DENVER – The No. 1-ranked Denver Pioneers hockey team begins its home schedule this weekend as the No. 19 Northeastern Huskies visit Magness Arena.
 
It is Homecoming Weekend at DU, with Friday's game beginning at 7 p.m. MT and Saturday's start time at 6 p.m. MT. Both games will be available on NCHC.tv and Saturday's contest will also be televised regionally on Altitude Sports.
 
The Pioneers will be raising their NCAA-record 10th national championship banner to the rafters of Magness Arena prior to Saturday night's series finale.
 
Denver is coming off a bye after playing on the first weekend of the college hockey weekend on Oct. 5-6 at Alaska Anchorage. DU swept the series against its former WCHA foe, winning 6-2 and 4-1 to stretch its winning streak to 11 games dating back to the regular-season finale a year ago.
 
The Pioneers scored five power-play goals in the series, including four times with the man advantage in the season opener. Senior forward Jack Devine totaled six assists, sophomore defenseman Zeev Buium registered four assists and senior goaltender Matt Davis made 34-of-37 total saves in the two games.
 
Northeastern opened its regular season on Saturday night with a 5-1 win at home against Stonehill College.  Jack Williams led the team with three points on two goals and one assist, while Vinny Borgesi (1g/1a) and Christophe Tellier (1g/1a) also had multi-point outings.  Ryan McGuire also scored for the Huskies while goaltender Cameron Whitehead stopped 17-of-18 shots.  The Huskies won 4-2 at Quinnipiac in an exhibition on Oct. 6.
 
NU finished 2023-24 with a 17-16-3 overall record but did win the Boston Beanpot trophy with victories against cross-town foes Harvard and Boston University of Feb. 5-12 at TD Garden.
 
DU and Northeastern will be meeting for the first time in nearly 20 years, as they last faced off on Jan. 2, 2005 when the Pios won 4-0 at Magness Arena to take the Denver Cup. The Pios own a 15-5-0 all-time record against the Huskies and have won each of the last seven matchups dating back to 1994.
 
Northeastern will be making a trip out "west" for the second-straight season after playing in the Holiday Face-Off last year in Milwaukee, Wis., on Dec. 28-29, 2023 against Minnesota Duluth and Wisconsin (went 1-1).  Prior to that, the Huskies last traveled to this side of the country on Oct. 25-26, 2019 at St. Cloud State. 
 
The Pioneers have a 52-18-5 all-time record in home openers and are 14-1-2 in the last 17 opening nights at Magness Arena.  DU is 5-0-1 in its last six home openers, tying Augustana 5-5 last season.
 
The last time Denver raised a championship banner was for its ninth title on Oct. 22, 2022 prior to a game against Providence. The Pioneers went on to win that contest 3-2 in overtime with Devine tallying the game-winner.
 
This weekend is the start of a season-long four-game homestand for DU, as the program will welcome former WCHA-rival Wisconsin to Magness Arena on Oct. 25-25.
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Pioneers had a balanced-offensive performance to begin the 2024-25 campaign with a 6-2 and 4-1 victories at the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves on Oct. 5-6 at Avis Alaska Sports Complex. Seven different Denver players scored and 14 skaters recorded at least a point in the season-opening sweep of its former WCHA foe.
 
Senior Jack Devine led DU with six assists in the two games, including setting a career high with four helpers in 6-2 win in the opener. Sophomore defenseman Zeev Buium had three assists in the season opener and added another in the Sunday game.  Junior Aidan Thompson combined for three goals on the weekend while Sam Harris tallied twice in Saturday's game.
 
PIOS POWER UP: Denver went 5-for-13 on the power play in the two games at Alaska Anchorage, converting on 38.5 percent of its chances.  The Pioneers were 4-for-9 with the man advantage in the season opener, with their four power-play goals scored being the squad's most in a game in more than two years as they last accomplished the feat on Dec. 4, 2021 at Arizona State (4-of-6).
 
Five of Jack Devine's six assists over the weekend came while DU was a man-up on the ice, while all four of Zeev Buium's assists were the result of power-play goals by the Pios.
 
CARLE QUICK TO 150 WINS: Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle won his 150th career game on Sunday, Oct. 6 in his hometown against the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves.  He ranks fourth in program history in wins behind Murray Armstrong (460), George Gwozdecky (443) and Ralph Backstrom (182).
 
Carle reached the 150-win mark in 228 career games (seventh season), the second-fastest among DU coaches with only Armstrong doing it faster in 216 games (seventh season). Gwozdecky reached the mark in his 287th game and Backstrom hit the milestone in his 300th contest, with both coming in their eighth season.
 
The Anchorage, Alaska, native owns a .693 career winning percentage, the highest mark by any coach in program history.
 
WEEKEND OF FIRSTS: Denver freshmen Hagen Burrows, Jake Fisher, Tory Pitner and James Reeder made their collegiate debuts on Saturday, Oct. 5 at Alaska Anchorage, with transfer players Eric Pohlkamp (Bemidji State) and Samu Salminen (UConn) playing in their first contests with the Pioneers in that outing as well.
 
Fisher tallied his first career goal in his debut while Reeder and Salminen tallied in the series finale on Oct. 6.  Pohlkamp picked up his first point as a Pioneer with an assist in the Sunday contest.
 
STREAKING: The Pioneers have won 11 consecutive games dating back to last season on March 9 against Colorado College. It is tied for the third-longest win streak across multiple seasons in program history with Feb. 21-Nov. 29, 1969.  Only a pair of 19-game runs from Feb. 13-Dec. 13, 1960 and Jan. 13-Dec. 2, 1961 are longer.
 
Overall, DU's current 11-game winning streak is the longest since a 13-game streak from Jan. 21-March 11, 2017.  Denver went 9-1-0 in its last 10 games of 2023-24 and is 17-2-1 in the 20 contests since the start of February 2024.
 
The Pios have also won 11 consecutive non-conference games since Nov. 11, 2023 at Arizona State and is 6-0-1 in non-NCHC contests at home dating back to Jan. 7, 2023.
 
MORE NOTABLES

• Denver improved to 50-16-7 all-time against UAA and now sports a 23-8-5 record in Anchorage. The Pios are 10-1-2 in the last 13 meetings and own a 34-7-3 record in the series since the start of the 1999-00 campaign.
• The Pioneers were playing their first games against former WCHA-foe Alaska Anchorage since Oct. 19, 2013 in the Alaska Goal Rush Tournament in Fairbanks and were playing their first games in Anchorage since Jan. 27-28, 2013.
• David Carle was coaching in his hometown of Anchorage for the first time, and it was just the second instance of him guiding the bench in Alaska (Oct. 5-6, 2019 at Alaska Fairbanks).
• Matt Davis had a shutout streak of 136:52 come to an end on Oct. 5 that dated back to the NCAA Frozen Four on April 11. The stretch was the longest of his career (previous: 127:19, March 9-16, 2024). It was the 12th-longest shutout stretch in program history and the longest to stretch across multiple seasons.
• Davis finished with 10 saves on 12 shots faced from UAA on Oct. 5, tied for the eighth-fewest in a game in school history by a starting netminder that completed the entire contest. Peter Mannino (10 saves) was the last goalie to save 10 or fewer shots in the entire game on Oct. 27, 2007 vs. Minnesota Duluth (3-0 loss).
• Jack Devine registered a career-high four assists on Oct. 5 to surpass his previous best of three helpers in a game (2x, last: Jan. 19, 2024 at Omaha).  He was the first Pioneer to have a four-assist game since Massimo Rizzo on Jan. 20, 2024 at Omaha and first to have four points since Tristan Broz (1g/3a) on Feb. 24, 2024 against Miami.
• Zeev Buium recorded three assists on Oct. 5, marking the fourth time in his career that he has registered three or more helpers in a game.
• Aidan Thompson scored twice on Oct. 5 for his second career multi-goal game (previous: Feb. 16, 2024 at Minnesota Duluth), and Sam Harris had two goals for his fourth career multi-goal contest (last: March 9, 2024 vs. Colorado College).
• Carter King went 17-for-20 on faceoffs on Oct. 5 to match the most in a game in his career (Nov. 24 vs. Yale).
• Sophomore Garrett Brown made his season debut on Oct. 6 after being limited to only eight games last year due to a season-ending lower-body injury in November.
• James Reeder scored his first career goal, doing so on his 19th birthday.
• The Oct. 5 start date is the second earliest to begin a regular season in the last 25 years (Oct. 3, 2003 vs. Ohio State).

IN OPENERS: Denver has a 52-18-5 all-time record in home openers and is 19-4-2 all-time in opening nights at Magness Arena, which includes going 13-2-2 in the last 17. The Pioneers are 5-0-2 in their last seven home openers after tying Augustana 5-5 last year on Oct. 27, 2023.
 
The Pioneers improved to 44-25-7 all-time in season openers and won their fourth such game in a row with a 6-2 victory at Alaska Anchorage on Oct. 5. It was the second straight season that DU began on the road after starting 2023-24 in Fairbanks, Alaska, against the Nanooks.  The last time Denver began a campaign on the road in consecutive seasons was when it did it three years in a row: 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20.
 
DEVINE CLIMBING THE LEADERBOARD: Senior forward Jack Devine ranks tied for 70th all-time in program history with Kevin Ulanski (2001-2005) with 112 points (44g/68a) in 120 career games. He is two points away from a three-way tie for 67th and three points from a two-way tie for 65th.
 
Devine recorded his 100th career point in his 109th contest on March 8, 2024 at Colorado College, becoming the 103rd Pioneer to reach the century mark.
 
The Glencoe, Illinois, native led the team and ranked fourth in the nation with 27 goals in 2023-24.  It was the most tallies by a Pioneer since Ryan Dingle also had 27 in 2005-06.
 
PRO PIOS ON NHL OPENING NIGHT: Denver had 11 former players last week make NHL Opening Day rosters for the 2024-25 season, the third-most in the conference and tied for ninth in the entire NCAA. Only North Dakota (13) and Minnesota Duluth (12) had more players on NHL teams than the Pioneers among NCHC programs.
 
The DU alums that began this year on NHL squads are Bobby Brink (Philadelphia Flyers), Dylan Gambrell (Columbus Blue Jackets), Danton Heinen (Vancouver Canucks), Scott Mayfield (New York Islanders), Ian Mitchell (Boston Bruins), Trevor Moore (Los Angeles Kings), Logan O'Connor (Colorado Avalanche), Troy Terry (Anaheim Ducks) and Jason Zucker (Buffalo Sabres). In addition, Shai Buium (Detroit Red Wings) and Cameron Wright (Edmonton Oilers) were on their respective teams' injured reserve/non-roster list.
 
The Pioneers had 11 alums play in an NHL game in 2023-24: Brink (Philadelphia), Heinen (Boston), Mayfield (NY Islanders), Mitchell (Boston), Moore (Los Angeles), O'Connor (Colorado), Terry (Anaheim), Zucker (Arizona/Nashville), Magnus Chrona (San Jose), Devin Cooley (San Jose), Cole Guttman (Chicago) and Dakota Mermis (Minnesota).
 
HISTORY VS. NORTHEASTERN: The Pioneers and Huskies are set to face off for the first time in nearly 20 years as the schools last played each other on Jan. 2, 2005 during the Denver Cup at Magness Arena.  Denver won that tournament final 4-0.  DU owns a 15-5 all-time record against NU, which includes wins in each of the last seven meetings since Nov. 25, 1994.  The Pioneers and Huskies met six times in a four-year span from 2001-2005, including twice in 2004-05 as DU won 4-2 in Boston earlier in the campaign.  The squads faced off in Anchorage, Alaska, on Oct. 13, 2001 in the Nye Frontier Classic that had the Pioneers win 3-0.  DU is 8-2 all-time in games at home against NU, which includes a 3-0 mark at Magness Arena.  Denver's last loss to Northeastern was Dec. 8, 1990, in finale of a series in Boston that the teams' split.  The Pioneers won the first six meetings of the all-time series that began on Feb. 16-17, 1974 at the old DU Arena.
 
PREVIOUS MEETING (Jan. 2, 2005): Tournament MVP Paul Stastny scored one goal and added two assists to lead the Denver Pioneers to a 4-0 win over Northeastern as the seventh-ranked Pioneers captured their fifth consecutive Wells Fargo Denver Cup championship tonight before 5,960 fans at Magness Arena. Goaltender Peter Mannino made 37 saves for his first career shutout and Matt Carle, Gabe Gauthier and Ryan Dingle added goals to help Denver improve its unbeaten streak to nine games.  Carle staked Denver to a 1-0 lead after the first period with his eighth goal of the season. The Pioneers took command of the game with a three-goal second period; Stastny scored unassisted at 4:53, Gauthier scored on the power play at 9:26 and Dingle gave Denver a 4-0 lead at 18:51. Mannino sparkled in net with 37 saves for the Pioneers. The freshman turned away 10 shots in the first period, 14 in the second and 13 in the third for his first career shutout. Mannino earned all-tournament honors and improved his record to 7-2 on the season.
 
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES: Northeastern will be making a trip out "west" for the second-straight season after playing in the Holiday Face-Off last year in Milwaukee, Wis., on Dec. 28-29, 2023 vs. Minnesota Duluth and Wisconsin (went 1-1).  Prior to that, the Huskies last traveled to this side of the country on Oct. 25-26, 2019 at St. Cloud State.  Northeastern opened its 2024-25 campaign on Saturday night with a 5-1 win at home against Stonehill College.  Jack Williams led the team with three points on two goals and one assist, while Vinny Borgesi (1g/1a) and Christophe Tellier (1g/1a) also had multi-point outings.  Ryan McGuire also scored for the Huskies while goaltender Cameron Whitehead stopped 17-of-18 shots.  NU is returning top scorer Justin Hryckowian from a year ago (13g/30a), while Williams ranked second on the team last season with 17 goals and was third in points with 36.  Whitehead started 35-of-36 games last year in net and posted a 17-14-3 record, 2.62 goals-against average, .917 save percentage and four shutouts.
 
CONNECTIONS: Denver Athletics Director Josh Berlo did his undergraduate in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (UMass '99) … Aidan Thompson played prep school at Berkshire School in Sheffield, Mass. … DU Sports Performance Director Matt Shaw spent five years working in athletic departments in the Boston area (four with Boston University, one with Harvard) and earned his college degrees at BU ('10, '11) … Thompson played with NU's Cameron Whiteland with the USHL Lincoln Stars in 2021-22 and Whitehead was a teammate with Boston Buckberger with the franchise in 2022-23 … Kieran Cebrian was a teammate of Seth Constance (2022-23) and Vinny Borgesi (2020-2022) with USHL Tri-City while Cale Ashcroft as played with Constance in Tri-City in 2022-23 … Garrett Brown was a teammate of Griffin Erdman at the end of 2022-23 at USHL Waterloo while Paxton Geisel began the 2023-24 season in Muskegon with the Huskies' Joe Connor … Cam Lund played with the USHL Green Bay Gamblers with DU's Kent Anderson in 2021-22 … Eric Pohlkamp was teammates with Andy Moore (2021-2023) and Dylan Hryckowian at USHL Cedar Rapids (2022-23) … Joaquim Lemay played two seasons with the NCHC's Omaha Mavericks from 2022-2024 and was a teammate with Aidan Thompson with the Lincoln Stars in 2021-22.
 
NON-CONFERENCE PLAY: The Pioneers will play 12 non-conference games this season, which began with a two-game set in Anchorage, Alaska, against the UAA Seawolves on Oct. 5-6.  Denver will also make two trips to the northeast during the year, going to Connecticut to play Yale on Nov. 1-2 and then traveling to play Maine to begin the New Year on Jan. 3-4.  The Pios' games to Orono against the Black Bears will be their first since Oct. 14-15, 2005.
 
Denver hosts Hockey East's Northeastern in its first home games of the year as part of Homecoming Weekend on Oct. 18-19, with the Pioneers raising their championship banner in the Saturday series finale. DU then takes on the Big Ten's and former WCHA-foe Wisconsin the following weekend on Oct. 25-26 and concludes its home non-NCHC schedule on Nov. 8-9 as Lindenwood visits Magness Arena as part of the Pioneers' 75th Anniversary reunion weekend.
 
Denver went 13-2-1 against non-conference opponents a season ago, which included wins in each of the final nine such contests, with four being in the NCAA Tournament.
 
PIONEERS IN THE POLLS: Denver ranks on top of both the USCHO.com and USA Hockey/The Rink Live polls after entering the year as the preseason No. 1 team.  The Pioneers received 47-of-50 first place votes in the USCHO.com ranking and 33-of-34 in the other poll.
 
The NCHC has six teams ranked, tied with Hockey East for the most among all conferences. The league's five squads in the top 15 are the most in the nation, as North Dakota is at No. 5/5, Colorado College is at No. 11/11, Omaha is at No. 12/12 and St. Cloud State is at No. 13/13. Western Michigan is at No. 17/16, while Arizona State and Minnesota Duluth were both previously ranked and are received votes in each poll.
 
CELEBRATING 75 YEARS OF THE PIONEERS: Denver will commemorate 75 years of Pioneer hockey throughout 2024-25 to recognize its diamond jubilee as a program.  DU will host a 75th anniversary reunion the weekend of Nov. 8-9 when Lindenwood visits Magness Arena.  Among the activities set for that weekend is honoring all of the hockey alums in attendance on the ice during an intermission, with each of the team's NCAA-record 10 championship trophies set to make an appearance as well.
 
The 2024-25 season is actually the 76th in DU hockey history, but the team's 75th anniversary of its first game is in early December.  The Pioneers' first ever contests were at home on Dec. 19-20, 1949 against Saskatchewan, with the squad losing 17-0 and 9-1 in the series.  Denver's first win was Jan. 27, 1950 at Wyoming, and the program's first home victory came against that same Wyoming squad on Feb. 18, 1950 (10-6) at the old DU Arena.
 
WINNING TIME: The Pioneers' 2025 senior class is on pace to be the winningest group in school history as they already own 95 wins (and two national championships) in the last three-plus seasons.  Last year's senior class of 2024 finished with the fourth-most wins in the program annals with 103 victories and a .708 winning percentage (103-41-5).  Only the classes of 2005 (112 wins), 2019 (105) and 2018 (105) had more victories than last season's seniors.
 

TICKETS: Limited tickets for Denver hockey's 75th anniversary in 2024-25 are available. Click here to purchase and for more information.