The No. 2 Denver Pioneers men's hockey team (8-1-1, 0-1-1-1) is set to continue its second-best start in program history with a weekend series against No. 9 North Dakota (7-1-1, 2-0-0-0) at Magness Arena. The Pioneers enter the series in pursuit of their first NCHC win of the season after going 0-1-1 against Minnesota Duluth, while the Fighting Hawks look to continue their success from a conference sweep against Miami last week.
WEEKEND PROMOTIONS
• Stop by the marketing table on the west concourse of Magness Arena before the second intermission of the games this weekend to bid on a Danton Heinen "Battle on Blake" jersey (Friday) and 70
th Anniversary Season alternate jersey (Saturday)
TEDDY BEAR TOSS
• At the first intermission of Saturday's game, fans are encouraged to toss teddy bears on the ice to be donated to the Boys & Girls Club of Metro Denver as a kick off to CBS4's Together 4 Colorado Toy Drive. The Teddy Bear Toss also marks the beginning of a month-long toy drive. After Saturday's game, there will be toy drops at every Denver Athletics event thru Dec. 16. Each toy donated will qualify for a free ticket voucher to the Denver gymnastics meet on Sunday, February 2 vs. Ball State & Air Force. Additionally, there will be a Community Shop 'n Drop on Saturday, Dec. 7 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
OFFICIAL PRE & POST-GAME LOCATIONS
• Enjoy food & drinks at The Pioneer, Stadium Inn, Cherry Cricket, Cochino Taco and The 303 Sports Grill before any Pioneer home game this season
DENVER: LAST SERIES
DU 3, UMD 3 | UMD 5, DU 2 (AMSOIL Arena - Duluth, Minn.)
• Friday: The Pioneers surrendered a 3-1 third-period lead, but took the extra point in the NCHC standings with
Brett Stapley's shootout winner
• Saturday: The Bulldogs scored two second-period goals and two goals in the last 3:34 to erase Denver's 2-1 lead and hand the Pioneers their first loss of the season
•
Liam Finlay led Denver with three points (2-1-3).
Magnus Chrona made 51 saves on 58 shots
• Denver went 1/7 on the power play and 6/8 on the penalty kill
DENVER: SNAPSHOT
• Denver is 8-1-1 to start the season, its best start since the 2001-02 season when the team started 9-1-0. The Pioneers started 6-3-1 last season, picking up their 8th win of the year in their 14th game on Dec. 8 vs. North Dakota
• The Pioneers' penalty kill is 39/42 (92.9%), T-6th in the NCAA. Denver's power play is 10/48 (20.8%), 18th in the NCAA
•
Liam Finlay leads Denver with 11 points (3-8-11).
Ian Mitchell is second in team scoring with 10 points (3-7-10) and T-4th among NCAA defensemen
•
Magnus Chrona is 7-1-1 with a 2.20 GAA, 4th among NCAA freshmen, a .913 SV%, 7th among NCAA freshmen, and two shutouts, 1st among NCAA freshmen
• The Pioneers have a +17 goal margin, T-4th in the NCAA
DENVER: UP NEXT
Nov. 22-23 vs. Western Michigan (Magness Arena - Denver, Colo.)
• The Pioneers are 17-9-1 all-time against the Broncos and went 2-2-0 last season
NORTH DAKOTA: LAST SERIES
UND 7, MIA 1 | UND 5, MIA 4 (Ralph Englestad Arena - Grand Forks, N.D.)
• North Dakota combined to score seven first-period goals against the RedHawks
• Jordan Kawaguchi led the Fighting Hawks with six points (1-5-6). Adam Scheel stopped 40 of 45 shots
• UND went 3/9 on the power play and 7/8 on the penalty kill
NORTH DAKOTA: SNAPSHOT
• The Fighting Hawks play only 4/13 games on the road to start the season. North Dakota is on a nine-game home winning streak, but went 0-1-1 in its only road trip of the year at then-No. 2 Minnesota State
• Jordan Kawaguchi leads the Fighting Hawks with 13 points (3-10-13) and is on a five-game point streak with three goals and seven assists. Collin Adams is on a six-game point streak with three goals and four assists
• Adam Scheel has played every minute in net with a 1.66 GAA, 7th in the NCAA, .910 SV% and one shutout
• North Dakota leads the NCAA with a +24 goal margin and is 5th in the NCAA on the penalty kill, going 27/29 (93.1%)
NORTH DAKOTA: UP NEXT
Nov. 22-23 vs. St. Cloud State (Ralph Englestad Arena - Grand Forks, N.D.)
• North Dakota went 1-1-0 against St. Cloud State last season
DENVER VS. NORTH DAKOTA
• Denver is 128-146-15 all-time against North Dakota and went 4-1-1 vs. the Fighting Hawks last season
• Nine of the last 13 games in the series have been decided by one or fewer goals with Denver going 6-3-4 in that stretch and 3-2-4 in those games
• Denver is 15-14-1 all-time against North Dakota in the conference playoffs, going 12-13-0 in the WCHA and 3-1-1 in the NCHC. The Pioneers are 19-17-1 in all-time postseason play against the Fighting Hawks with a 4-3-0 mark against their rival in the NCAA tournament
NON-CONFERENCE STREAK
• The Pioneers are undefeated in 19 straight non-conference games with a 17-0-2 mark in that stretch
• Denver is 22-2-4 against non-conference opponents since the 2017-18 season
HOT STREAKS
• Brett
Stapley is on a four-game point streak with two goals and four assists
70TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON
• The Pioneers are playing in their 70th Anniversary Season. Since its inaugural season in 1949, Denver has made 30 appearances in the NCAA tournament, 17 appearances in the Frozen Four and won eight National Championships, tied for the second-most titles among any college hockey program
UP NEXT: Denver men's hockey presented by Centura Health returns to Magness Arena for a two-game series against North Dakota on Nov. 15-16.
DONATE: Fans interested in making a donation to the hockey program can do so by clicking here. Your contribution will make a direct impact on the success of YOUR Pioneers. Thank you in advance for your unwavering support of our student-athletes and their quest for excellence.
SHOP PIONEERS: Get dressed for Game Day! Get your Pioneers gear at ShopPioneers.com, the official online store of University of Denver Athletics.
-OUR JOURNEY, OUR TIME-
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