PREVIEW: No. 1 Denver Faces Off vs. No. 2 Michigan on Banner Raising Night

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - APRIL 9: during the Division I Men's Ice Hockey Championship held at T-Mobile Arena on April 9, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Tyler Schank/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

Photo by: NCAA Photos via Getty Images

PREVIEW: No. 1 Denver Faces Off vs. No. 2 Michigan on Banner Raising Night

10/14/2026 11:20:00 AM | (1) Ice Hockey

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Blue blood programs face off as the Pioneers begin their 2026-27 home schedule slate

By: Ron Knabenbauer

DENVER – Two of the most-storied programs in college hockey are set to square off at Magness Arena this weekend in a Frozen Four rematch as the No. 1 Denver Pioneers host the No. 2 Michigan Wolverines.

The two teams met six months ago in Las Vegas in the national semifinals on April 9, with the Pios winning 4-3 in double-overtime after then-senior captain Kent Anderson scored the game-winning marker in the longest game in program history. DU captured its 11th national championship and third in a five-year span two days later with a 2-1 comeback victory against Wisconsin.

Denver will raise its 2026 national championship banner to the rafters of Magness Arena in a special ceremony prior to the game on Friday night. Puck drop for the series opener is slated for a little after 7 p.m. MT, and fans should make sure they are in their seats early so they don't miss any of the pregame show. Saturday's series finale is at 6 p.m. MT, and limited tickets for both games are still available.

Both contests between the top two teams in the land will be broadcast on NCHC.tv while Friday's game will also be televised regionally on Altitude 2 and Saturday's series finale will air on Altitude. Longtime DU broadcasters Jay Stickney and Charlie Host will have the television and stream call, while James Mansfield will be on the mic for the radio broadcast on Denver Sports 104.3 The Fan HD3.

Friday's game marks the home opener for the Pioneers and the start of a season-long, six-game homestand. Denver hosts Boston College on Oct. 23-24 as part of homecoming weekend before beginning NCHC play versus Omaha on Oct. 30-31.

DU began the season on Oct. 2-3 at Alaska Anchorage, picking up a weekend sweep with wins of 6-2 and 4-1. Freshman defenseman Daxon Rudolph led the Pioneers with multi-point games in each contest and owns one goal and four assists on the season. Junior Jake Fisher recorded his first two-goal contest in the season opener while senior Sam Harris tallied in both games against the Seawolves.

The Pioneers played an exhibition last week against the U.S. National Team Development Program and won 7-1 after tallying six unanswered goals in the second and third periods.

Michigan is also undefeated on the campaign at 4-0-0 and is coming off a home sweep of Alaska Anchorage. The Wolverines won 10-1 and 7-2 last week at Yost Ice Arena and began the new campaign with a pair of victories versus Bowling Green in a home-and-home series.

DU and UM are former conference foes as they played in the Western College Hockey Association for more than 20 years, but the teams have only faced off four times since 1981—all in the national tournament. Denver is 2-2 in those postseason matchups, which included another Frozen Four semifinal victory in overtime in 2022 in Boston.

Michigan is making its first visit to Denver since the WCHA Playoffs on March 5-7, 1981, with the Wolverines winning 5-2 and 5-4. The squads' last regular-season meeting was Feb. 20-21, 1981 in Ann Arbor, also two UM wins, while the last time the programs faced off at DU in a regular-season series was Feb. 1-2, 1980; the Pios won 9-5 and 4-2.

Denver owns a 48-36-1 all-time record against Michigan, which includes a 27-12-0 mark at home. DU posted a 44-29-1 record versus UM in WCHA regular-season play from 1950-1981.

The Pioneers are getting set to play in just their sixth and seventh No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup since the 1999-2000 season, as the previous time they played in a 1-versus-2 series was on Dec. 9-10, 2016 at home against Minnesota Duluth. In that series, the then-No. 2 Pios won 4-3 in the opener before falling 3-1 to the top-ranked Bulldogs in the finale.

Since 1999, Denver has a 3-2 record in No. 1 vs. No. 2 games, with the Pioneers holding a 1-1 mark as the top team in the country in those matchups. The last time DU was the No. 1 squad and played the No. 2 program was 2002 when the Pioneers split a WCHA regular-season home series with St. Cloud State, winning 5-2 on Feb. 22, 2002 and falling 4-2 on Feb. 23, 2002 at Magness Arena.

STREAKING: The Pioneers are riding a 19-game unbeaten streak (18-0-1) dating back to Jan. 24 of last season, as they went 16-0-1 down the stretch in their championship-winning campaign of 2025-26. The current 19-game run is the fifth-longest in program history and the longest since winning 21 straight contests at the end of 2023-24 and the start of 2024-25 (ranked fourth on the list). The Pios' 17-game unbeaten stretch last season was the fourth-longest in a single season and the longest since going 22-0-0 in 1966-67.

Denver's run to end 2025-26 marked its second stretch of the season where it went at least 12 contests without losing in regulation, as the team had nine wins and three overtime losses from Oct. 31-Dec. 12 in a stretch that included sweeps at defending national champion Western Michigan (Nov. 7-8), against rival Colorado College (Nov. 14-15) and at home versus Miami (Dec. 5-6).

Overall, DU has picked up wins in each of its last 15 games since Feb. 7 in what is the sixth-longest overall win streak in the school annals. The squad's 13 victories to close 2025-26 was tied for the fourth-longest win streak in a single season and the most since the 2016-17 squad also won 13 in a row (1977-78 as well).

Denver finished last year by matching a season best by going unbeaten in its last four true road contests (3-0-1) and by winning its last 10 home games—the longest home-winning stretch in a single season since posting 19 straight victories in its friendly confines from Dec. 8, 1967-March 9, 1968.

HISTORY VS. MICHIGAN: The Pioneers and Wolverines get set to play their first regular-season series against one another in 45 years as the last time the two teams met in the main campaign was Feb. 20-21, 1981 in Ann Arbor when they were both members of the WCHA; Michigan left the conference the following season. The team's last meeting was March 5-7, 1981 in Denver for the WCHA Playoffs, which saw the Wolverines win both. The last time DU and UM played in Colorado in a regular-season series was Feb. 1-2, 1980. Each of the previous four meetings since then have come in the NCAA Tournament, which included UM beating DU 5-3 in the 2002 NCAA Quarterfinals on home ice in Ann Arbor despite the Pioneers being a top seed. The teams have been in two of the past five NCAA Frozen Four Semifinals, with the Pioneers winning both in overtime. DU won 4-3 in double-OT last season on April 9 in Las Vegas after captain Kent Anderson scored the winner and won 3-2 in extra time in 2022 after Carter Savoie tallied the winning marker. That 2022 national semifinal ended a six-game losing streak that Denver had to Michigan. The Pioneers lead the all-time series at 48-36-1 and was 44-29-1 in WCHA play. DU had a 10-game winning streak over UM from Dec. 17, 1957 to Feb. 9, 1962. The Wolverines swept that last series at Denver in 1981 but before that the Pios had been victorious in six straight on home ice. DU holds a 27-12-0 all-time mark in home games against UM, and this weekend marks the first time the maize and blue visit Magness Arena, as the building opened in 1999.

CONNECTIONS: Equipment Manager Nick Meldrum is from Warren, Mich., 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 and were teammates each season with Michigan's Dakoda Rheaume-Mullen … Epperson and McMorrow were also at the NTDP at the same time as Asher Barnett, Will Horcoff, Cole McKinney and Drew Schock in 2023-24 … Paxton Geisel played junior hockey in the state with the USHL Muskegon Lumberjacks to begin the 2023-24 season and was a teammate of Miles Gust … Denver's Max Heise, Eric Jamieson and Ben MacBeath and Michigan's Landon DuPont are all from Calgary, Alberta … DU's James Reeder (Glenville) and UM's Asher Barnett (Wilmette), Miles Gust (Chicago), Cole McKinney (Lake Forest) are all from the Chicagoland area … Sam Harris (San Diego) and Tyler Krivtsov (Santa Clarita) of the Pioneers and Aidan Park of the Wolverines (Playa Vista) are all from Southern California.

PREVIOUS MEETING (APRIL 9, 2026): Senior captain Kent Anderson scored from the slot at 12:03 of the second overtime to back up goaltender Johnny Hicks' 49 saves and lift the Denver Pioneers hockey team to a 4-3 victory in Las Vegas over the No. 1 Michigan Wolverines on Thursday night in a Frozen Four semifinal and keep alive the Pioneers' hopes of winning their third national title in five years. Michigan had hoped to make its first championship appearance since 2011 and win its first championship since 1998. The Wolverines — who outshot the Pioneers 52-26 — also were trying to tie Denver for most overall championships. Denver's Clarke Caswell sent the game into overtime with a goal with 2:46 remaining in regulation and also had an assist. Kyle Chyzowski and Cale Ashcroft also scored, and Hicks — a freshman — set a personal high in saves. Hicks, who entered this game leading the nation with a 1.12 goals-against average and .958 save percentage, stayed in the game after taking a nasty hit early in the third period when teammate Eric Jamieson made contact with Michigan's Malcolm Spence on a rush to the net. Anderson netted his second goal of the season after Kristian Epperson found the defenseman alone in the slot in what was the longest game in program history at 92:35. It was seven seconds longer than the previous record of 92:28 on March 28, 2024 vs. Massachusetts in the NCAA Northeast Regional Semifinals in Springfield, Massachusetts.

SCOUTING THE WOLVERINES: Michigan is the No. 2 ranked team in the country and has received first-place votes in both the USCHO.com (14-of-50) and USA Hockey (1-of-34) media polls. Michigan is 4-0-0 to start the season after picking up a home-and-home sweep vs. Bowling Green on Oct. 2-3 with wins of 7-2 and 4-3 and last weekend at Yost Ice Arena against Alaska Anchorage. UM won 10-1 on Friday vs. UAA before defeating the Seawolves 7-2 on Saturday. The Wolverines are led offensively by former North Dakota player Jayden Perron, who is first on the team with seven goals and 13 points through four games. Michael Hage is second in scoring with 12 points and paces the squad with nine assists. Freshman Landon DuPont has five assists in his introduction to college hockey. Jack Ivankovic has started all four games in net and owns four wins, a 2.00 goals-against average and .938 save percentage. Michigan has two more games vs. NCHC squads this season, with both coming against in-state foe Western Michigan. The teams will meet next Friday, Oct. 23 in Ann Arbor before facing off in an outdoor game at Waldo Stadium in Kalamazoo on Jan. 30. The Wolverines entered last season's NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 overall seed after posting a 31-8-1 overall record and winning the Big Ten Conference Championship.

IN OPENERS: Denver improved to 45-25-8 all-time in season openers and is unbeaten in its last six opening nights dating back to 2021-22 (5-0-1) following its 6-2 win on Oct. 2 at Alaska Anchorage.

The Pioneers began the regular season on the road for the fourth year in a row, which included three such trips to Alaska: 2023-24 in Fairbanks and 2024-25 and 2026-27 in Anchorage. The last time DU began a campaign away from home ice in at least four consecutive seasons was when it did so six years in a row in 2001-02 (vs. Boston College in Alaska), 2002-03 (vs. Michigan State in Omaha), 2003-04 (vs. Ohio State in Dayton, Ohio), 2004-05 (vs. Minnesota in U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game in St. Paul), 2005-06 (at Maine) and 2006-07 (at Miami in Ice Breaker Tournament).

DU will host Michigan in its official home opener on Friday, Oct. 16, where the team will raise its 2026 national championship banner to the arena's rafters. Denver has a 54-18-5 all-time mark in home openers and owns a 20-5-2 record in such contests at Magness Arena. The Pioneers are unbeaten in their last nine home openers (7-0-2) and are 16-1-2 in the last 19 opening nights at Magness.

EXHIBITION RECAP: Denver scored six unanswered goals in the second and third periods to defeat the U.S. National Under-18 Team 7-1 in an exhibition on Saturday at Magness Arena. Freshman Jack Pridham and senior Sam Harris each scored twice for the Pios, while sophomores Kristian Epperson and Eric Jamieson both finished with a marker and an assist. Captain Kieran Cebrian also scored, sophomore Clarke Caswell led the team with three assists and Daxon Rudolph also had a multi-point night with two helpers.

DU was playing the U.S. National Team Development Program for the first time since Oct. 7, 2011, which marked the last instance of the U-18 squad traveling to Denver. The Pioneers improved to 5-0-0 all-time in exhibitions vs. Team USA, 45-25-8 overall in all-time exhibitions and 24-3-3 in such games since Magness Arena opened in 1999.

LAST TIME OUT (FOR REAL): The No. 1-ranked Pioneers kicked off the 2026-27 season with a road series sweep at the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves, with DU winning 6-2 on Oct. 2 and 4-1 on Oct. 3.

UAA's Tye Spencer tallied twice in the opener, including the first of the season just 1:41 into the contest, but DU responded with five different goal scorers finding the back of the net. Jake Fisher scored twice in the third period, freshman defenseman Daxon Rudolph recorded three points (1g/2a) and four other Pios recorded multiple points: Cale Ashcroft (1g/1a), Kieran Cebrian (1g/1a), Kristian Epperson (0g/2a) and Clarke Caswell (0g/2a).

Sam Harris scored the eventual game-winner on Saturday on a redirection off a shot from Rudolph for his second marker of the weekend and began a three-goal, third period for DU. Mikey Berchild and Ryan Miller each netted their first career goals in the third, while fellow rookie D-man Ryan Lin also found the back of the net for the first time late in the first period.

Denver outshot Anchorage 72-32 across the two games, with Johnny Hicks getting the start in goal on Friday and stopping 14-of-16 shots and Tyler Krivtsov recording 15 saves on 16 shots on Saturday in his DU debut and matchup versus his former team.

RUDOLPH IN RARE AIR: In addition to scoring his first collegiate goal on Oct. 2 at Alaska Anchorage—and first tally overall during the season for Denver—freshman defenseman Daxon Rudolph added two assists to finish opening night with three points.

The three-point performance in the season opener marked the first by a DU rookie defenseman and the fourth by a freshman making their collegiate debut since the start of the 1999-2000 season (online records presently don't go back any further). He also finished with a +4 plus/minus rating, matching last season's best mark by a Pioneer (four times).

Forward Emilio Pettersen on Oct. 12, 2018 at Air Force (1g/2a) was the last Denver rookie to have a three-point game in their first NCAA contest, while Luke Salazar on Oct. 11, 2008 against Notre Dame (2g/1a) and Jon Foster on Oct. 12, 2001 versus Boston College (2g/1a) also accomplished the feat on their first opening nights since the turn of the century.

Rudolph's teammate, Eric Jamieson, was the last Pioneer freshman defender to record three points in a contest, as he had a trio of assists in last year's home opener (second game of the season) on Oct. 11, 2025 against Bentley.

The Lacombe, Alberta, native finished the weekend with five points overall, as he had another multi-point outing on Oct. 3 with two assists—including the primary helper on Sam Harris' game-winner—to complete the weekend series at Alaska Anchorage. He picked up his first conference honor on Tuesday as he was recognized as the NCHC Rookie of the Week.

WEEKEND OF FIRSTS: All nine of DU's newcomers saw action over the weekend, with freshmen Mikey Berchild, Blake Fiddler, Max Heise, Rayn Lin, Ben MacBeath, Ryan Miller, Jack Pridham and Daxon Rudolph making their NCAA debut on Friday, Oct. 2, and junior goaltender Tyler Krivtsov starting his first game as a Pioneer and earning his first win in crimson and gold on Saturday, Oct. 3. Krivtsov previously played two seasons for UAA from 2024-2026.

Four Denver players scored their first career goals during the season-opening series in Alaska, with defenseman Rudolph tallying on opening night while fellow rear guard Lin along with forwards Berchild and Miller (empty net) found twine on that Saturday.

Miller recorded his first collegiate point with an assist on that Friday, while forward Jack Pridham and defenseman Ben MacBeath earned their first points with helpers on Saturday.

NOTABLES VS. UAA

DU is now 53-17-7 all-time vs. UAA and 25-8-5 on the road in the series. The Pios own a 16-3-2 record in the past 21 meetings dating back to March 13, 2009, including three in a row over the Seawolves.
The Pioneers are unbeaten in their last six true road games (5-0-1) dating back to Jan. 17 at North Dakota.
Sam Harris scored in both games at UAA and scored his 12th career game-winning tally on OCT. 3.
Jake Fisher tallied twice on opening night on Oct. 2 for his first career multi-goal game and eighth career multi-point outing.
Clarke Caswell registered his sixth career multi-point game on Oct. 2 with two assists.
Kieran Cebrian scored his third career short-handed goal on Oct. 2, which marked the first goal that DU has tallied with the man disadvantage since Brendan McMorrow on Dec. 6 vs. Miami.
Sam Harris (10:58) and Jake Fisher (11:12) scored in a matter of 14 seconds midway through the second period on Oct. 2 for the quickest two goals by the Pioneers since McKade Webster (1:37/2nd-PP) and Aidan Thompson (1:46/2nd) tallied in a nine-second span on Jan. 13, 2023 vs. Miami.

A GOLDEN AGE OF PIONEER HOCKEY: The Pioneers are big fans of even years, as they won their third national championship in the past five years, with 2026 joining their recent title runs in 2022 and 2024.

DU dispatched a pair of Big Ten Conference foes in last year's NCAA Frozen Four in Las Vegas and earned comeback victories in each game. Senior captain Kent Anderson scored in double-overtime on April 9 in a 4-3 win against No. 1 Michigan before senior Rieger Lorenz and freshman Kyle Chyzowski netted third-period markers and goaltender Johnny Hicks didn't allow a goal after the first period, making 29 saves overall in the 2-1 victory on April 11.

Denver has reached the national semifinals four times in the past five years and has made seven trips to the Frozen Four in the previous 10-held tournaments dating back to 2016. This is the third time in their history that the Pios have made the final weekend seven times in 10 years (also 1960-1969 and 1964-1973), and they are the only program to reach the national semifinals seven times in a decade during the current 16-team format of the NCAA Tournament that began in 2003.

The Pios are the first program since Boston College (2008-2012) to win three titles in a five-year span ('08, '10, '12), and counting Denver's win in the 2017 title game, DU (1960-1969) itself was the last program to win four championships in a 10-year span ('60, '61, '68, '69).

Denver's six national championships since 2000 is the most in college hockey (also 2004 and 2005) while its nine trips to the Frozen Four since 2004 are tied for first in the nation with Boston College and North Dakota.

PIONEERS IN THE POLLS: Denver maintained its No. 1 national ranking in both the USCHO.com and USA Hockey media polls that were released on Monday. The Pioneers earned 33-of-50 first-place votes in the USCHO.com rankings and were picked atop the ballot by 33-of-34 voters for the USA Hockey list.

The NCHC led all conferences with four teams in the top 10 and are tied with Hockey East for the most ranked squads overall with five. Joining DU near the top of the poll is North Dakota at No. 4/4 and Western Michigan at No. 6/6. Minnesota Duluth dropped from No. 5/5 to No. 9/9 and Colorado College climbed to No. 12/12 after being at No. 15/15 last week. St. Thomas and Omaha were two other NCHC programs that received votes in the USCHO.com poll.

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN: Senior forward Kieran Cebrian was named the 97th team captain in program history on Sept. 23. This is the first time that the Denver native and former Jr. Pioneer has served as a captain since also wearing the 'C' with the Colorado Thunderbirds 16U AAA in 2019-20.

The two-time national champion is joined by four alternate captains this season in fellow seniors Cale Ashcroft and Sam Harris, junior Jake Fisher and sophomore Kyle Chyzowski. The five Denver players wearing letters are the most by the program in a single season since the team had six team captains for the 1969-70 campaign.

TICKETS: Single-game tickets as well as mini plans and group packages for the DU hockey's championship-defense campaign in 2026-27 are on sale now. Click here for more information.

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