First Star of the Week	November 16, 2021	^[7]
Owen Power	Big Ten Second Star of the Week
Nick Blankenburg	Big Ten First Star of the Week	December 1, 2021	^[8]
Michael Pastujov	Big Ten First Star of the Week	December 8, 2021	^[9]
Nick Blankenburg	Big Ten Third Star of the Week	December 14, 2021	^[10]
Brendan Brisson	Big Ten Second Star of the Week	January 11, 2022	^[11]
Erik Portillo	Big Ten Third Star of the Week
Matty Beniers	Big Ten First Star of the Week	January 18, 2022	^[12]
Matty Beniers	Big Ten Second Star of the Week	February 1, 2022	^[13]
Luke Hughes	Big Ten First Star of the Week	February 15, 2022	^[14]
Luke Hughes	Big Ten First Star of the Week	February 22, 2022	^[15]

Matty Beniers	AHCA West First Team All-American	^[16]
Luke Hughes	AHCA West Second Team All-American	^[17]
Owen Power
Luke Hughes	Big Ten Freshman of the Year	^[18]
Matty Beniers	Big Ten Scoring Champion
Erik Portillo	Big Ten Tournament Most Outstanding Player
Owen Power	All-Big Ten First Team
Matty Beniers
Erik Portillo	All-Big Ten Second Team
Luke Hughes
Brendan Brisson
Luke Hughes	All-Big Ten Freshman Team
Mackie Samoskevich
Erik Portillo	Big Ten All-Tournament Team	^[19]
Luke Hughes
Mackie Samoskevich
Brendan Brisson
Matty Beniers

Players drafted into the NHL

Michigan had four players selected in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. Brendan Brisson was drafted in the first-round, becoming the 25th first-round NHL Draft selection for Michigan, which leads all NCAA teams.^{[20] [21]} Michigan had five players drafted in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. Owen Power became the first Wolverine to be drafted first overall.^[22] Michigan's 2021–22 roster had an NCAA record seven first round draft picks.^[23]

	1	1		Buffalo Sabres
	1	2		Seattle Kraken
	1	4		New Jersey Devils
	1	5		Columbus Blue Jackets
	1	24		Florida Panthers
	1	29		Vegas Golden Knights
	2	38		San Jose Sharks
	4	120	Ethan Edwards	New Jersey Devils
	5	144	Jacob Truscott	Vancouver Canucks

External links

• Official Website

Notes and References

1. Web site: MGoBlue.com: University of Michigan Official Athletic Site. 2021–22 Ice Hockey Roster. August 23, 2021.
2. Web site: Michigan Ice Hockey Coaches . CBS Interactive. MGoBlue.com . October 3, 2021.
3. Web site: Ice Hockey GLI Contest vs. Western Michigan on Dec. 30 Canceled . CBS Interactive. MGoBlue.com . Kristy . McNeil . December 27, 2021 . December 27, 2021.
4. Web site: Michigan and Minnesota Earn Three Stars Honors . https://web.archive.org/web/20211012190954/https://bigten.org/news/2021/10/12/general-michigan-and-minnesota-earn-three-stars-honors.aspx . dead . October 12, 2021 . Big Ten Conference . BigTen.org . October 12, 2021 . October 12, 2021.
5. Web site: Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State Earn Three Stars Honors . https://web.archive.org/web/20211019150126/https://bigten.org/news/2021/10/19/general-michigan-michigan-state-and-ohio-state-earn-three-stars-honors.aspx . dead . October 19, 2021 . Big Ten Conference . BigTen.org . October 19, 2021 . October 19, 2021.
6. Web site: Michigan, Ohio State and Wisconsin Earn Three Stars Honors . https://web.archive.org/web/20211109175959/https://bigten.org/news/2021/11/9/mens-ice-hockey-michigan-ohio-state-and-wisconsin-earn-three-stars-honors.aspx . dead . November 9, 2021 . Big Ten Conference . BigTen.org . November 9, 2021 . November 9, 2021.
7. Web site: Michigan and Notre Dame Earn Three Stars Honors . https://web.archive.org/web/20211116180301/https://bigten.org/news/2021/11/16/mens-ice-hockey-michigan-and-notre-dame-earn-three-stars-honors.aspx . dead . November 16, 2021 . Big Ten Conference . BigTen.org . November 16, 2021 . November 16, 2021.
8. Web site: Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State Earn Three Stars Honors . https://web.archive.org/web/20211202003318/https://bigten.org/news/2021/12/1/mens-ice-hockey-michigan-ohio-state-and-penn-state-earn-three-stars-honors.aspx . dead . December 2, 2021 . Big Ten Conference . BigTen.org . December 1, 2021 . December 1, 2021.
9. Web site: Michigan, Michigan State and Notre Dame Earn Three Stars Honors . https://web.archive.org/web/20211208160637/https://bigten.org/news/2021/12/8/general-michigan-michigan-state-and-notre-dame-earn-three-stars-honors.aspx . dead . December 8, 2021 . Big Ten Conference . BigTen.org . December 8, 2021 . December 8, 2021.
10. Web site: Michigan, Michigan State and Wisconsin Earn Three Stars Honors . https://web.archive.org/web/20211214170710/https://bigten.org/news/2021/12/14/general-michigan-michigan-state-and-wisconsin-earn-three-stars-honors.aspx . dead . December 14, 2021 . Big Ten Conference . BigTen.org . December 14, 2021 . December 14, 2021.
11. Web site: Michigan and Minnesota Claim Three Stars Honors . https://web.archive.org/web/20220111160650/https://bigten.org/news/2022/1/11/mens-ice-hockey-michigan-and-minnesota-claim-three-stars-honors.aspx . dead . January 11, 2022 . Big Ten Conference . BigTen.org . January 11, 2022 . January 11, 2022.
12. Web site: Michigan, Ohio State and Wisconsin Claim Three Stars Honors . https://web.archive.org/web/20220118170649/https://bigten.org/news/2022/1/18/general-michigan-ohio-state-and-wisconsin-claim-three-stars-honors.aspx . dead . January 18, 2022 . Big Ten Conference . BigTen.org . January 18, 2022 . January 18, 2022.
13. Web site: Michigan, Notre Dame and Ohio State Claim Three Stars Honors . https://web.archive.org/web/20220201160643/https://bigten.org/news/2022/2/1/mens-ice-hockey-michigan-notre-dame-and-ohio-state-claim-three-stars-honors.aspx . dead . February 1, 2022 . Big Ten Conference . BigTen.org . February 1, 2022 . February 1, 2022.
14. Web site: Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin Claim Three Stars Honors . https://web.archive.org/web/20220215170235/https://bigten.org/news/2022/2/15/general-michigan-minnesota-and-wisconsin-claim-three-stars-honors.aspx . dead . February 15, 2022 . Big Ten Conference . BigTen.org . February 15, 2022 . February 15, 2022.
15. Web site: Michigan, Minnesota and Notre Dame Claim Three Stars Honors . https://web.archive.org/web/20220222163635/https://bigten.org/news/2022/2/22/general-michigan-minnesota-and-notre-dame-claim-three-stars-honors.aspx . dead . February 22, 2022 . Big Ten Conference . BigTen.org . February 22, 2022 . February 22, 2022.
16. 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.
17. 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.
18. Web site: Hockey Postseason Honors Announced . https://web.archive.org/web/20220315161640/https://bigten.org/news/2022/3/15/general-hockey-postseason-honors-announced.aspx . dead . March 15, 2022 . BigTen.org . . March 15, 2022 . March 15, 2022.
19. Web site: 2022 Big Ten Hockey Tournament All-Tournament Team . https://web.archive.org/web/20221120020434/https://bigten.org/documents/2022/3/19//Hockey_All_Tournament_Team.pdf?id=7521 . dead . November 20, 2022 . BigTen.org . Big Ten Conference . March 20, 2022 . March 20, 2022.
20. Web site: Brisson Selected by Vegas Golden Knights in First Round of NHL Draft. CBS Interactive. MGoBlue.com. October 6, 2020. November 19, 2020.
21. Web site: Bordeleau, Truscott, Edwards Selected on Day 2 of NHL Draft. CBS Interactive. MGoBlue.com. October 7, 2020. November 19, 2020.
22. Web site: Power, Beniers Go First, Second in NHL Draft; Four of First Five Picks Wolverines . Kristy . McNeil . . MGoBlue.com . July 23, 2021 . July 24, 2021.
23. Web site: Meet Michigan hockey’s 7 NHL first-round picks, an NCAA record . Ryan . Zuke . . April 4, 2022 . April 4, 2022.