The Denver Pioneers men's hockey team enters this weekend on a seven-game winning streak, their longest stretch since winning 13 straight during the 2016-17 season. They also enter this weekend on a four-year streak with an opportunity to make history.

Since 1993, Denver and Colorado College have awarded the winner of their regular season series with the Gold Pan trophy. In the event of a series split, the winner from the previous year retains the award. As it stands, the Pioneers lead the Gold Pan series 13-12, winning in each of the last four seasons to match the record set by the Tigers from 1999-2003. With a sweep this weekend, Denver will have secured the trophy and put together the finest stretch in the 26-year history of the Gold Pan.

"The level of intensity and desperation goes up," Richard and Kitzia Goodman Head Coach David Carle said. "The emotions get higher and that's the challenge in these rivalry games: to play with emotion, but not get overly emotional."

The Pioneers and Tigers have faced off 315 times since their inaugural meeting on Jan. 6, 1950. Denver leads the all-time series 178-118-19, a feat made more impressive by the successes each program has had. The interstate rivals have combined for 10 National Championships, 26 Frozen Four appearances and four Hobey Baker winners, in addition to a slew of conference championships in both the NCHC and WCHA.

Denver's success in the latest chapter of the rivalry has not come without hiccups. The Pioneers finished 3-2-2 against the Tigers last season, dropping the first game of a best-of-three first-round NCHC playoff series before winning the next four games and becoming the first two-time winners of the NCHC Frozen Faceoff. This weekend, the veteran-loaded Colorado College will surely look to play spoiler to the Pioneers third-place ranking in the weekly polls, third-place ranking in the NCHC standings and second-place position in the PairWise rankings.

"Every night is a war and battle," Carle said. "It's going to be hard hockey against CC. They're going to be up to play us and we're going to be up to play them, so we expect a good back-and-forth affair."

As the Pioneers look ahead to their first series of the season in the Battle for the Gold Pan, the hunger and calmness Carle has used to characterize his team will be tested again.

"It's the collective that makes us strong, it's not the individual," Carle said. "Nobody feels like they have to go out and do it on their own, they do it together and I think that gives our group confidence."

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