2023–24 Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs men's ice hockey season

The 2023–24 Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs men's ice hockey season was the 80th season of play for the program and 11th in the NCHC. The Bulldogs represented the University of Minnesota Duluth in the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, played their home games at AMSOIL Arena and were coached by Scott Sandelin in his 24th season.

2023–24 Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs
men's ice hockey season
Conference7th NCHC
Home iceAMSOIL Arena
Rankings
USCHONR
USA HockeyNR
Record
Overall12–20–5
Conference8–14–2
Home8–6–3
Road3–13–2
Neutral1–1–0
Coaches and captains
Head coachScott Sandelin
Assistant coachesAdam Krause
Cody Chupp
Brant Nicklin
Captain(s)Luke Loheit
Alternate captain(s)Dominic James
Quinn Olson
Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs men's ice hockey seasons
« 2022–23 2024–25 »

Season

edit

In August, junior defenseman Will Francis announced that his cancer had relapsed.[1] Due to treatment, he would miss at least the first half of the season but was hoping to return to the lineup by January. Unfortunately, he ended up sitting out the entire season. Unfortunately, they wasn't the only bad bit of news for the Bulldogs this year. Just 3 games into the season, Dominic James dislocated his shoulder and tore cartilage in the process. The injury required surgery to fix and he would miss the remainder of the year.[2] And then, in December, the NCAA ruled Cole Spicer academically ineligible for the remainder of the season.[3]

The loss of those three players, all NHL draft picks, hamstrung the Bulldogs from the start of the season. Duluth was able to get off to a decent start, going undefeated in their first 5 games, but everything changed when they travelled to play Cornell. The Big Red were one of the top defensive teams and demonstrated as much by holding UMD to a single goal over the weekend. That began a string of five weeks against ranked teams and the Bulldogs were only able to win one game. Though the goaltending tandem of Zach Stejskal and Matthew Thiessen wasn't quite up to par, the bigger problem for Duluth was the lack of scoring. The offense was run through Ben Steeves, who led the team in scoring for the second straight year, but beyond him the team didn't have much in the way of goal scoring.

After the terrible stretch in the first half, Duluth looked much better in January and was able to get two wins over ranked teams when its offense finally woke up, albeit on an inconsistent basis. At the start of February the team was nearly at .500 and still had a slim chance at an NCAA tournament berth but they were staring down a gauntlet of lethal opponents. The final 10 games for UMD were all against ranked teams and the Bulldogs went winless in the first eight matches. Both the offense and defense weren't up to the challenge and despite Minnesota Duluth sweeping St. Cloud State to end the regular season, the team was dropped to 7th in the conference and had no chance at securing an at-large berth.

Duluth's opponent for the first round of the conference tournament was Denver and the #3 Pioneers took no pity on the Bulldogs. After getting shutout in the first game, Denver had a 3-goal lead in the rematch and looked to be sailing to the semifinals. Goals from Luke Loheit and Kyle Bettens pulled Duluth within one with just over 2 minutes to play. Duluth pulled Thiessen for an extra attacker for their second marker but they were unable to get a third. Instead, Denver scored two empty-net goals and ended Duluth's season.

Departures

edit
Player Position Nationality Cause
Derek Daschke Forward   United States Graduation (signed with Toledo Walleye)
Isaac Howard Forward   United States Transferred to Michigan State
Jesse Jacques Forward   United States Graduation (signed with Iowa Heartlanders)
Wyatt Kaiser Defenseman   United States Signed professional contract (Chicago Blackhawks)
Tanner Laderoute Forward   Canada Graduation (signed with Wheeling Nailers)
Luke Mylymok Forward   Canada Transferred to Niagara

Recruiting

edit
Player Position Nationality Age Notes
Luke Bast Defenseman   Canada 22 Red Deer, AB; transfer from North Dakota
Braden Fischer Forward   Canada 20 Winnipeg, MB
Connor McMenamin Forward   United States 24 Collegeville, PA; graduate transfer from Penn State
Anthony Menghini Forward   United States 20 Brainerd, MN
Matthew Perkins Forward   Canada 19 Balgonie, SK; selected 119th overall in 2023
Aaron Pionk Defenseman   United States 20 Hermantown, MN; selected 149th overall in 2023

Roster

edit

As of July 10, 2023.[4]

No. S/P/C Player Class Pos Height Weight DoB Hometown Previous team NHL rights
2   Darian Gotz Senior D 5' 10" (1.78 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2000-10-19 Hermantown, Minnesota Cedar Rapids (USHL)
6   Ben Steeves Sophomore F 5' 8" (1.73 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 2002-05-10 Bedford, New Hampshire Sioux City (USHL)
7   Blake Biondi Senior F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 198 lb (90 kg) 2002-04-24 Hermantown, Minnesota Hermantown (USHS–MN) MTL, 109th overall 2020
8   Aaron Pionk Freshman D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 2003-01-16 Hermantown, Minnesota Waterloo (USHL) MIN, 149th overall 2023
11   Cole Spicer Sophomore F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 178 lb (81 kg) 2004-06-13 Grand Forks, North Dakota NTDP (USHL) BOS, 117th overall 2022
12   Jack Smith Sophomore F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 2002-07-06 St. Cloud, Minnesota Sioux Falls (USHL) MTL, 102nd overall 2020
15   Quinn Olson (A) Graduate F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 2001-05-09 Calgary, Alberta Okotoks (AJHL) BOS, 92nd overall 2019
16   Luke Loheit (C) Graduate F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 2000-07-26 Minnetonka, Minnesota Penticton (BCHL) OTT, 194th overall 2018
17   Dominic James (A) Junior F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 2002-07-03 Plymouth, Michigan Lincoln (USHL) CHI, 173rd overall 2022
18   Joey Pierce Sophomore D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 208 lb (94 kg) 2002-10-02 Hermantown, Minnesota Lincoln (USHL)
19   Riley Bodnarchuk Sophomore D 6' 4" (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 2001-06-01 Okotoks, Alberta Okotoks (AJHL)
20   Owen Gallatin Junior D 5' 8" (1.73 m) 167 lb (76 kg) 2002-06-17 Hugo, Minnesota Fargo (USHL)
21   Braden Fischer Freshman F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2002-10-02 Winnipeg, Manitoba Minot (NAHL)
22   Kyler Kleven Junior F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 172 lb (78 kg) 2000-10-12 Moorhead, Minnesota Waterloo (USHL)
23   Will Francis Junior D 6' 5" (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 2000-11-16 Saint Paul, Minnesota Cedar Rapids (USHL) ANA, 163rd overall 2019
24   Kyle Bettens Sophomore F 6' 3" (1.91 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 2001-07-04 Winnipeg, Manitoba Youngstown (USHL)
26   Anthony Menghini Freshman F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 184 lb (83 kg) 2002-12-03 Baxter, Minnesota Fargo (USHL)
28   Aiden Dubinsky Sophomore D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 2004-04-28 Highland Park, Illinois Tri-City (USHL)
31   Zach Sandy Sophomore G 6' 0" (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 2002-12-07 Fargo, North Dakota Minot (NAHL)
33   Carter Loney Junior F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 167 lb (76 kg) 2002-08-02 Columbus, Ohio Sioux City (USHL)
34   Matthew Perkins Freshman F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 156 lb (71 kg) 2004-01-21 Balgonie, Saskatchewan Youngstown (USHL) VAN, 119th overall 2023
35   Zach Stejskal Senior G 6' 5" (1.96 m) 217 lb (98 kg) 1999-12-20 Cohasset, Minnesota Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (NAHL)
36   Matthew Thiessen Graduate G 6' 2" (1.88 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 2000-06-09 Steinbach, Manitoba Maine (HEA) VAN, 192nd overall 2018
37   Luke Johnson Sophomore F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 2001-10-15 St. Cloud, Minnesota Lincoln (USHL)
38   Luke Bast Junior D 5' 10" (1.78 m) 178 lb (81 kg) 2000-11-28 Red Deer, Alberta North Dakota (NCHC)
39   Connor McMenamin Graduate F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1999-02-25 Collegeville, Pennsylvania Penn State (Big Ten)

Standings

edit
Conference record Overall record
GP W L T OTW OTL SW PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
#8 North Dakota 24 15 8 1 1 4 0 49 87 67 40 26 12 2 151 105
#1 Denver * 24 15 7 2 3 0 1 45 110 80 42 30 9 3 198 119
#18 St. Cloud State 24 11 9 4 1 3 2 41 77 74 38 17 16 5 121 114
#15 Colorado College 24 14 8 2 5 2 0 41 66 56 37 21 13 3 111 93
#12 Omaha 24 13 8 3 5 0 3 40 68 74 40 23 13 4 117 112
#14 Western Michigan 24 11 13 0 1 5 0 35 78 64 38 21 16 1 136 97
Minnesota Duluth 24 8 14 2 3 3 2 28 65 80 37 12 20 5 103 125
Miami 24 1 21 2 0 2 0 7 44 100 36 7 26 3 78 135
Championship: March 23, 2024
† indicates conference regular season champion (Penrose Cup)
* indicates conference tournament champion (Frozen Faceoff Championship Trophy)
Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll

Updated: April 1, 2024

Schedule and results

edit
Date Time Opponent# Rank# Site TV Decision Result Attendance Record
Regular Season
October 7 7:07 pm #10 Michigan Tech* #17 AMSOIL ArenaDuluth, Minnesota (US Hockey Hall of Fame Game)   Stejskal T 2–2 OT 6,017 0–0–1
October 13 7:07 pm Northern Michigan* #17 AMSOIL ArenaDuluth, Minnesota   Stejskal T 5–5 OT 5,947 0–0–2
October 14 7:07 pm Northern Michigan* #17 AMSOIL ArenaDuluth, Minnesota   Thiessen W 8–5  6,497 1–0–2
October 20 7:07 pm Bemidji State* #14 AMSOIL ArenaDuluth, Minnesota   Stejskal W 4–0  5,866 2–0–2
October 21 6:07 pm at Bemidji State* #14 Sanford CenterBemidji, Minnesota FloHockey Stejskal W 5–4 OT 2,451 3–0–2
October 27 6:00 pm at #12 Cornell* #11 Lynah RinkIthaca, New York ESPN+ Stejskal L 1–4  4,316 3–1–2
October 28 6:00 pm at #12 Cornell* #11 Lynah RinkIthaca, New York ESPN+ Thiessen L 0–3  4,316 3–2–2
November 3 7:00 pm at #6 Minnesota* #14 3M Arena at MariucciMinneapolis, Minnesota (Rivalry) Fox 9+, BTN+ Stejskal L 1–5  10,739 3–3–2
November 4 7:00 pm at #6 Minnesota* #14 3M Arena at MariucciMinneapolis, Minnesota (Rivalry) Fox 9+, BTN+ Thiessen T 3–3 OT 7,345 3–3–3
November 10 7:07 pm #4 North Dakota #18 AMSOIL ArenaDuluth, Minnesota   Thiessen L 2–4  6,437 3–4–3 (0–1–0)
November 11 6:07 pm #4 North Dakota #18 AMSOIL ArenaDuluth, Minnesota   Thiessen L 0–2  6,833 3–5–3 (0–2–0)
November 17 7:30 pm at #19 St. Cloud State Herb Brooks National Hockey CenterSt. Cloud, Minnesota Fox 9+ Thiessen L 1–2  3,627 3–6–3 (0–3–0)
November 18 6:00 pm at #19 St. Cloud State Herb Brooks National Hockey CenterSt. Cloud, Minnesota Fox 9+ Thiessen L 5–6  4,211 3–7–3 (0–4–0)
December 1 7:07 pm #20 Omaha AMSOIL ArenaDuluth, Minnesota   Stejskal W 4–2  5,889 4–7–3 (1–4–0)
December 2 5:07 pm #20 Omaha AMSOIL ArenaDuluth, Minnesota   Stejskal L 0–1 OT 6,538 4–8–3 (1–5–0)
December 8 6:05 pm at Miami Steve Cady ArenaOxford, Ohio   Stejskal T 3–3 SOW 1,889 4–8–4 (1–5–1)
December 9 6:05 pm at Miami Steve Cady ArenaOxford, Ohio   Stejskal W 3–1  2,092 5–8–4 (2–5–1)
Holiday Face–Off
December 28 4:00 pm vs. Northeastern* Fiserv ForumMilwaukee, Wisconsin (Holiday Face–Off Semifinal) BSW Stejskal L 3–4 OT 8,652 5–9–4
December 29 4:00 pm vs. Air Force* Fiserv ForumMilwaukee, Wisconsin (Holiday Face–Off Consolation Game) BSW Stejskal W 4–1  8,689 6–9–4
January 6 4:07 pm at St. Thomas* St. Thomas Ice ArenaMendota Heights, Minnesota (Exhibition) FloHockey Sandy L 1–3  1,058
January 12 7:07 pm #17 Colorado College AMSOIL ArenaDuluth, Minnesota SOCO CW Stejskal W 3–2 OT 5,671 7–9–4 (3–5–1)
January 13 7:07 pm #17 Colorado College AMSOIL ArenaDuluth, Minnesota   Stejskal L 2–3 OT 6,246 7–10–4 (3–6–1)
January 19 6:00 pm at #11 Western Michigan Lawson ArenaKalamazoo, Michigan   Thiessen W 6–3  3,566 8–10–4 (4–6–1)
January 20 5:00 pm at #11 Western Michigan Lawson ArenaKalamazoo, Michigan   Thiessen L 2–5  3,648 8–11–4 (4–7–1)
January 26 7:07 pm Miami AMSOIL ArenaDuluth, Minnesota   Stejskal W 6–2  6,004 9–11–4 (5–7–1)
January 27 7:07 pm Miami AMSOIL ArenaDuluth, Minnesota   Stejskal W 3–2 OT 6,094 10–11–4 (6–7–1)
February 2 7:07 pm at #20 Omaha Baxter ArenaOmaha, Nebraska CBSSN Stejskal L 1–5  7,075 10–12–4 (6–8–1)
February 3 7:07 pm at #20 Omaha Baxter ArenaOmaha, Nebraska   Thiessen L 3–4  7,802 10–13–4 (6–9–1)
February 16 7:07 pm #5 Denver AMSOIL ArenaDuluth, Minnesota CBSSN Stejskal L 4–5 OT 5,598 10–14–4 (6–10–1)
February 17 7:07 pm #5 Denver AMSOIL ArenaDuluth, Minnesota   Stejskal L 2–5  6,131 10–15–4 (6–11–1)
February 23 7:07 pm at #4т North Dakota Ralph Engelstad ArenaGrand Forks, North Dakota Midco Stejskal L 0–6  11,670 10–16–4 (6–12–1)
February 24 6:07 pm at #4т North Dakota Ralph Engelstad ArenaGrand Forks, North Dakota Midco Thiessen L 2–4  11,693 10–17–4 (6–13–1)
March 1 8:00 pm at #11 Colorado College Ed Robson ArenaColorado Springs, Colorado SOCO CW Thiessen T 2–2 SOW 3,602 10–17–5 (6–13–2)
March 2 7:00 pm at #11 Colorado College Ed Robson ArenaColorado Springs, Colorado SOCO CW Thiessen L 1–4  3,600 10–18–5 (6–14–2)
March 8 7:07 pm #17 St. Cloud State AMSOIL ArenaDuluth, Minnesota   Thiessen W 4–2  5,446 11–18–5 (7–14–2)
March 9 6:07 pm #17 St. Cloud State AMSOIL ArenaDuluth, Minnesota   Sandy W 6–5  5,012 12–18–5 (8–14–2)
NCHC Tournament
March 15 8:07 pm at #3 Denver* Magness ArenaDenver, Colorado (Quarterfinal Game 1)   Thiessen L 0–4  5,461 12–19–5
March 16 7:07 pm at #3 Denver* Magness ArenaDenver, Colorado (Quarterfinal Game 2)   Thiessen L 2–5  6,005 12–20–5
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Central Time.
Source:[5]

Scoring statistics

edit
Name Position Games Goals Assists Points PIM
Ben Steeves LW 37 24 10 34 30
Owen Gallatin D 37 7 23 30 24
Connor McMenamin LW 35 6 15 21 10
Quinn Olson C/LW 37 4 17 21 10
Luke Loheit RW 36 10 10 20 53
Aaron Pionk D 37 3 17 20 22
Blake Biondi C 34 8 11 19 29
Kyle Bettens C/RW 36 6 12 18 14
Matthew Perkins C 35 6 9 15 12
Aiden Dubinsky D 37 3 12 15 20
Jack Smith C/RW 34 3 9 12 12
Anthony Menghini F 37 8 2 10 43
Cole Spicer C 17 5 4 9 8
Luke Bast D 37 2 7 9 39
Darian Gotz D 37 0 6 6 37
Carter Loney C 33 3 2 5 31
Braden Fischer LW 22 1 4 5 2
Joey Pierce D 35 0 5 5 12
Riley Bodnarchuk D 30 2 2 4 6
Kyler Kleven C 25 1 2 3 13
Luke Johnson C/LW 26 1 2 3 12
Dominic James C/LW 2 0 1 1 0
Matthew Thiessen G 18 0 1 1 0
Zach Sandy G 1 0 0 0 0
Zach Stejskal G 20 0 0 0 0
Total 103 183 286 451

[6]

Goaltending statistics

edit
Name Games Minutes Wins Losses Ties Goals Against Saves Shut Outs SV % GAA
Matthew Thiessen 18 1014:03 3 11 2 53 500 0 .904 3.14
Zach Stejskal 20 1161:56 8 9 3 58 513 1 .898 3.00
Zach Sandy 1 64:53 1 0 0 5 33 0 .868 4.62
Empty Net - 22:02 - - - 9 - - - -
Total 37 2262:54 12 20 5 125 1048 1 .893 3.31

Rankings

edit
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 26 (Final)
USCHO.com 17 17 14 11 14 18 NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR
USA Hockey 17 18 14 12 14 18 NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR

Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 11 or 25.[7]
Note: USA Hockey did not release a poll in week 12.

Awards and honors

edit
Player Award Ref
Darian Gotz NCHC Sportsmanship Award [8]
Ben Steeves NCHC Second Team [9]
Round Pick Player NHL team
2 42 Adam Kleber Buffalo Sabres
2 47 Max Plante Detroit Red Wings

† incoming freshman [10]

References

edit
  1. ^ "Minnesota Duluth blueliner Francis announces cancer relapse, will miss first half of '23-24 college hockey season". USCHO. August 21, 2023. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  2. ^ "Minnesota Duluth blueliner Francis announces cancer relapse, will miss first half of '23-24 college hockey season". WDIO. October 18, 2023. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
  3. ^ "UMD's Cole Spicer ineligible for remainder of season". Northern News Now. December 26, 2023. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
  4. ^ "2023–24 Men's Hockey Roster". University of Minnesota–Duluth Bulldogs. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
  5. ^ "2023-24 Men's Hockey Schedule". Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  6. ^ "Univ. of Minnesota-Duluth 2023-2024 Skater Stats". Elite Prospects. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  7. ^ "USCHO Division I Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  8. ^ Weisman, Michael (March 21, 2024). "NCHC Unveils 2023-2024 Individual Award Winners". nchchockey.com. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  9. ^ Weisman, Michael (March 13, 2024). "NCHC Unveils 2023-2024 All-Conference Teams". nchchockey.com. Retrieved March 13, 2024.
  10. ^ "NCAA player rankings, selections in 2024 NHL Draft". USCHO.com. Retrieved June 29, 2024.