KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The No. 2-ranked University of Denver hockey team returns to action this weekend as the Pioneers travel for a top-10 series at the No. 7 Western Michigan Broncos.
 
Friday's game begins at 5 p.m. MT and Saturday's start time is at 4 p.m. MT. Both outings from Lawson Arena will be broadcast on NCHC.tv.
 
Denver (12-2-0, 2-2-0 NCHC) is coming off its second bye of the season after dropping both games to Arizona State by scores of 3-2 and 5-2 on Nov. 22-23. The defeats ended its school-record, 12-game season-opening win stretch and 21-game overall win streak dating back to March 9—one shy of matching the longest run in program history. The pair of losses also ended a streak of 34 straight home series without getting swept, with Minnesota Duluth being the last team to hand the Pios a pair of losses at Magness Arena on Jan 31-Feb. 1, 2020.
 
Despite the loss, the Pioneers still lead the nation in scoring at 4.4 goals per game and also rank near the top of the country in goals against per game, power-play and penalty-kill percentage. 
 
Junior forward Aidan Thompson was named the NCHC Player of the Month for November earlier this week and owns the longest point streak in the NCAA this season, as he has recorded at least a goal or an assist in all 14 games. It is the longest season-opening stretch by a Pioneer in the last 10 years and tied for the second-longest point streak overall by a DU player in the last two decades.
 
Western Michigan leads the NCHC as the Broncos are unbeaten in conference play at 5-0-1. WMU split a home-and-home series against No. 6 Michigan last week, winning 4-1 in Kalamazoo on Friday before losing 2-1 in Ann Arbor on Saturday to end a six-game unbeaten streak (5-0-1). The Broncos own a 9-2-1 overall record on the campaign.
 
Denver is 9-2-1 in the last 12 games against Western Michigan and is 4-2-0 in the last six outings at Lawson Arena. The teams' split their two series a season ago, with both winning a game on the road. This will be the only meeting of the season between the two squads, as the WMU and Minnesota Duluth are the only two NCHC programs that won't visit Magness Arena during the year.
 
This weekend begins a season-long three-game road swing for the Pioneers, as they will then travel down I-25 to start a home-and-home series with the Colorado College Tigers the following weekend on Dec. 13. DU is in a stretch where it is playing five-of-six and seven-of-10 contests on the road.
 
Denver is also starting a stretch in its schedule where it will likely play three-straight opponents that are ranked in the top 10. CC is currently at No. 8 while DU returns to regular-season play following the holiday break at Maine, which is currently at No. 5 in the polls.
 
The Pioneers' previous top-10 matchup came on Nov. 11-12 at No. 9 North Dakota where they won 5-2 and 3-2 in Grand Forks, DU is 6-0-0 against ranked opponents this season.
 
 
LAST TIME OUT: Then-No. 1 ranked Denver dropped both games to Arizona State on Nov. 22-23 at Magness Arena.  The Pioneers fell 3-2 on Friday before a 5-2 loss on Saturday.
 
The Pioneers rallied from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits on Friday but Artem Shlaine tallied the game-winner with 40 seconds left in regulation to give the Sun Devils their victory in Denver. DU held a 1-0 lead in Saturday's contest, but ASU tallied three unanswered in the second period and scoring another even-strength tally in the third frame before adding an empty-net marker to secure the series sweep.
 
THOMPSON MAKING HIS POINT AS 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 has registered at least a point in each of the 14 games this season, a career-long point streak that includes 10 goals and 12 assists.  The forward's run is 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 (did not play in the second game of the year on Oct. 14, 2017 at Notre Dame).
 
His 14-game streak is tied with Bobby Brink for the second-longest by a Pioneer in the last decade with only Danton Heinen's run of 18 straight contests from Jan. 22-March 27, 2016 being longer. Brink totaled seven goals and 21 assists during his stretch from Dec. 31, 2021-Feb. 19, 2022.
 
Thompson's current stretch also posted 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 Jack Devine also accomplished the feat in the season opener on Oct. 5 at Alaska Anchorage.
 
The longest point streak in the NCAA last season 2023-24 was 18 games by a pair of Boston College players: Gabe Perreault (Dec. 1-March 23) and Will Smith (Dec. 1-March 1).
 
Thompson ranks second in the country in points (22) and tied for third in goals (10). He is one goal from matching his career high of 11 set last season.
 
BUIUM ON 2025 WORLD JUNIOR PRELIMINARY ROSTER: USA Hockey announced on Monday morning that sophomore defenseman Zeev Buium is one of 28 players that have been named to the U.S. National Junior Team 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.
 
WHAT A WIN STREAK: The Pioneers went on a 21-games win streak that began on March 9 against Colorado College and went through Nov. 16 at North Dakota.  It was the longest win streak across multiple seasons in program history, as the previous DU record was 19 straight victories that was accomplished twice: Feb. 13-Dec. 13, 1960 and Jan. 13-Dec. 2, 1961.
 
Overall, the 21-game stretch fell one game shy of tying the longest overall winning streak in school history, as the Pioneers won 22 contests in a row from Jan. 5-March 16, 1968 en route to the team's fourth national championship.
 
Denver went 9-1-0 in its last 10 games of 2023-24 and went 27-2-1 in 30 contests from Feb. 2-Nov. 16.
 
RECORD START: DU won its first 12 games of the season, marking the best start in school history.  The previous record was wins in its first nine contests that was set by the 2001-02 squad (counting exhibition outings, DU actually won 11 consecutive games that year). 
 
The Pioneers' 12 wins to start the season were the most by a defending national champion since 2000. In fact, it was more than double the previous best start by a reigning champ as North Dakota in 2016-17 and Union in 2014-15 both won their first five contests before suffering their first losses.
 
DAVIS CONSISTENT IN GOAL: Goaltender Matt Davis won 20 straight games from March 9 of last season vs. Colorado College to Nov. 14 at North Dakota.  He posted several long shutouts streaks during that time, including setting a new career best of 154:45 that began in the first period on Oct. 26 against Wisconsin and went until the third period on Nov. 9 vs. Lindenwood.  It was his third career shutout streak of at least 120 minutes, going along with his other two previous personal bests of 136:53 from April 11-Oct. 4, 2024 and 127:19 from March 9-16, 2024.

Davis won each of his first 11 starts this year, tied for the longest in-season win streak in the last 10 years by a Denver goaltender since Tanner Jaillet also won 11 straight from Jan. 21-March 10, 2017.  He presently leads all NCAA goalies in wins (11).
 
The Calgary, Alberta, native started 33 consecutive games from Jan. 5 vs. Niagara to Nov. 1 at Yale before he was finally given the night off.  He posted a 27-4-2 record, 2.02 goals-against average, .927 save percentage and three shutouts during the streak that stretched across two seasons.
 
SAMMY SCORING: Sophomore Sam Harris' 11 goals this year are tied for the most in the nation with Boston College's Ryan Leonard (both have played 13 games this season).  He also shares the NCAA lead 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 13 games he's played this season, which included a career-best nine-game point streak from Oct. 18-Nov. 16 (8g/6a).
 
NOTABLES

HISTORY VS. WESTERN MICHIGAN: The Pioneers get set to face the Broncos since suffering a 7-2 loss at home on Feb. 3 of last season.  DU had gone 9-2-1 in the previous 12 meetings against WMU before the defeat, but the Pioneers bounced back and finished the year by going 14-1-1 en route to the NCAA Championship.  Denver went 2-2-0 against Western Michigan last season.  The teams split the series in Kalamazoo on Dec. 8-9 prior to the Holiday Break, as DU lost 7-3 and won 6-5 in overtime.  The Pioneers have a 26-13-2 all-time record against the Broncos and sport a 21-11-2 mark as conference foes.  DU is 8-10 all-time at Lawson Arena but is 4-2-0 in the last six games at the Broncos' home barn.  The Pios are 14-3-1 on home ice in the series that first began on Nov. 26-27, 1982 at the old DU Arena.
 
PREVIOUS MEETING (FEB. 3, 2024): The No. 5 Denver Pioneers lost 7-2 to the No. 15 Western Michigan Broncos in the series finale at Magness Arena.  Defenseman Shai Buium tallied just 37 seconds into the game for the fastest goal start a period this season for the Pioneers, but the Broncos answered with five unanswered markers en route to earning the weekend split; Denver won 3-2 on Friday night.  Forward Tristan Broz notched his 10th goal of the season eight seconds into a power play at 6:53 of the third period that made it a 5-2 game at that point before WMU added two more.  Junior Jack Devine had two assists and freshman Boston Buckberger and junior Massimo Rizzo also recorded a helper apiece.  Goaltender Matt Davis started for Denver and made 12 saves in 25:48 of work.  Freshman Paxton Geisel entered in relief after Western took a 5-1 lead and finished with 11 stops.
 
CONNECTIONS: Western Michigan's Tristan Lemyre played the previous two seasons at Denver (2022-2024) and helped the Pioneers capture their NCAA-record 10th national championship in April … DU Director of Hockey Operations Travis Culhane is from Kalamazoo and graduated from WMU in 2017. Culhane is the son of former Broncos head coach Jim Culhane and served as Western's Director of Hockey Ops during the 2018-19 season … Equipment Manager Nick Meldrum is from Warren, Mich., graduated from Lake Superior State in Sault Ste. Marie in 2007 and spent two years with the U.S. NTDP when it was in Ann Arbor prior to coming to DU … Jack Devine (2019-2021) and Zeev Buium (2021-2023) both played at the U.S. National Team Development Program in Plymouth, Mich. … Paxton Geisel began the 2023-24 season with the USHL Muskegon Lumberjacks and was a teammate that year with WMU's Ty Henricks ... Geisel was also teammates on the USHL Dubuque Fighting Saints with Samuel Sjolund in 2021-22 and with Owen Michaels in 2022-23 … Owen Michaels briefly played with Peter LaJoy on the NAHL Bismarck Bobcats in 2020-21 … Jared Wright and Alex Bump played together with the USHL Omaha Lancers in 2021-22 … Bump was also teammates with Cale Ashcroft and Kieran Cebrian with the USHL Tri-City Storm at the end of the 2022-23 season … Jake Fisher won a USHL Clark Cup championship with Iiro Hakkarainen and Hampton Slukynsky on the Fargo Force in 2023-24 … Connor Caponi played with Wyatt Schingoethe with the USHL Waterloo Black Hawks from 2018-2020, while Garrett Brown played with Zach Bade and Connor Brown on Waterloo at the end of the 2022-23 season … Boston Buckberger was a teammate of Cole Crusberg-Roseen with the USHL Lincoln Stars in 2022-23 … Zach Sharp skated with Sam Harris with the USHL Sioux Falls Stampede to begin 2022-23 before finishing the campaign with Cedar Rapids RoughRiders and was a teammate with Eric Pohlkamp … DU's Samu Salminen (Helsinki) and WMU's Iiro Hakkarainen (Espoo) and Joona Vaisanen (Kirkkonummi) are all from Finland … Denver's Zeev Buium (San Diego) and Sam Harris (San Diego) and Western's Ty Henricks (Mission Viejo), Ethan Wolthers (Valencia) and Ean Somoza and (Simi Valley) are all from Southern California.
 
SCOUTING THE BRONCOS: Western Michigan is the No. 7-ranked team in the country by owning a 9-2-1 overall record and is unbeaten in NCHC play with a 5-0-1 mark.  WMU split last weekend's home-and-home series with No. 6 Michigan, winning 4-1 on home ice on Friday before losing 2-1 in Ann Arbor on Saturday to end a six-game unbeaten streak (5-0-1).  The Broncos earned NCHC road sweeps at Omaha on Nov. 8-9 and at Minnesota Duluth on Nov. 22-23 and went 1-0-1 it its last home series against No. 8 Colorado College on Nov. 15-16.  Western Michigan is 4-0-1 at Lawson Arena this year, which also includes non-conference victories against Ferris State and Bowling Green.  Tim Washe leads the team with 13 points (6g/7a) and is tied for first in goals with six with Owen Michaels (6g/2a).  Grant Slukynsky paces the Broncos with nine assists and ranks second in points with 11 (2g/9a).  Alex Bump is third on the squad in scoring with 10 points (4g/6a).  WMU has split its goaltenders this season with both Cameron Rowe and Hampton Slukynsky each starting six games.  Rowe is undefeated at 6-0-0 and has a 1.49 goals-against average and .943 save percentage, while Slukynsky sports a 3-2-1 mark, 1.66 goals-against average and .947 save percentage.
 
DIVINE DEVINE: Senior Jack Devine leads the nation in scoring with 23 points and also paces all players in the NCAA with 22 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.
 
The Glencoe, Illinois, native has registered multiple points in six games, 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.
 
NATIONAL LEADERBOARD

PLAYING AHEAD: The Pioneers have had the lead or have been tied for most of the season, as they've only trailed in 12.0 percent of game play this season (100:24).  DU didn't trail for the first 244:12 of the season (4+ games).
 
Overall, Denver has not trailed in 739:36 of the 840 minutes of game play this season—88.0 percent of the time—leading for 496:45 (59.1%) and been tied for 242:51 (28.9%).
 
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 105 total victories are tied for the second-most in program history with the 2018 and 2019 classes.  Among the 2025 grads' accomplishments have been 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.
 
PIONEERING OFFENSE: Denver leads the country in scoring by averaging 4.4 goals and is second with 61 total tallies after leading the NCAA in both categories a season ago (4.59, 202 total).  DU scored at least four goals in each of the first 11 contests this season.
 
The Pioneers have had 13 different players score and 19 of the 22 skaters have registered at least one point this year.  Seven DU players have already reached double-digits in points.
 
PIOS POWER UP: Denver has tallied on the power play in 13-of-14 games this year and leads the country by converting on 35.7 percent of its opportunities.  The Pioneers have scored man-advantage goals in each of the last 11 games, 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 90.5 percent of its penalties this season (38/42), including four-of-five man-disadvantage opportunities in the two contests vs. Arizona State on Nov. 22-23.
 
Denver has not allowed a power-play goal against in 10-of-14 games this year and ranks fourth in the country with a 90.5-percent success rate on the penalty kill.
 
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.
 
DOMINANT AT THE DOT: The Pioneers rank third in the nation by winning 55.6 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 (170) and is tied with Samu Salminen (105 wins) with a .590 winning percentage in draws (.601).  Kieran Cebrian ranks second on the squad with 123 draw victories (.554).  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.
 

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