DENVER – The No. 4 University of Denver hockey team kicks off the 2024-25 Gold Pan series against the No. 10-ranked Colorado College Tigers with a home-and-home series this weekend in one of the most-played rivalries in college hockey.  
 
Both contests of the in-state showdown start at 7 p.m. MT, and each will be available to stream on NCHC.tv. The opening game on Friday at Ed Robson Arena in Colorado Springs will be televised locally on CW2 (KWGN-TV) and nationally in Canada on TSN 2. Saturday in Denver will be broadcast regionally on Altitude 2. Limited tickets for Saturdays' outing at Magness Arena are available.
 
After the weekly college hockey rankings were released on Monday, Colorado College came in at No. 10 in the polls while Denver dropped two spots to No. 4. The Pios are getting set to play their third top 10-matchup of the season and their second in as many weeks; they are 3-1-0 in such games in 2024-25.
 
The Pioneers' (13-3-0, 3-3-0 NCHC) season record ran perfectly until losing both games to Arizona State at home on Nov. 22-23. DU spent last weekend in Kalamazoo, Michigan, against the No. 7 Western Michigan Broncos and split the series. Friday night resulted in a 3-2 loss for the Pioneers, but they captured a 3-2 overtime win on Saturday as captain Carter King scored the game-winning goal at 2:11 in the extra stanza. 
 
The Tigers (9-4-1, 3-2-1 NCHC) faced non-conference opponent Providence this past weekend, recording two losses of 4-3 and 5-1 against the then-No. 10-ranked squad in the country. The last time CC won in regulation was more than a month ago on Nov. 9 against ASU, and six out of their 14 games this season have needed overtime. 
 
The state of Colorado rivalry's all-time record has DU leading at 197-123-21, with the Pios sporting an 8-2 record in the past 10 matchups. Last season's contests went 3-1 in favor of Denver—the only loss was by a 4-3 score in Colorado Springs on March 8. The Pioneers had won 13 consecutive regular-season meetings against the Tigers before that defeat. 
 
DU has been able to take the Gold Pan for the last five seasons and has won it 18 times overall since the trophy's inception in 1993-94. As reigning champions of the Gold Pan, the Pioneers only need a series split to win it again, while CC needs to win the four-game regular-season series outright to take the trophy home. 
 
This series is DU's last two contests before a two-week break for the holidays. The team returns for the UNLV exhibition game on Dec. 30 at 6 p.m. MT.  Saturday's game also marks the Pioneers' only home regular-season contest in a six-week span, as they'll next play at home on Jan. 10-11 versus Miami. Denver is wrapping up a season-long three-game road swing on Friday at CC and is in a stretch where the team is playing five-of-six regular-season outings away from home.
 
Saturday's theme night at Magness Arena is "Gold Out for the Gold Pan," where fans attending are encouraged to wear gold to the game. Fans can also pick up an LED rally towel at the Huntington Bank kiosk on the main concourse.
 
This weekend marks the 342nd and 343rd time that the two Colorado teams will face each other and will tie the Michigan-Michigan State series for the most-played rivalry in college hockey on Saturday night.
 
 
LAST TIME OUT: The No. 2 Pioneers recorded a weekend split at the No. 7 Broncos in a top-10 series, falling 3-2 on Friday before posting a 3-2 overtime win on Saturday.
 
Denver nearly erased a three-goal deficit on Friday as freshmen Jake Fisher and James Reeder tallied in the third period. The Pios came back from being down 1-0 and 2-1 on Saturday, as Samu Salminen tied the outing with 1:06 remaining before Carter King netted the game-winner in overtime.
 
Zeev Buium combined for three points (1g/2a) in the two games and scored on Saturday.  Goaltender Matt Davis made 24 saves on Friday and stopped 19 shots on Saturday.
 
EXTRA GOOD IN EXTRA TIME: Denver played its first overtime contest of the season on Saturday and won 3-2 after Carter King tallied at 2:11 of the extra period.  It was the Pioneers' first OT game since defeating Boston University 2-1 on April 11 in the 2024 NCAA Frozen Four Semifinals at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.
 
DU has now won four straight overtime contests and is unbeaten in its last nine outings that have gone beyond regulation (7-0-2). The Pios went 6-1-3 overall in OT games in 2023-24, including picking up an extra-time victory at Western Michigan on Dec. 9, 2024.
 
King's OT goal was the second of his career as he also netted the winner on Dec. 2, 2023 versus North Dakota. Overall, it was King's second game-winning goal of the season and seventh of his career.
 
NOTABLES:

• Samu Salminen registered his first career game-tying goal on Saturday.
• Matt Davis has started eight-straight games, the longest streak of the season for a DU goaltender.
• DU's streak of scoring a power-play goal came to an end at 11 straight games on Friday night. It was the longest such run by the program in the last 10 years (since 2015-16).
• Connor Caponi missed both games at Western Michigan with a lower-body injury (day-to-day). He had played in 62 straight contests dating back to the 2022-23 season and entered the weekend having dressed in 157-of-163 games in his career since joining as a freshman in 2020-21.
• Denver is now 10-3-1 in the last 14 games vs. Western Michigan and is 9-11-0 all-time at Lawson Arena.
• DU and WMU were playing their final game of the season as Western Michigan and Minnesota Duluth are the only two NCHC squads that won't visit Magness Arena in 2024-25.
• The team lost its 1000th game in program history on Friday—the 21st NCAA squad to reach that mark. It was just the team's second loss away from Magness Arena since Feb. 16, 2024 (17-2-0).
• Denver ended a three-game losing skid with Saturday's win. It was the longest losing streak by the Pioneers since dropping four straight early in the 2021-22 campaign (Oct. 22-Nov. 6, 2021).

STREAKING

• Jack Devine is on a seven-game assist/point streak (0g/9a), one shy of tying his career long.
• Zeev Buium is on a four-game assist/point streak (1g/5a), tying his season best.

PIOS POWER UP: Denver has tallied on the power play in 13-of-16 games this year and leads the country by converting on 32.3 percent of its opportunities.  The Pioneers scored at least one man-advantage goal in an 11-game stretch from Oct. 19-Nov. 23, the team's longest run in the last decade (since 2015-16).
 
DU has converted multiple times while a man-up in four contests this season, including going 4-for-9 in the season opener on Oct. 5 at Alaska Anchorage—the most power-play goals scored in a game by the squad since Dec. 4, 2021 at Arizona State (4-of-6).
 
Jack Devine is first on the team with 14 power-play points (0g/14a), while Aidan Thompson and Sam Harris are tied for the squad lead with five man-advantage goals.  Five of Devine's six assists in Alaska on Oct. 5-6 came while DU was a man-up on the ice, while all four of Zeev Buium's assists in that series came on power-play goals.
 
KILLER PENALTY KILL: Denver has killed off 91.1 percent of its penalties this season (41/45), including all three man-disadvantage opportunities in the two contests at Western Michigan last week.
 
Denver has not allowed a power-play goal against in 12-of-16 games this year and ranks third in the country on the penalty kill behind Boston College (100%) and St. Lawrence (91.1%).
 
The Pioneers had a stretch of 17 straight kills that began in the season opener on Oct. 5 at Alaska Anchorage and ended with Wisconsin tallying on its first power-play chance on Oct. 25 (four games)—the longest such streak since they were successful on 19 consecutive man disadvantages during the 2022 postseason from March 11 through April 7, 2022. 
 
Denver was successful in nullifying 89.7 percent of its penalties over the final 13 games in 2023-24, going 26-for-28 in a stretch that began on Feb. 24.  DU was perfect in nine of those games, including going 4-for-4 on the PK on three occasions and seven straight in the final five outings of the season en route to the 2024 championship.
 
DENVER HOLDS THE GOLD PAN: Denver retained the Gold Pan trophy over Colorado College for the fifth consecutive season and 18th time overall after going 3-1-0 in the 2023-24 regular season series, including sweeping the home-and-home set on Nov. 3-4, 2023.
 
In circulation since 1993-94, the Gold Pan is given to the team that wins the season series between the in-state rivals.  Since the Pioneers previously held the trophy, they only needed a series split to retain it while the Tigers had to win the four-game series outright.
 
HISTORY VS. CC: Friday's game between Denver and Colorado College is set to be the 342nd all-time meeting between the teams, as the rivalry is the second-most played series in college hockey history behind Michigan and Michigan State (343 games).  DU went 3-1-0 last season against CC, falling in Colorado Springs on March 8—the program's first defeat at Ed Robson Arena and ending its 13-game regular-season win streak versus their rival from down south.  The Pioneers have won the Gold Pan in each of the last five seasons and just need to split this year's four-game series to retain trophy for another year.  The Pioneers are 18-3-1 in the last 22 games versus the Tigers and have only officially lost seven games (non-shootout losses) in the all-time series since the start of the 2014-15 campaign.  Denver owns a 197-123-21 all-time record over Colorado College, which includes a 113-54-11 mark at home and a 77-65-10 record in road games.  In conference play, the Pios are 166-97-21 all-time against the Tigers.
 
PREVIOUS MEETING (MARCH 9, 2024): Jared Wright scored midway through the third period and the No. 4 University of Denver hockey team held off a late push by the No. 10 Colorado College Tigers to win 4-3 in the regular-season finale at Magness Arena.  The victory secured Denver the No. 2 seed in the 2024 NCHC Playoffs, as DU finished the regular season with a 24-9-3 overall record and a 15-7-2 mark and 45 points in NCHC play.  The team's win was in front of a crowd of 7,033 , a then-program record for the highest-attended game at Magness Arena.  Freshman Sam Harris had two goals for Denver while sophomores Rieger Lorenz and Wright both had a goal and an assist each.  Juniors Shai Buium and Jack Devine and freshman Kieran Cebrian all had a helper apiece.  Goaltender Matt Davis made 22 saves, as the Pioneers outshot the Tigers 38-25.  The teams were tied 1-1 after the first period and 3-3 at the end of the second frame before the Pioneers broke through with 8:16 remaining in the last stanza.
 
CONNECTIONS: Denver Director of Hockey Operations Travis Culhane spent two seasons in the same role for Colorado College (2019-2021) ... Tigers assistant coach Peter Mannino is a former DU goaltender that won the 2005 National Championship and took home the MVP award at that year's Frozen Four ... Garrett Brown and Philippe Blais-Savoie are both from San Jose, Calif. … Brown played with Gavin Lindberg with the USHL Waterloo Black Hawks at the end of the 2022-23 season … Ethan Straky played with Kent Anderson at the USHL Green Bay Gamblers in 2021-22 and was teammates for two seasons at the U.S. National Team Development Program with Jack Devine from 2019-2021 … Devine also played with goalie Kaiden Mbereko at the program from 2019-2021 … Mbereko and Stanley Cooley were teammates of Aidan Thompson with the USHL Lincoln Stars in 2021-22, while Thompson skated two seasons at Lincoln with CC's Noah Laba and Gleb Veremyev from 2020-2022 … Boston Buckberger was a teammate with Tyler Dunbar in Lincoln at the end of the 2022-23 campaign … Cooley played with Matt Davis on the AJHL's Spruce Grove Saints from 2018-2020 … DU's Kieran Cebrian (2020-2023) and Cale Ashcroft (2022-2023) were teammates with Drew Montgomery (2020-2023) and Philippe Blais-Savoie (2022-23) with the USHL Tri-City Storm … Paxton Geisel was teammates on the Dubuque Fighting Saints with Ryan Beck (2021-22), Max Burkholder (2021-2023), Fisher Scott (2022-23) and Riley Stuart (2021-2023) … Geisel played with Ryan Koering on USHL Muskegon Lumberjacks to start 2023-24 … CC has two players from Colorado on its roster in Kaiden Mbereko (Aspen) and Fisher Scott (Carbondale), while DU has three in Kieran Cebrian (Denver), Peter LaJoy (Evergreen) and Aidan Thompson (Fort Collins).
 
SCOUTING THE TIGERS: Colorado College is 9-4-1 on the season after dropping both games last weekend at No. 10 Providence in non-conference play.  The Tigers lost 4-3 on Friday and 5-1 on Saturday.  CC won its first eight games of the season, which included a sweep of Air Force on Nov. 1-2 to retain the Pikes Peak Trophy.  Since sweeping Arizona State to begin NCHC play on Nov. 8-9, Colorado College is 1-4-1 in its last six contests and has suffered three OT losses.  Overall, the Tigers have posted a 3-2-1 conference record and is 6-1-0 at home and 3-2-1 on the road this year.  Ty Gallagher paces CC in scoring with 11 points (3g/8a) while Klavs Veinbergs (5g/4a) and Gleb Veremyev (5g/3a) lead the squad with six goals and are fourth and fifth, respectively, in team scoring.  Max Burkholder is second with 10 points (4g/6a) while All-American Noah Laba is also in second place with 10 points and leads the Tigers with nine assists.  Fellow All-American Kaidan Mbereko has started 14 games this year in net and has a 9-4-1 record, 1.91 goals-against average, .928 save percentage and two shutouts.  Mbereko was the NCHC Goaltender of the Month for November and was also named the national co-goalie of the month.

DU VS. CC, WE'VE BEEN EVERYWHERE: Denver and Colorado College have faced off in 14 different venues in their history, with DU owning a winning record in 11 of them. The latest rink the teams played in came last season on Jan. 27, 2023 when the Pioneers won 2-0 at Ball Arena, which also marked the program's first-ever regular-season contest at the home of the NHL Colorado Avalanche.
 
The teams have played in five different rinks in the Denver area, including Coors Field in 2016 for the Battle on Blake and at McNichols Arena, the former home of the Avalanche (also at Magness Arena, DU Arena, Denver Coliseum).  DU and CC have squared off against one another in four arenas out of state, with three in Minnesota (Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul Civic Center and Target Center) and the other in Columbus, Ohio, at Nationwide Arena in April 2005 in the Frozen Four national semifinals (the Pioneers won en route to their second consecutive national title). 
 
The teams have also faced each other at the Air Force Academy's Cadet Ice Arena, Broadmoor Ice Palace, World Arena and Ed Robson Arena in the Colorado Springs area.
 
BUIUM ON 2025 WORLD JUNIOR PRELIMINARY ROSTER: Sophomore defenseman Zeev Buium is one of 28 players that have been named to the U.S. National Junior Team's preliminary roster for the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship.  Training camp is set for Dec. 16-17 in Plymouth, Michigan, before pre-tournament games in Ontario on Dec. 21-23.  Team USA's final 25-man roster is expected to be announced by Dec. 24.
 
Buium is set for his second World Juniors after helping the Americans to the gold medal against host Sweden last January.  He will be joined on Team USA by DU head coach David Carle, director of hockey operations/video coach Travis Culhane and equipment manager Nick Meldrum, who will all serve in the same roles for the second straight year.
 
The under-20 tournament is set for Dec. 26, 2024-Jan. 5, 2025 in Ottawa, Ontario.  USA is in Group A with host Canada, Finland, Germany and Latvia.
 
CARLE SET TO RUN IT BACK WITH TEAM USA: Denver's David Carle will return as the head coach of the U.S. National Junior Team for the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship after helping the Americans win their sixth gold medal in the last 20 years at the under-20 tournament in 2024.
 
USA Hockey made the announcement on April 23 for the next tournament in Ottawa, Ontario, and Carle will be joined by the same staff that accompanied him last year in Gothenburg, Sweden, including DU's Travis Culhane as the video coach, Nick Meldrum as equipment manager and former Pioneer assistants Steve Miller (Minnesota) and David Lassonde (USA Hockey).
 
The 2024 tournament marked the first time that Carle had coached a USA roster in his career.  Marshall Johnston at the 1977 tournament is the only other Denver coach to guide a U.S. World Junior squad.  Overall, Carle is the third NCHC head coach to lead the U.S. to gold at the WJC, joining former St. Cloud coach Bob Motzko (2017) and North Dakota and Omaha coach Dean Blais (2010 w/Omaha).
 
THOMPSON MAKING HIS POINT AS NCHC PLAYER OF THE MONTH: Junior Aidan Thompson was named the NCHC Player of the Month for November after leading all players in the conference with 11 points and tying for first with six goals.  In addition to his five assists, he scored three times on the power play, had four penalty minutes and registered +2 plus/minus rating in eight games.
 
Thompson began the season by registering a point in each of the first 14 games, a career-long point streak that ended on Friday at Western Michigan after he produced 10 goals and 12 assists.  The forward's run was the longest season-opening point streak by a Pioneer in the last 10 years (since 2015-16), surpassing the previous long of Henrik Borgstrom's 11-game run to begin the 2017-18 campaign.
 
His 14-game streak was also tied with Bobby Brink for the second-longest by a Pioneer in the last decade (Dec. 31, 2021-Feb. 19, 2022), with only Danton Heinen's run of 18 straight contests from Jan. 22-March 27, 2016 being longer.  Thompson also registered a personal-best seven-game assist streak from Oct. 18-Nov. 8. 
 
The Fort Collins, Colorado, native set a career high for assists/points in a game on Oct. 19 vs. Northeastern with four helpers—the second four-assist game of the year by a Pioneer as Devine also accomplished the feat in the season opener on Oct. 5 at Alaska Anchorage.  He ranks tied for third in the country in points (22) and tied for fourth with 10 goals, one away from matching his career high of 11 set last season.
 
SENIOR CLASS SUCCESS: The Pioneers' 2025 senior class is on pace to be the winningest group in school history and became the 16th class to win at least 100 games on Nov. 1 at Yale.  The seniors' current 106 total victories are the second-most in program history and includes three Gold Pan trophies, two Penrose Cups, an NCHC Frozen Faceoff title and two national championships.
 
The 2024 senior class is tied for fifth all-time with 103 victories and registered a .708 winning percentage (103-41-5).  The 2005 seniors hold the record with 112 total victories.
 
NATIONAL LEADERBOARD

• Jack Devine leads the country in assists (24) and points (25).
• Aidan Thompson ranks tied for third in the NCAA in points (22) tied for fourth in goals (10) and is tied for 16th in assists (12).  He ranks tied for fourth in power-play goals (5).
• Sam Harris is tied for second in NCAA in goals (11) and is first in game-winning goals (5). He ranks tied for fourth in power-play goals (5) and is tied for 23rd in points (17).
• Matt Davis ranks first in the nation in wins (12-tied).
• Carter King is tied for fourth in the nation in goals (10) and tied for 23rd in points (17).
• Zeev Buium is tied for first among all defensemen in the NCAA in points (16) and leads the group win assists (16) by a defenseman.  His 16 assists rank tied for the fourth-most among all skaters.
• Eric Pohlkamp is tied for 10th among NCAA defensemen in scoring with 13 points and is tied for the ninth-most goals by a D-man (4).
• As a team, Denver is tied for the national lead in goals for (4.1) and ranks near the top of the country in goals against per game (1.9, T-6th), power play (32.3%, 1st), penalty kill (91.1, 3rd), shooting percentage (.125, 2nd), save percentage (.922, 12th), shots/game (32.9, 7th) and shots against/game (23.9, 5th). 

PIONEERING OFFENSE: Denver is tied for the nation's lead in scoring with Minnesota by averaging 4.1 goals per game and ranks second behind the Gophers in total tallies with 66.  The Pios led the NCAA last season with 202 total goals and a 4.59 average.
 
DU scored at least four goals in each of the first 11 contests this season, and the Pioneers have had 13 different players score and 19 of the 22 skaters register at least one point this year.  Nine DU players have already reached double-digits in points.
 
PLAYING AHEAD: The Pioneers have had the lead or have been tied for most of the season, as they've not trailed in 84.2 percent of game play this season (810:21/962:11)—leading for 51.6 percent of the time (496:45) or has been tied for 32.6 percent (313:36).
 
DU has only been down on the scoreboard in 15.8 percent of game play this season (151:50) and didn't trail for the first 244:12 of the season (4+ games).
 
SAMMY SCORING: Sophomore Sam Harris' 11 goals this year are tied for the second-most in the nation with Wisconsin's Quinn Finley (Boston College Ryan Leonard, 12).  He also shares the NCAA lead with BC's Ryan Leonard for game-winning goals with five, with three of them coming in consecutive game: Nov. 8-9 vs. Lindenwood and Nov. 15 at North Dakota—the first time that a Pioneer has notched the winning tally in three consecutive outings in the last four years (since 2021-22).
 
The San Diego, California, native recorded his second multi-goal game of the year on Nov. 9 vs. Lindenwood (Oct. 5 at Alaska Anchorage), with both tallies coming in a matter of 5:49 to break a 1-1 take and mark the fastest two goals scored by a single Pioneer player this season.
 
Overall, Harris has points in 11 of the 15 games he's played this season, which included a career-best nine-game point streak from Oct. 18-Nov. 16 (8g/6a).
 
DIVINE DEVINE: Senior Jack Devine leads the nation in scoring with 25 points and also paces all players in the NCAA with 24 assists.  He recorded assists in each of each of the first eight contests of the season (1g/15a) for the longest assist and point streak of his career and has points in 15-of-16 games this year.
 
The Glencoe, Illinois, native has registered multiple points in six outings, including in five of the first six games and in three consecutive outings from Oct. 19-26.  Devine opened the season with a personal-best four assists on Oct. 5 at Alaska Anchorage (all on the power play) and recorded three points on Oct. 26 vs. Wisconsin (1g/2a) and Nov. 14 at North Dakota (0g/3a)—he owns 12 career three-point games in his college tenure.
 
Devine was named both the NCHC and National Player of the Month for October after leading all players with 14 points (1g/3a) in six games.  It was his first career monthly honors.
 
PIONEERS IN THE POLLS: Denver is ranked No. 4 in country in both the USCHO.com and USA Hockey/The Rink Live nationals polls that were released on Monday.  The Pioneers were selected No. 1 in each of the first eight polls this year and in nine straight dating back to the final rankings from last season.
 
The NCHC leads all conferences with six programs ranked and is tied with Hockey East for the most in the top 10 in the USCHO.com poll with four each.  Joining DU in the rankings are Western Michigan at No. 6/6, St. Cloud State at No. 9/9, Colorado College at No. T-10/11, North Dakota at No. 16/18 and Arizona State at No. 19/20.
 
DEVINE CLIMBING THE LEADERBOARD: Senior forward Jack Devine registered two assists last weekend at Western Michigan now has 131 career points (45 goals, 86 assists) in 134 career games.  The Glencoe, Illinois, native ranks 40th on the school's all-time scoring list and is one point from a tie for 37th place with Bill Stewart (1979-83), Dylan Gambrell (2015-18) and Joey LaLeggia (2011-15).  He is three points from tying for 35th with Dave Berry (1980-84) and Tom Miller (1966-69).
 
Devine became the 103rd Pioneer to reach 100 career points after scoring in his 109th contest on March 8, 2024 at Colorado College.  The forward is five goals away from being the 61st player in school history to score 50 career goals and the first since Cole Guttman on Feb. 11, 2022 against Minnesota Duluth.
 
DOMINANT AT THE DOT: The Pioneers rank eighth in the nation by winning 54.2 percent of their faceoffs this season, including posting season-high winning percentages of .640 and .643, respectively, on Nov. 1-2 at Yale.
 
Carter King leads Denver in faceoff wins (198) and winning percentage (.593), while Samu Salminen is second with a .580 winning percentage in draws and Kieran Cebrian is second in draw victories at 130.   King set a personal best by winning 20-of-34 faceoffs on Oct. 19 against Northeastern for the most wins by a Pioneer since Tyson McLellan went 23-for-35 on Jan. 4, 2020 against Massachusetts; he won 18 faceoffs on Dec. 7 at Western Michigan.
 
MAGNESS MADNESS: Denver has sold out each of its eight home games season, averaging 6,641 fans.  The Pioneers set attendance records on Oct. 18-19 during homecoming weekend against Northeastern, including a new single-game high with a crowd 7,051 on Saturday for its banner-raising ceremony and series finale.  Overall, 13,888 people watched the series sweep of NU—the most for a two-game weekend in school history and breaking the previous mark by more than 1,200 fans.
 
In 2023-24, DU set a home attendance record by averaging 6,130 fans at Magness Arena across 20 games, besting their previous high mark of 6,022 over the course of 24 contests in 2006-07.  Denver had a sold-out crowd of 7,033 for its regular-season finale against Colorado College on March 9, which at the time was the highest-attended hockey game at Magness Arena in program history.  DU had set its last high mark for attendance in its previous game against CC on Nov. 3 at Magness with a crowd of 7,021.
 
Overall, 122,594 people watched the Pioneers at Magness Arena in 2023-24 (20 games) after 133,117 people visited DU's home rink in 23 games in 2022-23 (the second-highest attended season in the rink's history).  If the 17,952 that witnessed Denver defeat Colorado College at Ball Arena on Jan. 27, 2023 are included in the data (it officially counted as a DU home game), then 151,069 people watched Pioneer home games in 2022-23—the highest total attendance for the team since 1999.
 
CELEBRATING 75 YEARS OF THE PIONEERS: Denver is commemorating 75 years of Pioneer hockey throughout 2024-25 to recognize its diamond jubilee as a program.  DU hosted its 75th Anniversary reunion on Nov. 8-9 when Lindenwood visited Magness Arena.  Among the activities were pre and post-game receptions for alums, alumni games and family skates and an on-ice recognition of approximately 150 former players in attendance during Saturday's first intermission, with each of the team's NCAA-record 10 championship trophies being presented 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 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.
 

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

 
DENVER'S HOME FOR COLLEGE SPORTS  
Visit DenverPioneers.com for complete coverage of all 18 of DU's NCAA Division I sports
Like Denver Pioneers and Denver Hockey on Facebook
Follow @DU_Pioneers and @DU_Hockey on Twitter
Follow @DenverPioneers and @DU_Hockey on Instagram