Nov. 18, 2015 University of Denver men's hockey coach Jim Montgomery announced today that three student-athletes have submitted National Letters of Intent to join the program as freshmen in 2016-17: forwards Kevin Conley (Wausau, Wis.) and Liam Finlay (Kelowna, B.C.) as well as defenseman Michael Davies (Kirkwood, Mo.). A second round of NLI signees will be announced in the spring.
"All three of these young men are tremendous additions to our program," says Montgomery. "Kevin is a big, powerful winger who is very hard to play against and will add some grit and physicality to our forward group. Liam is a dynamic offensive presence with excellent on-ice vision and great hockey sense. Michael is an elite skater who can make high-end plays at top speed in all three zones and will add to the tradition of mobile, puck-moving defensemen that Denver has become known for."
Currently a member of the United States Hockey League's Waterloo Blackhawks, Davies has tallied five points (1G-4A) in 12 games played this season. He skated in 52 USHL contests last season with the Dubuque Fighting Saints, recording 4G-10A-14P in addition to a plus/minus rating of +10. In 2013, Davies helped Team USA win a Gold Medal at the Five Nations Cup, skating alongside current Pio Troy Terry (Denver, Colo.) and registering 4GP-1G-1A-2P at the Slovakia-staged tournament. The 5'8", 160-lb. blueliner is a product of the St. Louis AAA Blues development program.
"I'm very excited to be attending the University of Denver next year," says Davies. "I chose to play for the Pioneers because of their fantastic coaching staff, excellent facilities and great academic opportunities. It's a great school and a great program."
Presently the No. 14 scorer in the British Columbia Hockey League's Interior Division, Finlay has tallied 8G-15A-23P in 24 games played for the Vernon Vipers thus far in 2015-16. The 18-year-old right winger split the 2014-15 campaign with Vernon and the Penticton Vees, totaling 23G-41A-64P in 55 appearances. He was subsequently named to the BCHL's All-Rookie Team. As a member of the British Columbia Major Midget League's Okanagan Rockets in 2013-14, Finlay recorded 17G-34A-51P (28GP) to earn a spot on the BCMML All-Star Team. The 5'7", 145-lb. playmaker helped lead Okanagan to a league championship in 2014, tallying 11G-4A-15P in seven playoff games for the Rockets.
"A huge reason I chose Denver was because of the hockey team's great tradition and Jim Montgomery's coaching style," says Finlay. "He's a great coach with a lot of passion for the game and that's definitely something that drew me towards DU. It's also a great school academically which was important for me."
Currently in his second full season with the Youngstown Phantoms (USHL), Conley has registered 11GP-1G-1A-2P thus far on the 2014-15 campaign and 7G-3A-10P (61GP) thus far in his Junior 'A' career. The 6'0", 190-lb. left winger scored two goals at the 2015 USHL/NHL Top Prospects Game to earn Team East MVP honors in a 7-4 win over Team West. Four months shy of his 19th birthday, Conley played high school hockey for the Wausau West Warriors from 2011-14, registering 50G-40A-90P in 71 games played.
"Denver has an awesome campus and there's a really great atmosphere there," says Conley. "That's what really stood out to me when I visited the school. Obviously the hockey program has had a lot of success over the years as well and they play a style that I really like. I'm excited to play in front of the fans at Magness Arena; I've seen pictures and video footage of games there and it looks like a great place to play."
As yet unbeaten (3-0-1) in the month of November, the No. 9 Pioneers (6-3-1) travel to Madison, Wisconsin this weekend to take on the 3-4-3 UW Badgers in a two-game series at the Kohl Center. Friday's game (puck drop - 6:30pm MT) will be broadcast by both the American Sports Network and The Sports Network (Canada) as well as via 1600 AM The Zone; Altitude 2 will also televise the contest on tape delay beginning at 11:00pm MT. Saturday's game (puck drop - 7:00pm MT), meanwhile, will air live on 104.3 FM The Fan.
Denver's next home game is scheduled for Friday, December 11 (puck drop - 7:36pm) against the SCSU Huskies. Tickets to all 2015-16 DU home games are currently available for purchase at DenverPioneers.com/Tickets. Tickets to the 'Battle on Blake', an outdoor game pitting the Pioneers against the CC Tigers and set to be staged on February 20 at Coors Field in downtown Denver, are also currently available for purchase at Rockies.com/Hockey.
