FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The No. 4 Denver Pioneers hockey team begins the 2023-24 season this weekend in Alaska as the squad faces the Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks on college hockey's opening weekend. DU and UAF open the campaign on Saturday and Sunday at the Carlson Center, with both outings of the season-opening series beginning at 5 p.m. MT.
 
The games will be streamed online at FloHockey and the radio broadcast will be available on Denver Sports 104.3 The Fan HD3.
 
Denver is making its first trip to the U.S.'s 49th state since last visiting Fairbanks to start the 2019-20 campaign, winning 4-3 and 3-0, respectively, in those matchups. That series also marked the last time DU played regular-season games on the opening weekend, as the program usually hosts an exhibition during the first days of competition.
 
DU and UAF have met in non-conference games nearly every season since 2018-19, with the exception being 2020-21 which saw program schedules across the country adjusted due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
 
The Pioneers own a 10-3-2 record against the Nanooks and are 5-1-2 in the last eight meetings. The teams split last year's series in Denver, with Alaska winning 3-1 on Dec. 6 before DU picked up a 7-2 victory the next night.
 
Denver went 30-10-0 last season en route to its second-consecutive 30-win season—the first time in program history it has accomplished that feat. The Pioneers also won back-to-back Penrose Cups as NCHC regular-season champions with a 19-5-0 record, with their 19 wins in conference play being their most since going 19-5-4 in 2009-10 in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. DU's season ended NCAA Tournament regional semifinals last spring with a 2-0 loss to Cornell.
 
Alaska, the flagship school of the UA system and an independent program, was the last team out of the 2023 NCAA Tournament. The Nanooks missed a postseason berth by mere percentage points in the Pairwise Rankings. Fairbanks went 22-10-1 last season.
 
The Pioneers own a 42-25-7 all-time record in season openers and are 4-1-1 in their last six such contests and 12-3-1 in the last 16 openers.  Denver will be playing its first season opener on the road—not including the NCHC bubble during the COVID-19 Pandemic-shortened campaign of 2020-21—since its previous visit to Fairbanks in 2019.
 
Denver is also beginning its 75th season this weekend. The program, which began in 1949-50, will celebrate 75 years of Pioneer hockey at the start of the 2024-25 campaign.
 
CONNECTIONS: Head coach David Carle was born and raised in Alaska (Anchorage) ... Assistant coaches Dallas Ferguson and Tavis MacMillan played and graduated from UAF, and they both 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 goaltender under MacMillan and Ferguson when they were coaches there … Goaltender Jack Caruso played for the NAHL Fairbanks Ice Dogs in 2019-20 … Matt Davis played with the AJHL's Spruce Grove Saints with Brayden Nicholetts in 2019-20 … Tristan Broz and Jonny Sorenson played together with the University of Minnesota in 2021-22 … Brayden Nicholetts spent the 2015-16 season with the Colorado Thunderbirds 16U AAA … Denver's Tristan Lemyre (Mirabel) and UAF sophomore Xavier Jean-Louis (Montreal) are Quebec natives … Lessi Lehti (Espoo) of Alaska and Miko Matikka (Helsinki) of Denver are both from Finland … UAF Matteo Pecchia, William Hambley (Western Michigan) and Cade Ahrenholz (Colorado College) all used to play in the NCHC.
 
SCOUTING THE NANOOKS: Alaska went 22-10-1 in 2022-23, including sporting a 10-2-1 record at home and a 12-8-1 record on the road. UAF won all six games against in-state rival Alaska Anchorage to claim the Governor's Cup in the trophy's return following UAA reinstating its program.  In addition to beating then No. 1 Denver in January, the Nanooks also picked up a ranked win against No. 19 Notre Dame. Last season, Jonny Sorenson (10g/18a) and Payton Matsui (9g/19a) tied for the team lead in scoring with 28 points while Brady Risk was third with 23 points and paced the squad with 13 goals.  UAF hosted Vancouver Island University in an exhibition last Saturday and won 8-1.
 
HISTORY: Denver and Fairbanks are set to play their fifth series in the last six seasons, as the only campaign since 2018-19 when DU and UAF didn't play one another was in the COVID-shortened 2020-21 campaign.  Prior to playing in 2018, the schools had only met once since 1994, a one-game matchup in 2013.  The Pioneers own a 10-3-2 all-time record against the Nanooks and are 5-2-0 as the road team. Denver went 1-1-0 against Fairbanks last season, falling 3-1 on Jan. 6 before winning 7-2 on Jan. 7. DU is 6-2-2 in the last 10 games vs. UAF and is 5-1-2 in the last eight meetings.  The Pioneers won the first two matchups in the all-time series on Nov. 3-4, 1989 in Fairbanks.
 
LAST MEETING: JAN. 7, 2023: No. 1 Denver scored a season-high seven goals and defeated the Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks 7-2 on Saturday night at Magness Arena to wrap up the weekend and earn a series split. At the time, the Pioneers' seven goals were their most since tallying eight on Feb. 4, 2022 vs. St. Cloud State (8-5 win). DU's previous high during the season for tallies was six, accomplished on Nov. 12 at North Dakota (W, 6-3) and Nov. 26 vs. Omaha (W, 6-3). McKade Webster, Carter King, Carter Mazur and Massimo Rizzo each contributed a goal and an assist, while defensemen Sean Behrens and Mike Benning each had a pair of helpers. Justin Lee, Jack Devine and Jared Wright also found the back of the net. It took just 2:39 into the game for Denver to take the lead with Lee's third goal of the season, and the Pios tacked on two more markers to hold a 3-1 advantage at the first intermission.
 
IN THE POLLS: Denver opens the season ranked in the top five in both national preseason polls, as the Pioneers are No. 4 in the USCHO.com ranking and come in at No. 5 in the USA Hockey/The Rink Live poll.
 
DU leads five NCHC squads ranked, with North Dakota, St. Cloud State, Western Michigan and Minnesota Duluth cracking the top 20 in both. In addition, Colorado College and Omaha each received votes in the early-season rankings.
 
FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH: Denver is welcoming 10 freshmen to its roster this season, one of the largest incoming classes in recent years. The last time DU had 10 freshmen on its roster was in 2018-19, one season after having 11 freshmen in 2017-18. The Pioneers' 10 freshmen are tied for the seventh-most in the NCAA this season.
 
Denver's age at the start of the season is 20.9 years-old, tied with Harvard for the second-youngest in the country behind Boston College (20.6). Freshman defenseman Zeev Buium is the second-youngest player in the country, as he won't turn 18 years old until Dec. 7. Boston University's Macklin Celebrini is the youngest, turning 18 next summer on June 13, 2024.
 
CAPTAINING THE SHIP: Senior forward McKade Webster was named the 94th captain in program history earlier this week on Oct. 2 after serving as an alternate during the 2022-23 campaign.  Webster, who previously served as a team captain with the USHL's Green Bay Gamblers in 2019-20, is joined on DU's leadership group by three alternates in senior Connor Caponi and juniors Carter King and Massimo Rizzo.
 
FAVORITES OF THE NCHC: The Pioneers were voted to win the NCHC regular season for the second straight season in the conference's annual preseason media poll. This is the third time that DU has been voted the preseason favorite, as it also earned the honor in 2017-18 and 2022-23 following its national championship victories.
 
PRESEASON HONORS: Junior defenseman Sean Behrens and forward Massimo Rizzo were both selected to the NCHC's 2023-24 Preseason All-Conference Team in a vote by the media.  Denver and North Dakota were the only teams to have two players on the six-man team, while Colorado College and St. Cloud State were both represented by one athlete each. Rizzo collected 24 of a possible 27 votes, while Behrens earned 19 votes.
 
NON-CONFERENCE MATCHUPS: DU will play 12 non-conference games against eight different opponents this season, with six of the matchups coming on the road (The Pioneers only played two road non-league games in 2022-23). After opening the season at Alaska Fairbanks on Oct. 7-8, Denver will make a trip to New England for single-game outings at Providence and Boston College on Oct. 20-21 and travel to the desert to face Arizona State on Nov. 10-11. NCAA newcomer Augustana (Oct. 27) and in-state foe Air Force (Oct. 28) visit Magness Arena for Homecoming Weekend, and the Pioneers will also host two-game sets vs. Yale (Nov. 24-25) and Niagara (Jan. 5-6) during the holidays.
 
CARLE NAMED 2024 WORLD JUNIORS HEAD COACH: Denver head coach David Carle was named the head coach of the United States National Junior Team on April 4 and will lead the American squad at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship.  The under-20 tournament will be held in Gothenburg, Sweden, from Dec. 26, 2023 to Jan. 4, 2024. This is Carle's first time coaching Team USA and he will be the first Denver coach to guide the World Junior squad since Marshall Johnston for the 1977 tournament.
 
MASSA PROMOTED: Littleton, Colorado, native Ryan Massa was promoted to a full-time assistant coach on Sept. 5, joining Tavis MacMillan and Dallas Ferguson on head coach David Carle's coaching staff. Massa spent the previous two years with the Pioneers as a volunteer assistant coach, working with the team's goaltenders, assisting in on-ice skill development, providing scouting reports and helping manage the bench during games. Massa's elevation comes after a new rule this season which allows college hockey programs to have three assistant coaches on staff.
 
NATIONAL SCHOLARS: The Pioneers had six players named 2022-23 AHCA All-American Scholars in defenseman Kent Anderson, goaltender Magnus Chrona, goaltender Matt Davis, forward Casey Dornbach, defenseman Kyle Mayhew and forward Jared Wright. Davis repeated as a national recipient after also earning the honor in 2021-22.
 
To qualify, a student-athlete must have attained at least a 3.75 grade-point average for each semester or quarter and appear in 40 percent of the team's games. Exceptions were granted to injured players and backup goaltenders.
 
ALL-AMERICAN MEN: Denver had three players named national All-Americans during the 2022-23 season, the most by the program since 2018. Defenseman Mike Benning and forwards Carter Mazur and Massimo Rizzo were all recognized on the American Hockey Coaches Association's West Second-Team, bringing the team's all-time total to 51 All-Americans in its 74-year history. Rizzo is among six players nationally that are returning this year after earning All-America accolades last season.
 

TICKETS: Single-game tickets, as well as 5-Game Packs and full and half-season ticket plans are all available to purchase here.

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