2022-23 Men's Ice Hockey Roster
Jersey Number 20
Mike Benning
- Position:
- Defenseman
- Ht./Wt.:
- 5-9 / 180
- Class:
- Junior
- Hometown:
- St. Albert, Alberta
- NHL:
- Florida Panthers | 4th Round | 95th Overall | 2020 NHL Draft
- Last Team:
- Sherwood Park Crusaders (AJHL)
NHL: Selected by the Florida Panthers in Round 4 (95th Overall) of the 2020 NHL Draft ... Signed a three-year, entry-level contract with Florida on April 12, 2023.
Honors and Awards: 2022 NCAA National Champion … 2022 Frozen Four Most Outstanding Player … 2022 Frozen Four All-Tournament Team …2022-23 AHCA Second-Team All-American (West) ... NCHC Offensive Defenseman of the Year ... All-NCHC First Team (2022-23) ... All-NCHC Second Team (2021-22) … 3x NCHC Academic All-Conference Team (2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23) ... HCA National Player of the Month (March/April 2022) … 3x NCHC Player of the Month (March/April 2022; December 2022; February 2023) … 5x NCHC Defenseman of the Week (Nov. 22, 2021; Dec. 13, 2021; Feb. 28, 2022; Jan. 2, 2023; Feb. 27, 2023) … Finalist for NCHC Offensive Defenseman of the Year (2021-22) ... Hobey Baker Award nominee (2022-23).
2022-23: Finished third overall on the team and tied for fifth in the nation in scoring among defensemen with 34 points (13g/21a) … His 13 goals were tied for fourth on the Pioneers and ranked fourth in the country among blueliners … Ranked third on the squad with 21 assists while suiting up in 39-of-40 games … Recorded 10 multi-point games during the campaign, the second-most on DU and had three multi-goal performance during the year, bringing his collegiate career total to seven … His +24 plus/minus rating was tied for second on the squad … Also ranked second on the Pioneers in both power-play goals (seven) and with 16 power-play points (7g/9a) … Was third overall and first among team defensemen in shots (101) … Fifth on the team with 28 blocked shots and was second on Denver with 19 penalties and 38 penalty minutes … Scored on Oct. 8 vs. Maine for his 50th career point … Twice named the NCHC Player of the Month, earning the honor in December (3g/7a) and February (5g/4a) … Led all conference players with 10 points in December—the most he ever produced in a month—and had four multi-point efforts in six games … Registered a career-long, nine-game point streak from Nov. 26-Jan. 7 (5g/10a), which included tying a personal best with a five-game assist streak from Dec. 2-16 (7a) … It was the longest point streak by a Denver defenseman since 2005 … Also recorded a career-best, three-game goal streak from Feb. 17-24 (4g/2a) … Recorded a career-high four points with two goals and two assists on Feb. 24 at Western Michigan, which marked the first four-point contest by a Pioneer defensemen since Ian Mitchell on Jan. 19, 2019 vs. Omaha (1g/3a) … The four points were tied for the most by a DU blueliner during the year (Kyle Mayhew, March 11 vs. Miami) … Picked up his 50th career assist in that contest at WMU on Feb. 24 … Also scored a pair of goals on Nov 26 vs. Omaha and Dec. 17 vs. Lindenwood … Made his 100th career appearance with Denver in Game 2 of the NCHC Quarterfinals on March 11 vs. Miami … Missed his only game of the season on March 17 vs. Colorado College in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff Semifinals in St. Paul, Minn., due to an illness … Finished his collegiate career ranked eighth among all defensemen in school history with 31 goals … Also added 52 assists for 83 points in 101 career games … Attended Florida Panthers NHL Development Camp in July 2022.
2021-22: Scored the game-winning goal in the NCAA Championship Game vs. Minnesota State on April 9 to help the Pioneers capture their record-tying ninth national title … Named to the All-Tournament Team and the Most Outstanding Player of the Frozen Four with four points (1g/3a) in two games … Finished first among Denver defensemen in goals (15) and points (38) and ranked fifth overall on the team in both categories … Added 23 assists, second on DU’s defense … Posted career highs in all three scoring categories while appearing in all 41 games … Ranked first on the team in both plus/minus rating (+32) and shooting percentage (18.3), with his plus/minus tied for the fourth-highest in the country … Led DU defenders in shots (82) … Second on the Pioneers with five game-winning goals and first among defensemen … Tied for fifth on the team in power-play goals (tied) and fourth overall in power-play scoring with 14 points (4g/10a) … Finished third on the squad with 34 blocked shots … Had three games where he scored twice, tying his career high … Began the season on a three-game point streak from Oct. 8-15 (3g/1a) … Scored back-to-back game-winning goals on Oct. 9 vs. Arizona State and Oct. 15 at Air Force, the first game-winner of his career … Registered a career-long six-game point streak from Nov. 13-Dec. 10 (3g/7a) … Had a personal-best five-game assist streak from Nov. 13-Dec. 4 (7a) … Tied his career high of three points on two occasions: Nov. 20 vs. Miami (1g/2a) and Feb. 26 at Omaha (2g/1a) to help Denver erase a two-goal deficit in a 5-2 win … It was tied for the most points by a DU defenseman in game during the year (Sean Behrens, also twice) … Tallied his first career overtime-winning goal on Jan. 28 at Miami, capping off a two-goal, third-period comeback for DU … Skated in his 50th career game on Feb. 18 at Western Michigan … Posted a five-game assist/point streak from Feb. 26-March 12 (3g/6a) … Had an assist vs. UMass Lowell in the NCAA West Regional Semifinals on March 24 … Registered two assists in the national semifinals vs. Michigan on April 7 and had two points (1g/1a), including the game-winner, in championship game vs. Minnesota State on April 9 … Named both the NCHC and HCA National Player of the Month for March/April after totaling 11 points (2g/9a) in nine games, his first career national honor.
2020-21: Played in 21-of-24 games and tied for the team lead in points (11) and was second in goals (3-tied) and assists (8) by a defenseman … His 11 points ranked tied for fourth on the team in overall scoring … Also had a -1 plus/minus rating, one power-play goal, eight penalty minutes and 15 blocked shots … Tied for the team lead with six power-play assists … Tallied five of his eight assists in his second and third career games, including three in the NCHC Pod against St. Cloud State on Dec. 5 … Recorded first career points with two assists on Dec. 4 vs. North Dakota … Scored his first career goal and added an assist vs. Miami on Dec. 10 … Scored twice in Denver’s NCHC Quarterfinal win over Omaha on March 13.
Before Denver: Rated 57th among North American skaters on NHL Central Scouting's final rankings for the 2020 NHL Draft … Produced 22 goals, 114 assists and 153 penalty minutes in 114 games for the Sherwood Park Crusaders (AJHL) from 2018-2020 … 2019-20 CJHL Defenseman of the Year and AJHL Defenseman of the Year … Led all AJHL defensemen in scoring in 2018-19 and 2019-20 … Notched 75 points in 2019-20, tied for the 10th-most in a single season for all-time AJHL defensemen … Named to the 2019-20 AJHL All-Star Team … Served as an alternate captain of the Crusaders for the 2019-20 season … Named to the 2018-19 AJHL All-Rookie Team … Represented Canada at the 2019 World Junior A Challenge.
Personal: Son of Brian and Caroline … Has an older sister, Abby, and an older brother, Matt … His brother Matt plays for the Edmonton Oilers (NHL) … His father Brian played 568 NHL games from 1984-95 for the St. Louis Blues, Los Angeles Kings, Philadelphia Flyers, Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers … His uncle Jim played 610 NHL games from 1981-1990 and is the former General Manager of the Vancouver Canucks … Was teammates with fellow DU classmates Reid Irwin and Carter Savoie with the Sherwood Park Crusaders from 2018-2020 … Had played on the same team as Savoie for almost every year since they were kids … Chose Denver for the academics and athletics … Enjoys quadding, water skiing, snowmobiling and surfing in his spare time.
Honors and Awards: 2022 NCAA National Champion … 2022 Frozen Four Most Outstanding Player … 2022 Frozen Four All-Tournament Team …2022-23 AHCA Second-Team All-American (West) ... NCHC Offensive Defenseman of the Year ... All-NCHC First Team (2022-23) ... All-NCHC Second Team (2021-22) … 3x NCHC Academic All-Conference Team (2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23) ... HCA National Player of the Month (March/April 2022) … 3x NCHC Player of the Month (March/April 2022; December 2022; February 2023) … 5x NCHC Defenseman of the Week (Nov. 22, 2021; Dec. 13, 2021; Feb. 28, 2022; Jan. 2, 2023; Feb. 27, 2023) … Finalist for NCHC Offensive Defenseman of the Year (2021-22) ... Hobey Baker Award nominee (2022-23).
2022-23: Finished third overall on the team and tied for fifth in the nation in scoring among defensemen with 34 points (13g/21a) … His 13 goals were tied for fourth on the Pioneers and ranked fourth in the country among blueliners … Ranked third on the squad with 21 assists while suiting up in 39-of-40 games … Recorded 10 multi-point games during the campaign, the second-most on DU and had three multi-goal performance during the year, bringing his collegiate career total to seven … His +24 plus/minus rating was tied for second on the squad … Also ranked second on the Pioneers in both power-play goals (seven) and with 16 power-play points (7g/9a) … Was third overall and first among team defensemen in shots (101) … Fifth on the team with 28 blocked shots and was second on Denver with 19 penalties and 38 penalty minutes … Scored on Oct. 8 vs. Maine for his 50th career point … Twice named the NCHC Player of the Month, earning the honor in December (3g/7a) and February (5g/4a) … Led all conference players with 10 points in December—the most he ever produced in a month—and had four multi-point efforts in six games … Registered a career-long, nine-game point streak from Nov. 26-Jan. 7 (5g/10a), which included tying a personal best with a five-game assist streak from Dec. 2-16 (7a) … It was the longest point streak by a Denver defenseman since 2005 … Also recorded a career-best, three-game goal streak from Feb. 17-24 (4g/2a) … Recorded a career-high four points with two goals and two assists on Feb. 24 at Western Michigan, which marked the first four-point contest by a Pioneer defensemen since Ian Mitchell on Jan. 19, 2019 vs. Omaha (1g/3a) … The four points were tied for the most by a DU blueliner during the year (Kyle Mayhew, March 11 vs. Miami) … Picked up his 50th career assist in that contest at WMU on Feb. 24 … Also scored a pair of goals on Nov 26 vs. Omaha and Dec. 17 vs. Lindenwood … Made his 100th career appearance with Denver in Game 2 of the NCHC Quarterfinals on March 11 vs. Miami … Missed his only game of the season on March 17 vs. Colorado College in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff Semifinals in St. Paul, Minn., due to an illness … Finished his collegiate career ranked eighth among all defensemen in school history with 31 goals … Also added 52 assists for 83 points in 101 career games … Attended Florida Panthers NHL Development Camp in July 2022.
2021-22: Scored the game-winning goal in the NCAA Championship Game vs. Minnesota State on April 9 to help the Pioneers capture their record-tying ninth national title … Named to the All-Tournament Team and the Most Outstanding Player of the Frozen Four with four points (1g/3a) in two games … Finished first among Denver defensemen in goals (15) and points (38) and ranked fifth overall on the team in both categories … Added 23 assists, second on DU’s defense … Posted career highs in all three scoring categories while appearing in all 41 games … Ranked first on the team in both plus/minus rating (+32) and shooting percentage (18.3), with his plus/minus tied for the fourth-highest in the country … Led DU defenders in shots (82) … Second on the Pioneers with five game-winning goals and first among defensemen … Tied for fifth on the team in power-play goals (tied) and fourth overall in power-play scoring with 14 points (4g/10a) … Finished third on the squad with 34 blocked shots … Had three games where he scored twice, tying his career high … Began the season on a three-game point streak from Oct. 8-15 (3g/1a) … Scored back-to-back game-winning goals on Oct. 9 vs. Arizona State and Oct. 15 at Air Force, the first game-winner of his career … Registered a career-long six-game point streak from Nov. 13-Dec. 10 (3g/7a) … Had a personal-best five-game assist streak from Nov. 13-Dec. 4 (7a) … Tied his career high of three points on two occasions: Nov. 20 vs. Miami (1g/2a) and Feb. 26 at Omaha (2g/1a) to help Denver erase a two-goal deficit in a 5-2 win … It was tied for the most points by a DU defenseman in game during the year (Sean Behrens, also twice) … Tallied his first career overtime-winning goal on Jan. 28 at Miami, capping off a two-goal, third-period comeback for DU … Skated in his 50th career game on Feb. 18 at Western Michigan … Posted a five-game assist/point streak from Feb. 26-March 12 (3g/6a) … Had an assist vs. UMass Lowell in the NCAA West Regional Semifinals on March 24 … Registered two assists in the national semifinals vs. Michigan on April 7 and had two points (1g/1a), including the game-winner, in championship game vs. Minnesota State on April 9 … Named both the NCHC and HCA National Player of the Month for March/April after totaling 11 points (2g/9a) in nine games, his first career national honor.
2020-21: Played in 21-of-24 games and tied for the team lead in points (11) and was second in goals (3-tied) and assists (8) by a defenseman … His 11 points ranked tied for fourth on the team in overall scoring … Also had a -1 plus/minus rating, one power-play goal, eight penalty minutes and 15 blocked shots … Tied for the team lead with six power-play assists … Tallied five of his eight assists in his second and third career games, including three in the NCHC Pod against St. Cloud State on Dec. 5 … Recorded first career points with two assists on Dec. 4 vs. North Dakota … Scored his first career goal and added an assist vs. Miami on Dec. 10 … Scored twice in Denver’s NCHC Quarterfinal win over Omaha on March 13.
Before Denver: Rated 57th among North American skaters on NHL Central Scouting's final rankings for the 2020 NHL Draft … Produced 22 goals, 114 assists and 153 penalty minutes in 114 games for the Sherwood Park Crusaders (AJHL) from 2018-2020 … 2019-20 CJHL Defenseman of the Year and AJHL Defenseman of the Year … Led all AJHL defensemen in scoring in 2018-19 and 2019-20 … Notched 75 points in 2019-20, tied for the 10th-most in a single season for all-time AJHL defensemen … Named to the 2019-20 AJHL All-Star Team … Served as an alternate captain of the Crusaders for the 2019-20 season … Named to the 2018-19 AJHL All-Rookie Team … Represented Canada at the 2019 World Junior A Challenge.
Personal: Son of Brian and Caroline … Has an older sister, Abby, and an older brother, Matt … His brother Matt plays for the Edmonton Oilers (NHL) … His father Brian played 568 NHL games from 1984-95 for the St. Louis Blues, Los Angeles Kings, Philadelphia Flyers, Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers … His uncle Jim played 610 NHL games from 1981-1990 and is the former General Manager of the Vancouver Canucks … Was teammates with fellow DU classmates Reid Irwin and Carter Savoie with the Sherwood Park Crusaders from 2018-2020 … Had played on the same team as Savoie for almost every year since they were kids … Chose Denver for the academics and athletics … Enjoys quadding, water skiing, snowmobiling and surfing in his spare time.
Tuesday, June 30
Tuesday, June 30
Tuesday, June 30
Tuesday, April 14
