DULUTH, Minn. – The No. 5 University of Denver hockey team returns to play this weekend as the Pioneers begin a two-game series against the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs at Amsoil Arena.
 
The road set begins on Friday at 6 p.m. MT, and the series concludes on Saturday at 5 p.m. MT. Both contests will be broadcast on NCHC.tv. The Denver radio broadcast can be heard on Denver Sports 104.3 The Fan HD3.
 
Denver is coming off its final bye weekend of the regular season, as the team has games scheduled for each of the final seven weeks before the postseason begins.
 
The Pioneers last played on Jan. 10-11 at home against the Miami and outscored the RedHawks 10-3 in the two games for their seventh series sweep of the campaign. It was DU's fourth such sweep at Magness this season, but it was the team's first in the regular season against a conference foe at home since Feb. 10-11, 2023 against North Dakota.
 
Denver won 4-1 in the series opener on Jan. 10 and matched a season high for goals on Jan. 11 with a 6-2 victory on Jan. 11. Defenseman Zeev Buium had three points (one goal and two assists) on Jan. 10 and added an assist the next game to join forward Aidan Thompson (two goals and two assists) with a four-point weekend.
 
The Pioneers and Bulldogs will be meeting for the first time since DU defeated UMD in two games on March 15-16 in their 2024 NCHC Quarterfinal series. Denver won 4-0 and 5-2 in those outings to advance to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff and has won four straight games in the series; the Pios also won both matchups last season on Feb. 16-17 in Duluth.
 
DU has a 137-89-31 all-time record in the series against UMD and sports a 50-44-8 mark in road games in Duluth. The Pioneers are 8-1-0 in their last nine outings against the Bulldogs dating back to their victory in the 2022 NCAA West Regional Final in Loveland, Colorado.
 
Minnesota Duluth is coming off a weekend split at then-No. 19 Colorado College, losing 7-2 last Friday before winning 4-1 on Saturday. UMD is 3-1-0 in its last four games and ranks sixth in the NCHC standings with 16 points (5-7-0), one fewer than Denver (17 points, 6-4-0).
 
The Pioneers have wins in each of their last four outings at Amsoil Arena and are 6-2-1 in the past seven games off the shores of Lake Superior. This weekend marks the only time that Denver and Minnesota Duluth will face off this season, as the Bulldogs and the Western Michigan Broncos are the only two NCHC squads that won't visit Magness Arena this year.
 
Denver will be alternating home and road weekends for pretty much the remainder of the season, with the Pios hosting the Omaha Mavericks the following week on Jan. 31-Feb. 1 before traveling to the desert to face the Arizona State Sun Devils on Feb. 7-8.
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Pioneers swept its conference series at home against the Miami RedHawks by winning 4-1 on Jan. 10 and earning a 6-2 victory on Jan. 11.  Zeev Buium (1g/2a) had three points in the series-opening victory for Denver while Aidan Thompson had a goal and an assist and goaltender Matt Davis made 18 saves.
 
Six different DU players scored in the Saturday-series finale, with Jack Devine and Thompson both contributing a goal and an assist.  Carter King produced two helpers and Davis made 10 saves on 12 shots against.
 
SWEEPING SUCCESS: Denver recorded its seventh weekend sweep of the season and the second in conference play with its victories against Miami on Jan. 10-11.  DU's last sweep came on the road at North Dakota on Nov. 15-15, its two wins against the RedHawks marked its fourth sweep at home.
 
Not counting the Pioneers' two-game sweeps in both the 2023 and 2024 NCHC Quarterfinals, the pair of wins against Miami marked DU's first home conference sweep during regular-season play in nearly two years. Denver last swept an NCHC foe at Magness Arena during the main campaign on Feb. 10-11, 2023 vs. North Dakota.
 
THREE-POINT ZEEV: Defenseman Zeev Buium recorded his third three-point game of the season and the eighth of his career with a goal and two assists on Jan. 10 against Miami.  The San Diego, California, native previously had three-point outings this year with three assists in the season opener on Oct. 5 at Alaska Anchorage and three goals on Nov. 15 at North Dakota.
 
Buium was recognized on Jan. 13 as the NCHC Defenseman of the Week, his second such award of the season (Nov. 18) and fifth of the sophomore's career.
 
DOMINANT DAVIS: Senior goaltender Matt Davis recorded his 50th career victory on Jan. 11 against Miami, becoming the fifth active goaltender to reach the half-century milestone. Overall, Davis is the 13th Denver goalie to win 50 career games and is one victory shy of tying for 11th place on DU's all-time list with Sam Brittain (2010-2014) and Scott Robinson (1978-1982).
 
Davis stopped 73-of-76 shots he faced in the two games at Maine on Jan. 3-4, helping him earn his second NCHC Goaltender of the Week honor (also Nov. 11).  The 44 saves he made on Jan. 4 were the most he's made in a regulation game in his career and were two shy of matching his career best of 46 that he set in a double-overtime win on March 28, 2024 vs. Massachusetts in NCAA Northeast Regional Semifinals.  The performance in Maine was the first 40-plus save effort by a DU netminder since that 2024 tourney game against UMass.  Davis' previous high in a regulation game was 39 saves on 41 shots on Feb. 2, 2024 vs. Western Michigan.
 
The Pioneers held the RedHawks to just 12 shots against on Jan. 11, and Davis' 10 saves were tied for the eighth fewest by a starting goalie in program history. The Calgary, Alberta, native also stopped 10-of-12 shots in the season-opening win this year on Oct. 5 at Alaska Anchorage.
 
RICHTER WATCH LIST: Denver's Matt Davis is one of 35 goaltenders in the nation and among eight in the NCHC that are on the watch list for the Mike Richter Award, given to the nation's top D-I netminder.  To qualify for the watch list, a netminder must have a 2.30 or lower goals-against average and a .920 or higher save percentage.
 
The Hockey Commissioners Association will announce semifinalists in the coming weeks and the winner will be announced during this year's Frozen Four in St. Louis, Mo.  DU has had one previous recipient of the Mike Richter Award: Tanner Jaillet in 2017.
 
HOBEY NOMINEES: The Pioneers have three players nominated for this year's Hobey Baker Award as senior forward Jack Devine, junior forward Aidan Thompson and sophomore defenseman Zeev Buium are all up for the honor as the top player in college hockey. Overall, the DU trio are among 95 total nominees in college hockey and 20 from the NCHC. The Pioneers are one of 14 programs with three nominees.
 
Devine was a Hobey Baker Award Top-10 finalist as a junior last season and is among the nation's leaders in scoring with Thompson.  Buium is one of the top scorers among D-men this season.
 
The Pioneers have had two previous winners of the Hobey Baker Award: Matt Carle (2006) and Will Butcher (2017).
 
NOTABLES

• DU improved 21-1-1 in the past 23 outings vs. Miami and pushed its unbeaten streak against the RedHawks to 16 games (15-0-1).  Denver is now unbeaten in its last 15 matchups at Magness Arena vs. Miami (14-0-1).
• The Pioneers tied a season high with six goals scored on Jan. 11 (fourth time).
• Denver has scored on the man advantage in four straight contests and has tallied multiple power-play goals in six games.
• DU's 12 shots allowed on Jan. 11 tied a season best (Oct. 5 at Alaska Anchorage).
• DU's plus-13 shot differential in the first (at the time tied) and plus-14 shot differential in the second period on Jan. 11 was the team's best marks of the season
• The plus-30 shot differential overall in the Jan. 11 game was highest of the season (Previously: +28, Oct. 18 vs. Northeastern)
• Zeev Buium now has 13 points in his last 10 games (4g/9a) dating back to Nov. 15 at North Dakota.
• Jared Wright played in his 100th career game on Jan. 11, while Carter King picked up his 50th career assist and Connor Caponi recorded his 150th career penalty minute on Jan. 10.
• Denver won 65.6% of its faceoffs on Jan. 10 (42/64), its highest winning percentage of the season. Its previous high was 64.3% on Nov. 2 at Yale (45/70).
• DU scored two power-play goals in the second period on Jan. 10, marking the fourth time this season that DU has tallied multiple times in a frame on the man advantage.
• Eric Pohlkamp scored his first game-winning goal as a Pioneer and the fourth of his career on Jan. 10
• Garrett Brown (three) and James Reeder (two) each blocked career-high shots on Jan. 11. 

STREAKING

• Carter King is on a four-game point streak (1g/4a).
• Jack Devine is on a three-game point streak (2g/2a).
• Aidan Thompson has a goal and an assist in each of his last two contests (2g/2a). 

CAPONI CHASING SCHOOL RECORD: Graduate student forward Connor Caponi is set to break the school's all-time games played mark in the coming weeks as he has suited up in 163 career contests since the 2020-21 campaign and is six games away from setting the record.
 
Caponi is presently tied with Mike Markovich (1988-1993) for sixth place in the program's record book and is one game away from joining a three-way tie for third place.  One of Caponi's former teammates, Ryan Barrow (2017-2022), owns the record at 168 games played—a mark he set in the 2022 NCAA National Championship Game where he also scored the game-tying goal that sparked DU to a 5-1 victory against Minnesota State.  Ed Cristofoli (1985-89) previously held the mark at 167 career games.
 
MILESTONE MEN: Junior forward Aidan Thompson has skated in 98 career games and is expected to suit up in his 100th career contest on Saturday, Jan. 25 at Minnesota Duluth.  He will be the third member of DU's junior class to reach the century mark, joining Rieger Lorenz on Jan. 3 at Maine and Jared Wright on Jan. 11 vs. Miami.
 
Graduate student Connor Caponi and senior Jack Devine each played in a milestone game on Nov. 1 at Yale.  Caponi became the 70th player in program history and the first since Kyle Mayhew on March 10, 2023 vs. Miami to play in 150 career contests, while Devine skated in his 125th career outing that night as well.  Senior Carter King skated in his 125th game on Nov. 9 against Lindenwood.
 
SAMMY SCORING: Sophomore Sam Harris scored his sixth game-winning goal of the season on Jan. 11 vs. Miami, tying for the most in the NCAA with Boston College's Ryan Leonard and Michigan State's Daniel Russel.  Three of Harris' game-winners came in consecutive games: 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).

Harris' six game-winners this year are tied for the ninth-most in a season in school history, and he is one such goal away from joining a five-way tie for fourth place in the program record book.

Overall, the San Diego, California, native has totaled 13 goals and ranks tied for fourth with seven power-play markers. Harris recorded points in 11 of his first 13 games he played this season, which included a career-best nine-game point streak from Oct. 18-Nov. 16 (8g/6a).
 
DEVINE CLIMBING THE LEADERBOARD: Senior forward Jack Devine ranks 31st on the school's all-time scoring list with 137 points (48 goals, 89 assists) in 140 career games.  The Glencoe, Illinois, native is one point from tying Rob Palmer (1970-73) for 30th place and two points from tying Jim Wiste (1965-68) for 29th in program history.
 
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 two 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.
 
HISTORY VS. UMD: Denver owns a 137-89-31 all-time record against Minnesota Duluth and will be facing the Bulldogs for the first time since sweeping the 2024 NCHC Quarterfinals series in two games last March at Magness Arena.  DU won 4-0 and 5-2 in the previous matchups on March 15-16, 2024 and has won four straight games in the series and is 8-1-0 in the last nine outings dating back to its win in the 2022 NCAA Regional Final in Loveland, Colorado.  The Pioneers have a 110-77-11 mark in conference regular-season games and owns is 50-44-8 against the Bulldogs in Duluth—DU is 6-2-1 in the past nine outings at Amsoil Arena.  Denver (3) and Minnesota Duluth (2) are the only two NCHC squads to win multiple championships as members of the league.  The Pioneers defeated the Bulldogs in the 2017 National Championship Game in Chicago and also beat UMD in the National Tournament during their 2004 (National Semifinals) and 2022 (Regional Final) title runs.
 
PREVIOUS MEETING (MARCH 16, 2024): No. 3-ranked Denver secured its spot in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff with a 5-2 victory over the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs in Game 2 of the NCHC Quarterfinals at Magness Arena.  Denver, the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament, won the best-of-three series against No. 7-seed Duluth and advanced to the conference semifinals for a 10th time in its history.  DU used a three-goal second period to pull away from UMD after a scoreless opening frame and then sealed Game 2 with a pair of empty-net markers late in the third.  Sophomore forward Rieger Lorenz scored twice, while junior defenseman Sean Behrens and junior forward Tristan Broz each finished with a goal and an assist each. Sophomore Aidan Thompson also tallied for Denver and goaltender Matt Davis finished with 28 saves and added an assist on Behrens' goal, which ended up as the game-winner.
 
CONNECTIONS: Denver Athletic Director Josh Berlo served nine seasons in the same role with Minnesota Duluth (2013-2022) … The Pioneers have five players from Minnesota on their roster: Hagen Burrows (Orono), Jake Fisher (Woodbury), Eric Pohlkamp (Baxter), Alec Whipple (Excelsior) and Jared Wright (Burnsville) … Burrows (Minnetonka HS) was named the 2024 Mr. Hockey in the state while Fisher (Cretin-Derham Hall HS) was a finalist for the award in 2023 … Zeev Buium (2019-21), Sam Harris (2018-21) and Peter LaJoy (2016-20) played prep school hockey at Shattuck St. Mary's in Faribault, Minn. … Pohlkamp and UMD's Anthony Menghini are both from Baxter, Minn., while Jack Devine and Trevor Stachowiak are also from the same hometown (Glencoe, Ill.) … Buium (No. 12 overall, 2024) and Rieger Lorenz (No. 56 overall, 2022) are both NHL Draft picks of the Minnesota Wild … Buium was a teammate of Duluth's Adam Kleber and Max Plante on USA's gold medal-winning team at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship … Fisher skated with Harper Bentz and Zam Plante with the USHL Fargo Force in 2023-24, winning a Clark Cup championship that season … Tory Pitner played one season (2022-23) with Matthew Perkins with the USHL Youngstown Phantoms, and they also won a Clark Cup together in 2023 … Connor Caponi skated with Luke Bast with the USHL Waterloo Black Hawks in 2019-20, and DU's Garrett Brown played alongside Aaron Pionk in Waterloo to conclude the 2022-23 campaign … UMD's Ty Hanson played with Brown with the USHL Sioux City Musketeers in 2022-23 and with Hagen Burrows in 2023-24 … Aidan Thompson was a teammate on the USHL Lincoln Stars with Dominic James (2020-21) and Joey Pierce (2021-22) … Boston Buckberger played with Adam Kleber on Lincoln in 2022-23 … Jack Devine was at U.S. National Team Development Program with Owen Gallatin during the 2019-20 campaign and Duluth's Max Plante was at the NTDP at the same time as Buium in 2022-23 … Lorenz played with Riley Bodnarchuk with the AJHL Okotoks Oilers in 2021-22 … Kieran Cebrian and Aidan Dubinsky played together with the USHL Tri-City Storm in 2021-22 … Harris was a teammate of Jack Smith with the USHL Sioux Falls Stampede in 2021-22.
 
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS: Minnesota Duluth has a 9-12-1 overall record and ranks sixth in the NCHC with a 5-7-0 conference mark and 16 points, one fewer than Denver (17).  The Bulldogs and 3-1-0 in their last four games, which included a home sweep of in-state foe St. Cloud on Jan. 10-11.  UMD split its road series last weekend at then-No. 19 Colorado College, falling 7-2 on Friday before earning a 4-1 victory on Saturday.  Freshman Max Plante was named the NCHC Rookie of the Week on Monday after totaling three points (1g/2a) in the two games at CC.  Plante has 12 points (5g/7a) in nine games this season while Dominic James (10g/9a) and Aaron Pionk (1g/18a) lead the team in scoring with 19 points.  James is first on UMD with 10 goals  and Pionk paces the Bulldogs with 18 assists.  Goaltender Adam Gajan has played the most outings for UMD and owns a 5-7-0 record, 3.50 goals-against average, .882 save percentage and one shutout in 12 games.  Klayton Knapp has started eight outings and sports a 4-3-1 mark, 2.33 goals-against average, .908 save percentage and one shutout as well.
 
PIONEERING OFFENSE: Denver ranks tied for second in the nation in scoring with Boston University, averaging 3.9 goals per game.  Minnesota leads the country at 4.1 goals per game, and DU also ranks second behind the Gophers (106) in total tallies with 85.  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 has 14 such games overall this season.  The Pioneers have had 15 different players score and 19 of the 22 skaters register at least one point this year.  Denver already has 10 skaters that have 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 85.6% of game play this season (1027:08/1322:11)—leading for 49.1% (649:11) or being tied for 36.5% (482:48) of the time.
 
DU has only been down on the scoreboard in 14.4% of game play this season (190:12) and didn't trail for the first 244:12 of the season (4+ games).
 
PIOS POWER UP: Denver has tallied on the power play in 17-of-22 games this year, including in each of the last four contests.  DU's 32.5-percent success rate on the man advantage ranks first overall in the country. 
 
DU has converted multiple times while a man-up in six contests this season, including in both outings on Jan. 10-11 vs. Miami.  The Pioneers scored at least one power-play goal in an 11-game stretch from Oct. 19-Nov. 23, the team's longest run in the last decade (since 2015-16).
 
Jack Devine is first on the team with 17 power-play points (1g/16a), while Sam Harris leads the squad with seven man-advantage goals. 
 
The Pios opened the season by going 4-for-9 on opening night 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). 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 ranks tied for seventh in the nation with an 87.1-percent penalty kill.  DU has not allowed a power-play goal against in 15-of-22 games this year and didn't allow multiple man-advantage goals in a contest until Miami did it on Jan. 11.
 
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-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 fourth in the nation by winning 54.7 percent of their faceoffs this season.  They posted season-high winning percentage of .656 on Jan. 10 against Miami (42/64).
 
Carter King leads Denver in faceoff wins (261) while Samu Salminen paces the Pios with a .587 winning percentage (162/276).  King is second in percentage (.72) and Kieran Cebrian is second in draw victories (192/350) and third in percentage (.549).  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.
 
SENIOR CLASS SUCCESS: The Pioneers' 2025 senior class (110 wins) is on pace to be the winningest group in school history and is two wins shy of tying the 2005 seniors for the program record of 112 victories in their tenure.  The Pios' upper class this year became the 16th group to win at least 100 games when it accomplished the feat on Nov. 1 at Yale.
 
Among the 2025 seniors' accomplishments have been three Gold Pan trophies over rival Colorado College, two Penrose Cups as conference regular-season champions, an NCHC Frozen Faceoff title and two national championships.
 
Last year's senior class (2024) is tied for fifth all-time with 103 victories and registered a .708 winning percentage (103-41-5).
 
NATIONAL LEADERBOARD

• Jack Devine leads the country in assists (27) and is tied for fifth in points (31).
• Aidan Thompson ranks tied for eighth in the NCAA in points (29), tied for 10th in goals (13) and is tied for 22nd in assists (16).  He ranks tied for seventh in power-play goals (6).
• Sam Harris is tied for first in the nation in game-winning goals (7), tied for fourth in power-play goals (7) and ranks tied for 10th in goals overall (13).
• Matt Davis is tied for first in the nation in wins (16), tied for 12th in goals-against average (1.95) and tied for 20th in save percentage (.923).
• Carter King is tied for 19th in the nation in goals (12) and tied for 24th in points (24).
• Zeev Buium is tied for first among all defensemen in the NCAA in points (24) and leads his position in assists (19).  His 19 assists are tied for the fourth-most among all skaters while his 20 points are tied for 24th overall.
• Eric Pohlkamp is tied for 11th among NCAA defensemen in scoring with 18 points and is tied for the 18th-most goals by a D-man (6).
• As a team, Denver is tied for second in the country in goals for per game (3.9) and ranks in the top 10 in the NCAA in goals against per game (1.9, T-4th), power play (32.5%, 1st), penalty kill (87.1, T-7th), shooting percentage (.120, 4th) and save percentage (.924, 8th).

PIONEERS IN THE POLLS: Denver ranks No. 5 in the country in both the USCHO.com and USA Hockey/The Rink Live nationals polls that were released on Monday and is presently No. 4 in the Pairwise computer rankings.
 
The NCHC has six programs ranked, the second-most teams among all conferences.  Western Michigan leads all league teams at No. ¾, while Arizona State is No. 11/11, North Dakota is No. 16/16, St. Cloud State is No. 17/17 and Colorado College at No. 19/19.  Omaha also received votes in each poll as well.
 
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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