On the brink of a fourth consecutive Gold Pan and coming off a shutout win over the Tigers at Ball Arena last weekend, the #4 Denver Pioneers (21-7-0, 12-4-0 NCHC) traveled to Colorado Springs for Round Two of the 2022-23 Battle for the Gold Pan. As with many large rivales, tensions were high and penalties and rough play were the name of the game. Continue reading Denver Brings Home the Gold Pan in an Eventful Night in Colorado Springs →

Nearly every Monday morning from late September through mid-April, USCHO.com and USA Hockey Magazine post their weekly college hockey media polls. And nearly every Monday morning from late September through mid-April, College Hockey Twitter (it’s a thing! Come join us and get mad at everything!) goes into an uproar over the polls, regardless of the rankings and who is and isn’t ranked.

Some of the various opinions you’ll see on a weekly basis can be summarized as follows: Continue reading Polls & Ratings & Comparisons, Oh My! Making Sense of College Hockey’s Rankings →

The #5 Denver Pioneers (20-7-0, 11-4-0 NCHC) are no strangers to big games on NHL sheets. After all, just nine months ago, they went to Boston and won the program’s ninth national title at the home of the Boston Bruins (who now employ Jim Montgomery as their head coach…the DU-Boston roots just keep growing). Now, less than a year later, the Pioneers showed out again in an NHL building, this time at the home of the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche, Ball Arena against the Colorado College Tigers (10-14-1, 6-8-1 NCHC), their in-state nemesis and opened the 2022-23 Battle for the Gold Pan with a 2-0 victory. The shutout was Magnus Chrona’s fourth of the season, extended his shutout streak vs Colorado College to five games (Dating back to February 25, 2021) and moves him into a tie for second-most shutouts in DU history, now two shy of Peter Mannino’s all-time record of 15. Continue reading Pioneers Open 2022-23 Battle for the Gold Pan with 2-0 Shutout at Ball Arena →

There’s no getting around it. This weekend was a step backward for the #3 Denver Pioneers (19-7-0, 10-4-0 NCHC). After ripping off three straight victories, scoring seven goals in each game, the Pios traveled to central Minnesota and laid two huge eggs against the #4 St. Cloud State Huskies (18-6-0, 10-4-0 NCHC). In game one, they surrendered three power-play goals in five chances and Magnus Chrona was pulled from between the pipes early in the third period en route to a 7-3 thrashing while in game two last night, the Pioneers could only muster 19 shots on goal while getting shut out 2-0. It was a weekend to forget from start to finish and now, with just 10 games left in the season, the Pioneers appear to have reached the turning point of their season. Continue reading Denver Hockey Road Trip Recap: Pioneers’ NCHC Standings Lead Evaporates After St. Cloud Sweep →

Calling tonight’s road series opener against #4 St. Cloud State (17-6-0, 9-4-0 NCHC) a night to forget would be an understatement for the #3 Denver Pioneers (16-6-0, 10-3-0 NCHC). Everything that could go wrong, especially late in the second and into the third period, did, Magnus Chrona was pulled after six goals in the third period, and DU’s confounding, bad penalty kill gave up three power play goals in five chances. Continue reading Pioneers Open St. Cloud State Series with 7-3 Clunker →

In years when the Pioneers are contending for national titles – and it certainly seems it’s every year lately – consistent success in the second period always seems to be one of the key reasons why. In 2017, Jim Montgomery’s national champion Pioneers outscored their opponents an incredible 70-27 while a year ago, David Carle’s 2022 national champion Pioneers outscored theirs 68-22. If you’re noticing a theme, there’s a good reason: when you dominate the second period consistently, you win a lot of games. That theory was on full display this weekend at Magness Arena as the #4 Denver Pioneers (19-5-0, 10-2-0 NCHC) blasted the Miami RedHawks (7-13-2, 2-9-1 NCHC) with 10 second-period goals, six on Friday and four on Saturday, en route to the sweep and 7-0 victory in game two. The sweep, aided by Carter King’s hat trick on Friday and Tristain Broz’s four goals on Saturday, also widened the gap between first-place Denver and second-place St. Cloud State to six points at the halfway mark of NCHC play. Continue reading Tristan Broz Scores Four, Pioneers Dominate Second Period Again to Sweep RedHawks →

Even the best teams have a bad game or two every year. Sloppy passes, no communication, disjointed play…sometimes anything that can go wrong does. In their return from their three-week holiday break, the #1 Denver Pioneers (16-5-0, 8-2-0 NCHC) laid an egg. No part of their game worked well and their opponent, the Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks (11-8-2), skated them out of their own building. The visitors claimed a 33-20 shots on goal advantage and, if it was tracked, their offensive zone time would have dwarfed Denver’s. The Pioneers are no strangers to post-holiday break duds (remember Providence in 2016-17? Princeton? The tie vs these same Nanooks last year?) and tonight’s 3-1 loss that ended their seven-game winning streak ranks right up there among the worst of them. Continue reading Pioneers Get Outplayed by Nanooks in Return from Holiday Break →