DENVER – The University of Denver hockey team opens the 2021-22 regular season this weekend as the Pioneers host the Arizona State Sun Devils on Friday and Saturday night at Magness Arena.
Friday's game is set for 7 p.m. MT, while Saturday's features a new start time for the season of 6 p.m. MT. This weekend also marks Homecoming at DU, which is hosting several events around the Ritchie Center and throughout campus.
Denver aims to begin this season better than it did last year when it started 0-3-0. That campaign began in the NCHC Pod in December in Omaha, Nebraska, while this year's start will resemble a more normal campaign for the squad and the rest of college hockey.
With fans back in the stands this season, the Pioneers aim to continue its recent success in home openers. The squad has won its last three openers at Magness Arena and is 8-1-1 in its last 10. In the 2020-21, DU didn't play its first game on its own home ice until Jan. 2 and went on to defeat Colorado College 6-1.
This year's games against the Sun Devils mark the first time that Denver has begun a campaign on home ice since 2016 when it dropped contests to Ohio State (3-2 loss on Oct. 7) and Boston College (3-1 loss on Oct. 8) on opening weekend.
In season openers, DU owns a 2-1-1 record in its last four, a 6-3-1 mark in the last 10 and is 10-4-1 in the last 15 dating back to the start of the 2006-07 season.
The Pioneers are coming off a 9-1 victory against Lindenwood University last Saturday in its exhibition contest at home. Freshman
Jack Works scored twice for the Pioneers in the outing, while
Brett Stapley (one goal, one assist),
Carter Savoie (two assists),
Cole Guttman (two assists),
Bobby Brink (two assists) and
Carter Mazur (one goal, one assist) also had multi-point efforts. DU scored nine unanswered goals after Lindenwood opened the scoring and finished with a 58-14 edge in shots.
Goaltenders
Magnus Chrona and
Matt Davis split time in net for Denver in the pre-season outing, but Chrona is expected to get the start for the Pios in the season opener.
Arizona State has already played two regular-season games, splitting its home opening series versus UMass Lowell. The Sun Devils won 5-3 on Saturday in Tempe before falling 4-2 on Sunday.
This weekend marks the fifth and sixth all-time meeting between DU and ASU, with the schools last facing off for a two-game set on Dec. 6-7, 2019 in Arizona. The Sun Devils won 4-1 on the first night before the squads tied 2-2 in the second half of the back-to-back.
The schools will double their all-time series this season as they will play four times throughout the campaign, with Denver visiting Tempe and Oceanside Ice Arena on Dec. 3-4. This is the first time that DU will play a non-conference opponent more than twice in a season since facing St. Cloud State in three games in 1988-89, two years before the Huskies joined the Pioneers in the WCHA. The last time the Pioneers played a non-conference opponent four times in a campaign was in 1983-84 against U.S. International University (San Diego, California).
Denver holds a 2-1-1 record in the all-time series against Arizona State. The teams' first-ever series came at Magness Arena on Jan. 6-7, 2018, with the Pioneers picking up 5-1 and 6-1 victories, respectively.
THREE THINGS
Century Mark Game:
Cole Guttman is expected to appear in his 100th career NCAA game on Friday vs. ASU. The senior forward led the Pioneers with 22 points and 14 assists last season and has 76 points in his collegiate career (36 goals and 40 assists). He will become the 204th player in program history to play in 100 games. He ranks 120th in scoring among players with 100 or more games played.
Fans Returned: Last Saturday's exhibition marked the first game in 574 days that the Pioneers played in front of the general public at Magness Arena, with the team previously doing so in a 5-1 win vs. Colorado College on March 7, 2020.
Pios In The Polls: Denver moved up one spot to No. 12 in the nation in the most recent USCHO.com poll, released on Oct. 4. The Pioneers also entered the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll for the first time this year, ranking 13th in the country. DU was voted fourth in the NCHC Preseason Media Poll, announced on Sept. 15.
TICKETS: Single-game tickets for the 2021-22 campaign are on sale now and can be purchased here.
CORONAVIRUS UPDATES: Masks are required at all indoor athletic events. For the latest University of Denver updates on the coronavirus, click here.
DONATE: Fans interested in making a donation to the Pioneers Athletic Fund can do so by clicking here. Your gift will transform the lives of our student-athletes by giving them the first-class resources needed to excel in the classroom and beyond. Thank you for Building Pioneers for Life!
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