DENVER – The No. 4 University of Denver hockey team wraps up the regular season this weekend with a home-and-home series against in-state rival Colorado College in a matchup that has seeding implications for both teams ahead of the NCHC postseason.
DU and CC will play a nationally-televised game on Friday at 8 p.m. MT on CBS Sports Network at Ed Robson Arena in Colorado Springs before the Pioneers host the season finale and senior night at 7:30 p.m. at Magness Arena (stream: NCHC.tv). All tickets for Saturday's game are sold out.
Denver (23-8-3, 14-6-2 NCHC) is in second place in the NCHC standings with 42 points, two points ahead of third-place St. Cloud State and four points up on Colorado College in fourth (38 points).
The Pioneers outscored the SCSU Huskies 13-4 last weekend, winning by scores of 6-2 and 7-2 to pick up their first weekend sweep in St. Cloud, Minnesota, since Dec. 7-8, 2007. The two victories secured the Pioneers home-ice advantage for the best-of-three NCHC Quarterfinals on March 15-17; their opponent has yet to be determined.
DU and CC met earlier in 2023-24 in the teams' fourth week the season on Nov. 5-6, with the Pios winning that home-and-home set 6-1 and 5-1 to secure the Gold Pan trophy for the fifth consecutive season.
Colorado College is 19-10-3 this season and is having its best season since the NCHC formed in 2013-14 and has the most wins since going 23-19-3 in 2010-11. The Tigers are coming off a 1-0-1 series last week against Minnesota Duluth, winning 4-1 on Saturday after tying 2-2 on Friday (lost shootout 2-1)
DU and CC will be playing their first matchup where both teams have been ranked since Nov. 16-17, 2012 when then-No. 2 Denver swept the home-and-home series against No. 14 Colorado College by winning 6-5 and 6-2.
This weekend also features the first top-10 matchup between the Pioneers and Tigers since Dec. 4-5, 2009. Then-No. 2 Denver won 2-1 in Colorado Springs in the series opener before No. 5 Colorado College earned a 4-4 tie the next night at Magness Arena.
LAST TIME OUT: The Pioneers had 11 different goal scorers on the weekend and outscored the St. Cloud State Huskies 13-4 over two games to sweep the series at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. Denver won 6-2 on Friday before picking up a 7-2 victory on Saturday to stretch its unbeaten streak to six games (5-0-1) and road winning streak to four outings in a row.
Freshman
Sam Harris tallied twice on Friday while fellow rookies
Kieran Cebrian and
Miko Matikka and sophomore
Rieger Lorenz all had multiple points as well (1g/1a each). On Saturday, junior
Tristan Broz led the Pios with three assists while classmate
Jack Devine scored twice.
Aidan Thompson (1g/1a) opened the scoring late in the first period, while freshmen
Zeev Buium (0g/2a) and
Alex Weiermair (1g/1a) both had two-point nights.
Goaltender
Matt Davis made 32 saves on Friday and stopped 36 shots on Saturday, including each of the first 31 of the series finale. He finished the weekend with a .944 save percentage (68-of-72 saves).
TOUGH PLACE TO SWEEP: The Pioneers won both road games at St. Cloud State last weekend for the first time in more than 16 years. The last time that DU won both games in a series at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center was Dec. 7-8, 2007 when it had a pair of 3-2 victories—back when head coach
David Carle was still and undecided college recruit. Denver's win on Friday night was its first series-opening victory in St. Cloud since March 6, 2015 (3-2 win).
BATTLE IN NCHC STANDINGS: The Pioneers can lock up the No. 2 seed in the NCHC Playoffs this weekend and can do so as early as Friday night based on several different scenarios. DU has 42 conference points and is two points up on third-place St. Cloud State (40) and has a four-point advantage over Colorado College in fourth place (38). North Dakota (49 points) secured the Penrose Cup as conference regular season champions on Saturday.
There are several paths for DU to secure the No. 2 seed, with the easiest way by earning at least one point against CC
and having St. Cloud State lose in regulation. The Pioneers own the tiebreaker over St. Cloud and presently have the advantage over Colorado College with a pair of regulation wins.
NOTABLES
- Denver improved to 24-24-4 at St. Cloud State and 59-52-7 in the all-time series. The Pios are now 6-3-1 in the last 10 matchups.
- The Pioneers are on a six-game unbeaten streak (5-0-1), their second-longest of the season (6-0-1, Dec. 9-Jan. 20). DU's four-game road winning streak is a season long.
- Denver has scored six or more goals in 12 games this season
- A DU player has scored multiple goals in a game 23 times.
- Sam Harris had his second multi-goal game of the season on Friday, with both markers coming in the first period. It was the seventh time this year that a Pioneer has tallied multiple times in a single stanza.
- Harris scored his first career game-winning goal on Friday and junior Sean Behrens recorded his first career game-winner on Saturday.
- Goaltender Matt Davis owns a 11-3-2 record with a career-best 16 consecutive starts since Jan. 5. His current three-game winning streak matches a season long.
- Davis had a career-long 105:44 shutout streak end early in the third period on Friday (three games, began on Feb. 23 vs. Miami). His previous long shutout streak was 92:20 across three games from Oct. 8-23, 2021.
- Aidan Thompson had a goal and an assist on Saturday for his sixth multi-point performance of the season.
- Alex Weiermair recorded his first career multi-point game and has four points in the last four games (2g/2a).
- Tristan Broz's three assists matched a career high (third time, last: Feb. 24, 2024 vs. Miami).
- Sean Behrens and Zeev Buium both recorded plus-4 ratings on Saturday.
- Jack Devine had his career long five-game assist/point streak end last Friday (1g/6a) before scoring twice on Saturday for his eighth multi-goal game of the season.
- Sam Harris (6g/1a) and Jared Wright (5g/1a) both had their four-game goal streak and five-game point streak end on Saturday (5g/1a).
STREAKING
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Freshman forward
Sam Harris picked up his first conference weekly honor as the NCHC Rookie of the Week while fellow rookie
Zeev Buium was selected as Defenseman of the Week. Harris had two goals on Friday at St. Cloud, including scoring the game-winner. Buium combined for four points (0g/4a) with multiple points each game.
MILESTONE MEN: Senior
McKade Webster is expected to play in his 125th career game on Friday against Colorado College, becoming the second Pioneer this season to reach the milestone as
Connor Caponi also hit the mark on Jan. 27 at North Dakota.
Overall, Denver has had eight players appear in its 100th career contest this season, as
Caponi (Oct. 7 at Alaska Fairbanks),
Webster (Nov. 10 at Arizona State),
Carter King (Jan. 13 vs. St. Cloud State),
Massimo Rizzo (Jan. 19 at Omaha),
Shai Buium (Jan. 20 at Omaha),
Tristan Broz (Jan. 26 at North Dakota),
Jack Devine (Jan. 27 at North Dakota) and
Sean Behrens (Feb. 24 vs. Miami) have all reached the century mark.
ON THE BRINK OF 100: Junior
Jack Devine is one point away from 100 in his career after scoring twice last Saturday at St. Cloud State. The forward will be the 103rd Pioneer to reach the milestone and the second this season after
Massimo Rizzo recorded his 100th point in just 87 career games on Nov. 11 at Arizona State. Not including Devine, only seven players have reached the century mark in points at Denver in the last 10 years, with Dylan Gambrell doing it the quickest in 86 games.
TRULY DEVINE: Junior
Jack Devine recorded his eighth multi-goal game of the season on Saturday in Denver's 7-2 win at St. Cloud State in what was also his 17th multi-point outing of 2023-24.
Devine had a career-long five-game assist streak end on Friday (Feb. 3-24), which also matched his longest point streak of his collegiate tenure from the start of this season on Oct. 7-27 (6g/7a).
The Denver forward was the first player in the country to reach the 20-goal threshold on Jan. 19 at Omaha. He accomplished the feat in just 23 games to become the quickest Pioneer in recent history to hit the mark.
STAYING DISCIPLINED: Denver has taken three of fewer penalties in seven of the past 10 games dating back to Jan. 26 at North Dakota, including taking two or fewer infractions in three contests. The Pioneers are killing 73.7 percent of opponent power plays in the past six outings (14-for-19).
DU has taken six of fewer penalty minutes in 15 contests this season, including a season-low one minor penalty on Feb. 2 vs. Western Michigan.
ROAD WARRIORS: The Pioneers are wrapping up the regular season by playing nine of their final 14 games of the regular season away from Magness Arena, with the team traveling to Omaha, North Dakota, Minnesota Duluth, St. Cloud State and Colorado College in the final weeks of the campaign.
Denver owns a 12-5-0 record on the road this season, which included four weekend sweeps at St. Cloud State last week on March 1-2, at Minnesota Duluth on Feb. 16-17, Omaha on Jan. 19-20 and at Alaska Fairbanks to begin the campaign on Oct. 7-8. DU's road sweep at SCSU was its first in St. Cloud since Dec. 7-8, 2007.
The Pioneers have won a season-long four consecutive road contests dating back to Feb. 16, their longest such run away from home since a six-game stretch from Oct. 28-Dec. 10, 2022.
HOME ICE ADVANTAGE: The Pios are 54-10-4 in their last 68 contests at Magness Arena and sport a 62-14-5 record on the DU hilltop since the start of the 2019-20 campaign. DU hasn't lost consecutive home games since March 31-Feb. 1, 2020 vs. Minnesota Duluth. Denver went unbeaten in its first four home games this year (3-0-1) and is 11-3-3 in its friendly confines in 2023-24.
NATIONAL LEADERBOARD
- Jack Devine is fourth in the nation in goals (24) and fifth in points (49).
- Massimo Rizzo is fourth in the country in assists (34) and 11th in points (44).
- Zeev Buium is fifth among all freshmen and first among all defensemen in the nation in points (42); tied for 12th overall in scoring. His 33 assists are fifth in the NCAA, most among all D-men and third-most by a freshman.
- Miko Matikka is tied for fifth among all freshmen in the nation with 16 goals.
- Carter King is tied for the NCAA with four short-handed goals this season.
PIONEERING OFFENSE: Denver leads the country in offense, averaging 4.97 goals per game. Boston College is second at 4.44 goals per contest. The Pioneers are third in the NCAA in scoring margin, winning by 1.94 goals per game; Quinnipiac is first at 2.26 goals and Boston College is second at 2.22 goals.
The Pios have tallied six or more goals in 12 games this season, their most in a single campaign since also have 12 such contest sin 1987-88. The last time DU had 13 games with six or more markers was in 1984-85.
DU also leads the nation in shooting percentage at 15.4%, with Boston College being the next closet team at 13.6%. On special teams, the Pios are tied with the 10th-best power play at 25.2% and have the fifth-most man-advantage goals in the NCAA (36).
MAGNESS MADNESS: Denver had a sold-out crowd of 7,021 for its home game vs. Colorado College on Nov. 3 in what was the highest attended hockey game at Magness Arena in program history. The previous high was 6,683 on Jan. 19, 2019 vs. CC
The Pioneers are on pace to set an attendance record this season with an average 6,123 fans at Magness Arena in the 17 home games this year. DU's average attendance was 5,788 at Magness Arena in 2022-23 (23 games), the second-highest for the team since the building first opened for the 1999-2000 season. Only 2006-07 saw larger crowds on the hilltop since the turn of the century, as the Pios averaged 6,022 over the course of 24 games that season.
GOLD PAN STAYS IN DENVER: Denver retained the Gold Pan trophy over Colorado College for the fifth consecutive season and 18th time overall after winning both games against the Tigers on Nov. 3-4.
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: This weekend is the first matchup where Denver and Colorado College have both been ranked since Nov. 16-17, 2012 when then-No. 2 DU swept the home-and-home series against No. 14 CC by winning 6-5 and 6-2. Friday's game between Denver and Colorado College is set to be the 340th all-time meeting between the teams, and the programs will match Michigan-Michigan State for the most-played rivalry all-time in college hockey with Saturday's contest (341 games). The Pioneers are 196-122-21 all-time against Colorado College and have won 13 consecutive regular season games against the Tigers dating back to Jan. 2, 2021. DU had won 11 straight before CC won 1-0 in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff at Xcel Energy Center on March 17, 2023. The Pioneers, who previously retained the trophy, secured the Gold Pan for a fifth straight season after sweeping the series with Colorado College earlier this year on Nov. 3-4, winning 6-1 and 5-1. DU is 17-2-1 in the past 20 matchups, which includes earning six shutouts in that time, and has only officially lost six games (non-shootout losses) against its in-state rival since the start of the 2014-15 campaign. The Pioneers are 112-54-11 at home vs. the Tigers and own a 77-64-10 record on the road, including going 5-0-0 at CC's new rink, Ed Robson Arena, since it opened in 2021-22.
SCOUTING THE TIGERS: Colorado College is 19-10-3 this season and is having its best season since the NCHC formed in 2013-14 and has the most wins since going 23-19-3 in 2010-11. The Tigers are currently fourth in the conference standings with a 13-7-2 mark and 38 points, two points behind third-place St. Cloud State and four points behind Denver. CC cracked the top 10 in the rankings on Feb. 19 for the first time since Feb. 6, 2012. Colorado College is coming off a home split last week against Minnesota Duluth, winning 4-1 on Saturday after tying 2-2 on Friday (lost shootout 2-1). CC swept the four-game regular-season series and 2024 Penrose Cup winners North Dakota, winning by scores of 3-2 in overtime on both Dec. 8-9 in Grand Forks and 7-1 and 6-2 in the Springs on Feb. 16-17. Noah Laba leads the team offensively with 17 goals and 32 points and ranks second in assists with 15. Gleb Veremyev is second in scoring with 24 points (13g/11a) and Ryan Beck is third with 20 points and paces the squad with 17 assists. Goaltender Kaiden Mbereko has started all 32 games this season and owns a 19-10-2 record, 2.31 goals-against average and .920 save percentage.
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 Antonio Fernandez are both from San Jose, Calif. … 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
Sean Behrens and
Jack Devine from 2019-2021 …
Behrens and
Devine 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 … Cooley played with
Matt Davis on the AJHL's Spruce Grove Saints from 2018-2020 … DU's
Kieran Cebrian (2020-23) and
Cale Ashcroft (2022-23) were teammates with Drew Montgomery with the USHL Tri-City Storm (2020-23) …
Tristan Lemyre (2020-22) and
Lucas Olvestad (2021-22) were teammates with the Dubuque Fighting Saints with Ryan Beck (2021-22), Max Burkholder (2020-22) and Riley Stuart (2020-22) …
Jared Wright played with Evan Werner with the USHL Omaha Lancers in 2021-22 … Ray Christy and
Shai Buium played a few games together for the Sioux City Musketeers in the 2019-20 USHL season … CC has two players from Colorado on its roster in Kaiden Mbereko (Aspen) and Jack Millar (Westminster), while DU has three in
Kieran Cebrian (Denver),
Peter LaJoy (Evergreen) and
Aidan Thompson (Fort Collins).
PREVIOUS MEETING (NOV. 4, 2023): The No. 2 Pioneers defeated the Colorado College Tigers 5-1 at Ed Robson Arena to sweep the weekend series and retain the Gold Pan trophy. Denver stretched its winning streak to three games and unbeaten streak to five in a row (4-0-1). The Pioneers have now won 13 consecutive regular-season contests against CC and have earned the Gold Pan for five straight years. Three freshmen scored for the Pios, as defenseman
Boston Buckberger found the back of the net for the second consecutive game and forwards
Miko Matikka and
Sam Harris both buried their first career goals. Junior
Carter King and sophomore
Jared Wright added markers in the third period. King also had an assist for a multi-point performance and stretched his individual point streak to a career-best five games (4g/3a). Rizzo recorded two helpers to push his season-opening point streak to eight games (five goals, 12 assists) and now has 99 career points. DU goaltender
Freddie Halyk made his third consecutive start and stopped 20-of-21 shots.
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.
TENZER STREAK EXTENDED: The victory on Feb. 17 at Minnesota Duluth was Denver's 20th of the season, stretching the program's "Tenzer" Streak of earning 20 or more wins to 22 consecutive full seasons dating back to 2001-02, the longest active streak in the country. The Pioneers were the ninth squad in the country and the second in the NCHC to reach the 20-win mark.
The "Tenzer" Streak is named after former DU Director of Hockey Operations
David Tenzer, who spent 16 seasons with the program from 2001-02 (the start of the streak) until retiring in 2017. The program only played 24 total contests in the COVID-shortened 2020-21 campaign.
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