Photo courtesy of the University of Denver

After the #8 Denver Pioneers failed to earn a win last weekend on the road against Arizona State, the Pioneers are now 1-4-3 in their last eight games following an 8-0-0 start to the season.  But with the unranked rival Colorado College Tigers up next on the schedule, Denver has a prime opportunity to get back on track with a couple of NCHC wins.  The Tigers return to Denver on Friday as keepers of the Gold Pan trophy for the first time since 2014.

Continue reading Denver Hockey Series Preview: Colorado College →

Photo courtesy of Denver Athletics

It was another difficult weekend for No. 4 Denver who went 0-1-1 against North Dakota.  They averaged almost 30 shots vs sophomore goaltender Adam Scheel who only let in two goals all weekend en route to earning NCHC Goaltender of the Week honors.  Denver wasn’t able to capitalize on the power play and also had issues staying out of the penalty box.  In close games like these with rivals like the Fighting Hawks, it comes down to who makes the most mistakes and the Pioneers did just that.  Following a game in which coach David Carle called “embarrassing for us all around,” the Pioneers host the No. 20 Western Michigan Broncos who have won five of their last seven games.

Continue reading Denver Hockey Series Preview: Western Michigan →

Photo credit: Seth McConnell/The Denver Post

Although the #2/#1 Denver Pioneers got off to solid starts last weekend at Minnesota Duluth, they weren’t able to hold on in either game going 0-1-1 for the series, though they did earn the extra NCHC point in the shootout on Friday.  Head coach David Carle met with the media on Thursday and said “to get punched in the face and in the mouth and see how you get back up is a healthy thing,” describing the Pioneers’ learning experience going up against one of college hockey’s top teams.  Denver hosts the #9 North Dakota Fighting Hawks this weekend – already the Pios’ third top-ten series of the season – who are riding a five-game winning streak so it should make for another thrilling NCHC matchup.

Continue reading Denver Hockey Series Preview: North Dakota →

After a big sweep of the Boston College Eagles, the Pioneers had a week off to rest before hosting the Niagara Purple Eagles for the Pios’ 70th Anniversary Weekend. 170 Denver Hockey alumni are expected to be in town for the celebration. Meanwhile, on the ice, Denver is having a fantastic start to the season with a record of at 6-0-0.  The penalty kill is hot at 96%, they have five players averaging at least a point-per-game, and freshman Magnus Chrona is one of the best goalies in college hockey right now.  The Pioneers remain No. 1 in the USCHO poll with 46 first-place votes with conference games right around the corner.

Continue reading Denver Hockey Series Preview: Niagara →

In a move that was long expected, Purdue University-Fort Wayne (branded as ‘Fort Wayne’) will leave the Summit League for the Horizon League in the midwest, in July of 2020. The Mastodons were the last team in the Summit League in the Eastern time zone. The move will leave the Summit with nine full members, including DU, once Missouri-Kansas City rejoins the league in July of 2020.

“Purdue Fort Wayne and [it’s] athletic administrators have been very upfront about exploring a possible transition to a conference more reflective of their geographic footprint,”  said Summit League Commissioner Tom Douple in a league statement. “This move did not catch anyone in our league off guard and Purdue Fort Wayne’s transparency throughout the process was appreciated…”We will continue the efforts to explore expansion and create new membership options, similar to the recent addition of the University of Missouri Kansas City. Membership changes cause short-term disappointment, but in the long term, our league and its members will continue to prosper and meet the challenges placed in front of them.” Continue reading Purdue-Fort Wayne Leaving Summit League in July, 2020 →

Once again, recent University of Denver administrative action appears to be sabotaging the Pioneer nickname, this time quietly removing “Pioneer” from two long-standing, on-campus programs, the Pioneer Awards and Pioneer Passage. Both programs have recently been renamed to eliminate the word “Pioneer,” directly contradicting a 2018 DU Board of Trustees decision to keep the 95-year-old Pioneer nickname in place.

You’ll recall that in January 2018, we broke the story that a so-called “mask ban” was suspiciously enacted by DU to prevent the “Denver Boone” mascot from appearing at DU home games. Within weeks of that debacle, we reported that the DU central administration was secretly colluding with student groups to change the “Pioneer” nickname to “Trailblazers”. Within weeks of our stories, after vociferous objections from the alumni and fan community, then-DU Board of Trustees Chairman Doug Scrivner sent out a damage-control email with assurances that the Pioneer nickname was not going to change.

Still, the Pioneer nickname continues to be slowly scrubbed away from within. Since many of our DU fans and readers are not currently on campus, we believed it was our duty to report on this sabotage so that these quiet steps could be brought into the public sphere.

First, then-Chancellor Rebecca Chopp quietly renamed the Evans Award, the highest recognition the University could bestow, as the Chancellors’ Medal, in order to help rid DU of its association with its western pioneer founder, John Evans.

Next, in early 2019, DU’s long-standing student awards program, The Pioneer Awards, was suddenly (and quietly) renamed the Crimson and Gold Awards.

And we now have proof that Pioneer Passage, the meaningful induction ceremony during first-year orientation week, has apparently been renamed New Student Convocation, set to debut this September. The projected orientation schedule created on Apil 29th, 2019 had “Pioneer Passage” scheduled for 10:45 AM on Tuesday September 3rd, while a July 22, 2019 version of the same schedule now has “New Student Convocation” slated for the same time and date, proving that DU dropped “Pioneer Passage” name sometime between April and July of 2019. Continue reading DU ‘Pioneers’ nickname once again at risk due to internal sabotage and erosion →

After a late start, The Burwell Center for Career Achievement is finally under construction after overcoming several zoning technicalities. The new facility will house Career Services, act as a resource for corporate relations and engagement and provide as a gathering place for alumni and alumni relations. The new facility is being built at the intersection of Asbury Avenue and South Gaylord Street, replacing the former Leo Block Alumni Center.

Photo: The Burwell Center for Career Achievement will cover 23,000 square feet and meet energy requirements to achieve LEED Platinum designation. In addition to interview spaces and offices, the building will have a guest patio and living room for visitors to the DU campus. Continue reading Final Phase I Project of the Denver Advantage underway with Leo Block Demolition →