DENVER – The No. 4 University of Denver hockey team begins play in the 2025-26 campaign on Saturday as the Pioneers face the Rebels of the University of Nevada Las Vegas in an exhibition at Magness Arena. 
 
Puck drop for Saturday's matchup is at 6 p.m. MT, and the game will be broadcast on NCHC.tv.
 
The Pioneers hosted the Rebels in an exhibition showdown last season on Dec. 28 in their first game back following the holiday break. Denver scored two power-play markers and rallied with five goals in the third period to tie UNLV 6-6. The Rebels took the end-of-game shootout 1-0 after a scoreless, five-minute, 3-on-3 overtime period to close the exhibition.
 
DU will be playing UNLV for the third time in the last four years before officially opening the 2025-26 regular season on Friday, Oct. 10 at Air Force. The Pioneers host Bentley University in the home opener on Saturday, Oct. 11 at Magness Arena.
 
Denver reached the NCAA Frozen Four for the second consecutive season and third time in the past four years in 2024-25 after posting a 31-12-1 overall record for the program's fourth-straight campaign with 30 or more wins. The Pioneers tied for the nation's lead in scoring at 4.0 goals per game last year and ranked third on the power play at 28.8 percent. DU was also first in team goals (174), assists (295), points (469) and power-play markers (46). 
 
The Rebels are members of the American Collegiate Hockey Association's WCHL. Last season, UNLV had a mark of 30-8-1 and ended the year by claiming the ACHA D-I National Championship. The team begins this year at No. 1 in the ACHA preseason rankings. 
 
DU is unbeaten in its last nine exhibition contests (8-0-1) dating back to 2014 and is 9-1-2 in the past 12 such outings. The last time the Pioneers began a campaign with an exhibition was prior to the start of 2022-23 when they also hosted UNLV, winning 10-0.
 
CONNECTIONS: UNLV's Doug Wakelyn is from Colorado Springs, Colorado … Reid Varkonyi and Jaxsen Wyatt are both from Sherwood Park, Illinois … Quentin Miller and Justin Stathopoulos are both from Montreal, Quebec … Denver's James Reeder (Glenview) and UNLV's Charlie Masek (Chicago) and Hayden Siegel (Deerfield) all from the Chicagoland area … The Pioneers' Kyle Chyzowski (Surrey) and the Rebels' Oliver Band (Vancouver), Dylan Ford (Maple Ridge), Ryder McIntosh (Langley) are all from the Vancouver area in southwest British Columbia … DU's Sam Harris (San Diego) and UNLV's Luke Baker (Dana Point) and Tristan Rand (Valencia) are from Southern California.
 
SCOUTING THE REBELS: UNLV ranked No. 1 in the ACHA preseason rankings and opened the year at Alaska Fairbanks on Sept. 26 where it lost 3-0 to the Nanooks. The Rebels went 27-5-2-1 last season and won their first ACHA National Championship with a 7-3 victory over Adrian College on March 18. Preston Brodziak led the team with 54 points (20g/34a) in 2024-25, and Bradley Golant was first on the squad with 23 goals.
 
LAST TIME VS. UNLV (DEC. 28, 2024): Denver scored five goals in the third period and tied the UNLV Rebels 6-6 in an exhibition at Magness Arena following the team's holiday break. After a scoreless five-minute, 3-on-3 overtime, UNLV won the end-of-game shootout 1-0 after scoring in the third round, but per NCAA rules the result went down as a tie.
 
The Pioneers outshot the Rebels 64-17 overall, including by a 23-8 margin in the first period, 16-4 in the second, 20-4 in the third and 5-1 in OT.  Aidan Thompson scored twice for Denver, including tying the game at 6-6 with 3:23 left in the third period.  Rieger Lorenz and Cale Ashcroft each finished with a goal and two assists.
 
PIONEERS IN THE POLLS: Dever was voted No. 4 in the country in both the USCHO.com and USA Hockey preseason media polls that were released the past week.  The NCHC had the third-most schools represented with defending national champion Western Michigan at No. 1/1, North Dakota at No. 11/T-10 and Arizona State at No. 14/14 joining the Pioneers on each list.  Colorado College, Omaha, Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State also received votes in both polls.
 
PRESEASON HONORS: Junior forward Sam Harris and fellow classmate and defenseman Eric Pohlkamp were both selected to the NCHC's 2025-26 Preseason All-Conference Team in a vote by the media.  Denver was the only team to have two players named to the league's six-man squad and marked the fourth straight season where multiple Pioneers garnered preseason accolades from the conference.
 
NCHC PRESEASON POLL: The Pioneers were chosen to finish second in the NCHC regular season in the 2025-26 preseason media poll.  Defending national champion Western Michigan were picked as the favorites.  DU had been voted first in the annual preseason media poll in each of the previous three years.
 
ROSTER BUILDING: Denver returns 16 players from last season and are welcoming 10 newcomers, all of whom are freshmen.  DU is bringing back 8-of-13 forwards, 7-of-8 defensemen and 1-of-3 goaltenders from 2024-25.
 
The Pioneers' 26-member squad features seniors Kent Anderson, Rieger Lorenz and Samu Salminen, and there are eight juniors to round out the upperclassmen. DU has nine players that were part of the 2024 National Championship squad.
 
Seven players from last year's team signed professional contracts after the season, including five with NHL squads. 
 
FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH: The Pioneers are the sixth-youngest squad in the NCAA this season with an average age of 21.0 as of Oct. 1.  Denver was the second-youngest squad in each of the previous two years with an average age (20.9 at start of each season).  
 
Denver is welcoming 10 freshmen to its squad with Kristian Epperson being the youngest with a birthdate of May 16, 2006.  DU is one of 23 programs in the country with 10 or more freshmen, with its 10 rookies this year tied for the 15th-most.  The Pioneers' three seniors are tied for the eighth-fewest in the country.  
 
The Pioneers had 11 freshmen when they won the 2024 national championship and their 2022 championship squad featured nine freshmen.
 
SAMMY SCORES BIG GOALS: Junior forward Sam Harris led the Pioneers with 23 goals last season, tied for ninth overall in the country.  He also finished first with 11 power-play goals and tied for fourth with seven game-winning markers.
 
Three of Harris' game-winners in 2024-25 came in consecutive games: Nov. 8-9 vs. Lindenwood and Nov. 15 at North Dakota—the first time that a Pioneer notched the winning tally in three consecutive outings in the last four years (since 2021-22).  
 
The San Diego native tallied three goals on Feb. 8 at Arizona State for his first career hat trick and the second by a Pioneer this season (Zeev Buium, Nov. 15 at North Dakota).  It was also Harris' first career three-point contest, and his three markers came in a matter of 27:43 for the fastest three goals scored by a Pioneer since Tristan Broz tallied a trio in 6:57 on Jan. 14, 2023 vs. Miami.  
 
Denver had three players with 20 or more goals (Aidan Thompson, 21; Carter King, 21) last season—the only program to have that many players and one of two schools with multiple 20-goal scorers (Boston University).  The last time Denver had three skaters score 20 goals in a campaign was 2004-05 when Gabe Gauthier (26), Luke Fulghum (23) and Jonathan Foster (21) all accomplished the feat.
 
POHLKAMP'S POINTS: Defenseman Eric Pohlkamp recorded 22 points (7g/15a) in the last 27 games during the 2024-25 season, and his 35 points ranked second among team defensemen on in scoring behind Zeev Buium (48).
 
Overall, Pohlkamp owns four career three-point games, with three coming last season with the Pioneers.  
 
BUCKING THE TREND: Defenseman Boston Buckberger finished last season with 17 points (6g/11a) in his last 17 games and his nine goals and 30 points (9g/21a) overall were both career highs.
 
Buckberger missed the three games of the NCAA Tournament at the end of the year due to an upper-body injury suffered in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff Championship Game on March 22 vs. Western Michigan. The Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, native had played in each of the first 85 games of his career before missing the Regional Semifinals against Providence on March 28 because of the injury.
 
SCHEDULE NOTABLES 

• Denver opens the season on the road for the third straight campaign and will be playing at the Air Force Academy for the first time since Oct. 14, 2021.
• Playing 35 games during the regular season, highlighted by hosting Minnesota on Nov. 29 for the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game at Ball Arena—home of the NHL's Colorado Avalanche. It is the first meeting between DU and UM since March 1-2, 2013.
• Having 11 non-conference games, with the Pioneers hosting Bentley (Oct. 11), Alaska Anchorage (Oct. 31-Nov. 1) and Maine (Jan. 3-4) and visiting Air Force (Oct. 11), Lindenwood (Oct. 17-18), Boston College (Oct. 24) and Northeastern (Oct. 25).
• Playing Bentley for the first time ever and will make its first trip to St. Charles, Missouri, to play at the Lindenwood Lions.
• Alaska Anchorage is set to make its first trip to Magness Arena since March 10, 2013 when the squads were members of the WCHA.
• Playing at Northeastern's Matthews Arena—the oldest arena in North America that is in its final season—for the first time since for the first time since Oct. 16, 2004.
• Will play defending national champion Western Michigan four times, with two-game series both in Kalamazoo (Nov. 7-8) and Denver (Jan. 9-10).
• Road-heavy schedule in the fall as 10-of-the-first-14 and 12-of-the-first-19 games will be played outside of the Mile High City. The road stretch features nine-of-12 away contests from Oct. 17-Nov. 22 and two sets of five-of-six on the road: Oct. 10-25 and Nov. 7-22.
• Eight of its first 10 contests of 2026 will be on home ice and the team will play 11 of its last 16 games of the regular season at Magness Arena, including eight in a 10-game stretch from Jan. 2-31.
• Longest road trip is four games from Oct. 17-25 at Lindenwood, Boston College and Northeastern.
• Has two, season-long four-game homestands: Jan. 2-10 vs. Maine and Western Michigan and Jan. 23-31 vs. St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth.
• Hosting an ACHA squad in an exhibition for the fifth-straight season and will be playing UNLV for the third time (2022-23, 2024-25).
• The NCHC Tournament will be held entirely on campus sites for the first time, with the higher seed in each round of the three-weekend tournament having home-ice advantage.
• Denver is hosting NCAA Regionals at Blue Arena in Loveland, Colorado, and will play at the home of the AHL's Colorado Eagles if they earn a national tournament berth.
• NCAA Frozen Four is April 9-11 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, with North Dakota serving as hosts. 

DENVER IN THE DRAFT: Incoming freshmen Kristian Epperson and Brendan McMorrow were both selected by the Los Angeles Kings in the 2025 NHL Draft on June 28.  Epperson was chosen 88th overall in the third round while McMorrow was picked at No. 196 in round 7.
 
This is the 24th straight year that Denver has had a player chosen in the NHL's annual entry selection, and the Pioneers have now had multiple picks in each of the last 10 drafts. It is the second-straight summer that Denver has had two players selected by the same NHL franchise in the draft, as Jake Fisher (No. 121) and Tory Pitner (No. 185) were each picked by the Colorado Avalanche in 2024.
 
Denver's 14 NHL Draft picks on its roster are the third-most in the NCAA behind Boston University (19) and Michigan State (15).
 
BALL ARENA SHOWDOWN COMING IN NOVEMBER: The University of Denver will host the Minnesota Golden Gophers at NHL's Ball Arena on Saturday, Nov. 29 at 7 p.m. MT in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game.  The initial announcement of the Pioneers hosting was on April 15, 2024 and the exact date was finalized on July 16, 2025 following the release of the Colorado Avalanche NHL schedule. 
 
The DU hockey program will serve as the host of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game for the third time in its history and will be playing in the contest for the fourth time.  DU previously hosted the games at Magness Arena on Oct. 11, 2008 vs. Notre Dame (5-2 win) and Dec. 29, 2012 vs. Boston University (6-0 win).  The Pioneers previously played Minnesota in the USHHOF Game on Oct. 9, 2004 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. (5-2 loss).
 
Denver will be playing its second-ever game at Ball Arena since the building first opened in 1999.  The Pioneers defeated in-state rival Colorado College 2-0 in their first regular-season game at the arena on Jan. 27, 2023 in front of a crowd of 17,952—the highest attended indoor hockey game in the state of Colorado in DU history.
 
It will be a double-header of hockey at Ball Arena on Nov. 29 as the Avalanche hosts the Montreal Canadiens earlier that day at Ball Arena at 1 p.m. MT.
 
INKING DEALS: Seven Pioneers signed professional contracts in the days, weeks and months following the 2024-25 season:
   •  Aidan Thompson – Chicago Blackhawks (April 12, 2025)
   •  Jack Devine – Florida Panthers (April 12, 2025)
   •  Zeev Buium – Minnesota Wild (April 13, 2025)
   •  Carter King – Calgary Flames (April 14, 2025)
   •  Jared Wright – Los Angeles Kings (April 14, 2025)
   •  Matt Davis – AHL's San Jose Barracuda (April 21, 2025)
   •  Connor Caponi – UK's EIHL Cardiff Devils (July 7, 2025)
 
TICKETS: Single-game tickets and 5-game mini plans for DU hockey's 2025-26 campaign are on sale now. Click here for more information.