DENVER - The No. 6 Denver Pioneers men's hockey team (21-9-6, 11-8-5-4) opens its best-of-three NCHC quarterfinal series on Friday, March 13 against Omaha. Puck drop is set for 7:07 p.m. MT.
 
DENVER: LAST SERIES
DU 2, CC 2 | DU 5, CC 1 (March 6-7, 2020)
• Friday: Chris Wilkie scored at 14:24 and 19:52 of the third period to erase the Pioneers' once-two-goal lead and send the game to overtime. Neither team could score in NCAA overtime, thus returning the Gold Pan to Denver. After a scoreless NCHC three-on-three overtime, Brett Stapley's goal in the first round of the NCHC shootout decided the extra point in the standings
• Saturday: Denver trailed 1-0 at 4:29 of the first, but responded to score five goals in the final two periods to win. The Pioneers outshot the Tigers, 45-23
• Brett Stapley led Denver with three assists on the weekend...The Pioneers went 2/8 on the power play and 6/7 on the penalty kill
• Magnus Chrona made 58 saves on 61 shots, marking the first time Denver has started the same goalie on back-to-back nights since Jan. 10-11
 
HOME-ICE ADVANTAGE
• Including this year, the Pioneers have had home-ice advantage for the first round of the conference playoffs for 17 of the last 21 seasons, including the last six
• Since 1999-00, Denver is 12-4 in advancing to the second round of the conference tournament when hosting a first-round series and 10-1 in the last 11 seasons
 
DENVER: UP NEXT
Frozen Faceoff - March 20-21
• The Pioneers are the only team in the conference to advance to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff in each year of competition. This marks the seventh straight season Denver has earned a spot in the conference tournament
• In the history of the NCHC Frozen Faceoff, the Pioneers are 8-4 overall, 2-4 in the semifinal, 2-0 in the championship and 4-0 in the third-place game
• Denver is the only two-time winner of the Frozen Faceoff, winning in 2014 & 2018
 
OMAHA: SNAPSHOT
• The Mavericks have one win in their last five games with a 1-4-0 mark. Omaha's lone victory was a 4-1 win against then-No. 2 North Dakota on March 6, the second time they defeated the Fighting Hawks this season
• Taylor Ward and Kevin Conley lead the Mavericks with 27 points each
• After not getting shutout all season, Omaha has been shutout in three of its last four games
 
DENVER VS. OMAHA
• The Pioneers are 30-9-5 all-time against the Mavericks and 18-2-2 all-time at home. Denver tied Omaha twice earlier this year (1-1 T, 2-2 T) on Jan. 17-18, 2020 at Baxter Arena, taking the extra point in the NCHC standings on both nights
• The Pioneers have not lost a game to the Mavericks in 18 meetings (15-0-3) and have tied their last three. Denver's last loss to Omaha was on Jan. 10, 2015 (1-0 L) at Baxter Arena and the Pioneers' last loss to the Mavericks in Magness Arena was on Nov. 2, 2013 (3-2 L - OT)
• Denver has met Omaha twice in the NCHC quarterfinal. The Pioneers beat the Mavericks on the road in 2013-14 and at home in 2015-16
 
CHRONA NAMED NCHC ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
• Magnus Chrona was named NCHC Rookie of the Week on March 9 after making 36 saves on 38 shots in last Friday's 2-2 tie and 22 saves on 23 shots in last Saturday's 5-1 win against Colorado College. The back-to-back starts marked the first for a Pioneer goalie since Jan. 10-11 at St. Cloud State
 
HIGHS & LOWS
• Oct. 11 – Nov. 2: Denver opened the season on an eight-game winning streak, its best start to a season since its program-best 9-0-0 run in the 2001-02 season
• Nov. 8 – Dec. 7: The Pioneers had one win in eight games, going 1-4-3
• Dec. 7 – Jan. 25: Denver went on an 11-game unbeaten stretch, its best single-season unbeaten streak since the 2016-17 season (13)
• Jan. 31 – Feb. 15: The Pioneers lost four straight games for the first time since December 2015
 
HOT STREAKS & UPCOMING MILESTONES
• Bobby Brink is on a six-game point streak with three goals and four assists
• Ian Mitchell is on a six-game point streak with four goals and five assists
• Liam Finlay is on a six-game point streak with one goal and seven assists
• Brett Stapley is on a three-game point streak with four assists
• Liam Finlay is two points shy of 100 career points with 34 goals and 64 assists in 156 games
• Ian Mitchell is the 12th-highest scoring defenseman in DU history with 89 career points. His 71 career assists rank 11^th all-time among DU defensemen
 
DENVER LEADS NCHC WITH 18 ON ACADEMIC ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
• Denver had a conference-leading 18 student-athletes named to the NCHC Academic All-Conference Team (3.0 GPA or higher) and eight student-athletes named NCHC Distinguished Scholar-Athletes (3.5 GPA or higher) *Freshmen not included*
 
EXTENDING THE TENZER STREAK
• The Pioneers' streak of 19 straight 20-win seasons is the longest active streak in the NCAA. The NCAA record for consecutive 20-win seasons is held by Michigan, which had 25 from 1987-2012
• The streak began in the 2001-02 season and is affectionally known as the "Tenzer Streak," in honor of former Director of Hockey Operations David Tenzer who joined the program during the first year of the run and retired in 2017
 
HIGH-RANKING STATS
• Denver ranks 2nd in the NCAA in shots on goal per game (35.33). The Pioneers are 20-7-4 when outshooting their opponent and have done so in 31 of 36 games this season
• The Pioneers allow the 11th-fewest goals per game in the NCAA (2.25)
• Denver's goal margin per game ranks 10th in the NCAA (+1.03)
• The Pioneers sophomore class ranks 1st in NCAA scoring with 142 points (51-91-142), accounting for 43% of the team's production. Denver has three sophomores among its top-four scorers: Emilio Pettersen (13-22-35), Brett Stapley (5-25-30) and Cole Guttman (14-14-28)
 
NATIONAL LEADERS
• Cole Guttman is T-1st in the NCAA for game-winning goals (6) – (T-1st NCHC)
• Ian Mitchell is T-6th in scoring among NCAA defensemen with 32 points (10-22-32) - (2nd NCHC defensemen) 
• Bobby Brink is T-15th in scoring among NCAA freshmen with 24 points (11-13-24) – (2nd NCHC freshmen)
• Bobby Brink is T-8th in goals among NCAA freshmen with 11 (2nd NCHC freshmen)
• Magnus Chrona is 3rd among NCAA freshmen with a 2.15 GAA (2nd NCHC goalies), 3rd among NCAA freshmen with a .920 save percentage (1st NCHC goalies) and 3rd among NCAA freshmen with 16 wins (4th NCHC goalies)
 
NCAA REGIONAL 2020 & 2021
• The Pioneers are set to host the 2020 & 2021 NCAA West Regional at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland, Colo. The 2020 regional is set for March 27-28
• 2020 will mark the first year in which an NCAA hockey tournament game has been held in Colorado since the 2008 Men's Frozen Four at the Pepsi Center in Denver
 
DEMIN DEALT AT DEADLINE
•  The Chicago Blackhawks acquired Slava Demin goaltender Malcolm Subban and second-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft in exchange for Robin Lehner and Martins Dzierkals. The Vegas Golden Knights drafted Demin in the fourth round of the 2018 NHL Draft
 
NEED FOR THE LEAD
• Denver is 11-0-3 when scoring the first goal of the game, 6-0-2 when leading after the first period and 16-0-3 when leading after the second. Conversely, the Pioneers are 9-9-3 when allowing the first goal of the game, 5-7-1 when trailing after the first period and 1-9-2 when trailing after the second
 
HOME COOKIN'
• Denver is 38-12-8 at home since the 2017-18 season, posting a .655 winning percentage and taking points from 79% of its games
 
HOBEY HOPEFULS
• Ian Mitchell and Emilio Pettersen are among 75+ nominees for the 2020 Hobey Baker Award
• First-round voting can be conducted on hobeybaker.com/vote. First-round voting closes on March 9, 2020
• Denver has had two Hobey Baker winners in its history: Matt Carle ('06) and Will Butcher ('17)
 
GWOZDECKY INDUCTED TO DENVER ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME
• Former head coach George Gwozdecky was named among 12 inductees for the 2020 Denver Athletic Hall of Fame class to be honored on campus May 16, 2020
• Gwozdecky posted a 443-267-64 record with the Pioneers from 1994-2013, winning back-to-back National Championships in 2004 & 2005, three WCHA regular-season titles, four WCHA playoff titles and posting 16 20-win seasons. He received the Spencer Penrose Award as National Coach of the Year in 2005
 
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 Hockey presented by Centura Health opens the postseason with the NCHC quarterfinal series against Omaha from March 13-15 at Magness Arena
 
NCHC QUARTERFINAL TICKETS ON SALE: Tickets for the NCHC Quarterfinal Series from March 13-15 in Magness Arena are on sale now!

FROZEN FACEOFF TICKETS: Tickets for the 2020 Frozen Faceoff in St. Paul, Minn. are on sale now. More information is available here.
 
2020 DENVER ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME RECEPTION: Denver announced its 2020 Athletic Hall of Fame class in January. The inductees will be honored on the DU campus May 16. For more information, registration for the reception and donation information, click here. 

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.

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