It was a special night at Magness Arena. One that will go down as one of the greatest in the rink’s storied 25-year history. And the reason for it had nothing to do with the hockey game being played on this night. The #1 Denver Pioneers (4-0-0, 0-0-0 NCHC) were scheduled to close out Homecoming Weekend against the #19 Northeastern Huskies (1-2-0, 0-0-0 HE), and they did so with a 5-2 victory, but it was secondary to the night’s main event – Denver’s ceremony to honor 2024’s national title team and raise the program’s NCAA-record 10th national championship banner.
Don’t get me wrong, the hockey was important. Denver played characteristically strong and relentless Denver hockey with few mistakes and mostly outplayed the upstart Huskies in every facet for the second straight night, something that is likely going to be a theme for these Pioneers. Northeastern put up a much tougher fight in game two to be sure, but after an evenly-played first period that saw Denver stake its claim to a 1-0 lead, the result was never really in doubt. Captain Carter King scored twice, Bemidji State transfer defenseman Eric Pohlkamp scored his first as a Pioneer with a turnaround rocket, and Sam Harris added another on the power play to round out Denver’s non-empty-net scoring. Matt Davis was strong in the crease and his defensive teammates smothered nearly every Husky chance.
It truly was vintage Denver Hockey in October and an excellent Homecoming Weekend reminder of not only the tremendous potential that this year’s Pioneers have but also that until proven otherwise, Denver remains the standard in college hockey.
So yes, the hockey was important and fun. But the real reason many fans were in the building – the reason Denver fans bleed crimson and gold the way they do – was to celebrate, for one last time, the team that made history. They showed up to watch the banner that officially immortalized the 2023-24 Pioneers rise to Magness Arena’s rafters.
It was a celebration fit for the top hockey program in the land. Athletic Director Josh Berlo took eloquent digs at college hockey hotbeds of Minnesota and Boston and noted that the 10th banner isn’t going up at North Dakota and it “certainly isn’t rising in the state of Michigan” to the roaring glee of the Magness Arena faithful. That preceded the chills-inducing video recounting the best moments of Denver’s 2-0 victory over Boston College which clinched the program’s 10th title and gave them the right to raise the banner.
Ten. pic.twitter.com/qXYuDtohkR
— LetsGoDU (@LetsGoDU) October 20, 2024
Carter King said it best – “You come to Denver to win championships. It’s a lot of fun to be able to share that with the fans.”
It was a special night and an incredible last opportunity to celebrate “TENver” and all that came with it. But with the celebration was a reminder that this is a brand new team with fresh goals of its own to replicate tonight’s magic a year from now.
“[This team] has been pretty good about not letting [the distraction of last year’s championship] affect them,” head coach David Carle said. “They’ve shown a lot of maturity and desire to move on and get the season going.”
Indeed, once Sean Behrens and last year’s team captain McKade Webster dropped that ceremonial first puck, the Pioneers’ full focus was on the task at hand. But you know what? Starting the season 4-0 with a couple of victories over what is going to be a strong Northeastern team is a pretty damn good way to close the book on 2023-24 team and start a new one on the 2024-25 team. The quest to hang 11 is officially underway.
Top photo courtesy of Clarkson Creative/Denver Athletics
Banner raising was great! We had six people at the game and we saw MANY empty seats. Undoubtedly they count attendance by tickets sold and evidently many standing room only tickets were sold as well. Great job by DU in selling tickets.
I was hoping to see a pep band but evidently the Edina High School kids couldn’t make it this weekend! I am just puzzled why a school with the Lamont School of Music can’t field a pep band.
I am hearing they are working on a plan for a pep band. Not sure on the timing but it going to take some time to put all the pieces together.
As long as they are working on a pep band, how about allowing Boone back in Magness?
That’s not happening but you can order a Matt Davis NIL jersey and support DU hockey and Matt Davis.😉
Great weekend of hockey. I watched Friday in personas as I have for 25years- complete domination on the ice- I know October games, good or bad, don’t predict end of season, but that was some good hockey by DU. Very happy to see it. Crowd was great.
I do get sick of some whiny bitches on this site, but screw them. Was a great way to start home games and celebration of number 10.
Well, that was one of the best DU home-opening weekends I can remember, and I’ve attended a lot of them.
A few observations:
-Fast, skilled and relentless. That’s Pioneer hockey, and that’s what we saw for about 80% of the weekend. When DU plays “Pioneer Hockey” there will be very few teams that can skate with Denver this year. The newcomers have already integrated into the Pio system, and there isn’t much of drop in offensive threat between lines. A 10-goal weekend is all you can wish for, and the team will win a lot games. D-Corps looked good, the power play looked devastating and the PK was fantastic, too. I thought Davis get better from Friday to Saturday, too.
There are things the Pios can work on — There could be a bit more discipline, more finishing near the net, and work on not giving up shorthanded breakaways.
-Northeastern adjusted its game plan from a skating game on Friday to a more defensive style on Saturday night, and it served them better, as their coaches knew that getting into a track meet with the Pios was ill-advised.
-Nearly 14,000 total fans attended on the weekend, with over 7,000 on Saturday, the largest crowd in Magness History, and the student turnout was huge, too. Great to see!
– I like the new lighting, which gives of less shadows, and the new seats are nice, too.
Great opening weekend. The new seats are super. Fan experience continues to improve. Except for an occasional let down, the hockey was superb. Keep it up Josh and Pios!