THIS WEEKEND'S SCHEDULE

Friday, Oct. 7

• Miami at No. 15/15 UMass Lowell, 7:15 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
• Holy Cross at No. 3/3 North Dakota, 7:07 p.m. CT (TV: Midco Sports/NCHC.tv)
• Niagara at Omaha, 7:07 p.m. CT (NCHC.tv)
• % No. 11/9 Notre Dame at No. 1/1 Denver, 7:00 p.m. MT (TV: Altitude/NCHC.tv)
• Alaska Anchorage at Colorado College, 7:30 p.m. MT (TV: AT&T SportsNet/NCHC.tv)

Saturday, Oct. 8

• Miami at No. 15/15 UMass Lowell, 6:05 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
• No. 18/18 Western Michigan at Ferris State, 7:07 p.m. ET (FloSports)
• Holy Cross at No. 3/3 North Dakota, 6:07 p.m. CT (TV: Midco Sports/NCHC.tv)
• % Maine at No. 1/1 Denver, 6:00 p.m. MT (TV: Altitude/NCHC.tv)
• Alaska Anchorage at Colorado College, 6:00 p.m. MT (NCHC.tv)
• Niagara at Omaha, 7:07 p.m. CT (NCHC.tv)

% Ice Breaker Tournament (Denver, Colo.)
 

A PERFECT 10: The National Collegiate Hockey Conference begins its 10th season of competition in 2022-23. The NCHC first began play in 2013-14 and has since won five of the last six NCAA National Championships. The Conference will be celebrating its 10th anniversary season in multiple ways throughout the year, including a documentary on the rise of the NCHC to be unveiled in 2023 and fan voting for an NCHC All-Decade Team.

NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS: The NCHC started the 2022-23 season strong, posting a 6-1-1 record (.813) in non-conference play on opening weekend. The NCHC has posted the best combined non-conference record among conferences in five of the last seven seasons non-conference games were played (2014-15 to 2021-22, not counting 2020-21). Last season, NCHC teams combined for a .631 win percentage (51-29-4) in non-conference play during the regular season, trailing only the Big Ten’s .696 win percentage.

BREAKING THE ICE: For the second straight season, an NCHC team is hosting the annual season-opening Ice Breaker Tournament. Denver is co-hosting the 2022 event with in-state foe Air Force and welcomes Notre Dame and Maine to Magness Arena this weekend. Last year, Minnesota Duluth hosted the Ice Breaker, which was won by Michigan. 

DU has also hosted the Ice Breaker in 1999 and 2016, winning the tournament in 1999. The only NCHC team to win the Ice Breaker since the Conference was formed in 2013 is North Dakota in 2015, when Maine hosted the event. 

SAME FACE, NEW PLACE: A few NCHC players have switched teams within the conference during the offseason, and three of them made an immediate impact on opening weekend.

• Minnesota Duluth grad student defenseman Derek Daschke, who played his first four seasons at Miami, scored the game-winning goal in overtime Saturday against Arizona State.
• St. Cloud State junior goaltender Dominic Basse, who spent his first two seasons at Colorado College, recorded a 15-save shutout in his Huskies debut last Sunday in a 4-0 win over St. Thomas.
• SCSU fifth-year forward Grant Cruikshank, who played three seasons at Colorado College (and one year at Minnesota), scored the Huskies second goal in Sunday’s win over the Tommies.

POLL POSITIONS: The NCHC has five teams ranked in both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll, tying Hockey East for the most from one conference. Denver is No. 1 in both polls, continuing where they left off last season, while No. 3 North Dakota and No. 4 Minnesota Duluth each moved up one spot this week. St. Cloud State rose to No. 10 in the USCHO Poll, while Western Michigan fell to No. 18 in both polls. Omaha is receiving votes in each poll, as well.

Denver was also picked atop the NCHC Preseason Media Poll as the favorite to win the Penrose Cup. DU shared the Penrose Cup with UND last season, the first split Penrose Cup in NCHC history. North Dakota was second in the Preseason Poll. Denver was picked first only once previously in the NCHC Preseason Poll in 2017-18 when the Pioneers finished second. (complete polls on page 10 of PDF)

PRESEASON HONORS: Four NCHC players earned national preseason accolades from College Hockey News. North Dakota junior forward Riese Gaber and Denver sophomore forward Carter Mazur both landed on the Preseason All-CHN First Team, while Mazur’s teammate at DU, junior defenseman Mike Benning, earned Second-Team honors. Colorado College freshman goaltender Kaidan Mbereko was the lone NCHC selection on the CHN Preseason All-Rookie Team.

Gaber, Mazur and Benning were also named to the NCHC Preseason All-Conference Team. Mazur and Benning were two of four Pioneers named to the squad, along with sophomore defenseman Sean Behrens and senior goalie Magnus Chrona. St. Cloud State’s Jami Krannila earned the final forward spot. DU is the first team to place four players on the Preseason All-NCHC team since Minnesota Duluth in 2019-20.

FOR CLUB AND COUNTRY: Nine NCHC players took part in the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship in August as part of the U.S. National Junior Team, while Omaha freshman goaltender Simon Latkoczy played for his native Slovakia. The nine players on Team USA came from six NCHC teams: 

• Sean Behrens, So., D, Denver – Colorado Avalanche
• Dominic James, So., F, Minnesota Duluth – Chicago Blackhawks
• Wyatt Kaiser, Jr., D, Minnesota Duluth – Chicago Blackhawks
• Tyler Kleven, Jr., D, North Dakota – Ottawa Senators
• Carter Mazur, So., F, Denver – Detroit Red Wings
• Kaidan Mbereko, Fr., G, Colorado College – Draft Eligible
• Hunter McKown, Jr., F, Colorado College – Undrafted Free Agent
• Jack Peart, So., D, St. Cloud State – Minnesota Wild
• Red Savage, So., F, Miami – Detroit Red Wings

Mazur was named one of Team USA’s top three players of the tournament after leading the U.S. National Junior Team with five goals, tying for second at World Juniors, and was second on Team USA with seven points in five games.

Colorado College head coach Kris Mayotte was an assistant coach for Team USA at World Juniors.

FEELING A DRAFT: Eight incoming freshmen and three rising sophomores heard their name called at the 2022 NHL Draft in July in Montreal. Incoming UMD forward Isaac Howard was first off the board among NCHC players, going 31st overall to Tampa Bay late in round one. Among the returning NCHC players, Omaha sophomore blue liner Victor Mancini was selected by the Rangers in round five, UMD sophomore forward Dominic James went in round six to Chicago and DU sophomore forward Jack Devine in round seven to Florida. Six NCHC teams saw a player selected in the 2022 NHL Draft.

Overall, the NCHC will have 47 NHL draft picks playing in the conference this season, up from 42 in 2021-22. Denver and North Dakota lead the way with 12 picks each on their rosters, while Minnesota Duluth has nine draft picks. All eight NCHC teams have at least one draft pick on their roster this season (Omaha 5, St. Cloud State 4, Miami and Western Michigan 2, and Colorado College 1).

A FOREIGN AFFAIR: While the majority of student-athletes in the NCHC come from the United States, six other countries are also represented by 67 student-athletes, including five countries in Europe:
•    Canada – 52
•    Sweden – 8
•    Finland – 2
•    Slovakia - 2
•    Switzerland – 2
•    Czechia – 1

Among the 52 Canadians playing in the NCHC, they hail from seven different provinces.

THE STATE OF HOCKEY: Saint Paul, Minn. is home to the NCHC’s Frozen Faceoff championship to end the season at Xcel Energy Center, but Minnesota is also home to several NCHC players. A total of 52 NCHC student-athletes call Minnesota home, by far the most of any U.S. state. Michigan is second with 30 NCHC players calling it home. All eight teams have at least one Minnesota native on their roster, while seven teams have at least one Michigander. Illinois is third among states with 15 players hailing from the Land of Lincoln.

Top three U.S. states NCHC players hail from:
•    Minnesota - 52
•    Michigan - 30
•    Illinois - 15

To read more and for team-by-team notes, click here.