University of Denver ice hockey alumnus Juho ‘Jussi’ Olkinuora (attd. DU 2011-13) won a 2022 Olympic gold medal for his native Finland on Feb. 20. It took 70 years, but it was the first gold medal won by a DU athlete since Jerome Biffle’s gold medal for Team USA in the long jump in the 1952 Olympic Summer Games in Helsinki, Finland – ironically, Olkinoura’s home city. Continue reading Juho Olkinuora is first DU Olympic Gold Medal Athlete Since 1952
The #3 Denver Pioneers (22-7-1, 15-5-0-1 NCHC, 44 pts) fell to the #6 Western Michigan Broncos (20-8-1, 12-7-1-1-0-1 NCHC, 37 pts) 6-4 in Kalamazoo on Saturday night to clinch the road split. DU’s penalty-killing effort fell flat, giving up three goals on eight chances, all in the first and second periods, en route to spotting the Broncos a 5-1 lead. Magnus Chrona gave up all five goals on just 20 shots before being replaced by Matt Davis, who did not allow a goal on 13 WMU shots. Almost immediately, though, the Pioneers responded, scoring two quick goals before the second period ended and an early one in the third to pull back to within one at 5-4. Unfortunately, the tying goal just would not find twine behind WMU goaltender Brandon Bussi and the Broncos added an empty-netter for good measure with just over a minute left to seal it. Continue reading Pioneers’ PK Falters as Comeback Effort Falls Just Short Against Broncos
Western Michigan’s Lawson Arena has been a house of horrors for the University of Denver hockey but Denver snapped their four-game road losing streak to the Broncos Friday night. #3 Denver (17-6-1, 15-4-0) met the #5 Broncos (19-8-1, 11-7-1) in Kalamazoo, Michigan and the Pioneers capitalized on the man advantage to score three power play goals in the 4-1 win. Continue reading Denver Uses Power Play to top Western Michigan
You can’t win ’em all. No matter how well the #3 Denver Pioneers (21-6-1, 14-4-0-1 NCHC, 41 pts) had been playing, and they had been playing extremely well, winning each of their last nine games, you simply can’t win every game. In a game where the Pioneers dominated nearly every facet, a loss didn’t seem likely but combine poor specialty teams play with two elite goaltenders on the #6 Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs’ (16-11-3, 9-6-3-0-1-1 NCHC, 32 pts) roster and it was the perfect combination for the Pios to drop their first game of 2022 and their first loss at Magness Arena all season. The Pios had their looks and plenty of them, but in the end, the Bulldogs came away with the thrilling 3-2 victory. Continue reading Pioneers Drop 3-2 Thriller to Bulldogs for First Home Loss
The #3 Denver Pioneers (21-5-1, 14-3-0-1 NCHC, 41 pts) have the country’s best offense. But you already knew that. The Denver Pioneers boast the country’s highest-scoring player in Bobby Brink (But you already knew that too). What you may not have known is that after outscoring the #6 Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs (14-11-3, 7-6-3-0-1-1 NCHC, 26 pts) 3-1 in the second period, the Pioneers are now outscoring opponents 55-16 in the second period this season which is among the country’s best marks for that stat. As a result of another dominant second period, for the ninth straight time, the Pioneers won, this time a 5-3 effort over the Bulldogs, just their second in their last 10 meetings, dating back to the 2019 NCHC Frozen Faceoff semifinal. Continue reading Second Period Pioneers Score Three Against Bulldogs En Route to 9th Straight Victory
The DU Alumni Council is piloting an alumni pregame get-together at the brand new Burwell Center (across Asbury Avenue from the Ritchie Center). The first gathering is this Friday before the #3 DU- #7 Minnesota-Duluth hockey game – Details and registration are shown below. REGISTRATION includes snacks and beverages with the option to purchase $10.00 tickets! (Family & Guests welcome with this special offer!) Continue reading Alumni Meet-up Friday Before the Denver – Minnesota-Duluth Hockey Game
Disastrous first periods often lead to bad losses. For most teams, giving up three goals in the first 18 minutes of games almost never leads to victories. For most teams. The #3 Denver Pioneers (19-5-1, 12-3-0-1 NCHC, 35 pts) are not most teams. These Pioneers are, to borrow a Gen-Z internet phrase, built different. The #7 St. Cloud State Huskies (14-8-1, 6-6-1-1-1 NCHC, 19 pts) shot out to a 3-0 lead at Magness Arena in the first period thanks in large part to some lucky bounces and an at-times lackadaisical DU defense but for the Pioneers who lead the country in scoring, 3-0 was far from an insurmountable lead. All they had to do to right the ship was score 8 goals over the final 40 minutes, including four – three from Carter Savoie himself – in the second period to erase the three-goal deficit and four more in the third to come away with their sixth-straight victory and remain unbeaten at home. Continue reading Pioneers Use Savoie Hat Trick to Erase Three-Goal Deficit & Beat Huskies in Magness Arena Thriller
From 2005 to 2014, DU Athletics had a featured broadcaster, Mitch Hyder, who was best known for his radio play-by-play for the University of Denver’s men’s basketball team. A jack-of-all-trades, Hyder also did play-by-play for women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, volleyball, gymnastics, and men’s and women’s lacrosse. The transition to a new voice has taken time but current play-by-play announcer, Tyler Maun has assumed the mantle as the voice of the Denver Pioneers.
Continue reading Renaissance Man Tyler Maun Has Become the Voice of the Pioneers
The #5 Denver Pioneers (18-5-1, 11-3-0-1, 32 pts) were always expected to sweep the last-place Miami RedHawks (4-20-2, 1-14-1-0-1, 6 pts) this weekend. DU swept them at Magness Arena back in November by a combined score of 11-2 and MU was coming off of a dismal, embarrassing weekend sweep at the hands of #6 St. Cloud State, 11-1 & 8-0. Everything was lined up perfectly for an easy road sweep for the Pioneers before they came home to begin their toughest stretch of the season, hosting SCSU and Minnesota Duluth before traveling to Kalamazoo to take on the Western Michigan Broncos in a weekend that could determine who earns a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. But the weekend in Oxford ended up far from the easy series that most had expected and though the Pios did indeed earn the sweep, though the path to get there was filled with obstacles even the most seasoned college hockey fans probably didn’t expect. Continue reading Denver Hockey Road Trip Recap: Pioneers Earn Road Sweep of RedHawks to Stay in First Place
The #5 Denver Pioneers (18-5-1, 11-3-0-1 NCHC, 32 pts) traveled to the Goggin Ice Center in Oxford, Ohio to take on the last-place Miami University RedHawks (4-19-2, 1-13-1-0-1, 6 pts) expecting two easy wins after the RedHawks were demolished 11-1 & 8-0 against St. Cloud State last weekend. Instead, the Pios got a lot more than they bargained for in the two-game series as DU had to come back from a third-period two-goal deficit on Friday night to force overtime before coming away with the 5-4 victory. On Saturday evening, the RedHawks once again gave the Pioneers all they could handle, spotting the Pioneers a 2-0 lead before tying it back up at 2 entering the third period. Ryan Barrow scored the game-winner less than six minutes into the final frame and McKade Webster sealed the win with an empty-netter with just over a minute left.
It was a gritty series sweep where the first-place Pioneers narrowly escaped with two wins and come home with five more points to become the first team in the NCHC to reach 30 points on the season. They are now five points clear of North Dakota which is currently trailing St. Cloud State, 3-1 (as of 5:51 pm MT).
We will have a more in-depth discussion of both of this weekend’s games tomorrow in our normal Denver Hockey Road Trip Recap.
