DENVER – The No. 7 University of Denver hockey team hosts NCHC-foe No. 6 Western Michigan this weekend in a two-game series at Magness Arena.
 
Friday's series opener begins at 7 p.m. MT, and Saturday's puck drop is slated for 6 p.m. MT. Both games will be televised regionally on Altitude 2 and will also be broadcast on NCHC.tv. Limited tickets are still available for both games.
 
The Pioneers (12-7-2, 8-2-0 NCHC) currently have 24 points in the NCHC standings, placing them second and one point behind leader North Dakota (25). Denver only has two losses in conference play this year. The WMU Broncos (14-6-0, 6-4-0 NCHC) rank fourth with 17 points and are just two points behind third-place Minnesota Duluth (21).
 
Denver is looking to bounce back after falling to and tying Maine over the weekend. On Friday, Maine edged the Pios 5-2. Boston Buckberger opened scoring for Denver with a power-play goal in the third and earned an assist on Denver's second tally for his fifth multi-point game of the season.
 
The next day, the Pios were ready for redemption. Sam Harris and Kyle Chzowski both hit the back of the net with power-play goals in the first and second periods, respectively, and Eric Pohlkamp advanced the Pioneers into the lead for the first time in the series early in the third and earned an additional helper in the contest as well. The Black Bears were able tie the contest with a few minutes left in regulation and force overtime. Maine managed to take the shootout, 2-1, but the game officially goes down as a tie.
 
Western Michigan shutout Notre Dame twice last weekend, with both games ending with a score of 4-0. Broncos goaltender Hampton Slukynsky finished the series stopping all 51 shots he faced. Western Michigan won the Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off the week before on Dec. 28-29 in Miluwakee. The Broncos defeated No. 12 Boston College 5-3, advancing them to face the No. 2 Wisconsin in the final and went on to beat the Badgers 4-1.
 
Denver holds the all-time series lead over Western Michigan at 29-16-2. The first time the teams faced off was in a two-game series on Nov. 26-27, 1982, with DU earning a sweep with victories of 10-4 and 5-1 at the DU Arena. The Pioneers have only lost to the Broncos three times in Denver, owning a 14-3-1 mark on home ice in the series
 
Earlier this season, DU swept the Broncos on their home ice on Nov. 7-8, as Denver outscored Western Michigan 9-4 in the series. The last time the Pios hosted the Broncos at Magness Arena, the Broncos took a 7-2 win on Feb. 3, 2024.
 
The teams faced off twice in playoff games last season in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff Championship and NCAA Frozen Four at neutral surfaces, with both needing double-overtime to decide the winner.
 
The teams are 5-5-0 in the past 10 matchups against one another.
 
CHYZ ON A HEATER: Freshman Kyle Chyzowski is on a career-long six-game point streak and is coming off multi-point efforts in each game last weekend against Maine—the first time he's recorded multiple points in back-to-back contests.  He had his first career two-assist performance on Friday before picking up his third multi-point game of the campaign on Saturday (1g/1a).
 
Chyzowski has four goals and four assists in the six games since Dec. 5 for the second-longest active point streak in the country and currently the longest by a first-year player.
 
IN POHL POSITION: Junior Eric Pohlkamp leads all NCAA defensemen and ranks top 10 overall in the country with 13 goals this season, and he also currently paces all players at his position with 22 points as well.
 
Pohlkamp's 13 goals on the year already ties him for ninth place in program history for markers by a blueliner in a single season, and it is the second straight year that a DU D-man has scored 13 goals after Zeev Buium also hit that mark in 2024-25.  Mike Benning was the last Pioneer to tally more in a season when he netted 15 in 2021-22.
 
The Baxter, Minn., native leads the Pioneers in both goals and points (22) and is also first in power-play goals (3-tied), game-winning goals (2-tied) and shots (94). He ranks tied for third power-play points (3g/3a) and is second plus/minus rating (+17).
 
His previous career high for goals was 11, which he accomplished each the past two seasons as a sophomore at Denver in 2023-24 and as a freshman at Bemidji State in 2022-23.
 
BUCK GOES WILD: Defenseman Boston Buckberger recorded his fifth multi-point performance of the season last Friday against Maine, and he now has points in 11 of his last 14 games since Nov. 1 (6g/10a) and has registered eight points in the past seven contests (3g/5a).
 
Buckberger recorded five goals in a five-game stretch from Nov. 14-29, which included a career-long, three-game streak from Nov. 14-21.  It was the second time this season that a Denver D-man had tallied in three straight games, as Buckberger joined defensive partner Eric Pohlkamp who did it in four straight from Nov. 1-14. He recorded his first career multi-goal game on Nov. 29 against Minnesota in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game at Ball Arena, including the tying marker in the final 23 seconds to force overtime.
 
The Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, native netted the game-winning marker in both games against Colorado College on Nov. 14-15, including scoring his first overtime-winner in the series opener.  Teammate and fellow rear guard Cale Ashcroft was the last Pioneer to score the game-winning marker in back-to-back regular season contests, as he did it on Dec. 14, 2024 vs. Colorado College and Jan. 3, 2025 at Maine.
 
He also presently ranks second among all NCAA players with a +20 plus/minus rating.
 
MILLER GOES BACK-TO-BACK FOR GOALIE OF THE MONTH: Freshman Quentin Miller was named on Monday the NCHC Goaltender of the Month for December, marking the second straight month where he's earned the recognition.
 
Miller paced all NCHC goalies in wins (3-tied), goals-against average (1.80) and save percentage (.940) in the month (minimum three starts) and recorded his third shutout of the season with 22 saves on Dec. 5 vs. No. 19 Miami.  He stopped 44-of-46 shots in the series vs. Miami on Dec. 5-6 and made 37 saves on 38 shots faced on Dec. 12 at St. Cloud State.
 
He picked up his first top goalie honor in November after posting a 6-2-0 record, 2.08 goals-against average, .932 save percentage and one shutout in eight outings.  Both losses in the month came in overtime, and he allowed two goals or fewer in five of the contests.
 
FRESHMEN DECEMBERS TO REMEMBER: In addition to Miller's outstanding December, several other rookies had memorable moments in the last calendar month of 2025.
 
Forward Kyle Chyzowski registered a point in each of the four games and led all NCHC rookies in the month in goals and points. His three goals came on five shots, including tallying in back-to-back games for the first time in his career on Dec. 5-6 vs. Miami.
 
Center Clarke Caswell (1g/2a) and defenseman Eric Jamieson (1g/2a) each had points in three of the four games (1g/2a) of December, while Brady Milburn (Dec. 12) and Reid Varkonyi (Dec. 13) both scored their first career goals during the series at St. Cloud State.
 
NOTABLES

• Denver and Maine played its first-ever tie on Saturday, with the Pioneers now owning a 10-14-1 all-time record and a 5-6-1 mark on home ice. The Pios are 4-2-1 in the past seven matchups against the Black Bears dating back to Oct. 12, 2007.
• The Pioneers finished non-conference play with a 5-4-2 mark.
• Denver is now 1-3-2 in overtime and 1-1 in the shootout this season
• DU scored multiple power-play goals on Saturday for the second time this season and has tallied on the man advantage in three straight games.  Denver registered six power-play goals in its last six games and eight in its past nine contests.
• Junior Kieran Cebrian played in his 100th game for the Pioneers on Friday night; he is the fourth member of DU's junior class to reach this milestone.
• Eric Pohlkamp played in both games against Maine, just days after suiting up for the U.S. Collegiate Select Team in the Spengler Cup Final on Dec. 31.
• Maine was visiting DU for the first time since the Pioneers won 3-1 to claim the Ice Breaker Tournament championship on Oct. 8, 2022.
• The 5-2 loss on Friday marked DU's first by multiple goals this season.
• Denver blocked 15 shots on Saturday, the third-most in a game this season. The Pios have blocked 15 or more shots in three of the past five contests.
• Brady Milburn blocked a career-high three shots on Saturday.

IT'S MILLER TIME: Goaltender Quentin Miller has started 18 straight games, the most by a DU keeper since Matt Davis played the final 26 to close out the 2023-24 campaign.  Miller didn't lose in regulation in a 12-game stretch from Oct. 31-Dec. 12 (9-3-0), which included allowing one goal or fewer in six outings and a pair of shutouts.  He went on a personal-best, six-game winning streak from Nov. 1-21 and registered career highs in both games at Western Michigan, stopping 35-of-36 shots on Nov. 7 and 41-of-44 pucks his way on Nov. 8.
 
The Montreal, Quebec, native began his collegiate career on a three-game unbeaten streak (2-0-1) and recorded a 117:17 shutout streak by tying Air Force in the season opener on Oct. 10 (1-1) before posting wins at Lindenwood on Oct. 18 (4-0) and Boston College on Oct. 24 (7-3).  Magnus Chrona was the last DU netminder to go unbeaten in his first three career starts, as he won his first seven outings to begin the 2019-20 campaign.
 
Miller's first career victory came in a 19-save shutout and a 4-0 victory at Lindenwood on Oct. 18.  Posting a shutout for your first NCAA win hasn't been an uncommon occurrence in recent years for the Pioneers, as Davis recorded a clean sheet in his first career start on Oct. 16, 2021 vs. Air Force (25 saves) and Freddie Halyk did the same in his win against Air Force on Oct. 28, 2023 (24 saves).
 
HISTORY VS. WESTERN MICHGIAN: Denver and Western Michigan wrap up their four-game regular-season series after the Pioneers swept the first two games of the campaign on Nov. 7-8 in Kalamazoo, winning 3-1 and 6-3.  DU and WMU met in a pair of epic postseason matchups last season with the Broncos winning in double-overtime in both the NCHC Frozen Faceoff Championship Game on March 22 in St. Paul, Minnesota, and in the NCAA Frozen Four Semifinals on April 10 in St. Louis, Missouri.  WMU is set to visit Magness Arena for the first time since Feb. 2-3, 2024 when the teams split the set, with the Pios winning 3-2 before falling 7-2 in the series finale.  DU is 5-5-0 in the last 10 meetings and is 12-6-1 in the past 19 matchups against Western.  Dating back to Nov. 26-27, 1982, the Pioneers lead the all-time series at 29-16-2, with them going 14-3-1 at home and sporting an 11-11 mark at Lawson Arena in Kalamazoo.  The Pios are 24-12-2 in conference games since both teams joined the NCHC in 2023, and Denver holds a 4-2-1 edge in neutral-site contests versus the Broncos.
 
PREVIOUS MEETING (NOV. 8, 2025): The No. 9 Denver hockey team had six different goal scorers to defeat the No. 4 Western Michigan Broncos 6-3 at Lawson Arena in Kalamazoo. DU pushed its winning streak to three-straight games and earned its first two-game series sweep of the season; the Pios won 3-1 against the defending national champion Broncos on Friday.  Rieger Lorenz, Eric Pohlkamp and James Reeder all had a goal and an assist each, while Kieran Cebrian, Kristian Epperson and Sam Harris also tallied.  Samu Salminen had a multi-point night as well with two helpers.  Freshman goaltender Quentin Miller recorded career-high saves for the second consecutive night, with him stopping 41-of-44 shots on Saturday.  After scoring three goals in the third period on Friday, the Pioneers tallied three times in the opening frame in the series finale. DU scored twice more in the second and Cebrian added a sixth on the night for the squad 4:03 into the third.
 
CONNECTIONS: Equipment Manager Nick Meldrum is from Warren, Michigan, graduated from Lake Superior State in Sault Ste. Marie in 2007 and spent two years with the U.S. NTDP when it was in Ann Arbor prior to coming to DU … Kristian Epperson and Brendan McMorrow both played at the U.S. National Team Development Program in Plymouth, Mich., from 2022-2024 … Denver's Kent Anderson, Eric Jamieson and Rieger Lorenz and Western's Sam Huck are all from Calgary, Alberta … Huck previously played with Brendan McMorrow with the USHL Waterloo Black Hawks in 2024-25 and with Rieger Lorenz with the AJHL Okotoks Oilers in 2021-22 … Paxton Geisel began the 2023-24 season with the USHL Muskegon Lumberjacks and was a teammate that year with WMU's Ty Henricks ... Geisel was also teammates on the USHL Dubuque Fighting Saints with Samuel Sjolund in 2021-22 and with Owen Michaels in 2022-23 … James Reeder played with Joona Vaisanen at Dubuque in 2023-24 … Jake Fisher won the USHL Clark Cup championship with Iiro Hakkarainen and Hampton Slukynsky on the Fargo Force in 2023-24 … Eric Jamieson and Tyler MacKenzie were teammates last season with the WHL Everett Silvertips … Garrett Brown played with Zach Bade on the USHL Waterloo Black Hawks at the end of the 2022-23 season … Boston Buckberger was a teammate of Cole Crusberg-Roseen with the USHL Lincoln Stars in 2022-23 … Zach Sharp skated with Sam Harris with the USHL Sioux Falls Stampede to begin 2022-23 before finishing the campaign with Cedar Rapids RoughRiders and was a teammate there with Eric Pohlkamp … Hampton Slukynsky won the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship gold medal on Team USA with David Carle serving as head coach … DU's Samu Salminen (Helsinki) and WMU's Iiro Hakkarainen (Espoo) and Joona Vaisanen (Kirkkonummi) are all from Finland … Sam Harris (San Diego) and Ty Henricks (Mission Viejo) are both from Southern California, while James Reeder (Glenview) and Owen Michaels (Naperville) are from the Chicagoland area … Zaccharya Wisdom played the previous two seasons in Colorado at Colorado College.
 
SCOUTING THE BRONCOS: Western Michigan, the reigning national champions, is riding a five-game winning streak that dates back prior to the holiday break on Dec. 6 at then-No. 4 Minnesota Duluth.  The Broncos beat No. 12 Boston College and No. 2 Wisconsin on Dec. 28-29 in Milwaukee to win the Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off and then dispatched Notre Dame with a pair of 4-0 scores in a home-and-home series last weekend. WMU has a 14-6-0 overall record and a 6-4-0 mark in conference play.  The team is currently fourth in the NCHC standings with 17 points, four behind third-place Minnesota Duluth.  Western has won each of its last three true road games to improve to 7-2-0 as the away team.  The Broncos have won each of their last five in a row away from Lawson Arena and is 9-2-0 away from home this year (road & neutral-site games).  Goaltender Hampton Slukynsky has started all 20 games for WMU and owns a 2.46 goals-against average, .901 save percentage and three shutouts.  His brother, Grant Slukynsky, leads the team with 22 points (5g/17a) and is also first with 17 assists.  William Whitelaw is the top goal scorer with 12 tallies this year and ranks second on the squad with 20 points (12g/8a).
 
TIME FOR HOME COOKING: The 2026 section of Denver's 2025-26 season features plenty of home games at Magness Arena, as the Pioneers will play 11 of its final 16 games in its friendly confines.  DU will play eight-of-10 outings in January on home ice, with a pair of season-long, four-game homestands on Jan. 2-10 and Jan. 23-31.
 
The Pioneers played 12 of its first 19 contests of the season on the road, including 10-of-14 to start the campaign. Their only away contests in 2026 are flights to North Dakota on Jan. 16-17 and Omaha on Feb. 13-14 and a bus trip to Colorado College on Feb. 6.
 
HOME ICE ADVANTAGE: Denver is 77-17-6 in its last 100 contests (.800) at Magness Arena and sports an 84-21-7 record on the DU hilltop since the start of the 2019-20 campaign (11 games).  The Pioneers went 15-5-1 at home during the 2024-25 season, with wins in each of their first six games and going 8-3-1 in the 12 contests after the New Year.
 
PIONEERS IN THE POLLS: Denver ranks No. 7 in both the latest USCHO.com and USA Hockey polls that were released on Monday.  The Pioneers began the year at No. 4 in each preseason media poll and are presently No. 9 in the NPI rankings that will determine this year's NCAA Tournament field.
 
The NCHC has four teams ranked with all four in the top 10, joining the Big Ten as the only conferences to have it.  Overall, the league ranks tied for third for the most teams ranked after Hockey East (6/5) and the ECAC (4/5).  Joining DU in the polls from the conference are North Dakota (4/4), Minnesota Duluth (5/5) and Western Michigan (6/6). Arizona State, Colorado College, Miami and St. Cloud State also earned votes in at least one of the polls.
 
NATIONAL LEADERBOARD

• Eric Pohlkamp leads all NCAA D-men and ranks tied for seventh overall among all skaters in goals (13). His 22 points are first among defensemen in the nation, while his 40 shots lead all NCAA players. He ranks ninth in the country in plus/minus (+17).
• Quentin Miller is tied for first in shutouts (3), tied for sixth in wins (11), tied for 13th in GAA (2.08) and is 15th in Save% (.926).
• Boston Buckberger is second the NCAA in plus/minus rating (+20) while he is sixth in points (19), fifth in goals (6) and tied for seventh in assists (13) for defenseman.
• Eric Jamieson is tied for fifth among all college D-men in goals (6).

MILESTONE MEN: Junior Kieran Cebrian became the fourth Pioneer to play in their 100th career game this season when he reached the milestone last Friday, Jan. 2 vs. Maine.  Boston Buckberger and Sam Harris each appeared in their 100th career games on Nov. 29 vs. Minnesota in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game, while Cale Ashcroft reached the milestone on Dec. 13 at St. Cloud State.
 
Eric Pohlkamp is three away from playing in his 100th career NCAA contest, and senior Rieger Lorenz is three outings from 150 games—he leads all active players in games played.
 
Senior captain Kent Anderson skated in his 125th career game on Dec. 12 at St. Cloud State, while alternate captain Samu Salminen did the same on Dec. 13 vs. the Huskies.
 
DOMINANT DEFENSE: The Pioneers rank tied for fourth in the nation by allowing 2.1 goals against per game.  They have held opponents to one goal or fewer in 10 of the 19 contests this year. 
 
Denver ranks sixth in the country in scoring margin at 1.7, as the team's 3.8 goals for per game are tied for fifth-best in the NCAA.
 
SHOTS ON SHOTS ON SHOTS: The Pioneers lead the nation by averaging 37.2 shots per game and have recorded 40 or more shots in seven contests this season.
 
DU outshot Minnesota 52-25 on Nov. 29 for its second game of the season with 50 or more shots.  The Pioneers outshot the Gophers 25-5 in the first period for its most shots in a period since the start of the 2021-22 season, and it was the largest shot differential for a single frame since they outshot UMass 22-1 in the third period on Oct. 14, 2022.
 
McMORROW REPRESENTS USA AT WORLD JUNIORS: Freshman forward Brendan McMorrow represented the United States at the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship in St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota, in late December and early January.
 
The Lakeville, Minnesota, native total four points (1g/3a) and a +5 plus/minus rating in five games to help the United States to a second-place finish in Group A (3-1-0-0).  McMorrow scored and added an assist on Dec. 29 in a comeback victory vs. Slovakia during pool play.  The Americans ultimately lost in the quarterfinal round to Sweden, the eventual champions of the U20 tournament.
 
Team USA was the defending WJC champs after winning both the 2024 and 2025 tournaments in Sweden and Canada, respectively, with Denver hockey head coach David Carle leading both squads to victory.
 
POHLKAMP SHOWCASES COLLEGE HOCKEY AT SPENGLER CUP: Defenseman Eric Pohlkamp spent his Holiday Break in Davos, Switzerland, playing for the U.S. Collegiate Select Team at the 2025 Spengler Cup from Dec. 26-31.  The junior was one of the first 10 players named to the squad on Oct. 16 and was part of a roster of 25 student-athletes that represented all NCAA hockey at the prestigious international tournament.
 
Pohlkamp averaged 21:49 of ice time and had two goals and one assist at the tourney, including the game-opening marker in the semifinal vs. HC Sparta Praha on Dec. 30 to ignite a 5-3 win and earn USCS a berth into the championship game on New Year's Eve. The U.S. Collegiate Selects lost 6-3 to host HC Davos in the title contest after being tied 3-3 at the second intermission.
 
The D-man wasn't the only DU representative at the tournament, as Associate Director of Sports Medicine Aaron Leu served as the head athletic trainer of the U.S. College Team after being named to the position over the summer.
 
This was the second time an American-based select team has taken part in the Spengler Cup, following a U.S. squad that won the tournament in 1988.  Two Denver players have suited up for Team Canada at the Spengler Cup in recent years as student-athletes, with Massimo Rizzo doing so in 2023 and Ian Mitchell in 2019.
 

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