DENVER – The No. 6-ranked University of Denver hockey team opens the 2025 postseason this weekend as the Pioneers host the Colorado College Tigers in a best-of-three series in the NCHC Quarterfinals at Magness Arena.
 
Friday's game at 7 p.m. MT is sold out and limited tickets for Saturday's 6 p.m. contest are still available. Tickets for a possible Game 3 on Sunday at 6 p.m. MT will go on sale at the conclusion of Game 2 on Saturday night. DU is the No. 3 seed in the Frozen Faceoff Tournament while CC is the sixth seed.
 
Each of the three games of the series will be broadcast on NCHC.tv. The radio broadcast can be heard on Denver Sports 104.3 The Fan HD3. 

This weekend is also another "White Out" and fans are encouraged to wear white for each game.
 
The Pioneers and Tigers get set to play for the second consecutive weekend after the teams wrapped up the regular season against one another in a home-and-home series last week. DU swept the two-game set by winning 4-1 on Friday in Denver and 4-3 on Saturday at Ed Robson Arena in Colorado Springs.
 
Denver won the Gold Pan trophy for the sixth straight year by going 3-1-0 in the four-game regular season series against CC. It was the 18th time that DU has earned the hardware since the trophy began in circulation in 1993-94.
 
Eric Pohlkamp led the Pioneers on Friday night with a career-high four points (one goal, three assists), including three points in the third period to help DU break a 1-1 tie en route to the victory. On Saturday, Jack Devine (one goal, one assist), James Reeder (one goal, one assist), Sam Harris (two assists) and Aidan Thompson (two assists) all had two points as Denver held off a third-period rally by the Tigers.
 
DU earned its 200th all-time victory against CC on Saturday and leads the all-time series 200-124-21 in the second-most played rivalry in college hockey with 345 meetings. The squads will at least match Michigan and Michigan State (347 games) for the most-played series this weekend.
 
The teams will be meeting in the NCHC playoffs for the first time since Colorado College won 1-0 in the 2023 Frozen Faceoff Semifinals at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota, and the squads will square off for the third time in the conference quarterfinals. The Pioneers swept the first round series in two games in 2017 at home and won the final two contests in 2018 to take that series in three outings at Magness.
 
DU and CC last met in this situation—closing the regular season against one another and then playing in the first round of the conference tournament—in 2004 in the WCHA Playoffs.
 
Denver is hosting a best-of-three series in the quarterfinals for the ninth straight full tournament and has won 11 straight opening round contests. DU has a 28-9-1 all-time record in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff Tournament and is 16-4 in its last 20 games.
 
The winner of this weekend's playoff series will secure a spot in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff Semifinals at Xcel Energy Center—this is the final year that the postseason tournament will be held at the home of the NHL Minnesota Wild before moving to campus sites in 2026. Denver is the only conference squad to reach the semifinals in each of the 10-held NCHC Tournaments.
 
 
LAST TIME OUT: Denver swept the home-and-home series last weekend against then-No. 20 Colorado College, winning 4-1 on Friday at Magness Arena and 4-3 on Saturday at Ed Robson Arena in Colorado Springs.  Sam Harris scored the game-winning goal in the third period to break a 1-1 tie on Friday and defenseman Eric Pohlkamp had a career-high four points (1g/3a) that night as well.
 
Four different Pioneers recorded multiple points on Saturday—Jack Devine (1g/1a), Aidan Thompson (0g/2a), Sam Harris (0g/2a), James Reeder (1g/1a)—as DU led 4-1 in the third period and then held off the Tigers comeback in the final 10-plus minutes. Goaltender Matt Davis made 22-of-23 saves on Friday and then stopped 32 shots on Saturday night.
 
PIOS NAMED PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: A pair of Pioneers earned conference honors on Monday as the final conference weekly awards of the season were announced.  Sophomore Eric Pohlkamp was named NCHC Defenseman of the Week and senior Matt Davis was recognized as Goaltender of the Week.
 
Pohlkamp earned his third D-man of the Week award of the year after recording a career-high four points (1g/3a) on Friday vs. Colorado College and totaling three blocks in the weekend series.  Davis grabbed his third top goalie honor of the campaign and the fifth of his career by stopping 54-of-58 shots in the series sweep of the Tigers
 
POHLKAMP'S POINTS: Defenseman Eric Pohlkamp recorded a career high with four points last Friday vs. Colorado College on a goal and three assists.  His trio of helpers matched a career best that he set earlier this year on Nov. 8 vs. Lindenwood, and Friday's performance marked his fourth game with three or more points of his NCAA tenure, with three of them coming this season (also Nov. 1 at Yale, 2g/1a).
 
Pohlkamp recorded three of his points in the third period (1g/2a), marking the second time this year that he's registered a trio of points in a single frame and the fourth time overall by a DU player in 2024-25.  The Baxter, Minnesota, native owns 18 points (4g/14a) in his last 16 games and ranks second among defensemen on the team in scoring behind Zeev Buium.
 
Buium was the last DU blueliner to record four points in an outing on Jan. 20, 2024 at Omaha (1g/3a).
 
GOING 50-50: Senior Jack Devine reached the 50-point threshold on Saturday night at Colorado College to record back-to-back 50-point seasons.  Devine had a career-high 56 points (27g/29a) last season in what was just the third 50-point campaign since 2012: Henrik Borgstrom in 2017-18 (52) and Bobby Brink in 2021-22 (57).
 
This is the first time that a Denver player has recorded consecutive 50-point seasons in nearly 35 years Daryn McBride was the last Pioneer to do it in 1987-88 (58) and 1988-89 (51).
 
DEVINE AMONG THE PIONEERS' BEST ALL-TIME: Senior forward Jack Devine became the highest-scoring Pioneer in the modern era and joined a select group of players with 50 goals, 100 assists and 150 points in their career.
 
Devine had a goal and an assist on Saturday at Colorado College to reach the 100-career assist mark and surpass Gabe Gauthier (2002-06) for 16th place on the school's all-time scoring list; He is two points shy of a tie for 15th place and three out of 14th.  The Glencoe, Illinois' 156 points (56 goals, 100 assists) in 154 career games are the most by a DU skater since 1999 and ranks second among active NCAA players in scoring, with only Arizona State graduate student Lukas Sillinger having more with 158 points.
 
The forward became just the 10th Pioneer in the school's 50-100-150 point club and the first to join that group since Dave Shields from 1986-1990 (71g/108a). He is the 12th skater in DU history with record 100 career assists, with Shields being the last to do it.
 
Devine scored his 50th career goal on Feb. 1 against Omaha to become the 61st player in school history to reach the half-century mark.  Devine's former teammate Cole Guttman was the previous Pioneer to tally 50 career goals on Feb. 11, 2022 against Minnesota Duluth.

SAMMY SCORING: Sophomore Sam Harris became the 11th player in the NCAA this season to reach the 20-goal threshold after tallying the game-winning marker on Friday against Colorado College.
 
Harris is tied for third in the NCAA with seven-game winners this year and is in a six-way tie for the fourth-most in a single campaign in program history.  He is one deciding tally away from joining Jarid Lukosevicius (2016-17), Joe Colborne (2009-10) and Dwight Mathiasen (1985-86) for the most in a season in DU's annals since the statistic first began being tracked in 1976-77.  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 also leads the Pioneers with nine power-play goals, which is tied for the third-most in the country.
 
NOTABLES

• Denver earned its nine weekend series sweep of the season and first since Feb. 21-22 at Miami.
• The Pios are now 6-2-0 in the last eight meetings against the CC Tigers and picked up their 200th victory in program history against their rivals from the south. Denver owns a 200-124-21 all-time record over Colorado College.
• Colorado College's 25 shots on goal on Saturday were the most the Pioneers faced in a period this season.
• Matt Davis made 23 saves in the third period of Saturday for his most stops in a single frame since he also denied 23 shots in the third period of last year's NCAA Championship Game against Boston College on April 13, 2024.
• Davis surpassed George Kirkwood on Denver's all-time wins list by a goaltender and is now tied for seventh place with Rodney Schneck (1956-59) with 58 career victories.
• DU wrapped up a three-game homestand last Friday (2-1-0), which was the team's second-longest of the season behind its four-game homestay from Oct. 18-26.
• Carter King played in his 150th career game last Friday to become the 72nd Pioneer in program history to reach the mark and the third this season (Connor Caponi, Jack Devine).
• Samu Salminen's power-play marker at 2:57 of the first period on Friday marked the fastest goal to begin a game this season for DU.
• DU has sold out each of its 18 home games during the regular season with Saturday's attendance being 7,023.

PIONEERS IN THE NCHC FROZEN FACEOFF TOURNAMENT: Denver has a 28-9-1 all-time record in the NCHC Tournament and is the only squad to reach the conference's semifinals in each of the previous 10-held tournaments. 
 
The Pioneers have won 11 straight quarterfinal games dating back to Game 2 against CC on March 10, 2018.  Denver has swept Minnesota Duluth (2024), Miami twice (2023, 2022) and North Dakota (2019) and won a one-game quarterfinal matchup against Omaha (2021) in the last five-held tournaments.  Overall, the Pios are 19-2 all-time in the opening round of the NCHC Tournament and own seven series sweeps.
 
DU won last year's NCHC Frozen Faceoff to claim its third such title and 18th overall conference tournament championship (15 with WCHA).  The Pioneers have won each of their three appearances in the NCHC Final, as they also won the inaugural tournament in 2014 over Miami at Target Center in Minneapolis; 2018 vs. St. Cloud State at the first iteration of the event at Xcel Energy Center and 2024 vs. Omaha at the X.
 
DU VS. CC ON BACK-TO-BACK WEEKENDS: Denver and Colorado College are set to meet in the first round of the playoffs after playing the week prior for the first since March 5-13, 2004.  DU won both regular-season contests in that home-and-home set before CC swept the Pios at Magness Arena in the WCHA first round—though Denver went on to win the national championship.
 
The squads were scheduled to play four games in a row to close out the COVID-shortened 2020-21 campaign, but the final two outings that year on March 4-6 were cancelled.
 
DU last faced a team in back-to-back weeks in 2015-16 when the Pioneers swept the Omaha Mavericks at home to close the main campaign before winning in two games in the NCHC Quarterfinals.
 
IN THE CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT VS. CC: Denver and Colorado College have faced off in 28 previous games in the conference tournament, with the Pioneers owning a 16-12 record in such games.  The in-state rivals have played 10 times/series previously in either the NCHC or WCHA first round/quarterfinal games, with DU going 11-10 in such outings.
 
The squads have played seven games in the NCHC Playoffs, including twice in the quarterfinal series (DU 5-2 in those games). The teams last met in the opening round in 2018, when DU rallied from a 1-0 deficit to win the series 2-1 at home. The Pios swept the series in two games the previous year in 2017 at Magness.
 
Denver and Colorado College are meeting for the first time in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff Tournament since March 17, 2023 when CC won 1-0 in the semifinals at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.
 
GOLD PAN WON: Denver won the Gold Pan trophy over Colorado College for the sixth straight year after going 3-1-0 in the four-game season series.  Each team won in its own barn to split the initial home-and-home set on Dec. 13-14 before DU swept the series to close the regular season on March 7-8.
 
In circulation since 1993-94, the Gold Pan is given to the team that wins the season series between the in-state rivals.  DU has now captured it 19 times compared to CC's 13.
 
HISTORY VS. CC: Denver and Colorado College are set to at least tie Michigan and Michigan State this weekend as the most played rivalry in college hockey history.  DU leads the all-time series at 200-124-21 after 345 games and trail the Wolverines' and Spartans all-time matchups by just two outings (347 games).  Denver is 9-3-0 in the last 12 contests against its in-state foe and sports a 21-4-1 mark in the last 26 games versus the Tigers since the start of the 2014-15 campaign.  At home, the Pios have a 116-54-11 mark against the Tigers and have won 12 straight "home" outings dating back to Dec. 13, 2019, which includes 2-0 victory at Ball Arena in downtown Denver on Jan. 27, 2023.  The Pioneers own a 78-66-10 record in road games and is 169-98-21 all-time against the Tigers in conference play.  The teams have met just once in the NCAA Tournament, with DU winning 6-2 in the 2005 Frozen Four Semifinals in Columbus, Ohio, and went on to win the national title two days later over rival North Dakota.
 
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 (which included defeating CC in the semifinals) ... Garrett Brown and Philippe Blais-Savoie are both from San Jose, Calif. … Brown played with Gavin Lindberg with the USHL Waterloo Black Hawks at the end of the 2022-23 season … 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 Jack Devine from 2019-2021 … Devine also 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 … Boston Buckberger was a teammate with Tyler Dunbar in Lincoln at the end of the 2022-23 campaign … Cooley played with Matt Davis on the AJHL's Spruce Grove Saints from 2018-2020 … DU's Kieran Cebrian (2020-2023) and Cale Ashcroft (2022-2023) were teammates with Drew Montgomery (2020-2023) and Philippe Blais-Savoie (2022-23) with the USHL Tri-City Storm … Paxton Geisel was teammates on the Dubuque Fighting Saints with Ryan Beck (2021-22), Max Burkholder (2021-2023), Fisher Scott (2022-23) and Riley Stuart (2021-2023) … Geisel played with Ryan Koering on USHL Muskegon Lumberjacks to start 2023-24 … CC has two players from Colorado on its roster in Kaiden Mbereko (Aspen) and Fisher Scott (Carbondale), while DU has three in Kieran Cebrian (Denver), Peter LaJoy (Evergreen) and Aidan Thompson (Fort Collins).
 
SCOUTING THE TIGERS: Colorado College fell out of the USCHO.com poll as it finished the regular season with a 17-16-1 overall record.  The Tigers ended up sixth in the NCHC standings with 32 points and an 11-12-1 conference mark.  Last weekend's games against DU came after the Tigers had their final bye weekend of the season following a series split at St. Cloud State.  CC enters the postseason with three straight losses.  The Tigers owned a 6-10-1 mark in road contests during the main campaign.  Owen Beckner enters the series as CC's leading scorer with 26 points (7g/19a) and is tied with Max Burkholder for the team lead in assists with 19; Burkholder is second in points with 25 (6g/19a). Drew Montgomery is the squad's leader in goals with 10 and has also added eight assists. Ten players have scored six more goals this season.  Goaltender and 2024 All-American Kaidan Mbereko has started 29 games and owns a 14-14-1 record, 2.60 goals-against average, .905 save percentage and two shutouts.
 
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 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 Ohio State's Value City 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.
 
PIONEERS ON THE ALL-NCHC TEAM: Six Denver players were recognized with All-Conference honors, as defenseman Zeev Buium (unanimous) and forward Jack Devine were named to the First Team, forward Aidan Thompson was selected to the Second Team and forwards Sam Harris and Carter King and defenseman Eric Pohlkamp were chosen to the Third Team. 
 
DU's two first-team members and six total honorees were each the most by any squad in the entire conference. Both Buium and Devine repeated as First-Team members, while the rest of the Pioneers were first-time recipients from the NCHC (Pohlkamp, First Team All-CCHA in 2023-24).
 
AND THE AWARD GOES TO: The Pioneers are finalists for six end-of-season awards from the NCHC, which will be announced at the awards celebration on Thursday, March 20 prior to the Frozen Faceoff in St. Paul, Minnesota.

• Player of the Year: Zeev Buium
• Senior Scholar Athlete Award: Matt Davis
• Forward of the Year: Jack Devine
• Offensive Defenseman of the Year: Zeev Buium
• Defensive Forward of the Year: Carter King
• Sportsmanship Award: Jared Wright 

BUIUM IN THE BOOK: Sophomore Zeev Buium owns 88 career points and is tied with Ryan Caldwell (2000-04) for the 13th for the most in a career by a DU defenseman. He is one point from joining Ian Mitchell (2017-2020) for a tie for 12th place and is seven points from cracking the top 10.
 
Buium's 82 points are the most in the first two seasons by a Pioneer blueliner since Greg Woods had a pair of 52-point campaigns as a freshman and sophomore in 1975-76 and 1977-77.  The second-year player from San Diego also owns has the most points in a two-year period by a Denver rear guard since Matt Carle combined for 97 total points as a sophomore in 2004-05 (44) and as a junior in 2005-06 (53).
 
EVERY NIGHT: Denver had 12 skaters that played in all 36 games during the regular season: Kent Anderson, Cale Ashcroft, Boston Buckberger, Kieran Cebrian Jack Devine, Carter King, Rieger Lorenz, Eric Pohlkamp, James Reeder, Samu Salminen, Aidan Thompson, Jared Wright.  In addition, goaltender Matt Davis suited up in all 36 contests as well, starting 32 of them in net.
 
CAREER HIGHS: The following Pioneers have already set or matched their previous career highs this season:

• Kent Anderson: Assists (7), Points (7)
• Cale Ashcroft: Goals (4), Points (8)
• Boston Buckberger: Goals (7)
• Garrett Brown: Goals (1), Points (4-tied)
• Kieran Cebrian: Goals (5), Points (13-tied)
• Matt Davis: Games/Starts (32), Wins (24)
• Jack Devine: Assists (38)
• Sam Harris: Goals (20), Assists (12), Points (32), PPG (9), GWG (7)
• Carter King: Goals (18), Points (34-tied)
• Eric Pohlkamp: Assists (19), Points (31)
• Samu Salminen: Goals (9-tied), Assists (14), Points (23)
• Aidan Thompson: Goals (17), Assists (29), Points (46), PPG (6), GWG (2-tied) 

The following players are close to tying career highs:

• Cale Ashcroft: 2 assists (6)
• Boston Buckberger: 3 assists (22), 1 point (27)
• Zeev Buium: 3 goals (11)
• Garrett Brown: 1 assist (4)
• Kieran Cebrian: 2 assists (10)
• Jack Devine: 6 points (56)
• Carter King: 3 assists (19)
• Rieger Lorenz: 2 assists (14)
• Eric Pohlkamp: 3 goals (11)

DEVINE NAMED NCHC PLAYER OF THE MONTH: Senior Jack Devine picked up the second monthly honor of the season and of his career as NCHC Player of the Month for February.  Devine led all conference players in the month with 14 points and also tied for first goals (5) and assists (9).
 
The forward had points in seven of the eight games and recorded multiple points in six of the outings, including in the final three of the month. He also reached several major milestones in February as well.
 
Devine was previously named both NCHC Player of the Month in October and went on to earn national monthly honors as well. He is the first DU player to earn NCHC top players honors multiple times in the same season since defenseman Mike Benning in 2022-23 (December, February).
 
MAGNESS MADNESS: Denver sold out each of its 18 home regular-season games in 2024-25, averaging 6,624 fans.  The Pioneers set attendance records on Oct. 18-19 during homecoming weekend against Northeastern, including a new single-game high with a crowd 7,051 on Saturday for its banner-raising ceremony and series finale.  Overall, 13,888 people watched the series sweep of NU—the most for a two-game weekend in school history and breaking the previous mark by more than 1,200 fans.  Denver had a sold-out crowd of 6,455 in attendance for its exhibition vs. ACHA UNLV on Dec. 28.
 
In 2023-24, DU set a home attendance record by averaging 6,130 fans at Magness Arena across 20 games, besting their previous high mark of 6,022 over the course of 24 contests in 2006-07.  Denver had a sold-out crowd of 7,033 for its regular-season finale against Colorado College on March 9, 2024, which at the time was the highest-attended hockey game at Magness Arena in program history.  DU had set its last high mark for attendance in its previous game against CC on Nov. 3 at Magness with a crowd of 7,021.
 
PIONEERS IN THE POLLS: Denver ranks No. 6 nationally in both the USCHO.com and USA Hockey/The Rink Live polls that were both released on Monday.  DU is presently No. 9 in the Pairwise computer rankings that determines the NCAA Tournament field.
 
The NCHC has the second-most teams ranked in the USCHO.com poll with five and has four teams on the USA Hockey/The Rink Live list.  Joining DU is Western Michigan at No. 3/3, Arizona State at No. 12/13, North Dakota at No. 17/18 and Omaha at No. 20/RV.  Colorado College also received votes in the USCHO.com poll.
 
BUCKING THE TREND: Defenseman Boston Buckberger has recorded 13 points in the last 12 games (4g/9a), and his seven goals this season have already surpassed his total as a rookie from a year ago (five).  He tied a career high with three points (1g/2a) on Feb. 14 vs. North Dakota, marking his second career three-point game: Feb. 24, 2024 vs. Miami (0g/3a).
 
Buckberger was named the NCHC Defenseman of the Week on Feb. 24, marking his second career top defender honor and becoming the third Denver D-man to pick up the award this season (3x, Zeev Buium; 3x, Eric Pohlkamp).
 
TRENDS: Denver is...

• 23-3-1 when scoring three or more goals
• 26-6-1 when scoring two or more goals
• 24-2-0 when hold an opponent to two or fewer goals
• 21-5-1 when outshooting an opponent
• 18-3-0 when scoring first
• 20-2-0 when leading after the second period
• 11-2-0 when tied after the first period and 6-1-0 when tied after the second

PIONEERING OFFENSE: Denver is tied with Western Michigan for the NCAA lead in scoring at 3.9 goals per game and is second in total tallies with 141 behind Minnesota (150), which has played three more contests.  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 22 such games overall this season.  The Pioneers have had 16 different players tally this year and 20 of the 22 skaters have registered at least one point.  Denver also has 13 skaters that have reached double digits in points.
 
SENIOR CLASS SETS WINS RECORD: The Pioneers' 2025 senior class is the winningest group in program history with 119 victories.  The class picked up its 113th career victory on Feb. 7 at Arizona State to surpass the 2005 seniors' previous record of 112 wins.  This year's seniors became the 16th class to win at least 100 games when it accomplished that feat on Nov. 1 at Yale.
 
Among the 2025 seniors' accomplishments have been four Gold Pan trophies over rival Colorado College, two Penrose Cups as conference regular-season champions, an NCHC Frozen Faceoff title and two national championships.  The class also owns a 64-12-5 mark in games at Magness Arena.
 

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