2022–23 UMass Minutemen ice hockey season explained

The 2022–23 UMass Minutemen ice hockey season was the 91st season of play for the program, the 30th at the Division I level, and 29th in Hockey East. The Minutemen represented the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season were coached by Greg Carvel in his 7th season, and played their home games at Mullins Center.

Season

In the offseason, Garrett Wait suffered a potentially career-ending knee injury during a workout. He was medically disqualified from playing during the 2022–23 season.^[1] Beside Wait, the Minumemen would have to deal with the loss of several key players as their leaders on offense (Bobby Trivigno), defense (Matthew Kessel) and in goal (Matt Murray) all had to be replaced. Coach Carvel brought in a talent-laden recruiting class to do just that with 4 freshmen who were already NHL draft picks as well as two drafted transfers. UMass was ranked highly entering the season, making the top 10 in both polls and was picked to finish 3rd in Hockey East.^[2]

Early on, everything looked to be going well for the Minutemen. After an iffy start, the team swept the defending national champions, Denver, and were undefeated through their first 6 games. An overtime loss to Merrimack dented their record slightly but by the beginning of November, UMass was in the top-5 and seemingly well on their way to another NCAA tournament. Unfortunately, once the team got into conference play, the defense began to falter. Massachusetts was unable to provide its netminders with much support, allowing more than 34 shots against per game. The increased opportunities turned into goals and, despite having a nearly identical save percentage, the Minutemen allowed 15 more goals against in 2 fewer games. While those numbers weren't disastrous by themselves, the team had also declined on the offensive side. None of the team's players were able to make up for the loss of its top three forwards and just one player was able to get into double-digit goal totals. The team scored 23 fewer goals than the year before, putting them at a -38 goal differential.

Despite the trouble, UMass recovered during the holidays and held a winning record in early January. At the Frozen Fenway, the team began a 6-game losing streak and dropped out of the polls for the first time in years. They were able to recover to finish out the final 8 games at a .500 clip. The Minutemen had done so poorly in their conference games that the team finished 9th in the standings and were forced to start in the first round. They faced Boston College in a battle between two disappointing teams. UMass hardly put up a fight, getting outshot 18–42 and ending its season with a 2–5 loss.

Departures

Matt Baker	Forward	Graduation (signed with Adirondack Thunder)
Anthony Del Gaizo	Forward	Graduation (retired)
Slava Demin	Defenseman	Graduate transfer to Merrimack
Cam Donaldson	Forward	Graduation (retired)
Ty Farmer	Defenseman	Graduate transfer to North Dakota
Colin Felix	Defenseman	Graduation (signed with Lehigh Valley Phantoms)
	Defenseman	Signed professional contract (St. Louis Blues)
Josh Lopina	Forward	Signed professional contract (Anaheim Ducks)
Oliver MacDonald	Forward	Transferred to Western Michigan
	Goaltender	Graduation (signed with Texas Stars)
	Forward	Graduation (signed with New York Rangers)

Recruiting

Mikey Adamson	Defenseman	21	Quincy, MA
Harrison Ballard	Forward	18	Scottsdale, AZ
Cole Brady	Goaltender	21	Pickering, ON transfer from Arizona State; selected 127th overall in 2019
Michael Cameron	Forward	20	Berwyn, PA
Kenny Connors	Forward	19	Glen Mills, PA selected 103rd overall in 2022
Tyson Dyck	Forward	18	Abbotsford, BC selected 206th overall in 2022
Noah Ellis	Defenseman	20	Urbandale, IA selected 184th overall in 2020
Matt Koopman	Forward	24	Marblehead, MA graduate transfer from Providence
Elliott McDermott	Defenseman	23	Kingston, ON transfer from Colgate
Owen Murray	Defenseman	19	Decker, MB
Joshua Nodler	Forward	21	Oak Park, MI transfer from Michigan State; selected 150th overall in 2019
Kennedy O'Connor	Defenseman	21	Springfield, MA
Cole O'Hara	Forward	20	Richmond Hill, ON selected 114th overall in 2022

Roster

As of August 6, 2022.^[3]

Schedule and results

Scoring statistics

	35	9	22	31	16
	32	9	17	26	8
	32	8	16	24	25
	30	8	14	22	6
	31	7	14	21	29
	32	4	13	17	14
	33	4	10	14	20
	35	3	11	14	33
	32	10	2	12	54
	31	9	3	12	0
	28	5	4	9	8
	35	5	4	9	0
	25	2	7	9	8
	33	1	6	7	16
	32	1	5	6	8
	27	2	3	5	8
	32	2	1	3	8
	21	1	2	3	12
	35	1	2	3	10
	11	1	1	2	4
	23	1	1	2	6
	21	0	2	2	2
	11	1	0	1	6
	12	0	1	1	2
	2	0	0	0	0
	8	0	0	0	0
	23	0	0	0	0
Total		94	161	255	393

^[4]

Goaltending statistics

	11	256:16	1	2	1	10	117	0	.921	2.34
	24	1265:40	8	10	4	58	671	2	.920	2.75
	17	600:06	4	5	0	31	303	1	.907	3.10
Empty Net	-	14:01	-	-	-	4	-	-	-	-
Total	35	2122:02	13	17	3	103	1091	3	.914	2.89

Rankings

See main article: 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey rankings.

Poll	Week
Poll	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	26	27 (Final)
USCHO.com	10	bgcolor=FFFFFF	-	13	13	6	5	5	11	16	17	15	13	15	bgcolor=FFFFFF	-	15	19	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	bgcolor=FFFFFF	-	NR
USA Today	10	10	13	14	6	5	5	10	15	17	15	12	15	15	15	17	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR

Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 1, 13, or 26.^[5]

Players drafted into the NHL

2023 NHL Entry Draft

2	38	Michael Hrabal ^†	Arizona Coyotes
3	80	Aydar Suniev ^†	Calgary Flames
4	117	Larry Keenan ^†	Detroit Red Wings
7	215	Nicholas Vantassell ^†	Ottawa Senators

† incoming freshman^[6]

Notes and References

Web site: Former Gopher Garrett Wait's career may be over after suffering serious off-season injury . The Rink Live . July 27, 2022 . September 6, 2022.
Web site: NORTHEASTERN PICKED TO TOP HOCKEY EAST MEN'S LEAGUE . Hockey East . September 13, 2022 . April 6, 2023.
Web site: 2022–23 Roster . UMass Athletics . September 6, 2017.
News: UMass (Amherst) 2022-2023 Skater Stats . Elite Prospects . July 2, 2020.
Web site: USCHO Division I Men's Poll . USCHO.com . November 26, 2019.
News: NCAA player rankings, selections in 2023 NHL Draft . USCHO.com . June 30, 2023.