Sports scheduling for the Denver Pioneers, in all sports, is often an elusive and frustrating exercise.
Being located in Denver is the largest problem, as playing here requires plane rides and hotel stays for all but a handful of DU’s D-I opponents, which is tough for non-revenue sports. We don’t have the exact figures, but it’s probably a safe bet that about 85% of DU’s opponents must fly here to play us, and likewise, DU needs to fly its own mostly non-revenue sports teams to 85% of its opponents — a dynamic that puts a lot of pressure on athletic budgets and eliminates many opponents for cost reasons.
Then there is the mile-high altitude here, a factor that still scares a number of opposing coaches from flatter places. For example, in 2004, the University of Virginia men’s lacrosse team, ranked #1 nationally at the time, came out here to play both DU and Air Force, and lost both games. The Cavaliers’ coach publicly blamed the altitude for their stumbles, and the Cavaliers have not appeared on the DU home schedule since then. Who knows how many other opposing coaches privately loathe our altitude? Continue reading Puck Swami: DU and the Elusive Art of Sports Scheduling in Denver→
DU’s New Head Hockey Coach David Carle – Photo Credit: CBS
The University of Denver’s hiring of David Carle as its ninth hockey coach in nearly 70 years of program history is a hire that has elements of excitement, safety and risk baked -in, and the fact that it took three weeks for DU to announce it means that the hire was no slam dunk.
Carle does have a lot going for him. He has 10 years of seasoning as assistant coach with DU and Green Bay (USHL) under his belt, and can be seen as representing logical continuity of the great program-building that’s happened under former head coaches George Gwozdecky and Jim Montgomery, with the Pios making the NCAA tournament every year that Carle has been behind the bench.As one DU hockey alumnus texted me after the news, “I love this hire. [Carle’s] got the goods.”Continue reading Puck Swami’s Rapid Reaction: DU Balances Continuity with Risk in David Carle’s Hire as Head Hockey Coach→
Left: Troy Terry, Upper Right: Dylan Gambrell and Lower Right: Henrik Borgström
As expected, the talented Denver forward trio of Troy Terry, Henrik Borgström and Dylan Gambrell have all elected to forego their remaining NCAA hockey eligibility and have all signed three-year NHL Entry Level Contracts (ELCs) with the respective teams that held their draft rights. These ELCs have a maximum base salary of $925,000 per season, and the players may also earn signing and performance bonuses that may cap out at up to $3.75 million. All ELCs are two-way contracts, meaning that if the player is sent to play the AHL, they will be paid a minor league salary of about $70,000. Continue reading Terry, Borgström, Gambrell and Hillman All Leave Denver Early for NHL Contracts→
The hiring of University of Maine Athletic Director Karlton Creech as DU’s new Vice Chancellor for Athletics and Recreation looks to be a ‘safe’ hire for the University of Denver, likely to build incrementally on the legacy of the retiring Peg Bradley-Doppes, who spent the last 13 years in the position. Creech begins at DU on May 1, 2018.
Over 1,000 people, ranging from famous NHLers to Campus Lounge bar regulars, came to say goodbye to former Pioneer Captain Jim Wiste (1946-2018) at a touching memorial service on the ice of the University of Denver’s Magness Arena on January 11th.
DU and Wiste’s family put together an impressive tribute, complete with on-ice floral displays, an excellent video of Wiste’s life (shown on the scoreboard), and a post-event reception with extensive photos of Wiste’s life well-lived — as hockey player, entrepreneur, tavern-owner and host, husband, father, and grandfather. Continue reading PUCK SWAMI: Saying goodbye to Pioneer Hockey Champion Jim Wiste→
Most of you know by now that former Denver two-time all-American Hockey Captain Jim Wiste passed away this week from heart issues at the age of 71. Wiste, who co-captained the 1968 NCAA Champion Pioneers had a solid professional hockey career in the NHL and WHA after winning the NCAA title at DU. But he was perhaps best known around Denver as the owner of the venerable Campus Lounge, a Denver neighborhood tavern, for the 40 years between 1976 and 2016.
Wiste was part of the very first wave of college players to go from college hockey to NHL hockey in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and the plucky center managed to save enough money from his hockey career to buy the Campus Lounge when his hockey playing days ended. Continue reading Jim Wiste, Pioneer Captain, 1946-2018→
DU’s Henrik Borgström had two goals for Denver against BC. Photo: University of Denver
In their most complete game of the season to date, the #1-ranked Denver Pioneers (4-0-2) exploded for three-goal third period to rout #19th-ranked Boston College, 6-1, before nearly 5,000 fans at Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, Mass. The win over BC, when coupled with DU’s Friday 4-3 win over Boston University, sent a strong national message that the Pioneers are the team to beat this season.
“Looking at our team, that was the best performance of the year especially offensively,” said Denver coach Jim Montgomery after game. “We really showed skill tonight. We made a lot of plays and were really good at managing the puck…We executed great on everything…From our goaltender out, our communication was the best I’ve seen it all year as far as talking and puck support.”
Denver’s all-America candidates stepped up and led in a big way, as Finnish sensation Henrik Borgström had two goals, including the eventual game-winner. Troy Terry had three assists on the evening and Dylan Gambrell scored a goal and added a pair of assists to pace the Pioneer attack, joining the elite 100-point club for DU career scoring. DU defenseman Blake Hillman also potted his first two goals of the season to help the Pioneers, and Tyson McLellan scored his first of the season for the other Pioneer marker on a feed from Gambrell.
“Denver has dynamic players,” said Boston College coach Jerry York. “They may be better [this year] than they were last year.”
Denver had jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the first two periods, and looked to cruise to victory, but BC clawed it’s way back into the game with a lone power play goal coming on a tip by Christopher Brown 1:45 into the third period to cut the DU lead to two goals. But the Pioneers responded with three unanswered goals in the third to blow the game open and complete the Boston sweep.
The Pioneers travel to Kalamazoo, Michigan next weekend to open NCHC play against Western Michigan.
Well here we are just three weeks into the Denver Pioneers hockey season and they are already headed into the belly of the beast. This weekend the Pios travel to Boston to take on the Boston University Terriers (#6) on Friday and the Boston College Eagles (#19) on Saturday. The Pioneers are still #1 in the USCHO poll after their series with Lake Superior State last weekend where they came away with a tie and a win. The NCHC is well represented in the USCHO poll with St. Cloud State just behind Denver at #2, the University of North Dakota at #4, and the University of Minnesota-Duluth at #10.
The Pioneers played both Boston College and Boston University last year at Magness Arena less than a week apart. The Pioneers fell to the Eagles 3-1 after goaltender Joseph Woll stopped 40/41 shots in the Ice Breaker Tournament. Later that week, the Pioneers hosted the Terriers and won 4-3 in a game that featured current Arizona Coyote Clayton Keller. Denver scored the first three goals of the game, but even after a strong comeback BU wasn’t able to tie it up in the final moments of the game.
This year between BC and BU, they have a combined 17 players drafted to NHL teams, 5 with BC and 12 with BU. And that doesn’t count standout freshman Brady Tkachuk.
These two games will be a big test to the Pioneers even though their stars know what it takes to play a good road game. Boston University’s Agganis Arena will be a hostile environment on Friday as BU will be looking to knock the Pios off their #1 seed.
Boston University Record: 3-2-1
Boston College Record: 1-3-1
Who’s In?
Boston University
BU is one of the most prestigious hockey programs in the country, therefore they always get the cream of the crop in terms of prospects. This year they added three defenseman and six forwards to their 2017-18 roster featuring Shane Bowers, David Farrance, and Brady Tkachuk.
Tkachuk has already been turning heads at BU as a freshman who already has four assists. He is projected to be a top first round selection in the 2018 NHL Draft.
The Eagles added six freshman to their roster for the 2017-18 season including one defenseman and five forwards. Forwards Logan Hutsko, Jacob Tortora, and Christopher Grando have already made early contributions this season collecting 4, 3, & 2 points, respectively.
Both Hutsko and Tortora were on the United States Under-17 & Under-18 National Teams. Grando played two seasons in the United States Hockey League for the Green Bay Gamblers where he scored a total of 54 points.
Who’s Out?
Boston University
The good thing about Boston University’s hockey team is that when they lose a handful of NHL prospects, they add just as many in next year’s freshman class. Here is what the Terriers lost last season.
Cangelosi is with the New Jersey Devils AHL affiliate, the Albany Devils
Gaudreau is with the AHL’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers
White signed an entry-level contract with the Ottawa Senators
Fitzgerald was a 4th round selection of the Boston Bruins and is with their AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins
Scott Savage is with the ECHL’s Jacksonville Icemen
Strengths
Boston University
This team has a lot of talent on the ice and can score at will. BU currently averages 34.2 shots per game with an average of three goals per game. The Pioneer defenseman will be tested a lot during this game with a focus on a heavy forecheck from the Terriers.
The Pioneers need to stay away from the penalty box in this game because the Terriers power-play is lethal. BU is currently 8-24 executing on 33% of their power-play opportunities. A lot of that has to do with their body position in front of the net, courtesy of 6’5 240-pound Jordan Greenway.
Boston College
The Eagles have a phenomenal goaltender in Joseph Woll. Although it seems like he’s not getting as much scoring support as last year, he can still take over games. BC is also averaging 27 shots per game so the Pios will need to limit shots from high scoring areas for Tanner Jaillet.
BC captain Michael Kim was on of the most impressive defenseman I saw last year at Magness Arena. He wasn’t the biggest guy but he could skate very well and was great at exiting his zone clean.
Weaknesses
Boston University
It’s hard to find any flaws in this team, but the Pioneers need to get into BU goaltender Jake Oettinger’s head. Drafted in the 1st round of the 2017 NHL draft by the Dallas Stars, Oettinger has all the talent in the word but he has been beatable this year especially on the power-play where he has already allowed 7 goals.
The terriers are also allowing an average of 32 shots from their opponents. The memo from coach Montgonery should be for the Pioneers to get the puck in deep, win board battles, and shoot from anywhere. This is the type of game that will be so close that the winner will most likely come out on top because of a lucky bounce or two.
Boston College
The Eagles are committing an average of 5.4 penalties per game and giving up an average of 31.2 shots per game to their opponents. If the Pioneers play the way they did against Lake Superior State, Joseph Woll could be in for a long night.
Another weakness to consider is the Eagles power-play. They are just 3-16, converting on just 18% of power-plays. The Pioneers generally play a pretty clean game, but in case they get in penalty trouble their PK unit should be able to stop BC.
This is a very difficult series to predict. I think because the Eagles have lost so much talent from last year that it will be difficult for them to keep up with Pioneers. But Friday night, the Terriers will want to make this a statement game. There will be scouts galore at this game that is loaded with NHL talent, making every player wanting to play their best.
Both DU and BU have benefited from their freshman sticking around for another year and getting valuable experience in two very competitive divisions. It’s very possible this could be a Frozen Four preview. The keys for the Pioneers will be to play a simple game, get an A+ performance from Tanner Jaillet, and capitalize on any and all BU mistakes. Henrik Borgstrom has been red hot coming into this series and this is his opportunity to show a huge college hockey market how elite his skills are.
I’m predicting the Pios go 1-1 this weekend, but hopefully we’re pleasantly surprised.
Notre Dame Freshman Goalie Dylan St. Cyr had 46 saves as the game’s first star. Photo Courtesy: University of Notre Dame
University of Denver sophomore all-American Henrik Borgström scored both goals, but the #1 ranked defending NCAA Champion Pioneers had to settle for a 2-2 tie with the #4 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish in a re-match of last year’s NCAA hockey semifinal before a near-capacity crowd of 4,478 fans at Notre Dame’s Compton Family Ice Arena in South Bend, Ind.
The Pioneers (0-0-1), playing in their season opener, did get an extra sense of reward with a fourth-round, post-overtime shootout win on a top-corner wrist shot by freshman Kohen Olischefski, but that was all for fun, as the NCAA does not recognize shootout wins in regular season play.
The Irish, (2-0-1), who had the benefit of two prior games last weekend, can be excited that a game in which they were badly outshot by DU, resulted in a tie.
“I was really happy,” said DU coach Jim Montgomery after the game. “I thought that was by far the best first game, in my five years here, that this Denver team has played. I thought we played fast and possessed pucks. In the second period, you know, you’re playing a top-five team. [Notre Dame] came back and they got into the game and then it was a really…for the first game of the year…that was a great hockey game. The exciting part is that hopefully we can grow from this and get better. There’s a couple areas we weren’t great at, but overall I was really happy with our effort and our execution.”
A tension-filled third period was filled with heroics in the final minutes, and as the game wound down, it looked like the Pioneers would win it, as they had three times as many final period shots as the Irish. Borgström’s power-play goal (his second goal of the game) at the 14:38 mark of the third period had sent the Pioneers ahead 2-1 on a gorgeous cross-ice feed from winger Troy Terry, who had split two Notre Dame defenders to set up Borgström on the doorstep, as the Pioneer bench erupted with excitement.
However, the Denver lead didn’t last long, as the Irish were able to equalize the game at 2-2 with Andrew Oglevie’s own power-play goal from between the circles with 4:39 remaining in the third period, the result of an interference penalty call on DU’s Blake Hillman that Montgomery questioned after the game.
The Pioneers, using superior speed, outshot Notre Dame in all three periods of regulation time for a 46-22 total, including 21-7 in the third period, but the heavier Notre Dame squad had the better shot opportunities in the overtime, outshooting the Pios, 7-2 in the extra five minutes, including one shot that clanked off the DU crossbar that almost ended the game as a Notre Dame victory.
The game had started out as a first-period track meet, with up-and-down action with no penalties and no icing calls. While the Pios dominated the shots in the opening frame, it was the Irish who drew first blood with a Jack Evans goal, which came from a juicy rebound of ND’s Cam Morrison’s long wrist shot at the 14:01 mark, a rebound that had bounced off DU goalie Tanner Jaillet’s leg pad straight to Evans in front of the DU goal.
But the Pios took that Irish punch to the nose personally, and roared back just 15 seconds later, as Borgström combined for for a nifty give-and-go with Adam Plant to tie at the game at 1-1. Borgström had carried the puck into the ND zone, dropped a pass to Plant, who ripped a perfect pass back to Borgström, who had faded into the ND left face-off circle. As Plant’s pass arrived, the Finnish sensation rifled a one-timer high into the Notre Dame goal to beat Irish goalie Dylan St. Cyr to silence the ND crowd from the celebration of Evans’ goal that was being announced to the crowd at the same time Borgström tied the game for the Pioneers.
The 1-1 tie scoreline held up until the third period, with the Irish getting increasingly physical in an attempt to slow down the faster Pioneers.
“[Denver] had a lot of shots,” said Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson after the game. “But until maybe the third period at times, I thought that Dylan (St. Cyr) didn’t have to make great saves. He had to make some late in the game, which is really important for a good goaltender. I thought we did a good job without the puck, but we could do a better job with it. That would be my big takeaway from tonight’s game.”
St. Cyr is the son of Manon Rheaume (the first female goalie to play in an NHL exhibition game back in the 1990s), was voted first star in the game with his 46 saves on the night. Borgström was named second star by scoring both Pioneer goals to open what figures to be his final Pioneer season before joining the Florida Panthers, who selected him in the First Round of the 2016 NHL Draft.
The Pioneers also got strong play from wing Liam Finlay, who had seven shots on goal and center Tyson McLellan, who went 13-3 in the face-off circle.
DU and Notre Dame play in the series finale tomorrow at 4 pm MT, with the telecast on NBC Sports Network.
