2022–23 Ohio State Buckeyes men's ice hockey season

The 2022–23 Ohio State Buckeyes men's ice hockey season was the 60th season of play for the program and 10th in the Big Ten Conference. The Buckeyes represented the Ohio State University in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, were coached by Steve Rohlik in his 10th season, and played their home games at Value City Arena.

2022–23 Ohio State Buckeyes
men's ice hockey season
NCAA Tournament, Regional Final
Conference3rd Big Ten
Home iceValue City Arena
Rankings
USCHO#7
USA Today#7
Record
Overall21–16–3
Conference11–11–3
Home12–4–1
Road7–10–2
Neutral2–1–0
Coaches and captains
Head coachSteve Rohlik
Assistant coachesJ. B. Bittner
Luke Strand
Dustin Carlson
Captain(s)Gustaf Westlund
Alternate captain(s)Jaedon Leslie
Ohio State Buckeyes men's ice hockey seasons
« 2021–22 2023–24 »

Season

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After tragically missing the NCAA tournament last season, Ohio State entered this season with high expectations. With last years freshman phenom, Jakub Dobeš, as well as star defenseman Mason Lohrei both returning to the lineup, the team's only real question was who would replace the one-and-done Georgii Merkulov as the Buckeye's biggest offensive threat. Senior center Jake Wise initially stepped to the fore but he was eventually joined by another freshman, Stephen Halliday. Neither Wise nor Halliday had the scoring acumen to be big goal scorers but the playmaking centers helped their teammates post solid numbers, aptly replacing the lost offense.

Ohio State started off the season in good standing, going undefeated in the first 5 games. In the 5th match, however, team captain Gustaf Westlund was felled by an injury that would keep him out of the lineup for over 5 months.[1] In the wake of that loss, the team had one of its worst performance all season and were trounced by Connecticut. They bounced back afterwards and posted three more victories, including a defeat of #1 Minnesota, to run their record to 7–2–1 in the first month of the season.

After taking a week off, the team returned to the ice with a showdown against a surprising Michigan State squad. Unfortunately, that where the team was forced to deal with something they had not prepared for. In the game on November 11, Kamil Sadlocha was given a game misconduct for yelling a racial slur at Jagger Joshua.[2] The Big Ten supported the match penalty but, due to a lack of incontrovertible evidence, would not add any additional punishment. Because of the lack of action from either Ohio State or the Big Ten, Joshua went public with the incident a week later. Though Jagger did not name the offending player, Sadlocha was the only one to receive a match penalty in the game. After the full account of the incident was reported, the Ohio State athletic department sent Sadlocha home for an indeterminate time.[3] He eventually returned to the team in late January but finished out the remainder of his senior season without registering another point.

In the meantime, Ohio State struggled through a bad patch in November and went 2–6 over an 8-game span. While most of those losses were to ranked team, only being able to earn a split at Long Island damaged the team's postseason hopes and had them on the outside of the NCAA picture for a brief time. By December, the team appeared to recover their earlier form and a 6-game winning streak cured many of the Buckeyes' ills. Ohio State performed adequately in the second half of the season, finishing slightly below .500 but managed to take the regular season series from Michigan for the first time in 3 years.

When the Buckeyes entered the postseason, they were sitting 10 in the PairWise ranking and were virtually guaranteed an NCAA tournament berth if they could reach the semifinals. Their opponent in the quarterfinals was a collapsing Penn State team who graciously forgot how to score in the best of three series. Ohio State had troubles of their own but the Buckeyes were able to win two of the games and advance. While the team was outplayed by Michigan in the semifinal, losing a closer game than a 3–7 score would indicate, The Buckeyes were still in the top 10 in the national rankings and easily made the NCAA tournament. While they had finished with a worse record than they had the year before, Ohio State had played a far more difficult schedule and weren't punished as much for those losses.

While the team was ranked 8th, tied with Penn State, Ohio state had a slightly lower ranking and were given a 3 seed. Additionally, because they could not play their own conference in the first round, the Buckeyes were set against #7 Harvard for their opening game. The unfavorable seeding was supposed to have the Crimson as the favorites to reach the quarterfinals but the Buckeyes didn't take any notice. From the start of the game, Ohio State was in complete control. The scarlet and grey shut down the high-scoring Harvard offense in the first two periods, allowing just 8 shots to reach Dobeš, all of which he stopped. The Buckeyes, on the other hand, peppered the Harvard goal with a barrage, recording 34 shots in just 40 minutes. The Buckeyes netted two markers in the first but broke through with a 5-goal avalanche in the second to take an insurmountable 7–0 lead into the third. After an 8th goal early, Ohio State just sat back and played defense for the rest of the game. Harvard was finally able to get on the board late by that didn't affect the outcome of the game and the Buckeyes rolled to a 8–1 triumph.

Things appeared to be heading in the same direction in their next game when Joe Dunlap squeaked a goal through Yaniv Perets just 91 seconds into the game. However, after that the Buckeyes were totally stymied by the All-American goaltender and could not get another goal. Despite outshooting the Bobcats, Ohio Sate fell 1–4 to Quinnipiac, ending their season with a solid if unfulfilling campaign.

Departures

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Player Position Nationality Cause
Eric Cooley Forward   United States Graduation (signed with Chicago Wolves)
Grant Gabriele Defenseman   United States Graduation (signed with Providence Bruins)
Georgii Merkulov Forward   Russia Signed professional contract (Boston Bruins)
Ryan O'Connell Forward   Canada Graduate transfer to Michigan Tech
Quinn Preston Forward   United States Graduation (signed with Toledo Walleye)
Will Riedell Defenseman   United States Graduation (signed with Lehigh Valley Phantoms)

Recruiting

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Player Position Nationality Age Notes
Scooter Brickey Defenseman   United States 23 Mt. Clemens, MI; transfer from Western Michigan
Davis Burnside Forward   United States 18 La Grange, IL
Tyler Duke Defenseman   United States 18 Strongsville, OH
John Larkin Forward/Defenseman   United States 21 Detroit, MI

Roster

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As of July 21, 2022.[4]

No. S/P/C Player Class Pos Height Weight DoB Hometown Previous team NHL rights
2   James Marooney Senior D 5' 9" (1.75 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1999-08-16 Chaska, Minnesota Waterloo (USHL)
3   Cole McWard Sophomore D 6' 1" (1.85 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 2001-06-09 Fenton, Missouri Tri-City (USHL)
4   John Larkin Freshman D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 2001-01-26 Northville, Michigan Austin (NAHL)
5   Tyler Duke Freshman D 5' 9" (1.75 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 2004-07-19 Strongsville, Ohio NTDP (USHL)
6   Mason Lohrei Sophomore D 6' 4" (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 2001-01-07 Madison, Wisconsin Green Bay (USHL) BOS, 58th overall 2020
7   Evan McIntyre Junior D 5' 10" (1.78 m) 174 lb (79 kg) 2000-10-17 Oakville, Ontario Penticton (BCHL)
8   Scooter Brickey Senior D 6' 4" (1.93 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1999-05-27 North Lakeport, Michigan Western Michigan (NCHC)
9   Dominic Vidoli Senior D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1999-06-23 Wake Forest, North Carolina Sioux City (USHL)
11   Kamil Sadlocha Senior F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1999-04-12 Carpentersville, Illinois Madison (USHL)
13   Tate Singleton Senior F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 177 lb (80 kg) 1998-09-05 West Lebanon, New Hampshire Central Illinois (USHL)
14   Dalton Messina Senior F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1998-03-29 Macomb, Michigan Youngstown (USHL)
15   Cam Thiesing Sophomore F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 184 lb (83 kg) 2001-03-26 Nashville, Tennessee Green Bay (USHL)
17   Mark Cheremeta Senior F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1999-07-12 Parkland, Florida Dubuque (USHL)
18   Michael Gildon Junior F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 196 lb (89 kg) 2001-06-21 Plano, Texas NTDP (USHL)
19   Stephen Halliday Freshman F 6' 4" (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 2002-07-02 Glenwood, Maryland Dubuque (USHL) OTT, 104th overall 2022
20   Matt Cassidy Senior F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 187 lb (85 kg) 1999-07-31 Medford, New Jersey Youngstown (USHL)
21   Joe Dunlap Junior F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1999-11-30 Windham, New Hampshire Fargo (USHL)
23   Davis Burnside Freshman F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 176 lb (80 kg) 2003-09-22 Scottsdale, Arizona Dubuque (USHL)
26   Jaedon Leslie (A) Senior F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 187 lb (85 kg) 1998-08-04 St. Albert, Alberta Fort McMurray (AJHL)
28   Jake Wise Graduate F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2000-02-28 Reading, Massachusetts Boston University (HEA) CHI, 69th overall 2018
29   Gustaf Westlund (C) Graduate F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1997-12-12 Stockholm, Sweden Lincoln (USHL)
30   Ryan Snowden Senior G 6' 3" (1.91 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1998-03-06 Lincoln University, Pennsylvania Central Illinois (USHL)
34   Reilly Herbst Sophomore G 6' 0" (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2000-02-17 Niwot, Colorado Omaha (USHL)
44   Jakub Dobeš Sophomore G 6' 4" (1.93 m) 198 lb (90 kg) 2001-05-27 Ostrava, Czech Republic Omaha (USHL) MTL, 136th overall 2020
65   C. J. Regula Senior D 6' 3" (1.91 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1998-05-29 Bloomfield Hills, Michigan Shreveport (NAHL)
71   Patrick Guzzo Junior F 6' 3" (1.91 m) 198 lb (90 kg) 2001-11-27 Marysville, Michigan Waterloo (USHL)
94   Travis Treloar Junior F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 177 lb (80 kg) 2001-05-12 Kalmar, Sweden Lincoln (USHL)

Standings

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Conference record Overall record
GP W L T OTW OTL 3/SW PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
#2 Minnesota 24 19 4 1 2 1 0 57 106 50 40 29 10 1 168 90
#3 Michigan * 24 12 10 2 3 3 0 38 82 79 41 26 12 3 171 128
#7 Ohio State 24 11 11 2 0 0 1 36 69 63 40 21 16 3 131 101
Notre Dame 24 10 10 4 2 0 3 35 52 60 37 16 16 5 85 97
#19 Michigan State 24 10 12 2 1 1 2 34 65 80 38 18 18 2 107 115
#8 Penn State 24 10 13 1 0 3 0 34 71 75 39 22 16 1 129 106
Wisconsin 24 6 18 0 0 0 0 18 54 92 36 13 23 0 94 126
Championship: March 18, 2023
† indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion
Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll

Schedule and results

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Date Time Opponent# Rank# Site TV Decision Result Attendance Record
Regular Season
October 1 7:00 PM at Mercyhurst* #16 Mercyhurst Ice CenterErie, Pennsylvania FloHockey Dobeš W 4–2  1,500 1–0–0
October 2 4:00 PM at Mercyhurst* #16 Mercyhurst Ice Center • Erie, Pennsylvania FloHockey Dobeš W 4–2  716 2–0–0
October 7 7:00 PM Wisconsin #14 Value City ArenaColumbus, Ohio   Dobeš W 3–1  3,519 3–0–0 (1–0–0)
October 8 5:00 PM Wisconsin #14 Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio   Dobeš W 4–3  3,041 4–0–0 (2–0–0)
October 14 7:05 PM at #17 Connecticut* #11 XL CenterHartford, Connecticut ESPN+ Dobeš T 0–0 OT 2,850 4–0–1
October 15 4:05 PM at #17 Connecticut* #11 XL Center • Hartford, Connecticut ESPN+ Dobeš L 1–6  2,735 4–1–1
October 20 7:00 PM Bentley* #16 Value City ArenaColumbus, Ohio   Dobeš W 9–2  2,611 5–1–1
October 21 7:00 PM Bentley* #16 Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio   Dobeš W 3–1  3,005 6–1–1
October 28 6:30 PM #1 Minnesota #11 Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio BTN Dobeš W 6–4  3,242 7–1–1 (3–0–0)
October 29 5:00 PM #1 Minnesota #11 Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio BTN+ Dobeš L 2–4  3,336 7–2–1 (3–1–0)
November 10 7:00 PM at Michigan State #10 Munn Ice ArenaEast Lansing, Michigan BTN+ Dobeš L 2–4  4,609 7–3–1 (3–2–0)
November 11 7:00 PM at Michigan State #10 Munn Ice Arena • East Lansing, Michigan BTN+ Dobeš L 3–4  6,387 7–4–1 (3–3–0)
November 18 7:00 PM #20 Notre Dame #12 Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio BTN+ Dobeš W 5–2  6,019 8–4–1 (4–3–0)
November 19 5:00 PM #20 Notre Dame #12 Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio BTN+ Dobeš L 0–1  4,381 8–5–1 (4–4–0)
November 25 7:45 PM at Long Island* #12 Northwell Health Ice CenterEast Meadow, New York ESPN+ Dobeš L 2–3  526 8–6–1
November 26 8:00 PM at Long Island* #12 Northwell Health Ice Center • East Meadow, New York ESPN+ Dobeš W 4–1  516 9–6–1
December 2 7:00 PM at #6 Penn State #17 Pegula Ice ArenaUniversity Park, Pennsylvania BTN+ Dobeš L 1–2  6,361 9–7–1 (4–5–1)
December 3 5:30 PM at #6 Penn State #17 Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pennsylvania BTN+ Dobeš W 4–3  6,410 10–7–1 (5–5–1)
December 16 7:07 PM at Bowling Green* #14 Slater Family Ice ArenaBowling Green, Ohio FloHockey Dobeš W 5–2  4,412 11–7–1
December 17 7:00 PM Bowling Green* #14 Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio BTN Dobeš W 9–4  5,271 12–7–1
January 6 7:00 PM #14 Michigan State #12 Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio BTN+ Dobeš W 3–1  4,796 13–7–1 (6–5–1)
January 7 4:00 PM #14 Michigan State #12 Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio BTN Dobeš W 3–1  5,794 14–7–1 (7–5–1)
January 13 6:30 PM at #6 Michigan #8 Yost Ice ArenaAnn Arbor, Michigan BTN+ Dobeš W 7–2  5,800 15–7–1 (8–5–1)
January 14 4:30 PM at #6 Michigan #8 Yost Ice Arena • Ann Arbor, Michigan BTN Dobeš L 2–4  5,800 15–8–1 (8–6–1)
January 20 8:00 PM at Wisconsin #7 Kohl CenterMadison, Wisconsin BSGL, BSW Dobeš L 0–4  7,414 15–9–1 (8–7–1)
January 21 8:00 PM at Wisconsin #7 Kohl Center • Madison, Wisconsin BSGL, BSW+ Dobeš W 2–0  9,766 16–9–1 (9–7–1)
February 3 7:00 PM #9 Penn State #7 Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio BTN+ Dobeš L 3–4  7,174 16–10–1 (9–8–1)
February 4 6:30 PM #9 Penn State #7 Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio BTN Dobeš W 4–2  8,439 17–10–1 (10–8–1)
February 10 7:30 PM at Notre Dame #7 Compton Family Ice ArenaNotre Dame, Indiana Peacock Dobeš L 1–2  5,022 17–11–1 (10–9–1)
February 11 6:00 PM at Notre Dame #7 Compton Family Ice Arena • Notre Dame, Indiana Peacock Dobeš T 2–2 SOL 5,022 17–11–2 (10–9–2)
February 16 7:00 PM #4 Michigan #10 Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio BTN+ Dobeš T 3–3 SOW 8,593 17–11–3 (10–9–3)
February 18 4:00 PM vs. #4 Michigan #10 FirstEnergy StadiumCleveland, Ohio (Faceoff on the Lake) BTN Dobeš W 4–2  45,523 18–11–3 (11–9–3)
February 24 9:00 PM at #1 Minnesota #8 3M Arena at MariucciMinneapolis, Minnesota ESPNU Dobeš L 0–4  9,968 18–12–3 (11–10–3)
February 25 5:30 PM at #1 Minnesota #8 3M Arena at Mariucci • Minneapolis, Minnesota BTN Dobeš L 2–5  10,140 18–13–3 (11–11–3)
Big Ten Tournament
March 3 7:00 PM #10 Penn State* #9 Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio (Quarterfinal Game 1) BTN+ Dobeš W 5–1  2,673 19–13–3
March 4 5:00 PM #10 Penn State* #9 Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio (Quarterfinal Game 2) BTN+ Dobeš L 1–2 OT 2,921 19–14–3
March 5 5:00 PM #10 Penn State* #9 Value City Arena • Columbus, Ohio (Quarterfinal Game 3) BTN+ Dobeš W 3–1  1,692 20–14–3
March 11 6:30 PM at #4 Michigan* #9 Yost Ice Arena • Ann Arbor, Michigan (Semifinal) BTN Dobeš L 3–7  5,800 20–15–3
NCAA Tournament
March 24 2:00 PM vs. #7 Harvard* #8 Total Mortgage ArenaBridgeport, Connecticut (Northeast Regional Semifinal) ESPNU Dobeš W 8–1  4,462 21–15–3
March 26 4:00 PM vs. #3 Quinnipiac* #8 Total Mortgage ArenaBridgeport, Connecticut (Northeast Regional Final) ESPN2 Dobeš L 1–4  4,557 21–16–3
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Eastern Time.
Source:[5]

Scoring statistics

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Name Position Games Goals Assists Points PIM
Stephen Halliday C 40 9 32 41 19
Jake Wise C 40 12 27 39 10
Mason Lohrei D 40 4 28 32 26
Tate Singleton F 40 11 16 27 50
Joseph Dunlap F 40 13 9 22 41
Davis Burnside F 40 14 7 21 26
Cole McWard D 39 9 12 21 28
Travis Treloar C 35 8 13 21 14
Cam Thiesing C 40 15 5 20 58
Patrick Guzzo C/LW 40 9 8 17 6
Michael Gildon LW 40 3 12 15 40
Matt Cassidy RW 33 3 11 14 10
Scooter Brickey D 40 3 11 14 30
Tyler Duke D 40 4 8 12 45
Kamil Sadlocha C 26 5 3 8 16
Jaedon Leslie F 39 4 1 5 14
Gustaf Westlund C 7 2 3 5 4
James Marooney D 26 0 5 5 2
Dominic Vidoli D 23 2 3 5 4
Dalton Messina F 25 1 3 4 10
Evan McIntyre D 10 0 2 2 2
C. J. Regula D 35 0 2 2 16
Reilly Herbst G 1 0 0 0 0
Ryan Snowden G 2 0 0 0 0
Mark Cheremeta LW 6 0 0 0 0
John Larkin D/F 10 0 0 0 6
Jakub Dobeš G 40 0 0 0 6
Total 131 221 352 477

[6]

Goaltending statistics

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Name Games Minutes Wins Losses Ties Goals Against Saves Shut Outs SV % GAA
Jakub Dobeš 40 2361:16 21 16 3 91 1013 2 .918 2.31
Ryan Snowden 2 30:58 0 0 0 4 12 0 .750 7.75
Reilly Herbst 1 5:40 0 0 0 1 3 0 .750 10.59
Empty Net - 27:41 - - - 5 - - - -
Total 40 2425:35 21 16 3 101 1028 2 .911 2.50

Rankings

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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 27 (Final)
USCHO.com 16 - 14 11 16 11 9 10 12 12 17 15 14 - 12 8 7 8 7 7 10 8 9 9 8 8 - 7
USA Today 18 18 14 11 16 11 9 11 13 12 17 14 14 14 12 8 8 8 7 7 9 7 9 9 8 8 6 7

USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 1, 13 and 26.

Awards and honors

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Player Award Ref
Mason Lohrei Big Ten Second Team [7]
Jake Wise

References

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  1. ^ "Westlund Returns With a Flourish". College Hockey News. March 24, 2023. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
  2. ^ "Michigan State's Joshua accuses Ohio State player of racial slur; Big Ten, MSU issue statements". USCHO. November 22, 2022. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
  3. ^ "Ohio State's Kamil Sadlocha 'Returning Home' After Alleged Racist Slur". The Hockey News. November 23, 2022. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
  4. ^ "2022–23 Roster". Ohio State Buckeyes. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
  5. ^ "Men's Ice Hockey SCHEDULE". Ohio State Buckeyes. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
  6. ^ "Ohio State Univ. 2022-2023 Skater Stats". Elite Prospects. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
  7. ^ "Big Ten Hockey Postseason Honors Announced". BigTen.org. Big Ten Conference. March 14, 2023. Archived from the original on March 14, 2023. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
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