All of college hockey’s best teams always seem to find a way to get hot over the course of the second half of the season. Remember Denver’s 13-game winning streak leading up to the Frozen Faceoff in 2017? We are now well into the second half of the 2021-2022 season and the #5 Denver Pioneers (16-5-1, 9-3-0 NCHC, 27 pts) are in the midst of a 5-0-1 stretch since their loss at Minnesota Duluth in December. The fifth victory over that stretch, though, might have been the latest, a second straight thrashing of the Colorado College Tigers (6-13-3, 3-8-1 NCHC, 11 pts), this time by a score of 4-0, in their first-ever trip to Ed Robson Arena, CC’s new on-campus hockey facility. With the victory, the Pioneers not only swept the first home-and-home series of the season between the two archrivals, but they clinch the Gold Pan by virtue of being the current holders of the trophy. Even if CC finds a way to sweep the regular-season finale series, CC cannot earn enough points to win the trophy outright. Continue reading Pioneers Earn Third Consecutive Shutout to Clinch Gold Pan in First-Ever Game at Ed Robson Arena →

The #5 Denver Pioneers (15-5-1, 8-3-0 NCHC, 24 pts) are a good hockey team. But we knew that. The Colorado College Tigers (6-12-3, 3-6-1 NCHC, 11 pts) are not a good hockey team. But we knew that as well. As a result, on a late Friday night, in front of a loud, packed house at Magness Arena, the obvious happened. The Pioneers dominated the Tigers, as they have done so many times for the better part of the last decade, in a 5-0 rout with head coach David Carle still in Covid-19 protocol. It wasn’t a particularly competitive game at any point as Denver outshot its archrival 40-19 but the Pios certainly put on a great show for the largest crowd of the season to this point. Continue reading Pioneers Open 2021-2022 Battle for the Gold Pan with Dominant Shutout of Tigers →

Last night, a whopping 16 penalties were called between the #6 Denver Pioneers (14-5-1, 7-3-0 NCHC, 21 pts) and the #15 Omaha Mavericks (14-8-0, 4-5-0-1 NCHC, 11 pts). Tonight though, referees Brian Hankes and Timm Walsh decided 16 wasn’t enough, upping the amount to 20 and 36 total on the weekend. It was a weekend of ugly, disjointed hockey due to a severe lack of five-on-five play but on the scoreboard, where it matters most, Denver came out of the weekend with a sweep of their surprise opponent in the Mavs. Goaltender Magnus Chrona shined in a chippy game two on Sunday night to earn the 4-0 shutout in the Pios’ 14th victory of the season, their 10th at Magness Arena this year. Continue reading Magnus Chrona Steals Show from Officials as Denver Completes Sweep of Omaha →

Just a week ago, the #6 Denver Pioneers (13-5-1, 6-3-0 NCHC, 18 pts) were beginning their preparation for the then-#4 St. Cloud State Huskies after being given a bye due to Covid-19 protocols within the #15 Omaha Mavericks program. Now, with Covid causing problems within the Huskies’ program, the Pios emerged from their unscheduled bye week to play Omaha (14-7-0, 4-5-0 NCHC, 12 pts), just a week later than expected and in Denver rather than in Omaha. Then, before the game, it was announced that head coach David Carle would not be with the team this weekend due to his own edition of the Covid protocols. Given all of this turbulence and uncertainty over the past two weeks, it would have been at least a bit understandable if the Pios stumbled a bit out of the gate. But they didn’t. They did the exact opposite as they welcomed the Mavs back to Denver with a 5-2 victory at Magness Arena. Continue reading Pioneers Emerge from Unexpected Covid Bye Week with Victory over Mavericks, Not Huskies →

After Denver’s series at Omaha, among many others across the country over the weekend, was postponed from January 7th and 8th due to Covid protocols within the Mavericks’ program, the NCHC announced a scheduling update that affects nearly every weekend over the rest of the season. In doing so, this weekend’s series against St. Cloud State has been postponed to the weekend of February 4th & 5th while Omaha, originally scheduled to play North Dakota this weekend, will make its trip to Denver this weekend for a Saturday/Sunday series.

The changes don’t end there, though. All of the schedule changes, in red, can be found in the tweet below: Continue reading NCHC Announces Second Half Scheduling Shakeup, Three Denver Series Affected →