Hockey, Men's Sports

Vegas Baby: Pioneers Rout Broncos to Earn Seventh Frozen Four Berth Since 2016

8 Comments

Let’s jump in a time machine and go back to January 23rd. Denver had just lost, 4-2, at home to St. Cloud State and had won just once in their previous eight games. The Pioneers were hovering around .500 at Magness Arena, and the vibes around the program and among the fanbase were as low as they’ve been in years (losses to Lindenwood and Alaska Anchorage will do that). Those same Pioneers, thanks to their latest 6-2 victory over the defending national champion Western Michigan Broncos in the Loveland Regional Final at Blue Arena in Loveland, have not lost since and earned their 7th trip to the Frozen Four since 2016.

There will, understandably, be plenty made of how close the Pioneers and Broncos have been over the last two years. How could there not be? They played a pair of overtime thrillers in the NCHC championship and Frozen Four last year, split a pair of sweeps – the away team swept both series – this season, and played yet another fantastic overtime game in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff semifinal at Magness Arena a few weeks ago. But, to just about everyone’s surprise, the Pioneers skated the Broncos out of the building in Loveland en route to what amounted to a relatively boring Regional Final victory. So yes, there is a story to be told there.

But that’s not the story that the Pioneers told this weekend.

DU head coach David Carle perhaps said best, telling ESPN’s Colby Cohen after the final buzzer sounded, “Not very many people had us [going to the Frozen Four] two months ago.”

And he was absolutely right. What Carle’s 2025-26 team, riddled with freshmen throughout the lineup, has accomplished, turning what was a season on the brink of disaster into one where they may very well come home from Las Vegas with their 11th title, is, in a word, astounding.

Consider this. On that day back in January, the Pioneers sat at 13-11-2, safely near the top of the NCHC standings but firmly on the NCAA Tournament bubble at #13 in the NPI. The season was teetering on disaster, and one or two more losses quickly thereafter could have caused the whole thing to unravel.

Instead, we’re sitting here, two months later, celebrating the Pioneers’ 21st trip – 7th in the last 10 calendar years – to the Frozen Four, all because the Pioneers, led in large part by that huge freshman class, refused to give up on the season. And it all started just the day after that 4-2 loss – one in which the Pioneers blew an early 2-0 lead – when Quentin Miller and one Johnny Hicks shut out St. Cloud State, 6-0.

Something seemed to click for the Pioneers that night. Maybe David Carle and Co. could do a better job elaborating on the specifics, but the Pioneers that ran the Huskies out of the building that Saturday night resembled nothing of the Pioneers that folded early in the second period just a night before, and it was as if Denver had finally found their identity en route to their most dominant win of the season.

The rest, as they say, is history. Since that loss to the Huskies, the Pioneers have rattled off 15-straight victories (14 if you don’t count the shootout victory at Colorado College), and are headed back to the Frozen Four thanks to another dominant, 6-goal outburst, this time against the reigning national champions.

In the Regional Final, the Pioneers surprised everyone by jumping on the Broncos early, scoring four goals in the opening period, outshooting them 14-8 in the process. It was the first time a team scored four or more goals in one period of an NCAA Tournament game since Denver did it against Minnesota State in the third period of the 2022 national championship (when they won their ninth, if your memory isn’t great). Sam Harris, Kyle Chyzowski, Samu Salminen, and Brendan McMorrow – arguably the player of the game for the Pioneers – all beat Hampton Slukynsky while the Broncos could only muster a single goal.

And that was all the offense the Pioneers needed to cruise to the 6-2 victory (Kieran Cebrian netted the dagger two minutes after WMU made it a two-goal game, and Eric Pohlkamp added the exclamation-point empty-netter) and put the finishing touches on one of the more dominant regional performances in recent memory. Denver’s rout of the Broncos came on the heels of their 5-0 romp over the Cornell Big Red two days ago.

As wild as it sounds, the Pioneers, already on a 15-game unbeaten streak, may have found yet another gear this weekend that they hadn’t yet shown this season. What Denver did to Cornell and Western Michigan in Loveland this weekend was reminiscent of what they did to St. Cloud State just two months ago.

And, just like that game, if Denver finds a way to come home from Vegas in two weeks with their 11th championship, we will almost certainly look back at this weekend’s regional dominance as the moment when the Pioneers found their playoff identity.

The Pioneers will play the winner of the Michigan-Minnesota Duluth matchup in the national semifinals, which is currently led, 3-0, by Michigan, on Thursday, April 9th. The other national semifinal is Wisconsin-North Dakota. As we learn more details about game times and pregame parties and meetups on The Strip, we will be sure to let everyone know, both on Twitter (or ‘X’) and on the site.

Highlights

Top photo courtesy of Stephen Ross via Twitter/X

8 thoughts on “Vegas Baby: Pioneers Rout Broncos to Earn Seventh Frozen Four Berth Since 2016”

  1. I hope the production of the statue of Mr. Carle is underway!

    What DU did for Carle when his playing career abruptly ended, along with the loyalty Carle has shown to DU through the years (despite chances to leave and make more money), combines to make one of the great human interest stories.

    Money doesn’t buy happiness but love- based human relationships can.

    Reply

  2. Great game and what a first period! Blue Arena is a great venue (sound system, video screens, etc.) and DU had 90% of the crowd! Lots of noise! Nice job Nick on the article and wow, you got it done quick!! Go DENVER!

    Reply

  3. Good stuff here, good context on how the season has progressed. Wow…book Vegas, it will be a fun time.

    Reply

  4. The McMurrow, Chyzowski and Cebrian line was a clinic on how pressure kills. McMurrow single handedly blew up Western’s attempts to regroup/breakout in their own end half a dozen times. That group has really given us the depth up top to run lines with anyone.

    Reply

  5. DC has proven once again, that over a single college hockey season he can groom a group of raw recruits with a few battle tested veterans into a well oiled team machine.
    He continues to prove to the hockey world that he is without a doubt the best coach in hockey…at any level.
    Congratulations to DC, the team, and the entire Pioneer Nation.

    Reply

  6. I have been watching DU hockey for 60 plus years. I can say, without a doubt, that was the most dominant period I have ever seen. WMU were the proverbial “deer in the headlight”. DC is not only a phenomenal teacher he is also a great tactician. He has proven that you don’t need a bunch of first and second round draft picks to succeed. Character and hard work is the key. Coach Armstrong is smiling right now. Oh, and one more thing, tell the commentators to stop referring to us as the “Pios”.

    Reply

  7. That was a dominant Denver performance in this regional in both games, and the Pioneers are coming together and playing their best hockey of the season.

    Yes, the freshmen are no longer freshmen anymore – they’ve played a full season of NCHC hockey now, and they know what it takes to win. Additionally, Carle’s recruitment of experienced CHL guys like Caswell, Epperson and Jamieson have really reduced the learning curve many freshmen face at this level. We are also watching DU come back into a healthy unit – having McMorrow and Brown back really solidifies the DU lineup.

    We are also seeing Denver running all four lines and getting offensive production from everywhere, and no one in the country has the offensive defensemen production of Pohlkamp and Buckberger.

    Moreover, the development of Hicks as a big-game goalie and DU learning to start games hungry and well has really helped them overcome their team weaknesses – an average power play and occasionally inconsistent puck management.

    Yes – Michigan wants revenge for 2022 in Boston when DU upset their apple cart, denying their seven first round draft picks a single point. Michigan is now the top team in the country, and they will be favored by the oddsmakers in Las Vegas. That said, DU is the hottest team in the country, has a goalie who has yet to lose, and has some players/coaches who have won NCAA titles. Let Michigan fear Denver.

    Reply

  8. In the event my ticket request falls through and I find myself on StubHub, question for the serious donors: any intel on where the DU section will be in T-Mobile Arena?

    Reply

Leave a Reply to AnonymousCancel reply