The University of Denver hockey program reached the summit as the kings of college hockey by winning its NCAA-record 10th national championship a season ago.
 
It was a meaningful accomplishment that will stay with the players and school forever, but the Pioneers are ready to turn the page from last year's success and begin another journey up to the mountain top. Denver is returning 18 players from its 2024 championship squad and added seven newcomers—five of them freshmen—that have never won a title.
 
The Pios are in one of their most successful eras in program history, as they have won 30 or more games in each of the last three seasons for the first time ever, won two national championships, two Penrose Cups as NCHC regular season champions and the NCHC Frozen Faceoff tournament. DU now aims to add back-to-back NCAA titles for the first time since 2004 and 2005 and win three in a four-year span since its first three championships in 1958, 1960 and 1961.
 
Denver Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle has been leading the team's success since being hired to the role in 2018 and enters his seventh season at the helm of the program. At 34 years old, he is the youngest coach in NCAA history to win two national championships and is one of just three active bench bosses to own multiple title rings, joining Minnesota Duluth's Scott Sandelin and Notre Dame Jeff Jackson (achieved with Lake Superior State).
 
Carle recently chatted with Pioneers TV broadcaster Tyler Maun on the Denver Coaches Radio Show on DU's championship celebration in 2023-24 and what is expected from the squad in 2024-25.
 
How has the early practices gone for the team?
 
"it's been a good camp. We're at the stage where guys want to play games and go against someone other than themselves. But the intensity has been good, it's been a challenging camp, and we like what we have so far."
 
What has the offseason been like to turn the page from last year's success and focus on 2024-25?
 
"I think the players have done a really nice job. We've talked a lot about how the diversity of experience that we have on the team—you've got guys that have been around in the program for a long time. Four guys that've won twice, and they were obviously a part of trying to go back to back (in 2022-23) and we weren't able to get it done. We've got our juniors, who won but they were freshman on a team that was trying to go back-to-back. Our sophomores only know winning and our freshman are coming into a situation that our juniors came into, so there's a lot of experience and perspective around how trying to do it; two years ago, what went well and what didn't go well, and I think the guys have been really focused on trying to turn the page and make sure the tone is set the proper way through camp and through the off-ice activities that they are doing in our camp. I think it's been really good, so we're really excited about it.
 
"I think the things that will remain the same is we want to make sure we're feeling the highs and but also feeling the lows and making sure that we don't just think that we're going to get there just because we won a year ago. But we also have to—this is a new team, we have to create a new identity. They have to feel winning big games or winning big trophies, maybe not as big as the one we won at the end of the year, but they need to feel that success through the year. So they have to feel the highs, they have to feel the lows, and I think again in our camp, the focus has been really good. The intensity has been high, we've challenged them—it's going to be a harder camp than years past. We're just trying to set the tone and help them kind of go through hard things together and forge this rendition of Pioneer Hockey, which we're celebrating 75 years and trying to build a championship, build a championship team again to go back-to-back. Winning three in four years hasn't been done since the 60's for our program. So there's a lot that the group wants to accomplish and that level of focus and detail has been there since day 1 of camp, and we're really looking forward to the season beginning."
 
How much does it help the staff to have so many returning players on the team trying to establish the winning culture as well and it's not just what the coaches are saying?
 
"I think that's been encouraging as we meet with every player to start the year and ask them questions and give them an outlook on expectations. We want to hear their thoughts more so than us giving them ours, and I think they're speaking a lot in the right ways and talking about turning the page and making sure the freshmen feel a part of it and making sure they're not talking too much about what occurred last year because if you take even three or four people out of a team and add three or four new people in, it is going to change the dynamics and so certainly were facing seven, eight new people in the locker room. A lot of key contributors from a year ago have exited and the challenge for this group is to come together as its own identity and create its own bonds and try to make sure that we're doing everything we can week-to-week, month-to-month to be improving, to give ourselves a chance at the end of the season."
 
What are some of the things you do differently to challenge the team year-to-year in training camp, specifically this season compared to last?
 
"Probably the intensity of it. Making sure that we are physically and mentally prepared. I think going through physical challenge can bring a team closer together and going through things of adversity. You try and replicate some adversity in camp for them so that once the games hit and that begins to occur, they've got some level of experience to fall back on. We've really tried to build experiences for them to spend time with one another so that they're getting to know each other and getting out of their comfort zone as well. The better they get to know each other, the more they believe in and trust one another and the better they are going to perform on the ice. So, to have a three-and-a-half, four-week time period to be able to really get after it and grind through that, I think that we need to take full advantage of it, and I think that the guys are."
 
What is it like as a head coach to see some of the players that you've gotten to know over the years leave and turn pro?
 
"I think any time you spend that much time with people and you have a great experience in winning, certainly you miss them, but we're so excited for them and a big part of why we're here is to help them develop as people and as hockey players on and off the ice so that they can achieve their dreams and goals. We know that we're not the end-all, be-all for some people that come into our program—their ultimate dream is to play in the NHL and try and win a Stanley Cup. We feel like we are a big part of that process and development into that, and we feel one of the best ways to do that is to come be a part of something bigger than yourself; learn how to do it in this environment. NHL teams, they want winners. They want people that know how to win, what it takes to win, what type of sacrifice it takes and to send guys on with rings and hanging banners, which is the ultimate badge of honor for them, it's a service that we can try and do for them as well. That is what we are so excited for. Those guys, they all left with that experience, the new guys are coming in and to see the older guys want that for the younger guys and hear them say that is exciting. Certainly, we want to win for their experience. We want to win for the people that came before us and to honor our great fans. We are a big part of their development process as they try and achieve their dreams at the next level."
 
Was there a moment or moments during the national championship celebration that is going to stick with you forever?
 
"For me personally, it was really cool that my son could be there this time. William was not even a year old when we won in Boston in '22, so he was just about to turn three so he could actually come on the ice this last time. We were out of the COVID restrictions that we had in Boston, nobody could come on the ice, so it was cool to see the families of our staff and some of our players be able to get out on the ice, and I'll certainly remember that.
 
"I think we did a great job of getting the families together at the hotel—our administration did a great job—we had a room so that everyone could enjoy each other's company. You work so hard to get to that moment and things fracture and segment pretty quickly. So you have that moment on the bench, you have that moment on the ice, in the locker room, and then things start to fragment and that's a cool thing to see because people are moving on to bigger and better things. But I thought we did a great job of being able to keep everyone together and really enjoy the moment for as long as we could at the rink and then back at the hotel.
 
"Those are the things that you remember. You just see all the joy on the kids' faces and their families' faces; how proud parents are of their children and to see their dreams come true. They come to Denver to play in big games and big moments and to try and win championships, so to see them achieve those dreams is really a fun thing and to see the alumni that are around—whether they won or didn't win it, doesn't matter—everybody has contributed to this program of getting to the level it is. To see the pride of the alums, nobody cares if they were on a championship-winning team or not, they're just excited that the program has won a 10th championship. So, those are the things that I'll remember. As a historical moment, not only for our program but for all of college hockey, being the first to 10 (championships) was just an incredible moment for all of us."
 
What is key for the team in the final practices before the season starts?
 
"I think you're continuing to try and make camp challenging, but we're certainly trying to implement systems and how we want to be doing things so that we can be organized and on the same page once the games do start. But there is a level that you just can't replicate in practice when the games do come, so we're looking forward to that moment. It's a lot easier to teach through game reps and all of that, so we're looking forward to getting up to Anchorage."
 
For the new players, what is the biggest challenge during the first few weeks of practice, especially the freshmen making the jump to being a D-I student-athlete?
 
"The biggest thing is probably time management because many of them are coming from junior hockey where they may have already finished their high school diploma, so they might have had a year off. So getting back into the swing of things with hockey and school at the same time. So you're balancing social, academic and athletic all in one, and in a new environment. Certainly the standards here and the expectations kind of speak for themselves, so there can be some pressure as it relates around that, and it's just trying to get them to take it one day at a time, ask questions, learn, and be as organized as they can be.
 
"We have our incoming freshmen spend six weeks here in the summer time. They do a couple classes, they lift and train with strength and training coach Matt Shaw, they get on the ice a little bit through optional skates with guys that are around or that are pro alumni. So it is nice that they can hit the ground running here a little bit, but still when you start day 1 of camp you start day 1 of classes because the NCAA rules, there's a lot going on and a lot coming at them early. So just trying to keep their head above water, keep them organized, make sure they are eating, sleeping and handling those things. There will come a day when things will slow down for them, but all-in-all they are doing a nice job. They are really good players, the players we brought in, and we're looking forward to working with them and we need them and expect them to be key contributors to our team this year. "
 
How excited are you to see the growth of some of the returning players from last season?
 
"I think there are a lot of really good players coming back that are hungry, and they want to add more to their legacy as Pioneers. Zeev Buium is one of them and he's a known commodity now—he's not going to sneak up on anyone. So that will be his challenge. The bullseye will be square on him and people are going to game plan around him. I thought last year when Carter King and Massimo Rizzo got a little banged up, we had a lot of people step up, guys like Rieger Lorenz, Jared Wright, Sam Harris, Aidan Thompson, Jack Devine. Some of those guys really stepped up and elevated into bigger roles for us. I think that gives us a lot of confidence (going into this year). Not that dissimilar to what happened at the end of the 2023 when Magnus Chrona got hurt and Matt Davis started five-six games at the end of that year. That kind of gave him a little bit of a dress rehearsal of what the future might look like, and we know how it ended a year ago for him. I think it was great that some of those guys were able to step up into bigger roles last year because of injuries, and now they're ready and hungry to take on a bigger role. Whether it be leadership or on-ice, I think they're really looking forward to trying to win again and be an even bigger part of a championship team."
 
What are some of the things that you're most excited about with the team that you want to showcase to the fans this season?
 
"Again it will be our speed. I think we're very fast again. The balance of our lineup is always our hope that you won't see much of a drop off from our puck-pressure game, lines 1-4, D-pairs 1-3. We want to be a team that is hard to play against and is dictating. That's an exciting brand of hockey. Certainly we're fortunate and grateful to have the great fan base that we have—we've only seen that grow with the three championships and the five Frozen Fours in the last eight years. It's a harder ticket to get, which is a great thing and a credit to our players and the guys that came before them. Again, we're really appreciative of our fans, who spend their hard-earned money in a city where there is a lot of things pulling at your dollars. So we'll be a hardworking, honest brand of hockey that will be very entertaining to watch. We look forward to seeing everyone at Magness Arena this year."
 
 
Kayin Afonja and Ron Knabenbauer contributed to this story.
 

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