PIONEERS SNAP SHOT
Denver defeated Brown 5-3 last Saturday in Hanover, N.H. to finish the 26th Annual Ledyard Classic with a record of 1-0-1, good for a third-place finish at the showcase-style tournament. The Pios are now 11-5-1 on the season and have won eight of their last 12 games, outscoring opponents 43-27 in the process. The Crimson & Gold next takes on on Nebraska-Omaha in a pivotal NCHC series (Friday - 6:37pm MT & Saturday - 6:07pm) at the CenturyLink Center.


DENVER SET TO TAKE ON ON UNO FOR FIRST TIME SINCE '14 PLAYOFFS
In the opening round of last year's NCHC playoffs, DU defeated UNO 2-1 in the best-of-three, Omaha-staged showdown to earn a berth in the conference's inaugural Frozen Faceoff Tournament. The Pios went on to capture a conference title by virtue of a 4-3 win over Miami on March 22, 2014. This weekend's series will the first time DU has faced the Mavericks since March's memorable postseason tilt.

"We ended their season last year so we know they're going to come at us hard this weekend," says senior DU forward Daniel Doremus, who tallied a team-high eight points (2G-6A, 7GP) against UNO in 2013-14. "Every series (against the Mavericks) is a battle so we've got to play good, smart, Pioneers-style hockey for sixty minutes each night."

The Pios have won eight of their last 14 matchups with the Mavericks overall, during which time they've recorded a 5-2-1 mark at the CenturyLink Center. All-time, Denver is 15-7-2 versus Nebraska-Omaha with the rivalry dating back to the 1997-98 campaign.


BUTCHER'S BACK
Sophomore defenseman Will Butcher served as an alternate captain with Team USA at the recently-completed IIHF World Junior Championships in Canada, helping the Americans advance to the medal round where they were eliminated from medal contention by eventual-runners-up Team Russia. Butcher was named Team USA's Top Defenseman at the tournament after recording a +2 rating, nine shots on goal and one assist while capturing Player of the Game honors in a dramatic 2-1 shootout victory over Team Finland on Dec. 26. He returns to action this weekend for the Pios after missing two games due to his WJC commitments.


PIONEERS SLAP SHOTS
• Freshman forward Danton Heinen has tallied 7G-11A-18P in his last 12 games and now ranks 2nd in the NCAA in scoring by a first-year player with 8G-14A-22P, a point total which also ties him for first place in the NCHC scoring race.
• The Pioneers are 74-39-16 after the NCAA Hockey holiday break since 2008-09.
• Sophomore golatender Evan Cowley ranks 2nd in the NCAA in both GAA (1.19) and SV% (.956) since November 14.
• Denver is 10-for-34 (29.4%) and 25-for-27 (92.6%) on the PK since Nov. 14, ranking third in the NCAA in both categories in that time.
• Senior defenseman Joey LaLeggia leads all NCAA blueliners in SOG/game (3.81) and ranks 2nd in goals/game (0.38). The Edmonton Oilers prospect is currently on the ballot for the 2015 Hobey Baker Award Fan Vote at hobeybaker.com #VoteForJoey.