2021–22 NCHC season explained

Color:	color:white; background:#b5121b;
Color Text:	white
Season:	2021–22
Season:	2021–22
Conference:	National Collegiate Hockey Conference
Shortconference:	NCHC
Division:	Division I
Sport:	ice hockey
Pixels:	225 px
Duration:	October 2, 2021– April 9, 2022
No Of Teams:	8
Draft:
Top Pick:	Victor Mancini
Picked By:	New York Rangers
Regular Season:
Season Champs:	Denver North Dakota
Mvp:	Bobby Brink
Mvp Link:	NCHC Player of the Year
Top Scorer:	Bobby Brink
Tournament:
Tournament Champs:	Minnesota Duluth
Tournament Place:	Western Michigan
Mvp2:	Ryan Fanti
Mvp Link2:	Frozen Faceoff MVP
Top Scorer2:	Koby Bender (6)
Ncaa:
Bids:	5
Conf Rec:	6–4
Best:	NCAA Champion
Ncaa Team:	Denver
Prevseason:	2020–21
Nextseason:	2022–23
Labelstyle:	background:#eeeeee;

The 2021–22 NCHC season is the 9th season of play for National Collegiate Hockey Conference and will take place during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season. The regular season is set to begin on October 2, 2021, and conclude on March 5, 2022.^[1] The conference tournament is scheduled to begin in mid March, 2022.

Coaches

Kris Mayotte was named as Colorado College's 15th head coach shortly after end of their 20–21 season.^[2]

Pat Ferschweiler was promoted to head coach after the retirement of Andy Murray.^[3]

Records

Team	Head coach	Season at school	Record at school	NCHC record
Colorado College		1	0–0–0	0–0–0
Denver		4	55–34–12	31–31–9
Miami		3	13–39–7	10–34–5
Minnesota Duluth		22	406–332–91	107–69–17
North Dakota		7	138–63–24	85–46–14
Omaha		5	54–69–9	37–52–7
St. Cloud State		4	63–32–9	44–23–5
Western Michigan		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.

NCHC had a strong showing against non-conference opponents. As a whole, the league won a majority of their games against every other conference but one (tied with ECAC). While three member teams finished with losing records, the other five more than balanced out the scales. The NCHC also played a good number of games against highly ranked opponents. While the results in those games was about even, the bonus the teams received from those matches helped put five league members into the NCAA tournament.

Regular season record

Team							Total
Colorado College	1–1–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–2–2	1–1–0	1–1–0	3–5–2
Denver	3–0–1	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–2–0	4–0–0	7–2–1
Miami	1–1–0	0–2–0	1–2–1	0–0–0	0–0–0	1–1–0	3–6–1
Minnesota Duluth	0–0–0	2–1–0	2–4–0	0–0–0	1–0–0	2–0–0	7–5–0
North Dakota	2–0–0	1–2–0	1–1–0	1–3–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	5–6–0
Omaha	0–0–0	0–0–0	1–1–0	1–1–0	2–0–0	6–0–0	10–2–0
St. Cloud State	0–0–0	3–1–0	5–1–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	8–2–0
Western Michigan	0–0–0	2–1–0	2–0–0	4–0–0	0–0–0	0–0–0	8–1–0
Overall	7–2–1	8–7–0	12–9–1	6–6–2	4–3–0	14–2–0	51–29–4

Statistics

Leading scorers

GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalties in minutes^[4]

Player	Class	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
	Junior		24	9	26	35	18
	Sophomore		24	13	12	25	23
	Graduate		24	12	13	25	16
	Senior		24	4	21	25	12
	Senior		24	11	13	24	18
	Freshman		24	10	14	24	28
	Sophomore		19	9	14	23	10
	Graduate		23	16	7	23	12
	Senior		18	4	18	22	10
	Sophomore		24	8	13	21	8
	Senior		24	8	13	21	27
	Senior		24	8	13	21	21
	Junior		24	8	13	21	16

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

Player	Class	Team	GP	Min	W	L	T	GA	SO	SV%	GAA
	Junior		23	1360	9	9	4	48	3	.917	2.12
	Junior		22	1279	16	6	0	46	6	.907	2.16
	Senior		20	1135	15	4	0	41	1	.919	2.17
	Graduate		23	1299	10	9	4	56	2	.904	2.59
	Junior		24	1432	14	9	1	67	3	.911	2.81

Conference tournament

See main article: 2022 NCHC Tournament.

NCAA tournament

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

Regional semifinal

West

Regional final

West

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
	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

Colorado College	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
Denver	13	12	11	8	11	11	14	11	12	12	11	8	7	6	5	5	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	1
Miami	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
Minnesota Duluth	6	5	5	5	4	4	4	4	2	1	5	6	8	7	7	7	6	6	7	8	11	10	8	6	5
North Dakota	8	8	7	6	6	8	7	6	6	7	7	5	5	10	9	13	12	12	9	7	4	5	5	7	9
Omaha	17	17	13	11	10	9	11	9	9	10	14	14	15	15	16	16	18	18	NR	NR	20	19	NR	NR	NR
St. Cloud State	2	2	2	3	1	1	1	2	5	5	6	7	4	5	6	6	7	10	8	11	10	9	12	11	11
Western Michigan	NR	NR	19	17	13	10	9	13	7	6	4	4	3	3	4	3	5	5	6	6	8	7	7	4	6

^[5]

USA Today

Colorado College	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
Denver	NR	13	11	8	12	13	NR	12	11	11	10	8	6	6	6	5	3	3	3	3	3	3	2	4	3	1
Miami	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
Minnesota Duluth	6	5	5	5	4	3	4	4	2	1	5	5	8	7	7	7	7	6	7	9	10	10	8	3	6	5
North Dakota	7	7	6	6	6	10	7	6	5	7	7	5	5	11	10	13	11	12	10	7	5	5	5	8	9	9
Omaha	NR	15	14	11	9	7	11	10	9	10	14	15	15	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR
St. Cloud State	3	1	2	3	1	1	1	2	6	6	6	7	4	4	5	6	6	10	8	11	11	9	10	11	11	11
Western Michigan	NR	NR	NR	NR	11	11	10	13	7	5	4	4	3	3	3	3	5	5	5	6	8	7	7	5	5	6

^[6]

Pairwise

Colorado College	14	48	52	46	44	47	39	39	41	38	39	35	32	33	35	34	39	39	41	41	42	43	45
Denver	14	20	3	13	21	37	9	4	8	5	3	2	5	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	bgcolor=gold	4
Miami	8	34	46	40	41	41	41	42	46	46	44	45	44	46	49	49	50	45	43	43	45	43	46
Minnesota Duluth	14	25	6	3	3	1	1	1	1	1	5	8	7	8	8	9	7	5	8	11	11	9	bgcolor=gold	4
North Dakota	14	25	14	5	19	8	4	2	3	5	3	2	11	10	13	12	12	10	6	5	6	6	bgcolor=gold	7
Omaha	9	11	8	16	13	15	20	11	11	18	15	13	18	22	20	18	19	22	22	21	18	21	23
St. Cloud State	2	8	4	4	2	2	3	8	7	8	8	4	3	4	6	5	10	8	10	9	6	10	bgcolor=gold	10
Western Michigan	14	23	42	1	1	3	6	4	3	1	7	4	3	4	3	3	3	3	3	5	5	5	bgcolor=gold	3

Note: teams ranked in the top-10 automatically qualify for the NCAA tournament. Teams ranked 11-16 can qualify based upon conference tournament results.^[7]

Awards

NCAA

Award	Recipient
		Zach Driscoll, North Dakota
^[8]
West First Team	Position	Team
Ronnie Attard	D	Western Michigan
Jake Sanderson	D	North Dakota
Bobby Brink	F	Denver
West Second Team	Position	Team
Ryan Fanti	G	Minnesota Duluth
Ethen Frank	F	Western Michigan

NCHC

Award	Recipient ^[9]
		Bobby Brink, Denver
		Carter Mazur, Denver
		Ryan Fanti, Minnesota Duluth
		Bobby Brink, Denver
		Ethan Frisch, North Dakota
		Ronnie Attard, Western Michigan
		Connor Ford, North Dakota
		Drew Worrad, Western Michigan
Three Stars Award		Magnus Chrona, Denver
		Mark Senden, North Dakota
		Brad Berry, North Dakota
		Ryan Fanti, Minnesota Duluth
^[10] ^[11]
	Position	Second Team
Ryan Fanti, Minnesota Duluth	align=center	G	Zach Driscoll, North Dakota
Ronnie Attard, Western Michigan	align=center	D	Jake Sanderson, North Dakota
Nick Perbix, St. Cloud State	align=center	D	Michael Benning, Denver
Bobby Brink, Denver	align=center	F	Carter Savoie, Denver
Ethen Frank, Western Michigan	align=center	F	Drew Worrad, Western Michigan
Riese Gaber, North Dakota	align=center	F	Kevin Fitzgerald, St. Cloud State
Honorable Mention	Position	Rookie Team
Magnus Chrona, Denver	align=center	G	Jakob Hellsten, North Dakota
Brandon Scanlin, Omaha	align=center	D	Sean Behrens, Denver
Michael Joyaux, Western Michigan	align=center	D	Shai Buium, Denver
Cole Guttman, Denver	align=center	F	Carter Mazur, Denver
Noah Cates, Minnesota Duluth	align=center	F	Massimo Rizzo, Denver
Connor Ford, North Dakota	align=center	F	Matteo Costantini, North Dakota

NCHC Tournament

		Minnesota Duluth
^[12]
Player	Pos	Team
		Minnesota Duluth
		Western Michigan
		Minnesota Duluth
		Minnesota Duluth
		Western Michigan
		Minnesota Duluth

NCAA tournament

^[13]
		Denver
Player	Pos	Team
		Denver
		Denver
		Denver
		Denver

2022 NHL Entry Draft

See main article: 2022 NHL Entry Draft.

1	31	Isaac Howard^†	Minnesota Duluth	Tampa Bay Lightning
2	40	Dylan James^†	North Dakota	Detroit Red Wings
2	56	Rieger Lorenz^†	Denver	Minnesota Wild
3	67	Miko Mitikka^†	Denver	Arizona Coyotes
3	82	Adam Ingram^†	St. Cloud State	Nashville Predators
3	90	Aidan Thompson^†	Denver	Chicago Blackhawks
4	99	Garrett Brown^†	Denver	Winnipeg Jets
4	117	Cole Spicer^†	North Dakota	Boston Bruins
5	150	Zam Plante^†	Minnesota Duluth	Pittsburgh Penguins
5	159		Omaha	New York Rangers
6	164	Barrett Hall^†	St. Cloud State	Seattle Kraken
6	173		Minnesota Duluth	Chicago Blackhawks
7	209	Abram Wiebe^†	North Dakota	Vegas Golden Knights
7	210	Ben Striden^†	North Dakota	Nashville Predators
7	221		Denver	Florida Panthers

† incoming freshman^[14]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Schedule . NCHC . September 5, 2021.
2. News: Kris Mayotte Named Head Hockey Coach . Colorado College . April 7, 2021 . June 24, 2021.
3. Web site: Pat Ferschweiler - Men's Ice Hockey Coach. Western Michigan Broncos. english. August 3, 2021.
4. News: Player Stats . HCHC . July 28, 2022.
5. Web site: USCHO Division I Men's Poll . USCHO.com . November 26, 2019.
6. Web site: USA Today Men's Poll . USCHO.com . November 26, 2019.
7. Web site: Men's Division I PairWise Rankings . USCHO.com . November 26, 2019.
8. 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.
9. Web site: Denver’s Brink earns Player of the Year; UND’s Berry wins third straight Coach of the Year . nchchockey.com . March 17, 2022 . March 18, 2022.
10. Web site: Five Different Teams Represented on All-NCHC First Team . NCHC . March 9, 2022 . March 16, 2022 . March 12, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220312233118/https://www.nchchockey.com/news_article/show/1214268 . dead .
11. Web site: Record four Pioneers, two Fighting Hawks recognized for strong freshman seasons . nchchockey.com . March 8, 2022 . March 16, 2022.
12. News: UMD Blanks WMU to Capture 2022 Frozen Faceoff Title . NCHC . March 19, 2022 . March 20, 2022.
13. News: Most Outstanding Player Benning redeems himself for penalty with Denver’s game-winning goal . USCHO . April 9, 2022 . June 4, 2022. Trefzger, Ed.
14. News: NCAA player rankings, selections in 2022 NHL Draft . USCHO.com . July 9, 2022.