Lost in recent news headlines over the past several months, Kelby Krabbenhoft, Sanford Health CEO and the mastermind behind the explosive growth of the Sanford Healthcare system was forced to make an unceremonious exit from the Sioux Falls enterprise. His ouster involves masks and mergers and may impact the Summit League’s biggest sponsor.
Continue reading Key Summit League Sponsor Changes Leadership
The NCHC announced this morning that it is completely revamping its annual postseason tournament and moving the entire thing to Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Instead of a two-week tournament starting with best-of-three-game-series at campus sites followed by the semifinals and championship at the Frozen Faceoff in St. Paul, Minnesota, all teams will be invited to a five-day single-elimination event. Quarterfinals, seeded as they would have been normally (1 vs 8, 2 vs 7, etc.) will occur on Friday and Saturday, March 12-13, while the semifinals and championship will take place on Monday, March 15 and Tuesday, March 16, respectively. No third-place game will occur. Continue reading NCHC Announces Single-Elimination Postseason Tournament in Grand Forks
It was a game that has encapsulated Denver’s entire season to this point – a lot of solid Denver hockey played, but ending in a embarrassing result, as the Denver Pioneers played well for the first 45 minutes but gagged-up a two-goal, third-period lead and fell to the Omaha Mavericks, 5-4 in overtime in a gut-wrenching loss that may have major implications for the Pioneers’ now-slim home ice playoff hopes. Continue reading Denver Melts Down, Gags-Up a 5-4 OT Loss to Omaha
The Denver Pioneers (7-9-1, 24 pts) have a long road ahead of them if they’re going to defy the odds and earn home-ice advantage in the first round of the NCHC Tournament by finishing in the top four of the conference. The only way Denver will be able to do that is if they start to win games and continue to win games. Cole Guttman tallied three points on a goal and two assists leading the Pioneers to a strong 3-1 victory over the #9 Omaha Mavericks (10-6-1, 30 pts) and helped the Pioneers take a step in the right direction and pull a bit closer to fourth place. Continue reading Pioneers Topple Mavericks to Take Game One, Close Standings Gap
A week ago, a one-goal first half against Utah nearly spelled disaster for the #7 Denver Pioneers (1-1) in a 9-8 thriller victory. Today, though, against the top-ranked Duke Blue Devils (1-0), in the first of DU’s two games in North Carolina, it was a two-goal second half – the product of a stout Duke defense and a lack of urgency from the crimson and gold attackers – that contributed to a blown halftime lead and a 12-10 loss, their third straight against Duke, for the Pioneers at the hands of the best team in the country in Durham. Continue reading #7 Denver’s Offense Goes Cold in Second Half as Pioneers Fall to #1 Duke
One question heading into Summit League conference play was the schedule change which moved to two-game home sets versus the traditional home and away series. In basketball, would there be more splits as teams figured out their foes on the first night? Interestingly, there have been 22 sweeps and 11 splits during this COVID-19 interrupted season in Summit League play.
Continue reading Are Two-Game Series the Future of College Basketball?
As the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) adds football, jettisons member Chicago State, adds five new members and becomes more geographically focused, Seattle University becomes even more isolated. A return to the West Coast Conference, Seattle’s former home, becomes a greater priority as the Redhawks become more geographically isolated and less aligned with fellow WAC member institutions. Continue reading WAC Sparks Conference Alignment Changes
The turning point may have been Ethan Walker’s third-quarter man-down goal that gave the #5 Denver Pioneers (1-0) their first lead of the day but it was the balance of halftime adjustments by head coach Bill Tierney and offensive coordinator Matt Brown that helped the Pioneers turn a 3-1 halftime deficit against the Utah Utes (0-1) into a 9-8 season-opening victory at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium. It wasn’t exactly the kind of game that Tierney and the Pioneers expected to play, especially in the first half, to open the season but an eight-goal second half thanks to six different Pioneer scorers and a strong defensive performance propelled the Pioneers. Continue reading Pioneers Ride Explosive Second Half, Ethan Walker Hat Trick to Season-Opening 9-8 Thriller Over Utah
The #20 Denver Pioneers hockey team sits 6-9-1 with yet another postponed series again this weekend. Coming into the season, there were high expectations followed by erratic play and disappointing results. Various theories attributed the performances to coaching decisions, leaky goaltending, tepid faceoff results, or a simple inability to score?
Or is the simple answer the ‘COVID-19’ pandemic? Continue reading Maybe it’s Just a COVID Year
The most prolific faceoff specialist in NCAA lacrosse is eyeing a spring transfer to the University of Denver for the 2021 season, according to US Lacrosse Magazine. Ierlan picked up an additional season of eligibility due to COVID-19 and is said that he was ‘intrigued’ by the idea of joining fellow former Yalies Jackson Morrill and Lucas Cotler at Denver after entering the transfer portal. Ierlan, the best faceoff man in the history of college lacrosse, based on win percentage (see below, and yes, better than Trevor Baptiste), is intent on transferring from Yale if the Ivy League skips this season of play due to COVID-19. Should the Ivies decide to play this spring, Ierlan may withdraw his name from the portal and decide to stay at Yale. Continue reading TD Ierlan, Nation’s Top Faceoff Specialist, Plans to Transfer to Denver
