Few collegiate hockey coaches have had as much success in their young career as the University of Denver's David Carle.
 
Entering his sixth season as the bench boss of the Denver Pioneers, Carle has guided the program to four national tournament appearances, two Frozen Fours and the 2022 NCAA Championship. Last season, Denver went 30-10-0 to record consecutive 30-win campaigns for the first time in its 74-year history and also claimed its second straight Penrose Cup as NCHC regular-season champions.
 
The Pioneers open the 2023-24 campaign on Oct. 7-8 at Alaska Fairbanks, and they'll have plenty of new faces on their squad. More than a third of the team will be newcomers as DU welcomes a 10-member freshmen class, its most on the roster since also having 10 rookies in 2018-19.
 
Carle previews the upcoming season, discusses the large freshmen class and analyzes the three-week training camp.
 
How has it been getting ready for the season?
 
"It's that fun time of year where everybody is back to zero and square one. You are trying to figure out what you have and implement systems and make sure that we are as ready to go as we can for the opening weekend here in a couple of weeks. In our third week of practices, I would say things are going well. I like what we have on the ice. There has been a lot of learning, a lot of growth. It's certainly getting that itch to get the games underway, and I'm excited for that opportunity that we'll have in a couple of weeks here, heading up to Fairbanks, Alaska, to take on a very good team that just missed the NCAA tournament a year ago."
 
What are you trying to accomplish in the first few weeks of practices?
 
"You are trying to set a foundation for what our identity and what our team game wants to look like. With 10 new people, every camp is different based on how many new people you are going to have. It's really an exercise of communication and leadership from the returning players, veteran guys—16 of them trying to teach and impart upon the 10 new people how we do things, how we operate on the ice. The office stuff has been going on for a number of weeks. We're just trying to implement our systems and implement our identity and make sure that we are hard to play against right out of the gate. The games in October count just as much as the games in March when you look at the national picture and the Pairwise and all of that, so it is critical that we are feeling comfortable, confident and ready to go on opening weekend."
 
What can we expect from your 10 freshmen this season?
 
"I think like any group, they interject an excitement. It's their first camp. For a senior, it's his fourth camp. It can be a little taxing on an older, veteran player, but I think when they see the smile and the excitement on the younger guys' faces coming into their first camp, getting ready for their first college season, I think it is invigorating. I think it invigorates all of us. It's been a lot of fun. They are all smiley and asking questions, wanting to learn, wanting to get as good and as prepared as they can to contribute as quickly as they can, so that part has been a lot of fun like in the totality of the group. I think they have interjected a lot of youth and excitement into to the team, which is always a good thing. People sometimes get a little fearful of change, but that's the name of the game in college athletics right now, and to have two-thirds of the roster be new people, I think they have interjected a lot of positive life into the room."

How do you get the newcomers acclimated to the team with only a three-week training camp?
 
 You try and chunk in the learning and the new material, perse. It's funny, they start class the same day we start practice So they're getting it in the classroom, new information They're getting it at rink, new information, so it's a lot for them. You can see here in Week 3 that the pace is still really high. but it's slowing down for their brains, allowing them to really implement what we're trying to do on a more consistent basis. "
 
You guys have a shorter training camp because DU is on the quarter system and don't start practices until September, what are the benefits to that?
 
"We really like the quarter system and how it sets up. Players like playing games more than they like practicing. I don't think that is any secret. Coaches are the same way. The idea of being six weeks on the ice before a game I think is fairly daunting. Not only to the players, but also to the coaches. Talking with other coaches around the country, they really have to ease their way into camp and start kind of slow. They don't want to overdo it early. For us, it's a quick three-and-a-half weeks before the game is right in front of us. We really enjoy it. We hop right in with two feet, we're right into the battle and running a more pro-style camp, still a little bit longer than an NHL camp would be. I think our players like that, appreciate it, and it also gives them an opportunity prior to the start of camp on Sept. 11—they're here for two weeks by themselves, on the ice. It gives them the opportunity to communicate with one another. For our older guys to take charge and take leadership. It gives them the ability to create some relationships on the ice without us coaches being there and adding that pressure to the situation. We think it's great."
 
This year college hockey programs were allowed to hire a third assistant coach, and you filled the void by promoting Ryan Massa after he served as a volunteer assistant the last two years. What does Ryan add to your staff?
 
"I think it means a lot to all of us to have Ryan join full time. We obviously gotten along really well the last two years. He's added a ton of value to what he brings to our staff. I would say the people who are probably most excited about it is the players. His ability to build relationships with our players through the locker room is exceptional. He obviously did an excellent job just in the goaltending, and I think that's what everybody maybe sees, but there is a lot more to Ryan than just coaching the goaltenders. We all saw what Magnus Chrona was the last two years. Magus was a very good prospect his first two years—he had an exceptional freshman year—but I think Ryan really helped elevate him. Magnus has gone into San Jose's camp and hit the ground running and played very well in the rookie tournament and will get an opportunity to play in the American Hockey League this year, which I am not sure San Jose would have been saying that two years ago. Ryan's coaching pedigree is that, it is excellent. What he has done to Matty Davis, getting him moved along very well his first two years, but then again it's his relationships with the players. I think he brings a different type of light into the locker room. His ability to joke and talk about different topics and really just put them at ease and make them comfortable and make them better. He presents a lot on how to score on opposing teams' goalies, and I don't think there's any secret. We've been one of the top five offenses in the country the last two years. I think Ryan's been a big part of that in what he adds to pre-scouts and making our players feel confident on the ice when the puck is on their stick. I think he's just scratching the surface the coach he can be."
 
Goaltender Matt Davis has had a lot of success the last two years as a backup behind Magnus Chrona, what makes him ready to take the next step as a starter?
 
"I think it's been his growth and maturity. He grew up a lot from freshman to the sophomore year, and I think there were certainly moments as a sophomore. I can't say as a freshman that we felt super compelled to put him in the net, but he proved his work through his consistency in practice. We were comfortable with either goaltender in net a year ago. One of the biggest blessings in disguise was Magnus getting hurt at the end of the year and really giving Matty that opportunity to start four, five games in a row. We felt super confident in Matty's ability to close the door and to try and help us win a hockey game. I think his teammates all saw that, we all saw that, but most importantly, he saw that. He's had a really good summer. Comes in very confident. He has had a really nice camp so far, and looks as ready as he's ever been to play some games for us and make a meaningful impact on the program."
 
How have some of your returning players established a culture and continue to move it forward for the newcomers?
 
"It's funny how quickly the turnover happens in today's world of college hockey and college athletics. We only have eight players from the team that was hoisting the trophy back in April of 2022. It's crazy to think that 16 months later there is only eight guys still in the room that were a part. They got to witness what it takes to win. It goes quickly too. They were on a team, many of them, and now there's a mantle of carrying the tradition forward and making sure that it gets past to that next generation. They are all ready for it. They know right from wrong; they know how we do things within our program, and for that we are really excited for. That is one of the joys of coaching is getting to see these guys come into the program and really take on bigger and more advanced roles as they mature up into leadership roles and into their later years of being a Pioneer"
 
What stands out about your season-opening opponent in Alaska Fairbanks?
 
"The coaching staff, particularly head coach Eric Largen. He deserves to be up for coach of the year for sure last season, and unfortunately wasn't just due to them being independent and not making the NCAA Tournament. No one has done a better job in the last 24 months than him just based solely on the fact that the challenges they have in front of them. Not only budgetarily, being independent, they didn't play through COVID, and they dealt with the transfer portal more than anyone else and that's been a challenge for them. They just seem to continue to find really hungry individuals who want an opportunity, and Eric does a nice job coaching to that identity. They are always hard to play against, they are always well-prepared. They are usually big and physical, and so it makes them a really tough team to play against. It is a great team for us to play to try and prepare for team's like them in the National Tournament but also teams in our league between Western Michigan and Omaha, some of these bigger teams. Then you get in the national tournament you have to play UMass Lowell and Cornell. You want to be playing teams of different styles and Fairbanks provides that. Great part about them is that they have been excellent the last few years, and they play everybody. It is an independent, so from a pairwise computer rankings perspective, you get exposure to them playing against everybody in the country, and so after we play them we become their biggest fans, and hope that they go beat up on the quality schedule they put together. It's a great team to play because of the storylines, but it also makes us better and prepares us in the proper manner."
 

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