DULUTH, Minn. – After a weekend of non-conference games, the No. 1 Denver Pioneers hockey team returns to NCHC play as the squad travels to take on the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs on Friday and Saturday at Amsoil Arena.
Both games begin at 6 p.m. MT and will be broadcasted on NCHC.tv.
This weekend marks the first two of four games in the season series, as Duluth visits Magness Arena on Feb. 17-18. It is also the first meeting between the schools since the Pioneers defeated the Bulldogs 2-1 in the NCAA West Regional Final on March 26 in Loveland, Colorado, en route to the school's ninth hockey national championship.
Denver and Duluth went 3-3-0 against one another in 2021-22, as both teams won a game on the road and at home. UMD beat DU 2-0 in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff semifinals on March 18 and went on to win the conference tournament championship last year.
DU is on a three-game winning streak and is 6-1-0 in its last seven contests after earning a pair of home wins over the Arizona State Sun Devils last weekend. The Pioneers won 3-2 on Friday and 5-2 on Saturday, outshooting ASU by a combined 99-40 margin in the two games. Denver had a 56-20 shot advantage on Friday and rallied from a one-goal deficit in the third period to win. DU received a multi-goal outing from
Jared Wright and three points from
Sean Behrens (1g/2a) in Saturday's victory.
Minnesota Duluth is 8-8-0 on the season after splitting last weekend's home series against the Colorado College Tigers. The Bulldogs lost 3-0 on Friday before earning their own shutout on Saturday with a 4-0 victory.
UMD has split all four of its NCHC series this season and presently ranks fifth in the conference standings with 11 points and a 4-4-0 record. Duluth dropped out of the polls on Nov. 14—the first time since Feb. 29, 2016 that the team wasn't ranked in the top 20. It ended a run of 154 straight weeks in the polls and five short of Denver's national record of 159.
The series with Duluth is Denver's final NCHC games before the New Year. After this weekend, DU faces Lindenwood (Dec. 16-17) and Alaska Fairbanks (Jan. 6-7) on each side of the holiday break before resuming NCHC competition on Jan. 13-14 against Miami. The Pioneers lead the NCHC with 19 points and a 6-2-0 record.
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS: Ben Steeves leads the Bulldogs in scoring with 11 goals and 14 points on the year, while Derek Daschke is first with nine assists and second with 11 points. Matthew Thiessen has seen the most action in goal for Minnesota Duluth and has a 5-4-0 record, 2.00 goals-against average, .925 save percentage and one shutout on the season.
CONNECTIONS: Denver Athletic Director Josh Berlo served nine seasons in the same role with Minnesota Duluth (2013-2022) …
Lane Krenzen grew up near Duluth in Twig, Minnesota … Denver has five Minnesota natives on its roster as
Tristan Broz (Bloomington),
Casey Dornbach (Edina),
Tyler Haskins (Rochester) and
Jared Wright (Burnsville) are also from the state …
Shai Buium (2017-21) and
McKade Webster (2015-17) played prep school hockey at Shattuck-St. Mary's in Faribault, Minn. … Krenzen played on the NAHL's Austin Bruins with the Bulldogs' Ben Almquist in 2018-19 … UMD's Quinn Olson and DU's
Matt Davis,
Carter King and
Rieger Lorenz are all from Calgary, Alberta …
Sean Behrens and
Carter Mazur were on USA's 2022 World Junior Championship team with UMD's Dominic James and Wyatt Kaiser …
Sean Behrens and
Jack Devine were at U.S. National Team Development Program with Connor Kelley and Own Gallatin during the 2019-20 campaign and was at the NTDP the same time as Cole Spicer and Isaac Howard in 2020-21 …
Tristan Broz played with Gallatin with the USHL Fargo Force in 2020-21 …
Massimo Rizzo was a teammate of UMD's Luke Loheit with the BCHL's Penticton Vees in 2018-19 …
Shai Buium played on the USHL's Sioux City Musketeers with Minnesota Duluth's Carter Loney and Ben Steeves in 2020-21 …
Aidan Thompson skated with the USHL Lincoln Stars alongside Dominic James (2020-21), Luke Johnson (2021-22) and Joey Pierce (2021-22) …
McKade Webster played with Jesse Jacques during his time with the USHL Green Bay Gamblers in 2017-18 … DU's
Owen Ozar and UMD's Kyler Kleven were teammates at the Waterloo Black Hawks in 2020-21.
FACING DULUTH: Denver owns a 129-88-13 all-time record against Minnesota Duluth, including a 105-76-11 mark in conference play. n Duluth, the Pios are 46-44-8 all-time. DU and UMD are the only NCHC squads to win multiple national championships, with both teams claiming the trophy twice in the last six years.
TRIO OF PIOS INVITED TO USA CAMP: Sean Behrens,
Shai Buium and
Jack Devine have been invited to Team USA's training camp for the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship. The Pioneer trio will head to Plymouth, Michigan, after this weekend's games in Duluth for the camp and will be among 32 players looking to make the U.S.'s 23-man roster. All three players attended USA Hockey National Junior Evaluation Camp in the summer as well.
Training camp is from Dec. 12-17 before the Americans play two exhibition games vs. Canada before the holidays. The 2023 World Juniors run from Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Moncton, New Brunswick.
Behrens and DU teammate
Carter Mazur represented the United States in August at the revamped 2022 World Junior Championship in Edmonton, Alberta. Behrens only played in one game due to injury, while Mazur was named one of the best three players on Team USA after he ranked second in the tournament with five goals and finished second on the squad with seven points (5g/2a).
MASS-IVE GOALS: Sophomore forward
Massimo Rizzo tallied in both games against Arizona State and is now on a three-game goal streak (3g/0a), the longest of his collegiate career. Rizzo's three-game run is also tied for the longest of the season by a Pioneer with
Carter Mazur, who has done it twice (Oct. 7-14, Oct. 22-29). The longest goal streak by a Denver player last season was four games by Mazur (Nov. 12-20, 2021).
Rizzo leads Denver in scoring with 21 points (7g/14a) in 16 games this season. He has 57 points (19g/38a) in 55 career contests.
STREAKING: In addition to
Massimo Rizzo's three-game goal streak,
Aidan Thompson and
Mike Benning are also on three-game point streaks.
- Thompson's three-game streak (1g/3a) ties his season/career long (Nov. 5-12).
- Benning is on his second three-game run (3g/2a) of the season (Oct. 29-Nov. 5).
SHOTS FIRED: Denver had 99 combined shots on goal in the two games against Arizona State, recording 56 on Friday before registering 43 on Saturday. The last time that DU had 40 or more shots in consecutive games was last season when it did it in four straight contests from Jan. 21-29, 2022 in two-game series against Colorado College and Miami. Friday marked Denver's first game with 50 or more shots since Feb. 4, 2022 vs. St. Cloud State (50), and it was its most in a contest since producing 66 shots vs. Lake Superior State on Oct. 20, 2017. DU has registered 30 or more shots on goal in 10 outings this season and ranks seventh in the country in shots per game with 33.9.
LAST WEEKEND NOTABLES
- DU has now won six straight games over ASU and improved to 8-1-1 all-time in the series. The Pioneers are also 6-0-0 all-time against the Sun Devils at home.
- The Pioneers went 3-1-0 on their four-game homestand and are now 8-2-0 at Magness Arena this season.
- Jared Wright tallied twice on Saturday to earn his second multi-goal game of the season (Nov. 12 at North Dakota).
- Sean Behrens' three points on Saturday tied his career high (3x). It was his first three-point outing since Feb. 4, 2022 vs. St. Cloud State (0g/3a).
- Mike Benning's goal at 54 seconds of the second period on Friday marked the fastest tally to begin a period this season (Previous: Casey Dornbach, 1:13, 1st period, Nov. 5 vs. St. Cloud State).
- Denver split its goaltenders, as Magnus Chrona made 18 saves on Friday while Matt Davis also stopped 18 shots on Saturday. Saturday marked Davis' first game since defeating Maine in the second outing of the year on Oct. 8.
- The Pios went 2-for-5 on the power play on Friday, marking the fourth time this season that they have scored multiple times with the man advantage.
- In honor of Hockey Alumni Weekend, 2004 national champion Max Bull dropped the puck in a pregame ceremonial faceoff on Friday while 2004 and 2005 champion Adrian Veideman did the honors on Saturday.
QUICK ROAD TRIP: The Pioneers are heading out for their only two road games in their current 12-game stretch. Denver just finished a four-game homestand (3-1-0) and begins a season-long six-game homestay on Dec. 16 when it hosts Lindenwood.
Minus the two bus trips down to Colorado College for games on Feb. 4 and March 4, the Pioneers only have three more road trips out of the state during the regular season. And with DU having to fly to Minneapolis-St. Paul before bussing to North Dakota for its games on Nov. 11-12 against UND, three of the team's final four flights will be to Minnesota (and possibly four of five if the Pios reach the NCHC Frozen Faceoff in St. Paul on March 17).
STRONG STRETCHES
BATTLE AT BALL ARENA: The Pioneers' game on Friday, Jan. 27 against rival Colorado College has been moved from DU's Magness Arena to downtown Denver's Ball Arena, home of the 2022 Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche.
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On the heels of Denver earning the moniker of being "Hockey Capital USA" with national championships at the NHL, college, high school and pee-wee level, the game vs. CC will mark DU's first regular-season contest at the NHL arena. The Pioneers did play an exhibition outing at the then-called Pepsi Center on Oct. 6, 2012 vs. the University of British Columbia to accommodate a U.S. Presidential Debate that occurred the same week at Magness Arena.
The Pioneers and CC Tigers have met 332 times previously in their history, presently the second-most played rivalry in college hockey behind only Michigan and Michigan State (333 games). Fans who previously had tickets for the Jan. 27 game at Magness Arena will be reseated in a comparable location at Ball Arena.
NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS: With the Pioneers' two wins over Arizona State, they have now won 17 consecutive home non-conference matchups since Oct. 18, 2019 and are 21-0-2 in the last 23 non-NCHC games at Magness Arena dating back to Dec. 30, 2017.
Overall, Denver will play 12 non-conference games against seven different opponents this season and has two more series remaining versus non-NCHC squads in 2022-23: Lindenwood on Dec. 16-17 and Alaska Fairbanks on Jan. 6-7.
The Pioneers previously played home games against No 11 Notre Dame and Maine on Oct. 7-8, No. 11 Providence on Oct. 21-22 and Arizona State on Dec. 2-3. The season-opening contests vs. Notre Dame and Maine marked the only time before the postseason that Denver will play two different opponents on back-to-back days. DU's only two road non-conference contests took place with a series at No. 13 Massachusetts on Oct. 14-15.
HOME-ICE ADVANTAGE: The Pios are 32-5-1 in their last 38 contests in their own rink and sport a 40-9-2 record at Magness Arena since the start of the 2019-20 campaign. Denver went 17-1-1 during the 2021-22 season in its own barn and had a 22-1-1 mark in games in the state of Colorado, including winning both matchups at the Denver-hosted NCAA West Regional in Loveland, Colo.
MONTH-BY-MONTH: DU finished the month of November with a 4-2-0 record and has posted a .500 mark or better in 12 straight months dating back to January 2021. The Pioneers posted an
above .500 record in all seven months last season.
IN THE POLLS: Denver ranks No. 1 in country in both the DCU/USCHO.com poll and the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine rankings last week. DU ranked second in the USA Today/USA Magazine poll last week. The Pioneers have been ranked in the top four all season and have earned a No. 1 spot in seven previous weekly polls.
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