2022–23 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's ice hockey season explained

The 2022–23 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's ice hockey season was the 63rd season of play for the program and 6th in the Big Ten Conference. The Fighting Irish represented the University of Notre Dame in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season. They were coached by Jeff Jackson, in his 18th season and played their home games at Compton Family Ice Arena.

Season

Entering the season, coach Jackson brought back a veteran lineup and augmented the roster with several graduate transfers. With Nick Leivermann leading the defensive corps and Ryan Bischel holding the crease, Notre Dame was well apportioned on the back end. Unfortunately, the team had a severe lack of offense. Over the course of the year, the Fighting Irish scored 42 fewer goals than they had in 2022. That dramatic drop-off had a chilling effect on a team that had national aspirations. The Irish hovered around .500 for most of the season and were only once able to string more than two wins together. Fortunately, for Notre Dame, the Big Ten was the strongest conference this season and enabled the team to be in position for a potential at-large bid despite having nearly as many wins as losses.

The Irish ended the regular season well, taking two consecutive weekends from high-ranked teams and raising themselves into the top-16. The good stretch also lifted the team up to 4th in the conference standings, giving Notre Dame a home site for the quarterfinals. With other teams still vying for a tournament appearance, the Irish needed a decent postseason run to remain above the cut line and they were faced with Michigan State in the first round. The Spartans, too, were competing for an at-large bid and whichever of the two lost the best-of-three series would be knocked out of contention.[1] Ryan Bischel held off a strong MSU attack in the first game, earning a 1–0 victory for the Irish. The second game started much the same and Notre Dame had a 1-goal lead after the first period. In the second period, however, the wheels came off for the Irish as Michigan State scored 4 consecutive goals and evened the series at 1-all. In the deciding game, Notre Dame played as well as could be expected, outshooting MSU 39–28, going 2 for 4 on the power play and not taking a single penalty in the game. However, former Irish netminder, Dylan St. Cyr, came back to haunt his old team and stopped 37 shots to lead the Spartans to a 2–4 victory.[2]

Departures

Cam Burke Forward Graduate transfer to Boston College
Max Ellis Forward Signed professional contract (Toronto Maple Leafs)
Goaltender Graduation (signed with Djurgårdens IF Hockey)
Adam Karashik Defenseman Graduation (signed with Lehigh Valley Phantoms)
Conor Klaers Goaltender Graduation (retired)
Jake Pivonka Forward Graduate transfer to Omaha
Charlie Raith Defenseman Graduation (retired)
Graham Slaggert Forward Graduation (signed with Toronto Marlies)
Defenseman Graduation (signed with Nashville Predators)

Recruiting

Drew Bavaro Defenseman 22 Bradenton, FL
transfer from Bentley
Benjamin Brinkman Defenseman 21 Edina, MN
graduate transfer from Minnesota; selected 173rd overall in 2019
Niko Jovanovic Forward 20 North Vancouver, BC
Michael Mastrodomenico Defenseman 18 Kirkland, QC
Jackson Pierson Forward 23 Zionsville, IN
graduate transfer from New Hampshire
Chayse Primeau Forward 25Margate, NJ
graduate transfer from Omaha
Fin Williams Forward 19 North Vancouver, BC
Jack Williams Goaltender 21 St. Louis, MO

Roster

As of August 25, 2022.[3]

Schedule and results

|-!colspan=12 style=";" | Exhibition|-!colspan=12 style=";" | |-!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular Season|-!colspan=12 style=";" |

Scoring statistics

37 8 15 23 18
37 8 14 22 12
27 7 13 20 4
29 6 14 20 18
37 6 13 19 31
36 6 9 15 64
37 5 10 15 21
36 7 7 14 32
32 7 6 13 10
35 7 6 13 14
34 2 9 11 10
33 3 6 9 6
31 1 8 9 10
35 3 5 8 20
30 3 4 7 8
31 1 4 5 27
37 1 4 5 48
35 2 2 4 20
31 1 3 4 19
22 1 1 2 6
8 0 2 2 2
22 0 1 1 12
37 0 1 1 0
2 0 0 0 0
6 0 0 0 0
Bench - - - - - 18
Total 85 157 242 424
[4]

Goaltending statistics

37 2182:51 16 16 4 87 1183 5 .931 2.39
2 41:27 0 0 1 2 16 0 .889 2.90
Empty Net - 24:38 - - - 8 - - - -
Total 37 2248:56 16 16 5 97 1199 5 .925 2.59

Rankings

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

PollWeek
Pre12345678910111213141516171819202122232425 2627 (Final)
USCHO.com9bgcolor=FFFFFF-1114131212182019201919bgcolor=FFFFFF-20NRNRNR20NR192019NRNRNRbgcolor=FFFFFF-NR
USA Today889131212121820192019181718NRNR2017NR1819172020201919
USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 1, 13 and 26.

Awards and honors

Ryan BischelAHCA West All-American Second Team[5]
Ryan BischelBig Ten Goaltender of the Year[6]
Ryan BischelBig Ten First Team[7]

Players drafted into the NHL

2023 NHL Entry Draft

2 49 Danny Nelson New York Islanders
4 103 Cole Knuble Philadelphia Flyers
5 138 Paul Fischer St. Louis Blues
† incoming freshman[8]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: NCAA committee votes to remove Stonehill games from selection process . USCHO . February 1, 2023 . February 2, 2023.
  2. Web site: SUNDAY, MARCH 5, 2023 . USCHO . March 5, 2023 . March 21, 2023.
  3. Web site: 2022–23 Hockey Roster . Notre Dame Fighting Irish . January 3, 2021.
  4. News: Univ. of Notre Dame 2022-2023 Skater Stats . Elite Prospects . March 7, 2020.
  5. News: Two Northeastern players repeat as first-team All-Americans . USCHO.com . April 7, 2023 . April 8, 2023.
  6. Web site: Big Ten Hockey Postseason Honors Announced . https://web.archive.org/web/20230314163707/https://bigten.org/news/2023/3/14/mens-ice-hockey-big-ten-hockey-postseason-honors-announced.aspx . dead . March 14, 2023 . BigTen.org . . March 14, 2023 . March 14, 2023.
  7. Web site: Big Ten Hockey Postseason Honors Announced . https://web.archive.org/web/20230314163707/https://bigten.org/news/2023/3/14/mens-ice-hockey-big-ten-hockey-postseason-honors-announced.aspx . dead . March 14, 2023 . BigTen.org . . March 14, 2023 . March 14, 2023.
  8. News: NCAA player rankings, selections in 2023 NHL Draft . USCHO.com . July 9, 2022.