The Denver Pioneers men's hockey team is set to renew its rivalry with the North Dakota Fighting Hawks in a two-game series at the Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D on Dec. 7-8. Puck drop is set for 6:37 p.m. on MT and 6:00 p.m. MT on Saturday.
DENVER: SNAPSHOT
• Jarid Lukosevicius and Emilio Pettersen lead the Pioneers with 14 points, while their linemate Cole Guttman has 11 points
• The Pioneers average 3.67 goals per game, 9th in the NCAA. Denver has scored at least three goals in all but one game this season (Nov. 16 vs. Minnesota Duluth)
• Denver has gone 2-3-1 in its last six games against No. 2 St. Cloud State, No. 1 Minnesota Duluth and No. 9 Providence. Four of those games have been decided by one or fewer goals
DENVER: LAST SERIES
Denver 3, Providence 1 | Denver 4, Providence 4 (OT)
• Tyler Ward led the Pioneers with one goal and two assists, while Jaakko Heikkinen had a pair of goals
• Devin Cooley made 39 saves on 40 shots on Friday. Filip Larsson made 42 saves on 46 shots on Saturday
• Denver went 3/13 on the power play and 9/11 on the penalty kill
DENVER: UP NEXT
Denver at Merrimack - Dec. 28 | Denver at UMass Lowell - Dec. 29
• The Pioneers look ahead to their 20-day winter break before traveling for a pair of non-conference games
• Denver last played Merrimack on Dec. 29, 2017 (3-2 L) and UMass Lowell on Oct. 19, 2012 (5-1 W)
NORTH DAKOTA: SNAPSHOT
• The Fighting Hawks have won three of their last four games
• North Dakota is 3-2-0 against opponents ranked in the Top 10 with victories against No. 8 Minnesota State, No. 5 Minnesota and No. 2 Minnesota Duluth
• Nick Jones (lower-body injury) has missed seven straight games, while Collin Adams (lower-body injury) and Joel Janatuinen (illness) both missed last weekend
• North Dakota is tied for having the 3rd-highest shots on goal margin in the NCAA (+131)
NORTH DAKOTA: LAST GAME
Minnesota Duluth 5, North Dakota 0 | North Dakota 2, Minnesota Duluth 1
• Jordan Kawaguchi led the Fighting Hawks with one goal and one assist
• Adam Scheel made 35 saves on 36 shots, while Peter Thome made 18 saves on 23 shots. The goalies split starts with Scheel replacing Thome midway through Friday's game
• North Dakota went 0/11 on the power play and 5/7 on the penalty kill
NORTH DAKOTA: UP NEXT
North Dakota vs. USNDTP (Exhibition) - Dec. 29
• After a 21-day break, the Fighting Hawks host the U.S. U-18 Team for an exhibition in Ralph Engelstad Arena
PIONEERS VS. FIGHTING HAWKS
• Denver is 124-145-14 all-time against North Dakota
• The Pioneers went 1-1-2 against the Fighting Hawks last season, earning a pair of NCHC overtime victories in Ralph Engelstad Arena
HIGH PIMS
• Denver averages 13.08 penalty minutes per game, 19th-most in the NCAA
• The Pioneers averaged 8.12 penalty minutes last season, 2nd-fewest in the NCAA
FIRST IN CLASS
• Denver's freshmen class has combined for 50 points (18-32-50), tied for 2nd in the NCAA
• Emilio Pettersen is tied for 5th among NCAA freshmen with 14 points (5-9-14)
• Cole Guttman is tied for 3rd among NCAA freshmen with a +10 rating
HOT STREAKS
• Tyler Ward is on a three-game point streak with two goals and three assists
• Brett Stapley is on a three-game point streak with one goal and three assists
• Jarid Lukosevicius has a point in 10 of 12 games this season
TOUGH SCHEDULE
• The Pioneers are in a stretch of playing four top opponents in five weeks with then-No. 2 St. Cloud State (Nov. 9-10), then-No. 1 Minnesota Duluth (Nov. 16-17), No. 9 Providence (Nov. 23-24) and No. 14 North Dakota (Dec. 7-8)
• Each of the four opponents Denver has played or is set to play is among the top four teams in the nation in shots on goal margin: Minnesota Duluth (+13.71), Providence (+12.20), St. Cloud State (+9.00) and North Dakota (+8.73)
• Denver's strength of schedule ranks 2nd in the NCAA according to the KRACH ranking on CollegeHockeyNews.com
2019 IIHF WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP
• The 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship is set to be held in Vancouver and Victoria, B.C. from Dec. 26 - Jan. 5
• Ian Mitchell was among 34 players selected to participate in Hockey Canada's Sport Chek Selection Camp from Dec. 10-14 in preparation for the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship. The final roster is expected to be announced on Dec. 14.
• Emilio Pettersen will represent Norway at the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship – Division 1 Group A from Dec. 9-15 in Füssen, Germany
MILLER HOCKEY COMPLEX
• The new home of Denver hockey is named after University of Denver's Board of Trustees member John A. Miller, his wife, Sandy, and their family.
• The 4,464 square foot space houses the Pioneers' lockers, lounge, sauna, kitchen, training room and equipment room
• More than 150 donors contributed to the renovation
YOUNG PIONEERS
• At 29, David Carle is the youngest coach in Division I college hockey
• The Pioneers have the fourth-youngest team in college hockey with an average age of 20 years/8 months
• At 24, Colin Staub is Denver's oldest player and more than six years older than Brendan Budy (18), the Pioneers' youngest player
• The Pioneers have 20 freshmen and sophomores, the most since the 2007-08 season when Tyler Bozak was a freshman
NHL CENTRAL SCOUTING
• Brendan Budy and Sean Comrie were each named to the NHL Central Scouting Players to Watch list for the 2019 NHL Draft, receiving C ratings as potential fourth, fifth or sixth round selections
EXPERIENCED STAFF
• Assistant Coach Tavis MacMillan served as head coach of Alaska-Fairbanks from 2004-07
• Assistant Coach Dallas Ferguson served as head coach of Alaska-Fairbanks from 2008-17
• Volunteer Assistant Coach Steven Reinprecht played 663 NHL games over 11 NHL seasons, winning a Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2001
• Team Manager Ben Scrivens played 144 NHL games over five NHL seasons in addition to representing Canada at the 2018 Winter Olympics
TOGETHER 4 COLORADO TOY DRIVE
The Pioneers have partnered with CBS4 for the Together 4 Colorado Toy Drive to support the Denver community during the holiday season. Beginning Nov. 17, there will be toy drops at every Denver Athletics and Newman Center event thru Dec. 19. Additionally, there will be a Community Shop 'n Drop on Saturday, Dec. 15 from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., hosted by the Denver Cheerleading squad at the circle drive on the north side of the Ritchie Center.
PIONEER MOVEMENT:
Interested in making a donation to the hockey program? Click Here. Your contribution will make a direct impact on the success of YOUR Pioneers. Thank you for your unwavering support of our student-athletes and their quest for excellence.
- PIONEER TOGETHER-
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