DENVER – The No. 8 University of Denver hockey team returns from its holiday break this weekend as it hosts the Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks in a two-game series to ring in the New Year at Magness Arena.
The teams face off at 7 p.m. MT on Friday and 6 p.m. MT on Saturday. Each game will be streamed live on NCHC.tv, while Saturday's contest will also be televised regionally on Altitude 2.
The Pioneers are playing their first games since splitting a set at the then-No. 5 Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs on Dec. 10-11 and are playing their first home outings since sweeping Miami on Nov. 19-20. Denver picked up its second shutout of the season on the first night at UMD. Goaltender
Magnus Chrona stopped all 23 shots, defenseman
Mike Benning tallied twice for his second multi-goal game of the season and freshman
Shai Buium scored his first collegiate goal in the 5-0 victory. The Bulldogs won 6-2 the following day, ending DU's season-long seven-game winning streak.
Denver's home winning streak is still intact, as it owns a 7-0-0 record at its friendly confines this season. The seven wins are tied for the program's fourth-longest home win streak to begin a season (also went 7-0-0 in 1968-69) and the most ever at Magness. The last time the team won eight or more at home to begin a campaign was in 1967-68 when Denver went 19-0 at home en route to a championship.
The Nanooks are 4-12-0 on the season but are riding a three-game winning streak after taking the last three contests of a four-game series against RPI before the holiday break. UAF is starting a 10-game road trip that will also feature stops at Maine, Minnesota, Vermont and Arizona State from Dec. 31-Feb. 5.
Denver and Fairbanks are playing their third series over the last four seasons, with the teams previously meeting on Oct. 5-6, 2019 in Alaska—DU won those games by 4-3 and 3-0 scores, respectively. Prior to playing in 2018, the schools had only met once since 1994, a one-game matchup in 2013. The Pioneers own an 8-2-1 record in the all-time series and are 3-0-1 in the last four meetings and 6-1-1 in the last eight.
Friday's game marks just the seventh time ever that the Denver program will play on New Year's Eve (3-2-1 record), with the team last doing so in 2016 at Providence (3-1 loss). The last time that DU played at home on Dec. 31 was in 2010 when it began a series versus Northern Michigan. That set against NMU also marked the last time that Denver played on both New Year's Eve and New Year's Day in the same season.
The Pios have played more often on Jan. 1 as they own a 10-9-2 overall record on the date. DU contested 11 games in the first 17 seasons of the program's existence on the first day of the year and have played six times since 2000. Denver will be playing on New Year's Day for the second straight season after skating at Colorado College last year. The last time DU played on consecutive New Year's Days was in 2010 and 2011 versus Omaha and Northern Michigan, respectively.
SCOUTING THE NANOOKS: The Nanooks are on a season-long, three-game winning streak after taking the last three contests of a four-game series vs. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute that was staged in Fairbanks from Dec. 10-15. Alaska's 4-0 win vs. RPI on Dec. 11 ended an 11-game losing streak, one that featured four losses in overtime. Goaltender Gustavs Davis Grigals has been in net for all four of UAF's wins this season and sports a 2.55 goals-against average and .907 save percentage. Filip Formaa Svennson leads the team with 10 points (3g/7a) this year, while Didrik Henbrant is the Nanooks' leading goal scorer with four.
ALASKA CONNECTIONS: Head coach
David Carle was born and raised in Alaska (Anchorage) … Assistant coaches
Dallas Ferguson and
Tavis MacMillan both played and graduated from UAF, and they later served as assistant and head coaches of the team … MacMillan led the Nanooks as the head coach from 2004-2007 while Ferguson was the bench boss from 2008-2017 … Current UAF head coach Erik Largan was a player under MacMillan and Ferguson when they were coaches there …
Kyle Mayhew played for the Fairbanks Ice Dogs of the NAHL from 2016-2018 and was teammates with UAF's Caleb Hite in 2017-18 …
Matt Davis played with the AJHL's Spruce Grove Saints with Brayden Nicholetts in 2019-20, while
Lane Krenzen was a teammate of Connor Mylymok with the NAHL's Austin Bruins in 2018-19 …
Carter Mazur was on the USHL's Tri-City Storm's roster in 2019-20 with Daniel Allin …
Brett Edwards played two seasons on the Drumheller Dragons of the AJHL and was teammates with Allin (2018-19), Nicholetts (2017-2019) and Brady Risk (2017-2019) … Matt Koethe and
Bobby Brink are both from Minnetonka, Minn. … Nicholetts spent the 2015-16 season with the Colorado Thunderbirds 16U AAA.
TOP OF THE CONFERENCE: Denver has won 10 NCHC Player of the Week awards this season, the most in the conference this season. The Pioneers had three players earn honors for the week of Nov. 29-Dec. 5, with
Brett Stapley (Forward),
Magnus Chrona (Goaltender) and
Jack Devine (Rookie) picking up accolades. It was the second time this season that an NCHC team earned three of the four weekly conference awards (WMU, Nov. 15-21).
MAZUR AT THE WORLD JUNIORS: Freshman
Carter Mazur was with Team USA at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta, before the under-20 tournament was cancelled on Wednesday due to the spread of COVID-19. Mazur and the Americans played one game, winning 3-2 against Slovakia last Sunday. Mazur skated as the second-line right wing and recorded five shots and two penalty minutes in 16:44 of ice time. Defenseman
Sean Behrens was named to the USA's preliminary roster for this year's tournament, but he was unable to attend after being in COVID protocol during the team's training camp earlier this month. Junior
Bobby Brink played for the U.S. at the last two World Juniors and won a gold medal last year.
STREAKING: Carter Mazur is on a career-long, eight-point streak (7g/6a), while senior defenseman
Kyle Mayhew is on a three-game assist/point streak (0g/3a), tying his career long that he previously set this season from Oct. 8-15.
FRESH(MEN) FACES ON TOP OF THE CHARTS: Massimo Rizzo and
Carter Mazur are leading all freshmen in the country in scoring this season. The two DU froshs are tied for first in the country with nine goals, while Rizzo ranks first in points (21). Mazur is tied for fifth in the NCAA with 17 points (9g/8a). Also,
Sean Behrens ranks fourth among all freshmen defensemen and tied for 12th among first-year players with 13 points.
OFFENSIVE OUTPUT: The Pios have the highest-scoring offense in the country, averaging 4.56 goals per game. DU began the season with goals in each of their first 12 periods and have scored at least four times in 12-of-16 games and in all 11 wins. There have been 16 different DU players that have scored this year, while nine have recorded double-digit points.
SHOTS FIRED: Denver ranks second in the NCAA, averaging 36.4 shots per game. Western Michigan is the next closest conference foe to the Pioneers at 32.8 shots per contest, seventh in the country. DU has recorded 40 or more shots in eight games this year, including in each of the first five outings. Only Penn State is averaging more shots per contest at 38.1, though the Nittany Lions have played three more outings.
LIMITING CHANCES: The Pioneers have been strong on limiting defensive chances as well, as they have held opponents to 30 or fewer shots in 13-of-16 games this season. The team is averaging 25.4 shots against per outing—tied for 10th best in the NCAA with New Hampshire—and is outshooting opposing squads by a 36.5-25.4 margin. Denver and Quinnipiac (3rd in shots for, 1st in shots against) are the only two teams in the county that rank in the both the top 10 in shots for and shots against.
IMPROVED PK: The Pioneers had their season-long 17 consecutive penalty kills end in the first period of their last game at Duluth on Dec. 11. DU has finished 100 percent on the PK in five games this season and has gone 30-for-36 on the penalty kill (83.3%) in the past 11 contests. Opponents scored 10 power-play goals in the first five contests of the year (14/24, 58.3%).
DOMINANT AT THE DOT: Senior
Cole Guttman has won 59.5 percent of his draws this season, tied with freshman
Massimo Rizzo for the best mark on the team. Guttman set a new career high with 20 faceoff wins on Dec. 3 at Arizona State, his sixth game this year with 14 or more faceoffs wins. He has finished 50 percent or better in draws in 15-of-16 contests this year.
CAREER HIGHS: The following Pioneers have already set or matched their previous career highs this season:
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