ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Denver Pioneers are in their 19th NCAA Frozen Four and take on the Boston University Terriers in a matchup of two historic college hockey programs on Thursday in the national semifinals at Xcel Energy Center.
Thursday's game is at 3 p.m. MT, with the winner securing a spot into the NCAA Championship Game on Saturday at 4 p.m. MT; the other side of the bracket features No. 1 Boston College versus Michigan at 6:30 p.m. MT on Thursday. All games will be nationally televised on ESPN 2 and will also be available on ESPN+.
Denver is the No. 3 overall seed in this year's national tournament while Boston University is No. 2. Boston College is the No. 1 overall seed, while Michigan won the Midwest Region in Maryland Heights, Missouri, as a No. 3 seed. This year's Frozen Four programs have combined to win 28 national championships and have made 31 Frozen Four since 2000.
The Pioneers and Michigan Wolverines are tied for the most national titles with nine, while DU and BC have the most since the turn of the century with four each. Denver is in its fifth Frozen Four in the last eight national tournaments as the team previously reached the semifinals in 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2022, winning titles in 2017 and 2022.
Boston University and Boston College are tied for fifth with five NCAA Championships each, though BU has only won once in the previous 28 years (2009) while BC owns four trophies in that time period (2001, 2008, 2010, 2012). Michigan is in its third straight Frozen Four and last won in 1998.
The Pioneers secured their spot into college hockey's final four after traveling cross country as a No. 1 regional seed and winning two contests against Northeast-based squads in Springfield, Massachusetts. DU defeated host UMass 2-1 in double-overtime in the semifinals on March 28 and Cornell by the same score two days later in the Regional Final.
Denver is facing Boston University for the first time since winning 4-3 in Boston on Oct. 27, 2017 after a last-minute goal from Troy Terry. DU owns a 17-15-2 all-time record versus BU and is 3-2 in games during the national tournament in the series. The teams last met in the NCAA Tournament on March 26, 2016 when the Pios won 7-2 in the West Regional Semifinals at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
Overall, the Pioneers have won four straight games against the Terriers, tied for the longest winning streak by either program in the all-time series. Denver also won the first four games of the series from 1960-1967, while Boston had a four-game winning streak of its own from 1990-1999.
BU had to fly cross country as well for its regional is Sioux Falls, South Dakota, as a No. 1 seed and defeated RIT and Minnesota by 6-3 scores in each contest. The Terriers have a 28-9-2 overall record and finished second in Hockey East with an 18-4-2 mark. BU only loss since Feb. 16 came to Boston College in the conference tournament championship game
Boston University and Denver were among the hottest teams in college hockey entering the national tournament, and both teams are currently 9-1-0 in their last 10 games. DU has just two losses since the start of February, going 13-2-1 in the last 16 games.
PIONEERS IN THE FROZEN FOUR: Denver is in its 19th Frozen Four and is looking for its 10th national championship, which would break its tie with Michigan for the most in college hockey history.
The Pioneers are aiming to make their 13th NCAA Championship Game, as they own a 12-6 all-time record in the national semifinals. In title games, DU has a 9-3 record, winning each of their last four trips to the final. The Pios played in four third-place games (when that was a thing) from 1966-1986 and went 2-2 in such contests.
Denver has made five of the last eight Frozen Fours dating back to 2016 (was not played in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic), winning the championship in 2017 and 2022. DU's participation in the 1973 Frozen Four was officially vacated by the NCAA Committee on infractions; those results are still being counted in the above totals.
EXPERIENCE AT THE FROZEN FOUR: The Pioneers have seven players with Frozen Four experience and nine that were on Denver's 2022 national championship roster.
Sean Behrens, Shai Buium, Jack Devine, Carter King, Massimo Rizzo and
McKade Webster all appeared in both Frozen Four contests in 2022 while
Jack Caruso,
Connor Caponi and
Matt Davis were also on the squad but did not play.
Tristan Broz played in that 2022 Frozen Four as well as a member of Minnesota before transferring to Denver later that summer.
TOURNAMENT HISTORY VS. BU: Denver and Boston University are set to play their sixth game in the NCAA Tournament in their all-time series and their first meeting since the Pioneers won 7-2 on March 26, 2016 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul in the NCAA West Regional Semifinals. DU owns a 3-2 mark against BU in the national tournament, which includes a 6-4 win in Boston in the 1960 semifinals en route to that year's title and a 4-3 win in a third-place game in 1966 in Minneapolis. The Terriers beat the Pioneers in the 1972 Semifinals in Syracuse and in overtime in the 1997 East Regional Final in Worcester, Mass.
CONNECTIONS: DU sports performance director
Matt Shaw worked five years with athletic departments in the Boston area: four at Boston University and one at Harvard. He earned his bachelor's degree in 2010 and master's in 2011 from BU … Sophomore
Aidan Thompson played prep school hockey at Berkshire School in Sheffield, Mass., for two seasons from 2018-2020 … Denver Athletics Director
Josh Berlo earned his undergraduate degree in the state at UMass in 1999 … BU goalie Max Lacroix is from Denver, Colorado, and is the son of former NHL player Eric Lacroix and Colorado Avalanche general manager Pierre Lacroix … DU's
Lucas Olvestad and BU's Tom Willander are both from Stockholm, Sweden …
Zeev Buium was a teammate of BU's Lane Hutson on the 2024 U.S. World Junior Team that won gold in January in Sweden and was coached by Pioneers head coach
David Carle … Denver's
Sean Behrens is from Barrington, Ill., while Boston's Quinn and Lane Hutson are from about 10 minutes away in North Barrington, Ill. … DU's
Sean Behrens and
Jack Devine (Glencoe, Ill.) played two seasons with Ty Gallagher and Jeremy Wilmer with the U.S. National Team Development Program from 2019-2021 and spent one year at the NTDP with Dylan Peterson and Luke Tuch in 2019-20 and Devin Kaplan and Lane Hutson in 2020-21 … Jeremy Wilmer also played with
Kieran Cebrian with the USHL Tri-City Storm in 2021-22 … Doug Grimes skated with
Shai Buium in 2020-21 with the USHL Sioux City Musketeers and was teammates with Denver's
Aidan Thompson in 2021-22 and
Boston Buckberger in 2022-23 with the USHL Lincoln Stars …
McKade Webster played with Zach Zebaneh with the USHL Green Bay Gamblers for two years from 2018-2020, while BU's Ryan Greene skated one season with DU's
Matt Davis in 2020-21 and
Kent Anderson in 2021-22 … Aiden Celebrini was at Shattuck-St. Mary's prep school in Fairbault, Minn., with DU's
Sam Harris and
Zeev Buium in 2020-21 … DU's
Garrett Brown (San Jose) and BU's Dylan Peterson (Roseville) are both from Northern California.
SCOUTING THE TERRIERS: Boston University is the No. 2 overall seed in the tournament and has a 28-9-2 overall record this season and is 9-1-0 in their last game 10 games. The Terriers finished second in Hockey East with an 18-4-2 record and lost 6-2 to No. 1 overall seed Boston College in the conference tournament championship game. Like Denver, BU had to travel across the country for its regional in Sioux Falls, S.D., where it defeated RIT 6-3 in the semifinals on Thursday and Minnesota by the same 6-3 score in Saturday's final on Saturday to advance to its second-straight Frozen Four. Hobey Baker Hat Trick finalist Macklin Celebrini leads the team with 32 goals and 64 points and ranks second in assists with 32 as a freshman. Celebrini is the youngest player in college hockey at 17 years old and ranks second in the nation in goals and points (tied). Defenseman Lane Hutson is second on BU in scoring and tied with Denver's
Zeev Buium for the most points by a defenseman in the country with 49; he is second on the Terriers with 34 assists. Quinn Hutson (18g/18a), Ryan Greene (12g/24a) and Jeremy Wilmer (6g/30a) are all tied for third on Boston with 36 points. Goaltender Mathieu Caron has started all 39 contests this season and owns a 28-9-2 record, 2.37 goals-against average, .915 save percentage and two shutouts.
HISTORY VS. BU: Denver owns a 17-15-2 all-time record against BU and is 3-2 in the national tournament. This will be the seventh neutral-site contest, with teams going 3-3 (they played a game in New Haven, Conn., on Jan. 5, 1980). This will be Denver and Boston's first meeting since the Pioneers won 4-3 at Agganis Arena on Oct. 27, 2017. Denver has won each of the last four games in the series (March 26, 2016-present), tied for the longest winning streak by the Pioneers over the Terriers in a series that dates back to 1960. DU also won each of the first four matchups with BU from 1960-1967. Denver is 2-0 all-time in games against Boston U. in Minnesota.
PREVIOUS MEETING (OCT. 27, 2017): The No. 1 University of Denver Pioneers topped the No. 6 Boston University Terriers 4-3, with a last-minute, game-winning goal at Agganis Arena on Friday night in Boston. Colin Staub led Denver with three points on two goals and one assist, while Troy Terry and Jake Durflinger also scored. Dylan Gambrell recorded a multi-point outing as well with two assists and goaltender Tanner Jaillet made 26 saves. On the other side, BU's Jake Oettinger made 22 stops while three different Terriers found the back of the net. Terry scored the game-winner with just 16.1 seconds remaining in regulation. Denver scored the game's first two goals just 3:54 into the game, but Boston evened the game with two of their own in a 1:48 span midway through opening period. Staub scored with 1:32 left in the first period to give DU a lead that held until Dante Fabbro notched a tying tally with 6:39 left in the third.
LAST NCAA MEETING WITH BU (March 26, 2016): The DU Pioneers punched their ticket to the 2016 NCAA Tournament's 'Elite Eight' in convincing fashion by skating to a 7-2 win over the BU Terriers at Xcel Energy Center in West Regional Semifinal action. Six different student-athletes found the back of the net for Denver in the high-scoring affair, with sophomore goaltender Tanner Jaillet making 19 saves in backstopping the Crimson & Gold to victory. Denver scored the game's first six goals, leading 2-0 after the first period and 5-0 after the second. Each team tallied twice in the third frame. Will Butcher led the Pioneers with two goals, while Troy Terry, Danton Heinen and Quentin Shore all had three-assist performances.
TOP-THREE MATCHUP: Denver is set to play its fourth top-three matchup of the season as the No. 3 Pioneers face the No. 2 Terriers with a trip to the NCAA Championship Game on the line. Overall, the Pioneers are 18-9-2 in their last 29 top-three matchups since the 1999-2000 season and own a 7-2-1 mark in the previous 10 such meetings.
DU is 2-1 in top-three games this season, which includes wins at Boston College on Oct. 21 and against North Dakota on Dec. 2. Then-No. 3 Denver split the series with No. 2 NoDak after losing the opener at home on Dec. 1. Then-No. 2 Denver won 4-3 against then-No. 3 Boston College at Conte Forum in its fourth game of the season.
The last time the Pios played at least four top-three games in a single campaign was 2017-18 when they had six contests with two-game series vs. St. Cloud State (2x) and North Dakota.
MINNESOTA CONNECTIONS: Tristan Broz (Bloomington) and
Jared Wright (Burnsville) are both from Minnesota …
Shai Buium (2017-21),
Zeev Buium (2019-21),
Sam Harris (2018-21),
Peter LaJoy (2016-20) and
McKade Webster (2015-17) played prep school hockey at Shattuck St. Mary's in Faribault, Minn. …
Rieger Lorenz was selected in the second round at No. 56 overall by the Minnesota Wild in the 2022 NHL Draft.
THE 'X' MARKS THE SPOT: The Pioneers have a 17-9 all-time record at Xcel Energy Center since the building first opened in 2000. The state of Minnesota and the "X" have long been the home of the WCHA and NCHC conference tournament championships. Denver owned a 10-5 mark in games at the home of the NHL's Minnesota Wild during the WCHA Final Five and is 5-3 in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff, which has been held at the arena nearly every year since 2018. The Pioneers won this year's NCHC Frozen Faceoff at Xcel Energy Center two weeks ago on March 22-23 with victories against St. Cloud State and Omaha and also won the tournament in 2018
DU played and won two NCAA Regional games in the building in 2016 en route to its first Frozen Four berth in 11 years. The Pioneers also faced the University of Minnesota in the 2004 U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame game at Xcel Energy Center, falling 5-2.
CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY IN MINNY: The Pioneers are set to play their fourth Frozen Four and 10th national tournament game in the state of Minnesota. DU is 7-2 in its previous nine NCAA Tournament matchups, 5-2 in games in the Twin Cities and has won two national titles in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Denver won its first championship in 1958 over North Dakota in Minneapolis (defeated Clarkson in the semifinals), and the school also won in 1969 in Duluth after beating Boston College in the semis and North Dakota in the final.
Denver lost to Clarkson in the 1966 semifinals in Minneapolis before winning against Boston University in that year's third-place game. The Pios lost to Miami in the West Regional Semifinals in 2009 in Minneapolis before sweeping their Regional set in St. Paul over BU and Ferris State to earn a berth into the 2016 Frozen Four.
DU AMONG THE BEST PROGRAMS OF THE CENTURY: The Pioneers have been among the top programs since the turn of the century, as they are heading to their seventh Frozen Four since 2000, tied for the fourth-most in that time. Denver's four national titles since 2000 are tied with Boston College for the most.
In the last 20 years since 2004, DU's seven Frozen Four appearances are the third-most while its four NCAA Championships lead college hockey. BC is in their ninth national semifinal and have won three titles in the past two decades.
30 FOR 30 FOR 30: Denver picked up its 30th win of the season on March 30 against Cornell in NCAA Regional Final, becoming the second team in college hockey to reach the 30-win threshold this year (Boston College, 33). This is the third consecutive campaign that DU has reached the 30-victory mark and the ninth time in program's 75-season history; 34 wins in 1985-86 is the school record. The Pios had never recorded consecutive 30 win seasons until the previous two campaigns.
DU senior class is among the winningest group in school history, owning 101 victories and a .704 winning percentage (101-41-5) in 147 career games since 2020-21.
DAVIS NAMED NATIONAL GOALIE OF THE MONTH: Junior
Matt Davis was named the National Goaltender of the Month for March on Thursday, April 4 after producing a 9-1-0 record, 1.89 goals-against average, .931 save percentage and one shutout in 10 games. Also the NCHC Goaltender of the Month of March, Davis led all keepers in the conference in each of the categories.
He is the first Denver goalie to be recognized with National Goaltender of the Month, as the award has only been given out by the Hockey Commissioner's Association since 2018-19.
Magnus Chrona was the last DU netminder to earn NCHC Goalie of the Month honors in January 2022.
BUIUM ALSO PICKS UP MARCH HONORS: Defenseman
Zeev Buium was recognized with his third NCHC monthly honor on Wednesday, April 3 as the conference's Co-Rookie of the Month for March. He led all NCHC defensemen and was second among all league players with 11 points in 10 contests in March, scoring two goals while tying for the conference lead with nine assists and producing an NCHC-high plus-15 rating.
Buium, who was runner-up for the National Rookie of the Month award, was named the NCHC Rookie of the Month in December and Player of the Month in November, earning national co-honors in the latter as well.
CARLE FINALIST FOR COACH OF THE YEAR: Denver head coach
David Carle is a finalist for the Spencer Penrose Award, which is given annually to the Men's D-I Coach of the Year by the American Hockey Coaches Association. The winner will be announced on Wednesday, April 10 and the award will be presented at the coaches' convention on May 1 in Florida.
This is the 34-year-old's third time up for the accolade, as he was also a finalist in 2019 and 2022 during DU's previous two trips to the Frozen Four. Pioneers have won the award four times in program history:
Murray Armstrong (1961),
Ralph Backstrom (1986),
George Gwozdecky (2005) and
Jim Montgomery (2017).
DAVIS STANDS TALL IN SPRINGFIELD: Goaltender
Matt Davis was named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Northeast Regional in Springfield after stopping 70-of-72 shots in a pair of 2-1 wins against Massachusetts and Cornell.
He earned his 20th win of the season by stopping 46-of-47 shots against UMass in the Regional Semifinals on March 28, surpassing his previous highs of 39 saves on 41 shots faced earlier this season versus Western Michigan on Feb. 2. It was the first 40-plus save effort by a DU netminder since
Filip Larsson stopped 45 shots on Feb. 1, 2019 versus North Dakota.
The victory against Cornell pushed his winning streak to a career-long seven games, besting his previous best of six outings in a row across two seasons from Feb. 26-Dec. 17, 2022. It is the longest winning streak by a Denver goalie since
Magnus Chrona also won seven games in a row from Jan. 27-Feb. 15, 2023.
LAST TIME OUT - PIOS HOLD OFF CORNELL IN REGIONAL FINAL: A pair of freshmen tallied and goaltender
Matt Davis stopped 24-of-25 shots to lift the No. 1-seed Pioneers past No. 3 Cornell and into the Frozen Four with a 2-1 win in the Northeast Regional Final at MassMutual Center in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Denver advanced to its fifth national semifinals since 2016 as rookie forwards
Miko Matikka and
Sam Harris scored late goals in both the first and second periods after the Big Red tallied the game's opening marker. CU outshot DU 9-8 in the third period, but Davis stopped all 17 shots he faced in the final two periods.
EXTRA, EXTRA TIME: The Pioneers played their longest NCAA Tournament game in program history in their 2-1 double-overtime win versus Massachusetts in the Regional Semifinals on March 28, and it is believed to be the longest contest in school history.
Tristan Broz tallied the game-winner midway through the second OT, ending the game after 92:28 of playing time and three hours and 58 minutes overall. The outing surpassed DU's previous longest postseason game of 91:14 on March 26, 2011 in a 3-2 double-OT victory versus Western Michigan in the Midwest Regional in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The game vs. UMass was the sixth-longest overall NCAA Regional game in tournament history and the first multi-overtime game since Minnesota Duluth defeated North Dakota in a five-OT thriller in the 2021 West Regional Semifinals.
REGIONAL HONORS: Denver goaltender
Matt Davis was voted by the media as the Most Outstanding Player of the Northeast Regional in Springfield, Massachusetts, and was joined on the All-Tournament Team by teammates
Tristan Broz,
Boston Buckberger and
Miko Matikka. Davis stopped 70-of-72 shots in the two wins. Buckberger led the Pios at Regionals with three points (1g/2a) while Broz scored the game-winner in double-overtime vs. UMass in the semifinals and Matikka tallied the tying goal against Cornell.
FRESHMEN PHENOMS: Denver rookies scored three of the team's four goals and combined for six of its 12 points over the two games in the NCAA Regionals on March 28-30.
Boston Buckberger, Sam Harris and
Miko Matikka all tallied in the first and second rounds of the national tournament.
Over the last four games, freshman have totaled seven of the Pioneers' 13 goals and 13-of-35 points. DU's first-year players scored four goals and had 11-of-23 points at the NCHC Frozen Faceoff on March 22-23 against St. Cloud State and Omaha.
NOTABLES FROM REGIONALS
- The Pioneers are now 1-1 all-time against UMass in the NCAA Tournament, as the teams were meeting for the first time since the 2019 Frozen Four Semifinals in Buffalo, New York.
- DU improved to 3-3 all-time against Cornell in the national tournament. Denver was playing the same team in back-to-back NCAA Tournaments for the first time since also doing it against Ohio State in 2018 and 2019.
- The Pioneers played their first 2-1 games of the season in each NCAA Regional contest. DU's two goals scored were tied for the fewest in a game this season (2-3 record in such games)
- DU is 2-0 in day games this season and improved to 4-0 in neutral-site contests.
- Tristan Broz tallied his third game-winning goal of the season and sixth of his career in the Regional Semifinal win. It was his second career overtime-marker.
- Denver has now reached the Frozen Four in five of its last seven NCAA Tournament appearances (2016, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2023; not in 2018 or 2022; 2020 cancelled due to COVID).
- Sam Harris scored his second career game-winning goal with his tally in the Regional Final.
- Denver tied a season low with two penalty minutes and the teams combined for six total penalty minutes in the win vs. Cornell, the lowest of the season in a Pioneer game.
AUTO-MATIKKA: Forward
Miko Matikka scored his 20th goal of the season on March 30 in the NCAA Regional Final vs. Cornell. He ranks second on the Pioneers this season and fourth among all freshmen in the NCAA, and he has the most goals by a Denver freshman since 2016-17 when Henrik Borgstrom tallied 22 times.
Matikka registered his fourth multi-goal game of the season on March 22 in the NCHC Semifinals vs. St. Cloud State and had a goal and an assist on March 23 in the Championship Game vs. Omaha. He owns nine multi-point outings this season. Matikka scored his first 14 goals this season during a 14-game stretch from Nov. 4-Jan. 13.
CONSISTENCY IN THE PIPES: Goaltender
Matt Davis is expected to start in his 25th straight game for the Pioneers in the Frozen Four vs. Boston University, the longest such stretch by a DU netminder since
Magnus Chrona also started 25 outings in a row from Nov. 5, 2021-Feb. 25, 2022. He has presently started all 24 games since returning from injury following the holiday break, going 18-4-2 in those contests (since Jan. 5).
Davis has posted two career-long shutout streaks over the last several weeks and recorded a new high of 127:19 across three games from March 9 vs. Colorado College to March 16 vs. Minnesota Duluth. His previous personal best was 105:44 across three contests from Feb. 23-March 1. The Calgary, Alberta, native went 5-0-1 in his first six starts in January after missing 13 games with a lower-body injury, and he registered a career-best eight-game unbeaten streak (6-0-2) that began prior to the injury on Oct. 21 at Boston College and went until Jan. 20 at Omaha.
ZEEV IN THE RECORD BOOKS: Defenseman
Zeev Buium has produced one of the best rookie campaigns in Denver program history as he leads the team with 38 assists and is second in scoring with 49 points. His 11 goals on the season lead all Denver D-men and are the most by a freshman rear guard since
Joey LaLeggia also had 11 in 2011-12.
His 49 points are the 10th most by a freshman player in school history and are the most by a rookie since
John McMillan had 57 and
Dwight Mathiasen had 51 in 1983-84. Overall, only two frosh defensemen have recorded more points in a single campaign than Buium:
Craig Redmond's 54 in 1982-83 and
Greg Woods' 52 in 1975-76.
The San Diego, California, native's 38 assists are tied with
Craig Redmond (1982-83) for the most by a freshman defenseman and the second-most by a rookie (forward
Dallas Gaume owns the record with 47 assists in his rookie campaign in 1982-83). Among defensemen all-time, Buium's 38 helpers are tied with Redmond's 1982-83 campaign for the fourth-best in Pioneer history.
DU IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: Denver is in the national tournament for the 33rd time in program history and has reached the Big Dance in now 15 consecutive full seasons since 2008. The Pioneers' nine national titles are tied with Michigan for the most in college hockey history, with them most recently winning two years ago in 2022.
DU has a 42-25 all-time record in the NCAA Tournament, and the program is 13-3 in its last 16 tournament games dating back to 2017 and is 16-5 in its last 21 national contests since 2015. The Pioneers have reached the Frozen Four in five of its previous seven tries in the national tourney (2016, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2024) and won titles in 2017 and 2022.
PIONEERING OFFENSE: Denver led the country in offense during the regular season, averaging 4.89 goals per game. Boston College was second at 4.38 goals per contest. The Pioneers ranked third in the NCAA in scoring margin, winning by 1.83 goals per game; Quinnipiac was first at 2.26 goals and Boston College was second at 2.18 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 contests in 1987-88. The last time DU had 13 games with six or more markers was in 1984-85.
BALANCED SCORING: The Pioneers have 11 players that have scored 10 or more goals this season and nine skaters that have registered 30 or more points, both by far the most by a program in college hockey in 2023-24. DU also has the most 20-plus point players and is tied with Michigan State for the highest amount of skaters with 10 or more points.
Boston College, Quinnipiac and Wisconsin are the next teams on the list with the most 10-plus goal scorers with seven each, while Michigan is second behind Denver with seven players that have registered 30 or more points. Among NCHC teams, North Dakota is tied for fifth with six players with 10-plus goals while Western Michigan is second in the league with five players with 30-plus points.
KILLER PENALTY KILL: Denver has killed off 89.3 percent of its penalties over the last 11 games dating back to Feb. 25 vs. Miami, going 25-for-28 in that stretch. DU has been perfect in eight of those games, including going 4-for-4 on the PK on three occasions.
MONTH BY MONTH: The Pioneers played 10 games in March, their busiest month since also playing 10 contests in December 2020 in the NCHC Pod in Omaha, Nebraska, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. The team's prior 10-game month before the conference bubble was in March 2019.
Denver finished March 2024 with a 9-1-0 mark for its 22nd straight month where it has posted at least a .500 record dating back to January 2021. The Pios had their run of posting a greater-than .500 mark for 15 straight months end in December 2023 after going 2-2-0 (streak began October 2021).
GETTING THEIR GAMES IN: The Pioneers have played the most games among any team in the country, as they are set to skate in their 43rd contest of the campaign in the Frozen Four Semifinals. It is the most games that DU has played since skating in 44 outings during their 2016-17 championship campaign (33-7-4).
DU played 36 games during the regular season, as the team had two-game exemption due to playing at Alaska Fairbanks to the start of the campaign on Oct. 7-8.
SECOND PERIOD SUCCESS: Denver has outscored opponents 79-39 in the second period, with the plus-40 margin its best in any of the three stanzas. In shots on goal, DU has a 477-368 edge in the second frame.
The Pioneers have also buried the puck plenty in the third period, outscoring opponents 64-41. DU is outscoring the opposition by a 143-80 margin in the final two regulation periods and 198-119 overall in games. The Pioneers' 198 goals scored are by far the most in the NCAA this season (2. Boston College, 179).
TWENTY SOMETHINGS: DU is one of five teams in the country with multiple players with 20 or more goals this season, as junior
Jack Devine has tallied 27 times and freshman
Miko Matikka reached the threshold with his 20th of the season in the Regional Final.
The last time that the Pioneers had multiple players with 20 or more goals was in 2021-22 during their previous championship season when
Carter Savoie and
Cameron Wright both had 23 markers. Boston College (three), Michigan, North Dakota and Western Michigan also have two or more skaters that have hit the 20-goal mark.
STRONG STRETCHES:
DIFFERENT DAY, DIFFERENT OPPONENT: Denver's national semifinal game against Boston University will mark the Pioneers sixth different opponent in a six-game stretch, the second time this season that DU has played a schedule like this.
The Pioneers also played six games against six different opponents earlier this year from Oct. 8-Nov. 3, beginning at Alaska Fairbanks before playing road games at Providence (Oct. 20) and Boston College (Oct. 21) and home outings vs. Augustana (Oct. 27), Air Force (Oct. 27) and Colorado College (Nov. 3).
Prior to this season, the previous time that DU played six different opponents in as many games was during the 2018-19 NCHC and NCAA Tournaments. The last time the Pioneers played six-in-six during the regular season was Dec. 20, 2003-Jan. 9, 2004 when they faced Minnesota State, Niagara, Omaha, St. Lawrence, Wayne State and Minnesota Duluth.
EVERY NIGHT: Seven Denver players have skated in all 42 games this season: senior forward
Connor Caponi, junior defenseman
Sean Behrens, junior forward
Jack Devine, sophomore forwards
Rieger Lorenz, Aidan Thompson and
Jared Wright, and freshman defenseman
Boston Buckberger.
NON-CONFERENCE PLAY: Denver is 11-2-1 against non-conference opponents this season after defeating Massachusetts and Cornell in the NCAA Regionals on March 28-30. The Pios have faced 10 different non-NCHC opponent this year, playing 12 non-conference games against eight teams during the regular season (9-2-1). The Pioneers played half of those non-NCHC games during the regular season on the road after being away from Magness Arena in just one series last season (at UMass).
Following its season opener at Alaska Fairbanks on Oct. 7-8, Denver made a trip to New England for single-game outings at Providence and Boston College on Oct. 20-21. DU's last road non-NCHC outings were Nov. 10-11 when it traveled to the desert to face Arizona State. NCAA-newcomer Augustana (Oct. 27) and in-state foe Air Force (Oct. 28) visited Magness for Homecoming Weekend and the Pios hosted Yale in a set after Thanksgiving on Nov. 24-25. The Pioneers wrapped up their non-conference slate during the regular vs. Niagara on Jan. 5-6.
