Oct. 13, 2015
The [5/8] DU Pioneers will take on a well-known opponent at Magness Arena this weekend as the [RV/RV] Michigan State Spartans will pay a visit to the Mile High City for the first time in almost 35 years. Tickets to both Friday (7:36pm) and Saturday (7:06pm) night’s games can be obtained by clicking HERE. Friday’s game is being presentd by Safeco Insurance and will air live on ROOT Sports as well as 104.3 FM The Fan while Saturday’s contest is being presented by Oakwood Homes and will be broadcast by 1600 AM The Zone as well as via PioneerVision.
In 72 all-time meetings with MSU, the Pios are 54-16-2 and have outscored the Spartans 383-215. These teams first met in February of 1951, with DU earning back-to-back road wins over Michigan State by a combined score of 14-4. Denver was also victorious in the teams’ most recent meeting, a 5-0 victory on Oct. 11, 2002 in the opening game of the UNO Stampede Tournament in Omaha, Nebraska. Wade Dubielewicz recorded the shutout for Denver in that game, making 21 saves on as many shots faced, while Greg Barber, Max Bull, Jon Foster, Jeff Drummond and Connor James all found the back of the net for the Crimson & Gold. The last time the Spartans visited Denver, the Pios swept them in a two-game series, 7-1 and 7-4 in November of 1980.
After splitting their season-opening home-and-home series against Air Force this past weekend, Denver dropped two spots (from No. 6 to No. 8) in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll while retaining its No. 5 position in the USCHO.com Poll. Despite suffering a loss to an unranked opponent last weekend, Pios bench boss Jim Montgomery was encouraged by how his team improved over the course of their two-game series against the Falcons.
“I thought we got better as the weekend went on, which is something we’re always looking for as coaches, especially at this stage of the season,” says Montgomery. “The third period of the second game was our best twenty minutes of the series so that’s definitely an encouraging sign moving forward.”
Senior blueliner Nolan Zajac (Winnipeg, Manitoba) currently leads the Pios in scoring after tallying 1G-2A-3P last weekend; he ranks T-2nd in the NCAA and T-1st in the NCHC in scoring by a defenseman and has now registered 78 career points (17G-61A) in 121 games as a Pioneer, nine points back of Brett Skinner (2002-05) for 11th place all-time among DU rearguards. He is also two helpers behind Cal Sandbeck (1975-77) and Mike Christie (1970-72) for 11th place all-time in assists by a Denver defenseman.
The Pioneers won their only game against a Big 10 opponent last season, downing Wisconsin by a score of 3-2 on November 22, 2014 in a game that featured a 1G-1A-2P performance from then-freshman forward Danton Heinen (Langley, B.C.) as well as a 19-save effort from countryman Tanner Jaillet (Red Deer, Alberta), who earned his second career victory in the game.
Following this weekend’s series, Denver will have a bye week prior to traveling to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on October 30 & 31 to face perennial college hockey powerhouses Boston College and Boston University on consecutive days. The Pios’ complete 2015-16 schedule can be viewed HERE.
In addition to some intense on-ice action, several off-ice activities will be taking place at DU in the coming days as the school's annual Homecoming & Family Weekend will be staged at Magness Arena and throughout campus. Click HERE for more info on DU Homecoming.
