The Denver Hockey program made history last season with four Pioneers picked in the first three rounds of the 2021 NHL Draft. This year, they very nearly matched that feat for the second straight year as four incoming Pioneers – F Rieger Lorenz (R2, #56 overall), F Miko Matikka (R3, #67), F Aidan Thompson (R3, #90), and D Garrett Brown (R4, #99) – were selected in the first 99 picks. The shocker of the draft, however, was that rising sophomore forward Jack Devine, a key piece of the Pioneers’ third line last season, fell to the seventh round at #221 after being projected to get selected in the second or third round. But when all was said and done, the 2022 draft was just a bit better than last year’s draft with one more Pioneer getting selected this time around. Continue reading Five Current & Future Pioneers Selected in 2022 NHL Draft →

The Denver Pioneers Hockey program announced today its full schedule for the 2022-2023 season. In addition to hosting the annual Ice Breaker Tournament in October, the non-conference headline-grabbing matchup is the very next weekend’s trip back to Massachusetts to take on UMass-Amherst. This matchup of the last two national champions will be the Pioneers’ first trip back to the Bay State since winning the national title in Boston in April.

The full schedule is below: Continue reading Denver Hockey Releases 2022-2023 Schedule →

The Hobey Baker Top 10 was revealed on Wednesday morning and NCAA leading scorer Bobby Brink, one of #3 Denver’s alternate captains, was named to the list. Brink, who has 55 points on 14 goals and 41 assists in 36 games this year, is the first Pioneer named a finalist since Henrik Borgström (23-29-52 in 40 GP) was named to the 2018 Hobey Hat Trick (Northeastern’s Adam Gaudette won the award). Continue reading Bobby Brink Named Hobey Baker Top 10 Finalist →

Denver senior captain Cole Guttman rescued his fellow #5th ranked Pioneers from a road disaster in the making, scoring two extra attacker goals in the final three minutes of the third period, including the tying goal with just 11 seconds left, and then set-up the Mike Benning game-winner in overtime to down last-place Miami, 5-4 in overtime in Oxford, Ohio.

We’ll have more on this game later….

The University of Denver hockey program has made history. For the first time ever, four future Pioneers were picked in the first three rounds of the same NHL Draft. No Pioneers were selected on Friday night despite two of them, Sean Behrens and Shai Buium, being projected to be taken late in the first round. Instead, Saturday morning was busy at the corner of University and Buchtel as they both were drafted along with Samu Salminen and Carter Mazur within the first 70 picks of the draft. Continue reading Four Future Pioneers Selected in First Three Rounds of 2021 NHL Draft →

The fact that you’re reading this preview means that the Denver Pioneers advanced to the semifinals of the Frozen Faceoff with a win over Omaha.  Indeed that happened when senior Bo Hanson scored the game-winning goal late in the third period to lead Denver to a 5-4 victory, further extending their season.  If you didn’t catch the game, make sure to check out our recap here.

So what happens next?  With Minnesota Duluth defeating Western Michigan in dramatic fashion Saturday night, Denver will face longtime foe North Dakota for the chance to advance to the NCHC Championship to play the winner of UMD vs St. Cloud State.

Continue reading Denver Hockey Frozen Faceoff Preview: North Dakota →

It’s early. There have only been three games played. The #4 Denver Pioneers (0-3-0, 1 pt) have shown flashes of brilliance, especially from their freshmen. But after another closely contested game, this time against the St. Cloud State Huskies (2-0-0, 6 pts), the Pioneers remain winless three games into the season. If there is a silver lining to this, DU, perhaps more than any other team in the NCHC, is proving themselves to be already battle-tested after hotly contested games against Minnesota Duluth, North Dakota, and now St. Cloud State. But silver linings don’t win games. No matter what positives you can take from these three games in the first four days of the Pod, the Crimson & Gold are still 0-3-0. Continue reading Pioneers’ Nightmare Start Continues They Fall 4-3 to Huskies →

We are supposed to be in Detroit preparing for Denver’s matchup with Worcester Regional champion (probably North Dakota) right now. We were supposed to fly out yesterday morning, bring you all the pre-Frozen Four content that you’ve grown accustomed to over the past five years – three Frozen Fours in that span make for a pretty great habit. Instead, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, the season was canceled last month and we haven’t had any hockey – college or professional – since. We didn’t get conference tournaments, we didn’t get NCAA Regionals, and now, probably the most painful of all, there is no Frozen Four. Continue reading DU, NCHC release schedules as temporary salve ahead of would-have-been Frozen Four →