2022–23 North Dakota Fighting Hawks men's ice hockey season

Though the team lost it's top prospect to the professional ranks, an impressive recruiting class and the return of most of last seasons' players had many believing that North Dakota would compete for a national championship in 2023. The Hawks began the year at #4 in both polls and started the year in good standings, easily handling Holy Cross. The following week would be an early test for UND as they played host to another prospective championship contender in Quinnipiac. Unfortunately, a problem cropped up that would stick with the team for most of the season; poor goaltending. Drew DeRidder allowed 3 goals on just 7 shots in the first and, after North Dakota managed to take a lead in the third, Jakob Hellsten surrendered a tying goal to only earn a tie. Playing the entire game the following night, Hellsten let 5 get past him on 21 shots. Suddenly, coach Berry had a quandary on his hands as Hellsten's performance was bad enough to end their attempted goaltending rotation but DeRidder was only marginally better.

The inconsistency in goal caused the team to slowly slide down the polls until falling off entirely by Thanksgiving. The Hawks were able to score, averaging over 3 goals per game, but the offense was concentrated with three players: Jackson Blake, Riese Gaber and Chris Jandric. Collectively they accounted for nearly a third of the teams goals and points. North Dakota's offense did produce more than they had the year before, however, the subpar play in goal cancelled out any offense improvement and the lack of depth scoring also proved to be problematic.

The defense held their own, allowing and average of less than 25 against per game but neither goaltender was able to take advantage. The team tried twice more to use Hellsten as the starter but he couldn't hold the job and the Hawks had to stick with DeRidder. Near the end of the season, however, DeRidder seemed to finally find his groove and began producing good efforts night after night. By going 4–0–2 over the final three weeks, including taking a weekend from St. Cloud State, the Fighting Hawks found themselves just outside the playoff picture.

Entering the postseason, it was just possible, if unlikely, for North Dakota to earn an at-large bid without a conference championship. Those faint hopes were nearly extinguished when the UND offense could only muster a single goal against Omaha despite getting 41 shots on goal. The team rallied in the rematch to set up a deciding third game to keep their season alive. The Hawks got down twice in the game but scored the final 4 goals to run away with a win and advance to the semifinal.[1]

Entering championship weekend, North Dakota had risen up to 18 in the PairWise rankings. While it was an impressive feat after a rocky season, it meant that it was mathematically impossible for UND to earn an at-large bid. Any bonus they got from making the final would be lost by losing the championship game. With the Hawks knowing that they had to win it all to make the tournament, they fought hard against St. Cloud State, who had already punched their ticket. The defense did its job by stifling the Huskies' attack, allowing just 15 shots against in regulation. Their offense gave the Hawks two separate 1-goal leads but they were unable to hold onto either and the two teams finished the first 60 minutes tied at 2-all. St. Cloud cranked up the pressure in overtime, trying to get the winning goal straight away. DeRidder stopped 6 shots in the first 5 minutes but he was unable to prevent the 6th and Zach Okabe's marker ended the Hawks' season.[2]

As of August 24, 2022.[3]

No.	S/P/C	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
1		Kaleb Johnson	Freshman (RS)	G	5' 9" (1.75 m)	182 lb (83 kg)	2001-01-07	Grand Forks, North Dakota	Minnesota Wilderness (NAHL)	—
2		Ryan Sidorski	Graduate	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	1999-10-02	Williamsville, New York	Union (ECAC)	—
3		Ty Farmer	Graduate	D	5' 8" (1.73 m)	183 lb (83 kg)	1998-01-06	O'Fallon, Missouri	UMass (HEA)	—
4		Cooper Moore	Junior	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	188 lb (85 kg)	2001-02-16	Riverside, Connecticut	Chilliwack (BCHL)	DET, 128th overall 2019
5		Dane Montgomery	Sophomore	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	169 lb (77 kg)	2002-01-07	Grand Forks, North Dakota	Waterloo (USHL)	—
6		Brent Johnson	Sophomore	D	5' 9" (1.75 m)	174 lb (79 kg)	2003-03-20	Frisco, Texas	Sioux Falls (USHL)	WSH, 80th overall 2021
7		Chris Jandric	Graduate	D	5' 9" (1.75 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1998-10-03	Prince George, British Columbia	Alaska (WCHA)	—
8		Jake Schmaltz	Sophomore	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	186 lb (84 kg)	2001-04-24	McFarland, Wisconsin	Green Bay (USHL)	BOS, 192nd overall 2019
9		Jackson Blake	Freshman	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	2003-08-03	Eden Prairie, Minnesota	Chicago (USHL)	CAR, 109th overall 2021
10		Gavin Hain (A)	Graduate	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	193 lb (88 kg)	2000-04-03	Grand Rapids, Minnesota	NTDP (USHL)	PHI, 174th overall 2018
11		Griffin Ness	Junior	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	1999-12-10	Wayzata, Minnesota	Waterloo (USHL)	—
13		Carson Albrecht	Senior	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	188 lb (85 kg)	1998-05-23	Martensville, Saskatchewan	Melfort (SJHL)	—
15		Ethan Frisch (A)	Senior	D	5' 10" (1.78 m)	192 lb (87 kg)	2000-10-29	Moorhead, Minnesota	Fargo (USHL)	—
17		Riese Gaber (A)	Junior	F	5' 7" (1.7 m)	163 lb (74 kg)	1999-10-10	Gilbert Plains, Manitoba	Dubuque (USHL)	—
18		Matteo Costantini	Sophomore	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2002-08-16	St. Catharines, Ontario	Sioux City (USHL)	BUF, 131st overall 2020
19		Mark Senden (C)	Graduate	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	201 lb (91 kg)	1998-01-22	Medina, Minnesota	Fargo (USHL)	—
20		Nick Portz	Sophomore	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	174 lb (79 kg)	2000-05-15	St. Cloud, Minnesota	Muskegon (USHL)	—
21		Ben Strinden	Freshman	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	196 lb (89 kg)	2002-06-04	Fargo, North Dakota	Muskegon (USHL)	NSH, 210th overall 2022
22		Owen McLaughlin	Freshman	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	156 lb (71 kg)	2003-03-25	Spring City, Pennsylvania	Sioux City (USHL)	—
24		Luke Bast	Sophomore	D	5' 8" (1.73 m)	178 lb (81 kg)	2000-11-20	Red Deer, Alberta	Waterloo (USHL)	—
25		Tyler Kleven	Junior	D	6' 4" (1.93 m)	213 lb (97 kg)	2002-01-10	Fargo, North Dakota	NTDP (USHL)	OTT, 44th overall 2020
26		Dylan James	Freshman	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2003-10-12	Calgary, Alberta	Sioux City (USHL)	DET, 40th overall 2022
27		Louis Jamernik V	Junior	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	203 lb (92 kg)	2000-02-22	Calgary, Alberta	Okotoks (AJHL)	—
28		Judd Caulfield (A)	Senior	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	212 lb (96 kg)	2001-03-19	Grand Forks, North Dakota	NTDP (USHL)	PIT, 145th overall 2019
29		Jackson Kunz	Sophomore	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	228 lb (103 kg)	2002-08-13	Grand Forks, North Dakota	Green Bay (USHL)	VAN, 113th overall 2020
32		Jakob Hellsten	Sophomore	G	5' 10" (1.78 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2000-02-02	Ljusdal, Sweden	Halmstad (Hockeyettan)	—
34		Drew DeRidder	Graduate	G	5' 9" (1.75 m)	178 lb (81 kg)	2000-05-01	Fenton, Michigan	Michigan State (Big Ten)	—

[5]

Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 1, 13, or 26.[6]