The Bauer NCHC Player of the Week awards all went to Colorado players with three Pioneers and one Tiger garnering the honors.

• Danton Heinen – Offensive Player of the Week
• Will Butcher – Defensive Player of the Week
• Dylan Gambrell – Rookie of the Week

This should give the surging Pioneers a big boost after the sweep of UNO in their new house.

Looking at the stats for the 60 D1 hockey programs one gains valuable insights as well as unexpected surprises.

Wouldn’t it be great if Trevor Moore and Danton Heinen were leading the nation in scoring? Surely, DU, or any team for that matter, would be one of the top teams in the country with a tandem of national scoring leaders. Well, not so fast. New Hampshire has the top two D1 scorers, forwards Andrew Poturalski and Tyler Kelleher, and they are not in the top 20. Continue reading Stats Don’t Count? Go Figure →

Photo from article: REBECCA S. GRATZ/THE WORLD-HERALD

Link to game one article from Omaha.com –  Mavericks Today. A view from the opposition. A full series summary tomorrow in LetsGoDU.

One under reported story from the DU – North Dakota series in Grand Forks in early December was told by  Minneapolis City Pages. North Dakota fans, upset about the November nickname change re-branding the school to the Fighting Hawks, booed when the PA announcers uttered the new bird name.  The new name was decided two weeks prior to the DU series when North Dakota was playing back-to-back road series. DU got to hear the first expression of the fans displeasure. If you missed it, here it is:

Continue reading BOO Birds →

Heading into this weekend versus University of Nebraska – Omaha, the Pioneers have been one of the biggest surprises in college hockey – unfortunately, for their on-ice results versus preseason expectations. LetsGoDU looked at the USCHO Preseason Hockey Poll and compared these predictions to the recent  January 4th USCHO Regular Season Poll.

The biggest improvement was shown by current #2 Quinnipiac, originally predicted to finish 18th – they ‘moved up’ +16 places. Other big winners include St Cloud (+13), UMass-Lowell (+6), St. Lawrence (+6), and unranked Notre Dame that moved up to 14th (>+6). The second half of the season will show if these programs can sustain this improvement or will they fall back to earth, particularly Quinnipiac. Continue reading Mid-Season Hockey Poll Shows Winners & Losers →

On Thursday, the University of Denver announced that junior defenseman Nick Neville (Bloomfield Hills, MI) will leave the program for “personal reasons.” Continue reading Nick Neville Leaves DU →

In a surprise to most hockey fans, Finland defeated favored Russia (4-3) today in the gold medal round and pre-tournament betting favorite, team Canada, sat out the medal round of the World Junior Hockey Championships.

The US Juniors captured the bronze medal in a convincing 8-2 victory over Sweden following a disappointing loss after outplaying  Russia Monday. The US finished the tournament 5-0-0-2 and landed its fourth medal in the last seven championships. Continue reading US Secures Bronze at World Junior Championships →

Photo: Worlds Biggest Ball of Stamps, Roadside America

Are you making the 550 mile trek to Omaha, Nebraska for the hockey games between the Denver Pioneers and the University Nebraska – Omaha Mavericks this upcoming weekend? This destination offers a plethora of cultural and educational sites for visitors to the “Gateway to the West”, Omaha’s formal nickname. Others may know this city by its more informal nickname, “Rest Stop on I-80”. Continue reading Omaha Culture Captures the Imagination →