2021–22 Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs men's ice hockey season

Fresh off of their 4th consecutive frozen four, Minnesota Duluth entered the season as one of the favorites for the National Championship. Early on, the team lived up to expectations and compiled a 6–2 record by early November with all of their games coming against ranked teams. Leading the way was junior netminder, Ryan Fanti, who had taken over the starting role the year before and seemed to be performing even better. He rang up three consecutive shutouts with the help of a lock-down defense and led the Bulldogs to a #1 ranking by the beginning of December.

Fanti's turn in goal was interrupted when he tested positive for COVID-19 and was forced to sit out a road series against Northern Michigan.^[1] With nominal backup Zach Stejskal undergoing treatment for testicular cancer,^[2] the team turned to their third goalie, Ben Patt. The redshirt senior's first career starts turned out poorly and he allowed 5 goals in both games. The losses sent UMD tumbling from the top of the national rankings and began a stretch of poor performances from the club.

Duluth got Fanti back in goal the following week and earned a split with Denver but then took a couple of weeks off for the winter break. Upon their return, the Bulldogs faced down the team that had replaced them as the #1 squad, Minnesota State. The Mavericks swept UMD in the home-and-home series, demonstrating that the Bulldogs' biggest weakness was their lack of offensive punch. The week after, the entire program was hit by COVID-19 and a series with St. Cloud State was postponed until later in the season.^[3] When the team finally got back into their routine, they were inconsistent and played .500 hockey over the next month.

Though the results weren't sterling, Minnesota Duluth benefitted from their difficult schedule and still remained well within the top-10. However, a sweep at the hands of North Dakota in mid-February put the team in a precarious position. After the losses, UMD's record stood at just 2 games over .500 and a poor performance over the remainder of their season could knock them out of the NCAA tournament. The Bulldogs split their final five games of the season, dropping the team to #10 in the rankings. While their collective heads were still above water, the Bulldogs had little margin for error and would need to defeat St. Cloud State to ensure a place in the national tournament.

NCHC Tournament

Before postseason play even began, Duluth got a leg-up on their competition when St. Cloud's starter, Dávid Hrenák, came down with pneumonia.^[4] Fanti did not play at his best but the Bulldogs' offense was able to light up the Huskies' backup and scored 9 goals in two games, their best output all season. Beginning with the semifinals, the defense returned to their early-season form and dominated the rest of the tournament. UMD shut down two of the nations top offenses and captured the program's third NCHC championship. The win pushed Minnesota Duluth up to 6 in the rankings, good enough for a #2 seed in the NCAA tournament.

NCAA tournament

The Bulldogs began their run against Michigan Tech and received a boon early in the game. The Huskies' leading scorer, Brian Halonen, was called for boarding and received a controversial game-misconduct penalty. Without their top offensive threat, Tech was unable to generate much in the way of offensive chances for a majority of the game. UMD scored three unassisted goals in the game, two coming from Kobe Roth, and skated to a comfortable 3–0 victory.

UMD faced down Denver in the quarterfinals and were on the back foot almost from the start of the game. The defense did its best impression of a wall and held the Pioneers back. Duluth managed to score first on just their second shot of the period and looked to be gearing up for a 4th-consecutive shutout. Unfortunately, Fanti's streak was ended a few minutes later after a shot was deflected into the cage. Denver remained the better of the two teams for the balance of the match and stopped Duluth from gaining the lead a second time, despite the Bulldogs receiving a 5-on-3 power play in the second period. In the end it took a crazy series of bounces for the winning goal to be scored but it was Duluth that fell victim to their own mediocre offense.

As of August 19, 2021.^[5]

No.	S/P/C	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
2		Darian Gotz	Sophomore	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	189 lb (86 kg)	2000-10-19	Hermantown, Minnesota	Cedar Rapids (USHL)	—
3		Matt Anderson	Graduate	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1999-04-11	Shakopee, Minnesota	Holy Family (USHS–MN)	—
5		Wyatt Kaiser	Sophomore	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	173 lb (78 kg)	2002-07-31	Ham Lake, Minnesota	Andover (USHS–MN)	CHI, 81st overall 2020
6		Louie Roehl (A)	Graduate	D	5' 10" (1.78 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1998-04-09	Eden Prairie, Minnesota	Minnesota Wilderness (NAHL)	—
7		Blake Biondi	Sophomore	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	181 lb (82 kg)	2002-04-24	Hermantown, Minnesota	Hermantown (USHS–MN)	MTL, 109th overall 2020
8		Hunter Lellig	Senior	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1999-02-08	Waterloo, Iowa	Waterloo (USHL)	—
10		Kobe Roth	Graduate	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1997-01-11	Warroad, Minnesota	Des Moines (USHL)	—
11		Koby Bender	Graduate	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1997-07-15	Cloquet, Minnesota	Muskegon (USHL)	—
12		Ben Almquist	Junior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1999-10-01	Victoria, Minnesota	Austin (NAHL)	—
13		Tanner Laderoute	Senior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1997-06-04	Edmonton, Alberta	Okotoks (AJHL)	—
15		Quinn Olson	Junior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2001-05-09	Calgary, Alberta	Okotoks (AJHL)	BOS, 92nd overall 2019
16		Luke Loheit	Junior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	2000-07-26	Minnetonka, Minnesota	Penticton (BCHL)	OTT, 194th overall 2018
17		Dominic James	Freshman	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	166 lb (75 kg)	2002-07-03	Plymouth, Michigan	Lincoln (USHL)	—
18		Jesse Jacques	Senior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1998-09-10	Hermantown, Minnesota	Green Bay (USHL)	—
19		Jarrett Lee	Senior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	154 lb (70 kg)	1999-06-04	Hibbing, Minnesota	Green Bay (USHL)	—
20		Owen Gallatin	Freshman	D	5' 8" (1.73 m)	171 lb (78 kg)	2002-06-17	White Bear Lake, Minnesota	Fargo (USHL)	—
21		Noah Cates (C)	Senior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1999-02-05	Stillwater, Minnesota	Omaha (USHL)	PHI, 137th overall 2017
22		Kyler Kleven	Freshman	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2000-10-12	Moorhead, Minnesota	Waterloo (USHL)	—
23		Will Francis	Freshman	D	6' 5" (1.96 m)	211 lb (96 kg)	2000-11-16	St. Paul, Minnesota	Cedar Rapids (USHL)	ANA, 163rd overall 2019
24		Luke Mylymok	Sophomore	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	183 lb (83 kg)	2001-09-29	Boise, Idaho	Salmon Arm (BCHL)	—
25		Connor Kelley	Sophomore	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2002-01-30	Maple Grove, Minnesota	USNTDP (USHL)	CHI, 204th overall 2021
27		Jake Rosenbaum	Senior	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1997-03-28	Trabuco Canyon, California	Minot (NAHL)	—
33		Carter Loney	Freshman	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	161 lb (73 kg)	2002-08-02	Columbus, Ohio	Sioux City (USHL)	—
35		Zach Stejskal	Sophomore	G	6' 4" (1.93 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	1999-12-20	Cohasset, Minnesota	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (NAHL)	—
36		Ben Patt	Senior (RS)	G	5' 11" (1.8 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1996-05-19	Brampton, Ontario	Notre Dame (SJHL)	—
37		Casey Gilling	Graduate	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1998-03-25	Gaylord, Michigan	Miami (NCHC)	—
39		Ryan Fanti	Junior	G	6' 3" (1.91 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1999-10-03	Thunder Bay, Ontario	Minnesota Wilderness (NAHL)	—

^[7]

Note: USCHO did not release a poll in week 24.^[8]

2022 NHL Entry Draft

† incoming freshman^[13]