The 2022–23 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey season was the 102nd season of play for the program and 33rd in the Big Ten. The Golden Gophers represented the University of Minnesota in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, were coached by Bob Motzko in his fifth season, and played their home games at 3M Arena at Mariucci
Season
Talented recruits
Minnesota lost several key players from their Frozen Four team of '22, however, coach Motzko brought in a highly regarded batch of freshmen as replacements. Of the eleven newcomers, six had been selected in the NHL Entry Draft, two were first-round selection with the biggest prospect being #3 overall pick Logan Cooley. Cooley centered a line with fellow first-rounder Jimmy Snuggerud and US Olympian Matthew Knies that turned into one of the top offensive units in the nation. On the defensive side, to a corps that already included top prospects Ryan Johnson, Brock Faber and Jackson LaCombe, Minnesota added a trio of talented blueliners. Coach Motzko would call the collection of seven players the 'Best I’ve ever had and will ever have'. On top of that, Minnesota also retained Justen Close in goal who had finished the year as the team's starter and produced stellar numbers as the most critical juncture of the team's season.
Sorting out
With all that going for the Gophers, Minnesota was ranked #2 in the preseason polls, only behind defending National Champion Denver. The Gophers began well enough, winning their first three games, but they also went through a gauntlet of teams during the first month and a half of the season. Minnesota was only able to earn a split in three consecutive weekends but, because all of their opponents were ranked, the Gophers were still #3 by the beginning of November. Even after beginning their conference schedule, Minnesota continued to face very stiff opposition. However, by then the team was beginning to grow accustomed to one another and the Gophers won three out of four to start the month.
Just before Thanksgiving, Minnesota was set to face off against Michigan in a battle between top 3 teams. In what could possibly determine the conference champion, the high-anticipated matchup was derailed when an Adenovirus outbreak swept through both locker rooms. While Minnesota was without the services of Aaron Huglen and Justen Close, Michigan was much harder hit as several players, including star forward Adam Fantilli were ruled out while one, Steven Holtz, was so severely affected by the illness that he was placed on a ventilator and nearly died. Unsurprisingly, the Wolverines' hearts were not in the game and Minnesota managed to sweep the series.
Slow climb to the top
After Thanksgiving, Minnesota took a break from its conference slate and travelled down to Tempe to take on Arizona State. While the team seemed to have recovered from their viral issues, they seemed a bit off in the series and were only able to manage a split. The loss dropped Minnesota down to #4 which, while hardly a bad thing, was not up to par for a team that had pretentions for a National Championship. The team responded with four convincing wins to finish out the first half of the season and sat squarely at the top of the Big Ten standings.
Once the Gophers returned from the winter break, they had one final chance to prove their non-conference mettle against St. Cloud State. Unfortunately, the team's offense still appeared to be on vacation and was only able to score twice in the series. Fortunately, that was enough to earn a split and keep Minnesota at #3. A couple weeks later, the Gophers got their rematch with Michigan, who by then was completely recovered from the health scare. The two teams fought hard in the series and proved to be the equal of the other as both games went into overtime with each earning one win.
Minnesota regained their spot at #1 at the beginning of February after sweeping their season series over Michigan State, however, the Gophers dropped back down to #2 when a down Wisconsin team was able to eek out a 1–3 win. Minnesota was back on top of the polls a week later after taking down a sliding Penn State and finished the regular season as the top team in all three rankings.