NCHC Media Day is this week, and we’ll be there with unprecedented coverage on my radio show. The show itself is pre-empted on Wednesday due to an early Twins game, but I will be recording 12 interviews at Media Day. Be listening weekdays 10am-11am throughout the rest of September as we sprinkle in these conversations.
I’ll be taping Wednesday with:
–UMD captain Luke Loheit
–North Dakota coach Brad Berry and captain Riese Gaber
–St. Cloud State coach Brett Larson and captain Dylan Anhorn
–Western Michigan coach Pat Ferschweiler and captain Luke Grainger
–Colorado College coach Kris Mayotte
–Denver coach David Carle
–Miami coach Chris Bergeron
–Omaha coach Mike Gabinet
–NCHC Director of Officiating Mike Schmitt
(If you’re curious, we are speaking with UMD coach Scott Sandelin separately, and that will be live on the show Sept. 21.)
The exact playback schedule is TBD, but you can follow along with the radio show’s Twitter/X account, and catch the podcast every weekday if you miss the show!
The league’s annual media poll results will be out ahead of Media Day, so here is our annual look at how I chose to slot the eight teams ahead of the opener Oct. 7 (for half the league) and Oct. 13 (for the other half).
Feels like this is said every year, but trying to choose an order of finish in this league keeps getting more difficult. This year, as I’ll detail, it feels like we have a pretty well-defined No. 1 and No. 8, but the situation in between is clear as mud.
You know the (stolen) format. 8 teams, 8 thoughts. Leggo.
8 THOUGHTS
1. Denver Pioneers
2022-23: 30-10 overall, 19-5 NCHC (1st); Lost to Cornell in NCAA Manchester Regional semifinal
Carle’s outfit is loaded yet again, and when you consider my long-standing rule on these polls (“Pick the team with the fewest holes”), the choice is quite easy.
Yes, Denver has to replace goal-scoring machine Carter Mazur. Yes, bell-cow goalie Magnus Chrona is gone. But don’t worry. The cupboard is far from bare.
Freddie Halyk will come in to compete for the starting goaltender job with holdovers Matt Davis and Jack Caruso. The massive goalie (6-6) brings a lot of junior experience to Denver, but Davis got the bulk of the work when Chrona sat the last two years, and there’s no way he cedes the net easily.
Halyk is part of a tremendous freshman class for the Pioneers, one that features multiple top prospects who could contribute quickly. Playmaking defensemen Boston Buckberger and Zeev Buium (younger brother of DU junior Shai) are in this fall, joined by big blue-liner Garrett Brown, a fourth-round pick of Winnipeg’s in 2022. Forward Miko Mattika (2022 draftee of Arizona) also joins after a 27-goal campaign in the USHL last year.
Oh, and the likes of Massimo Rizzo, Aidan Thompson, Jack Devine, and Sean Behrens are all back for Denver.
They’ll be just fine.
Projected ceiling: 1st
Projected floor: 2nd
2. St. Cloud State Huskies
2022-23: 25-13-3 overall, 12-9-3 NCHC (4th); Lost to Minneota in NCAA Fargo Regional final
You know what to expect with Larson’s Huskies. Yes, they lost a ton of experience in the middle of the rink with Grant Cruikshank and Jami Krannila both moving on. But Mason Salquist showed a lot last year, including winning 55 percent of his draws, and Nashville prospect Adam Ingram projects to move to center, which is a more natural position for him. Ingram had 23 points last season, and well let’s just say I drew an early conclusion.
I've seen enough of Adam Ingram over the 32 times UMD played SCSU this season (ok fine it was 7) to know he's gonna be a problem. https://t.co/pgKsvxxvzR
— Bruce Ciskie (@BruceCiskie) March 25, 2023
Verner Miettinen (younger brother of Veeti) also jumps into the center conversation for SCSU this fall, as do a couple other incoming freshmen. Here’s the thing: Larson has a lot of youth there, but it’s older youth, as these are 20-year-old freshmen, not 18 or 19 like we’ve seen recently at UMD. Of course there will be growing pains, but the hope is the learning curve won’t be as steep.
Dominic Basse returns in goal after a successful time-share with the departed Jaxon Castor last year. He’s joined by Isak Posch, who led the Minnesota Wilderness to the NAHL Midwest Division title last spring, and James Gray, who red-shirted last year.
Larson has a much younger team, but it’s a talented one with loads of promise. Basse might be the key, however, because he’s no longer competing with an experienced veteran and instead two guys who’ve combined for as many college games as I’ve played in.
Projected ceiling: 1st
Projected floor: 5th
3. UMD Bulldogs
2022-23: 16-20-1 overall, 10-14 NCHC (T-5th); Lost to St. Cloud State (three games) in NCHC quarterfinal
“HOMER!,” they cried.
They might be right.
Everyone in this league has holes. A fatal flaw, if you will.
For UMD, that fatal flaw last year was *drumroll* the back line. I’m going to quote this stat until I’m blue in the face, so here it goes.
“As much as UMD’s goaltending was problematic last season at times, it also has to be a stronger defensive team in front of those goalies. The 29.1 shots per game UMD conceded last season was nearly three more per game than 2021-22 (26.5), and higher than any single season since 2004-05, nearly two decades ago.”
This is a program that got where it got not only with elite goaltending and defensive play, but with some of the best puck possession and shot suppression in the sport. Sandelin talked over the summer about wanting to see his team play more aggressively this season, sentiments Loheit preached in a conversation we had after Memorial Day.
My bet here isn’t so much on the goal scoring picking up, even though I think it will. It isn’t on the goaltending making strides, even though I think it will.
It’s on this team generating more puck possession in the offensive zone and defending the neutral zone more like the UMD teams we saw a few years ago. Is it boring? Yes. Is it the identity of this program and how they have to win? Also yes.
More to come with a UMD-centric preview before the opener.
Projected ceiling: 2nd
Projected floor: 7th
4. Western Michigan Broncos
2022-23: 23-15-1 overall, 15-8-1 NCHC (2nd); Lost to Boston University in NCAA Manchester Regional semifinal
Top scorers Jason Polin, Ryan McAlister, and Max Sasson are all gone, having turned pro (McAlister left after an outstanding freshman season). Top defenseman Aidan Fulp turned pro. Those are big shoes to fill.
Sound familiar? It should. Ferschweiler guided the Broncos to their best NCHC standings finish a year after losing the likes of Ethen Frank, Ronnie Attard, and Drew Worrad, along with top goalie Brandon Bussi.
This might be a more difficult lift for the Broncos, but they figure to land nicely in this pack of talented teams in the NCHC.
Ferschweiler shopped the portal, grabbing forwards Sam Colangelo (Northeastern), Joe Cassetti (Miami), Matteo Costantini (North Dakota), and Ethan Phillips (BU). Grainger’s 12 goals are the most of any returning player, but the Broncos are counting on more from their captain, along with impact from all the newcomers.
Cameron Rowe is back in goal after the Wisconsin transfer had a solid debut season for the Broncos in 2022-23.
Projected ceiling: 2nd
Projected floor: 6th
5. North Dakota Fighting Hawks
2022-23: 18-15-6 overall, 10-10-4 NCHC (T-5th); Lost to St. Cloud State in NCHC semifinal
Want some roster turnover? Here’s North Dakota.
Meet the new defensemen. Every one of them different than the old defensemen.
In a move that I have to think is unprecedented in the sport’s history, North Dakota has eight defensemen on its 2023-24 roster, and not a single one of them played for UND last season. To add to it, the only returning goalie (Kaleb Johnson) played in one game last season.
Now, Berry isn’t turning the program over to a bunch of ragtags. Seven transfers are among UND’s 14 newcomers, and one of them is ex-Miami goalie Ludvig Persson, who stole a lot of hockey games for the often-undermanned RedHawks over his three years there. Persson figures to start at UND from the, well, start.
The new blue line features transfers Logan Britt (Quinnipiac and Sacred Heart), Keaton Pehrson (Michigan), Garrett Pyke (Alaska), and Bennett Zmolek (Minnesota State). Zmolek didn’t play last season after hip surgery, but figures to be a big minutes guy for the Fighting Hawks. Freshmen Jake Livanavage and Abram Wiebe have loads of potential.
Jackson Blake and Gaber return up front, and Berry has plenty of talent to work with up front.
Projected ceiling: 3rd
Projected floor: 7th
6. Colorado College Tigers
2022-23: 13-22-3 overall, 6-15-3 NCHC (7th); Lost to St. Cloud State in NCHC championship
We’ve talked at length about the decision Colorado College coach Kris Mayotte made to not be overly active in the transfer portal.
North Dakota will have seven new transfers on its roster in 2023-24. Colorado College has one, in projected backup goalie Henry Wilder, who joined after three years at Boston College.
“It doesn’t mean that we don’t look at the portal and get intrigued by guys,” said Mayotte at last year’s NCHC Media Day. “Looking at where we are and what we’re trying to build and how we believe the right way to build it is, we just were not very active in that pond right now.”
If nothing else, they were even less active in it this past offseason, and that was likely by design. Just look at the young talent Mayotte has already assembled in Colorado Springs.
Sophomore goalie Kaidan Mbereko was an All-Rookie pick from basically anyone who did All-Rookie teams. He won NCHC Goaltender of the Month twice, finishing with an eye-popping .925 save percentage and seemed to get even better as the lights got brighter. Just ask Western Michigan about the NCHC quarterfinals in Kalamazoo, or Denver about the NCHC semifinal in St. Paul.
Classmate Noah Laba is going to be a massive problem for NCHC centers as he gains more and more experience, and the Tigers are excited to get a full season out of Gleb Veremyev, who was lost for the season in early November.
I said a few weeks ago that I believe Colorado College will make the NCAA Tournament in either 2024 or 2025. Picking the Tigers sixth in the NCHC isn’t projecting a lot of confidence in that 2024 timeline. In fairness, for as great as Mbereko was, this was a team that struggled to possess the puck and score goals at even strength. CC averaged just 1.61 goals per game in league play, while averaging a shot differential of minus-5.5 per game.
It might not be reasonable to expect an NCAA run, but there are real expectations in Colorado Springs for the first time in a while, and the future is as bright as the lights in Ed Robson Arena.
Projected ceiling: 4th
Projected floor: 8th
7. Omaha Mavericks
2022-23: 19-15-3 overall, 13-9-2 NCHC (3rd); Lost to North Dakota (three games) in NCHC quarterfinal
This was a really tough placement, probably the one I struggled with most. Omaha surprised last season, winning 13 league games and finished third in the league, earning home ice in the quarterfinals. Unfortunately for the Mavericks, they stubbed their toe and lost to UND in three games, ending their season.
Leading scorer Jack Randl returns, but gone are Tyler Weiss, Jonny Tychonick, Cameron Berg (transferred to UND), and Jake Pivonka, among others. The strength of this Omaha team could lie in the back end, where goalie Simon Latkoczy emerged in the second half of last season. The blue line features young guys like Jacob Guevin, Joakim Lemay, and Victor Mancini, along with former Duluth Marshall standout Nolan Krenzen, who is inexplicably a senior now.
Randl, Ty Mueller, and Matt Miller return to lead the offense, but the Mavericks will miss Weiss’ slick playmaking and Berg’s versatility in the middle.
Latkoczy will compete with Seth Eisele (Lake Superior State transfer) for minutes, and both will need to be strong. Omaha’s schedule is tough, featuring Ohio State and a trip to the Desert Hockey Classic non-conference, and the NCHC slate has Omaha only playing Miami and Colorado College for two games apiece, everyone else for four.
Projected ceiling: 3rd
Projected floor: 7th
8. Miami RedHawks
2022-23: 8-24-4 overall; 3-18-3 NCHC (8th); Lost to Denver (two games) in NCHC quarterfinal
It just never seems to get easier for Miami. The RedHawks struggled again to generate puck possession and offense, and therefore spent an inordinate amount of time fishing the puck out of their own net. This all came despite having a tremendously talented goalie in Persson, who moved on to North Dakota via the portal.
On the bright side, leading scorer Matthew Barbolini returns for his senior season after a 25-point campaign. Problem: There isn’t much experienced scoring depth behind him. John Waldron returns after scoring nine last year, Max Dukovac is back after a 15-point campaign, but Cassetti took his ten goals to Western Michigan, and Red Savage moved on to Michigan State.
I do think Miami’s overall depth is better, but the challenge for Chris Bergeron is building a team that can possess the puck and keep from being massively outshot in games. Miami’s one asset last season with such a stylistic issue was proven goaltending. The RedHawks can’t lean on Persson anymore, and that means they have to find other ways to keep pucks away from their net.
If that happens, Miami could surprise.
Projected ceiling: 6th
Projected floor: 8th
