DENVER – The No. 5-ranked Denver Pioneers hockey team returns from the holiday break this Saturday with an exhibition against UNLV at Magness Arena.
 
DU face Nevada-Las Vegas of the ACHA in its first game after being off for two weeks, as the team last played then-No. 10 Colorado College on Dec. 13-14 in a home-and-home series. Saturday's game begins at 6 p.m. MT and will be broadcast on NCHC.tv and on Denver Sports 104.3 The Fan HD3. Limited tickets are available.
 
The Pioneers split their set against the CC Tigers in their last games, falling 5-4 in the opener at Ed Robson Arena in Colorado Springs before winning 2-1 at home in their last outing before the break.
 
Denver sports a 14-4-0 overall record and is 4-4-0 in NCHC play at the mid-point of its 2024-25 campaign. The Pios' .700 winning percentage is tied for their best such mark at the halfway point of a season in the last 20 years (also 2022-23, 2007-08).
 
DU will be facing UNLV in an exhibition for the second time, as the squads last faced off on Oct. 1, 2022 when the Pioneers won 10-0 in their first outing after defeating Minnesota State for the NCAA Championship to conclude the 2021-22 season.
 
The Pioneers own a 43-25-7 all-time record in exhibition games and will be playing an ACHA opponent for the fourth straight season. DU faced Minot State in a similar situation last year in its first game after the Holiday Break on Dec. 30, 2023 and defeated the Beavers 9-3 for its eighth straight exhibition victory.
 
After Saturday's contest, Denver resumes the regular season on Jan. 3-4 at No. 4 Maine in an expected top-five matchup and its final non-conference outings. It will be the first time that the Pios will be facing the Black Bears since winning the 2022 Ice Breaker Tournament, and they will be making their first trip to Orono, Maine, since Oct. 14-15, 2005.
 
EXHIBITION HISTORY: The Pioneers own a 43-25-7 all-time record in exhibition games in program history.  The team sports a 35-7-5 mark in season-opening exhibitions.
 
Denver will be playing an exhibition against an ACHA team for the fourth consecutive season and will be playing one mid-season in back-to-back years after hosting Minot State and winning 9-3 prior to the New Year in 2023-24.  DU began the 2021-22 campaign against then-ACHA Lindenwood and started 2022-23 vs. UNLV.
 
The Pioneers have outscored ACHA teams by a combined 28-4 mark in their last three games and won 10-0 to start 2022-23 against UNLV—their largest margin of victory in an exhibition since a 17-4 win against DU Alumni on Oct. 6, 1984.  DU has won each of its last eight exhibition contests dating back to 2014.
 
Last season's game vs. Minot State marked Denver first exhibition after having already started the regular season since Oct. 20, 2001 vs. the U.S. Under-18 Team.  That game on Dec. 30, 2023 was also the latest in the season that DU had played an exhibition outing since 1987-88 when the Pioneers hosted the U.S. National Team on Feb. 3 and Feb. 23 (losing both).
 
LAST TIME VS. UNLV (OCT. 1, 2022): Denver has faced the Rebels ACHA once before in an exhibition, with the squads facing off at Magness Arena to start the 2022-23 campaign, with DU winning 10-0 on Oct. 1, 2022.  The defending national champion Pioneers began the night with three goals in the first period before doubling their lead in the second.  Then-sophomore Carter King scored two goals in the first two frames before recording his hat-trick marker with 5:33 to play.  King also had a pair of assists for a five-point night.  DU added four goals in the third frame to reach double-digits, with all four tallies coming on the power play.  The Pios finished 5-for-9 with the man advantage.  Denver outshot Nevada Las Vegas 52-18, as goaltenders Magnus Chrona and Matt Davis shared the shutout.
 
UNLV CONNECTIONS: UNLV senior goaltender Doug Wakelyn is from Colorado Springs … DU's Paxton Geisel and UNLV's Preston Brodziak are both from Estevan, Saskatchewan.
 
SCOUTING THE REBELS: UNLV comes in at No. 3 in the ACHA rankings and sports a 16-3-0 record in club play this year.  The Rebels entered the holiday break leading the WCHL Division-I standings with 32 points, three more than second-place Oklahoma.  UNLV defeated Arizona State's D-I club team 1-0 and 6-2 in its last games on Dec. 13-14 to stretch its winning streak to 14 games.  ASU gave the Rebels their last defeat by a 6-2 score on Oct. 18.  Two of the team's losses came to NCAA D-I Lindenwood to start the year on Oct. 5-6.  UNLV will play at Colorado College on Sunday in another exhibition. 
 
Tristan Rand leads the Rebels in scoring with 15 goals and 23 points.  Bradley Golant is second with 19 points (9g/10a) while Preston Brodziak is third with 18 points (7g/11a).  Jaxsen Wyatt is fourth and leads all team defensemen in scoring with 17 points (1g/16a).  UNLV goaltenders Jeremy Forman and Doug Wakelyn have both seen significant time in net.  Forman has played 10 games and owns an 8-1-0 record, 1.70 goals-against average, .922 save percentage and three shutouts in ACHA play.  Wakelyn posts a 7-0-0 mark, 1.12 goals-against average, .955 save percentage and three clean sheets.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Then-No. 4 Denver split its top-10 series against No. 10 Colorado College to begin this year's Gold Pan series on Dec. 13-14.  Seniors Jack Devine and Carter King both had a goal and an assist for the Pioneers to begin the home-and-home set on Dec. 13 in Colorado Springs, but the Tigers scored four unanswered to come back and defeat the Pioneers 5-4.
 
Denver evened the weekend series on Dec. 14 at Magness Arena with a 2-1 victory.  Aidan Thompson tied the contest midway through the second period and defenseman Cale Ashcroft scored the game-winner in the third.  After making a season-high 34 saves in the opener, goaltender Matt Davis stopped 20-of-21 shots in the Saturday finale.
 
SAMU GOES SHORTY: Junior forward Samu Salminen scored two short-handed goals late in the first period on Dec. 13 at Colorado College.  He tallied while Denver had a man disadvantage at 16:37 and 19:13 of the opening frame, and among the accomplishments of his feat:

• Became the sixth DU player to score two short-handed goals in the same game in program history and the fourth to do so in the same period as Tyler Bozak was the last to do so on Nov. 4, 2007 at Minnesota.  The other two players to score two shorties in a single stanza were Gabe Gauthier on Oct. 22, 2004 vs. St. Cloud State and Bob Pazzelli on Oct. 29, 1977 at Michigan.
• Second-straight season a Pioneer scored two short-handed goals in a game as Carter King also did so on Nov. 10, 2023 at Arizona State.
• The last time that Denver scored two shorties in the same period was when Chris Butler (11:06) and Tyler Bozak (18:40) found the back of the net in the second frame on Feb. 22, 2008 vs. Alaska Anchorage.
• First short-handed goals of the season and the first by a Denver since Rieger Lorenz on Jan. 12, 2024 vs. St. Cloud State.
• Salminen recorded his second and third career short-handed goals after scoring his first on Oct. 7, 2023 at Colgate while a member of Connecticut.
• First career multi-goal game at DU and became the third Pioneer to score twice in a single period this season.
• His two scores came in a matter of 2:36, the quickest two goals by the same Denver player this year.

NOTABLES:

• Denver and Colorado College have now faced off in 343 all-time games, tying Michigan and Michigan State for the most-played rivalry in college hockey history.
• The Pioneers improved to 15-3-0 in the last 18 games against Colorado College and have won 11 straight games vs. the Tigers in Denver and 10 in a row at Magness Arena (Jan. 27, 2023 at Ball Arena).
• The Pioneers are now 3-1-0 in their 75th Anniversary sweaters this season.
• The Dec. 13-14 series marked the second consecutive season that both Denver and CC were ranked in the top 10.  Last season during their March matchup, they held the same ranking (No. 4 DU, No. 10 CC).
• Cale Ashcroft scored his second goal of the season on Dec. 14—with both tallies this year being game-winners, the first of his career.
• Aidan Thompson tied a career high by scoring his 11th goal of the season on Dec. 14
• Jack Devine and Buium both had their assist streaks end on Dec. 14.  Buium had a season-long five-game streak (0g/7a) while Devine's eight-game run (1g/10a) tied a career long.
• Eric Pohlkamp appeared in his 50th career game on Dec. 14.
• Matt Davis made a season-high 34 saves on Dec. 13 and his 15 stops in the second period also marked his most in a single frame this year. He recorded his first point of the season in the game as well with his fourth career assist.
• Davis has started a season-high 10 games in a row (6-4-0).
• Sam Harris' two blocked shots on Dec. 13 were a career high.
• Boston Buckberger tied a career high with four shots on goal (fifth time) and registered a new high with four penalty minutes on Dec. 13
• DU wrapped up a three-game road swing on Dec. 13 (1-2-0) and is in a stretch where it is playing five-of-six contests away from home.  The Dec. 14 outing marked Denver's only home regular-season game in a six-week period as the Pioneers are in a stretch of playing five-of-six contests on the road.
• Denver has played four straight one-goal games and picked up its first 2-1 win of the season on Dec. 14.

HALFWAY THERE: Denver has a 14-4-0 record at the halfway point of the season, with its .777 winning percentage tied for the program's best mark at the midpoint in the last 20 years.  Both the 2022-23 and 2007-08 squads also had a 14-4-0 record midway through their 36-game regular season.
 
Only the 2001-02 team has posted a better winning percentage since the turn of the century, that group had an. 888 mark and a 16-2-0 overall record at the halfway point of its 36-game campaign.
 
PIONEERS AT THE WORLD JUNIORS: Denver hockey is once again well-represented on Team USA at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship with head coach David Carle leading the Americans' bench for the second-straight year and sophomore defenseman Zeev Buium serving as an alternate captain on this year's team.
 
The under-20 tournament runs from Dec. 26, 2024-Jan. 5, 2025 in Ottawa, Ontario.  USA is in Group A with host Canada, Finland, Germany and Latvia.
 
Carle and Buium are joined on the United States team with Denver director of hockey operations/video coach Travis Culhane and equipment manager Nick Meldrum, who are both back on Team USA after serving in the same roles in 2024.  Also on Carle's staff are former Pioneer assistants Steve Miller (Minnesota) and David Lassonde (USA Hockey).
 
The United States looks to win back-to-back gold medals for the first time in the country's history after defeating host Sweden in the final last year in Gothenburg for its sixth championship.  The 2024 tournament marked the first time that Carle had coached a USA roster in his career, and he joined Marshall Johnston (1977) as the only Denver coaches to guide a U.S. World Junior squad.  Overall, Carle was 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).
 
ASSISTANT COACHING EXPERIENCE: DU assistant coaches Tavis MacMillan and Dallas Ferguson own an 8-0-0 regular-season record when running the bench in David Carle's absence (family, illness, world juniors).  Both MacMillan and Ferguson are former head coaches at Alaska Fairbanks.
 
The Pioneers outscored opponents 23-8 in four games last year while Carle was away for the birth of his second son, Callum (Oct. 7-8, 2023) and coaching at the 2024 World Junior Championship (Jan. 5-6, 2024).
 
KILLER PENALTY KILL: Denver has killed off 90.2 percent of its penalties this season (46/51), including five-of-six man-disadvantage opportunities in the two contests against Colorado College on Dec. 13-14.
 
DU has not allowed a power-play goal against in 13-of-18 games this year and ranks tied for third in the country on the penalty kill with Colorado College. Boston College is first in the NCAA (97.6%) and St. Lawrence is second (92.0%).
 
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.
 
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 107 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 second in the NCAA in points (24) tied for fourth in goals (11) and is tied for 20th in assists (13).  He ranks tied for sixth in power-play goals (5).
• Sam Harris is tied for fourth in NCAA in goals (11) and is tied for first in game-winning goals (5). He ranks tied for sixth in power-play goals (5).
• Matt Davis ranks second in the nation in wins (13).
• Carter King is tied for fourth in the nation in goals (11) and tied for 17th in points (19).
• Zeev Buium is tied for first among all defensemen in the NCAA in points (20), leads the position group in assists (16) and is tied for the 12th-most goals by a rear guard (4).  His 16 assists are tied for the second-most among all skaters while his 20 points are tied for 11th overall.
• Eric Pohlkamp is tied for eighth among NCAA defensemen in scoring with 14 points and is tied for the 12th-most goals by a D-man (4).
• As a team, Denver is tied for the national lead in goals for (4.0) and ranks near the top of the country in goals against per game (2.0, T-7th), power play (29.0%, T-1st), penalty kill (90.2, T-3rd), shooting percentage (.124, 2nd), save percentage (.919, 13th), shots/game (32.2, T-9th) and shots against/game (24.6, 6th). 

PIONEERING OFFENSE: Denver is tied for the nation's lead in scoring with Maine and Minnesota by averaging 4.0 goals per game and ranks second behind the Gophers (80) in total tallies with 72.  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 and 12 overall this season.  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 83.8% of game play this season (907:08/1082:11)—leading for 49.8% (538:53) or being tied for 34.0% (368:15) of the time.
 
DU has only been down on the scoreboard in 16.2 percent of game play this season (175:03) and didn't trail for the first 244:12 of the season (4+ games).
 
PIONEERS IN THE POLLS: Denver is ranked No. 5 in the country in both the USCHO.com and USA Hockey/The Rink Live nationals polls after the most recent lists were released on Dec. 16.  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 continues to lead all conferences with six programs ranked and has the second-most squads in the top 10 in the USCHO.com poll with three.  Denver leads all league teams while Western Michigan is one spot behind at No. 6/6.  Colorado College comes in at No. 8/11, St. Cloud State is at No. 12/10, North Dakota is at No. 15/15 and Arizona State rounds out the polls at No. 19/20.
 
DOMINANT AT THE DOT: The Pioneers rank eighth in the nation by winning 54.1 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 (218) while Samu Salminen paces the Pios with a .587 winning percentage (135/230).  King is second in percentage (.572) and Kieran Cebrian is second in draw victories at 152.  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.
 
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 was 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.

 
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