Feb. 25, 2015 Fresh off of a weekend (and season) sweep of the Colorado College Tigers, the [7/7] DU Pioneers return to action this Friday/Saturday night against the [5/5] Miami RedHawks in the final two games of the 2014-15 regular season to be staged at Magness Arena. Tickets to both of these intraconference matchups can be obtained by clicking HERE.
Denver split its series at Miami on January 23/24, capturing a 3-1 win at Steve Cady Arena in Game 1 of the series prior to suffering a 4-1 setback the following evening. Freshman forward and the NCHC's leading scorer Danton Heinen assisted on linemate (and the conference's second-leading scorer) Trevor Moore's game-winning goal on Jan. 23 at Miami and is expecting another hard-fought series versus the RedHawks.
"Miami is a very good team with a lot of highly-skilled players," the conference's reigning Offensive Player of the Week says. "We'll have to play well in all three zones, limit their opportunities as best we can and capitalize on our own scoring chances in order to be successful this weekend."
Heinen enters this weekend's action on a five-game point streak during which time he's tallied 3G-6A-9P. Hobey Baker Award candidate and three-time reigning NCHC Defensive Player of the Week Joey LaLeggia is also on a five-game point streak (2G-7A-9P), a run which has propelled him into a tie (with Jim Smith) for third place on DU's all-time defensive scoring list (123 career points) and strengthened his chances of winning this season's in-conference scoring title (College Hockey, Inc. looked at LaLeggia's potentially-historic statistical campaign in its most recent Stats Pack feature).
The Pios scored a pair of power play goals against CC this past Saturday to improve their home ice PP% on the season to 30.4 (21-for-69), the best mark in the NCHC and T-1st-best in the nation (with Minnesota State). Denver will be without the services of leading PPG-scorer (6) Zac Larraza in Game 1 of its series vs. Miami however, as the Arizona Coyotes prospect will be serving a one-game suspension stemming from an illegal hit he administered upon a Tigers player last Saturday. Denver also boasts the best (tied, North Dakota) home ice PK% in its conference in 2014-15 (89.7, T-7th in NCAA). Furthermore, the Pios are tied with UND for most home wins in 2014-15 with 12 (T-1st, NCAA - Minnesota State & Michigan Tech).
Friday night's game will be broadcast on ROOT Sports while Jay Stickney and Norm Jones' call of both games will air live on ESPN Denver. Saturday's home game will feature a tribute to Denver's seven senior players, a dynamic group of student-athletes who all played a major role in the Pioneers' 2014 NCHC Championship run and have contributed mightily during the Crimson & Gold's highly-successful 2014-15 campaign.
"It's a very diverse group of student-athletes who all bring something special to the table," head coach Jim Montgomery says of his senior class. "We've got goal scorers, power play specialists, penalty killers, offensive defensemen, defensive forwards and so on. It's a good mix of what makes a great hockey team and I've been lucky to have all seven of them on my team. They've made my job a lot easier, providing great leadership in the locker room and leading by example on the ice."
