2023–24 UMass Minutemen ice hockey season

The 2023–24 UMass Minutemen ice hockey season was the 92nd season of play for the program, the 31st at the Division I level, and 30th in Hockey East. The Minutemen represented the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, played their home games at Mullins Center and were coached by Greg Carvel in his 8th season.

Season
With about half of the team being made up of new faces, UMass entered the season as a relative unknown. While most of the defense returned, headed by Ryan Ufko and Scott Morrow, both the goaltenders and forward units had been completely revamped. Unsurprisingly, with so much unknown about the Minutemen, the team was unranked coming into the season but the swiftly made their mark on the year.

Cole Brady, the only returning netminder, got the start in the first two games. However, after surrendering 7 goals to Michigan, top prospect Michael Hrabal was swapped in and the team never looked back. Hrabal provided an instant boost and allowed the Minutemen to earn a split with the Wolverines. The following week, the freshman goalie did even better by backstopping Massachusetts to a sweep of Minnesota State, earning his first career shutout in the process. Part of the reason Hrabal was able to get wins in his first three games was that the new additions up front were working as well. While the scoring was sparked by the blueline, Jack Musa and Aydar Suniev were proving to be key contributors on offense and both finished in the team's top five as freshmen.

UMass jumped into the national rankings by late October and proceeded to climb up the ranks until they reached the top 10 by the beginning of December. When the team returned after the winter break, Brady was back as the team starter because Hrabal was still busy helping the Czech Republic win a bronze medal at the World Junior Championships. Unfortunately for UMass, the team didn't play too well in his absence and lost three consecutive games (two in a shootout). Once Hrabal rejoined the team, he was given complete control of the net for the rest of the season and the team would need every bit of his heroics to make the NCAA tournament.

With Hockey East as one of, if not the strongest, league in the nation, the Minutemen had a sizable hurdle in front of them with their conference schedule. In January and February, the team's offense declined a bit from what it had been before the break but was fairly consistent nonetheless. Hrabal's performed well under pressure, aside from a poor showing against #1 Boston College, but the team still had to struggle to find wins. Massachusetts entered the last couple of weeks of the regular season just above the cut line for the NCAA tournament. A sweep of Massachusetts Lowell gave the team a little breathing room but a pair of 1-goal losses to Maine put the Minutemen in a very precarious position as the conference tournament began.

With UMass sitting at 15 in the PairWise, they would have to win their quarterfinal match at Providence to have any chance at a tournament berth. Hrabal ended up having a great game, stopping 27 of 28 shots while the line of Ryan Lautenbach, Taylor Makar and Lucas Mercuri provided enough offense to carry the day. As they entered their semifinal match with BC, the Minutemen had moved up to 12th and were hoping to shore up their bid with a win over the nation's top team. Lucas Mercuri got UMass on the board first but after that very little went right for Massachusetts. BC scored the next 8 goals, flattening the Minutemen as they steamrolled their way to the conference title. The match had gone so poorly for UMass that they slipped down out of the playoff race. They were in a virtual tie with Colorado College and would need a very specific set of circumstances to push them ahead of the Tigers for the last spot in the tournament. In the final day of the conference tournaments, fortune was with the Minutemen and somehow UMass finished .0004 ahead of CC.

When the tournament began, Massachusetts found itself opposite #3 Denver. Remembering their less-than satisfactory performance against the Eagles, UMass came out fighting and tried to batter Denver into submissions with body checks. For a time the ploy appeared to work but the Minutemen were unable to get any goals to show for their efforts. In the second period, a seeing-eye shot from the blueline got through several bodies and sailed past a screened Hrabal for the opening goal of the game. Several minutes later the physical play finally payed off for UMass when they forced a turnover in the offensive zone. After a couple for failed attempts, Liam Gorman scored his first goal of the season and tied the match. With an upset in their sights, Massachusetts kept the pressure on Denver by checking them at every opportunity. However, despite getting several chances themselves, the Minutemen were unable to get a second goal and the teams headed into overtime. UMass had several great chances to win the game but they were unable to find the back of the Pioneer cage. In the back half of the second overtime, a shot from the high-slot beat a screened Hrabal for the apparent winner but the goaltender had been interfered with by a Denver attacker. Upon review, the referees determined that a Massachusetts player had pushed the Pioneer into Hrabal and allowed the goal to stand.

While the ending was bittersweet, UMass had managed to take the eventual national champions to the very limit and proved to be worthy of their berth in the tournament. The national voters indicated as much as UMass rose to 12th in the USA Today poll in spite of the loss.

Roster
As of August 11, 2023.

Schedule and results
!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular Season

!colspan=12 style=";" | Adirondack Winter Invitational

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

!colspan=12 style=";" | Hockey East Tournament

!colspan=12 style=";" | NCAA Tournament

Rankings
Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 11 and 25. Note: USA Today did not release a poll in week 12.

2024 NHL Entry Draft
† incoming freshman