UMD Men’s hockey players earn NCHC academic honors

The National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) announced on Friday that ten freshman and first-year transfers have joined nine University of Minnesota Duluth hockey returners and garnered recognition for their work in the classroom during the 2022-2023 academic year.

Those 10 include Kyle Bettens, Riley Bodnarchuk, Derek Daschke, Aiden Dudinsky, Luke Johnson, Joey Pierce, Zach Sandy, Jack Smith, Ben Steeves, and Matthew Thiessen.

Seven of the players including Bodnarchuk, Dubinsky, Pierce, Sandy, Smith, Steeves, and Thiessen, also grabbed NCHC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete for exceptional academic achievement following the completion of their first year at UMD.