LAS VEGAS – The Denver Pioneers hockey team is in the NCAA Frozen Four for the third consecutive season and takes on the No. 1-overall seed Michigan Wolverines in the national semifinals on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. MT at T-Mobile Arena.
 
The game will be televised nationally in the United States on ESPN2 and will be available in Canada on TSN+. The local radio broadcast can be heard on Denver Sports 104.3 The Fan HD3 while fans can also list worldwide from Westword One on SiriusXM channel 84.
 
DU secured its berth into the Frozen Four by winning the NCAA West Regional at Blue Arena in Loveland, Colorado, on March 27-29. The No. 2-seed in the region, the Pios shut out No. 3 Cornell 5-0 in the semifinals before defeating NCHC-foe and No. 1-seed Western Michigan 6-2 in the final in what was a rematch of last year's Frozen Four contest in St. Louis, Missouri.
 
In addition to going to three straight, the Pioneers are in the Frozen Four for the fourth time in the past five years, and the program is making its seventh trip in the last 10 held tournaments. Michigan was the last team to go to three straight national semifinals from 2022-2024, while Boston College was the last squad to make seven Frozen Fours in a decade as the Eagles went to eight in an 11-year span from 1998-2008. Denver is the only team to accomplish the feat during the current 16-team NCAA Tournament format that began in 2003.
 
Denver's 10 national championships are the most in college hockey while Michigan's nine title ranks second. The teams are former members of the original WCHA before the Wolverines left in 1981. The teams have only met three times in the 45 years since, with each occurring in the national tournament.
 
Thursday's Frozen Four will be a rematch from 2022 when the Pioneers won 3-2 in overtime in the national semifinals in Boston. DU went on to beat top-seed Minnesota State two days later to claim its ninth national title to tie UM for the most championships at the time.
 
Top-seed Michigan owns a 31-7-1 overall record and is the only NCAA program with 30 or more wins this season. Like the Pioneers, the Wolverines won their conference tournament championship by beating rival Ohio State in the Big Ten Final on March 21 before earning wins against Bentley and Minnesota Duluth in the NCAA East Regional on March 27-29 in Albany, New York.
 
Denver leads the all-time series at 47-36-1 but is 1-3 in national tournament matchups versus Michigan. The Wolverines picked up victories over the Pioneers in the 1999 and 2002 NCAA Quarterfinals and the 1964 national title game.
 
Las Vegas is hosting the NCAA Frozen Four for the first time, and this is the first championship weekend to be held in the Pacific Time Zone since Anaheim, California, hosted the event in 1999.
 
The Pioneers have only left Colorado once since the end of January (Feb. 13-14 at Omaha) and won't have to travel far this week as Las Vegas is just 629 miles from home. It is the closet national semifinal that DU has been a part of since 1969 when it had to travel approximately 70 miles down the road to Colorado Springs where the team went on to defeat Harvard and Cornell to claim its fifth title.
 
The other Frozen Four contest also features a matchup between squads from the NCHC and Big Ten as No. 2-overall seed North Dakota faces three-seeded Wisconsin in the early game on Thursday at 3 p.m. MT. UND is the host institution for this year's Frozen Four in Las Vegas.
 

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LAST TIME OUT: Denver punched its ticket to the NCAA Frozen Four with a 6-2 victory against the defending-national champion Western Michigan Broncos on March 29 at Blue Arena in Loveland, Colo.
 
Denver scored four goals in the first period in an offensive blitz of NCHC-foe WMU and freshman goaltender Johnny Hicks made 26 saves to earn Regional Most Outstanding Player honors and remain unbeaten on the campaign at 14-0-1.  Freshman Kyle Chyzowski recorded a career-high three points (2g/1a), Kieran Cebrian, Eric Pohlkamp and Brendan McMorrow each had a goal and assist, while Samu Salminen and Sam Harris also tallied.
 
WMU was able to cut the DU lead to 2-1 and 4-2, but two third-period tallies from Cebrian and Pohlkamp were enough to seal the Pioneers' victory in front of the pro-DU crowd of 6,007 in Northern Colorado.
 
ROLL PIOS: Denver is unbeaten in its last 15 games with a 14-0-1 record since Jan. 24 vs. St. Cloud State.  The Pios' current run is tied for the fourth-longest in a single season in DU history and the longest since the 2016-17 national championship squad went on a 15-game run (12-0-3) from Oct. 14-Dec. 9, 2016. The last time DU had an unbeaten streak longer than 15 games in one season was 1966-67 when the program won a record 22 in a row.
 
This is the second time this season that Denver has gone at least 12 contests without losing in regulation, as the team went 9-3-0 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).
 
The Pioneers' current 11-game overall win streak is their longest of the campaign and longest since going 12-0-0 to start 2024-25.  DU finished by matching a season best by going unbeaten in its last four 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.
 
REGIONAL FIREPOWER: The Pioneers outscored their opponents 11-2 in the two games at NCAA West Regionals in Loveland, defeating Cornell 5-0 in the semifinals on March 27 and Western Michigan 6-2 in the final on March 29.  It was the most goals that Denver had scored in the first two rounds of the tournament since also scoring 11 in the 2017 Regional contests vs. Michigan Tech (5-2) and Penn State (6-1).
 
Additionally, the plus-9 goal margin in the first two rounds is the largest for Denver since 1961 when only four teams made the tournament. The  Pios had a plus-15 goal differential after defeating Minnesota 6-1 and St. Lawrence 12-2 en route to the national title.
 
DU's five goals scored in the Regional Semifinal vs. Cornell was its most in an NCAA Tournament game since it also scored five last year in a 5-2 win vs. Providence in the Northeast Regional Semifinals in Manchester, N.H., and its five-goal margin of victory was the squad's largest since beating Notre Dame 6-1 in the 2017 Frozen Four Semifinals in Chicago, Ill.  It was also DU's eighth shutout in its history of the NCAA Tournament and first since beating Boston College 2-0 in the 2024 National Championship Game in St. Paul, Minn.
 
Denver's six goals scored against Western Michigan in the Regional Final were its most in an NCAA Tournament game since that 6-1 win over Notre Dame in the 2017 Frozen Four, and its four goals in the first period were its most in a single frame by any NCAA team in the national tournament since DU did it itself with five goals in the third period in the 2022 championship game vs. Minnesota State.
 
REGIONAL HONORS: Denver goaltender Johnny Hicks was named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA West Regional in Loveland, Colo., after making 50-of-52 total saves in wins vs. Cornell and Western Michigan, which included a 24-save shutout on March 27 vs. Cornell.
 
Hicks, who was also named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCHC Frozen Faceoff Tournament the week prior, was joined on the Loveland Regional All-Tournament Team by defenseman Cale Ashcroft and forwards Clarke Caswell, Kieran Cebrian and Sam Harris (WMU D Zach Bookman was also honored).  Harris, Caswell and Cebrian each combined for two goals and an assist while Ashcroft had two helpers in the Regional Final vs. WMU.
 
PIONEERS IN THE FROZEN FOUR: Denver is in its 21st Frozen Four and has reached the national semifinals for a third-straight season, the first time the program has accomplished the feat since 1971-1973.  DU is looking to extend its NCAA record with an 11th national championship this week.
 
The Pioneers are aiming to make their 14th NCAA Championship Game, as they own a 13-7 all-time record in the national semifinals.  In title games, DU has a 10-3 record, winning each of its last five trips to the final.  The Pios played in four third-place games (when that was a thing) from 1966-1986 and went 2-2 in such contests.
 
Denver has made seven of the last 10 Frozen Fours dating back to 2016 (was not played in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic), winning the championship in 2017, 2022 and 2024.  DU's participation in the 1973 Frozen Four was officially vacated by the NCAA Committee on infractions; those results are still being counted in the above totals.
 
CONSISTENT ROAD TO THE FROZEN FOUR: Denver is the Frozen Four for the third-straight season and the fourth time in the last five years.  DU and Michigan have both made the national semifinals in four of the previous five seasons, with the Wolverines also being the last team to go in three consecutive years (2022-2024).
 
The Pioneers have made seven trips to the Frozen Four in the last 10 held tournaments, marking the 11th such instance by a program in NCAA history.  DU has done it twice before in its history, with the squad going seven times from 1960-1969 and 1964-1973—but only four teams made the tournament back then.
 
Denver is the only program to reach the national semifinals seven times in a decade in the current 16-team format of the NCAA Tournament that began in 2003.  Boston College was the last college squad to accomplish the feat as they reached eight Frozen Fours in an 11-year period from 1998-2008.
 
EXPERIENCE AT THE FROZEN FOUR: The Pioneers have 13 players with previous Frozen Four experience on this year's roster, with seniors Kent Anderson and Rieger Lorenz and juniors Kieran Cebrian and Sam Harris having previously played in three semifinal or final games.
 
Eight players made their Frozen Four debuts in last year's national semifinal vs. Western Michigan in St. Louis: Cale Ashcroft, Garrett Brown, Hagen Burrows, Jake Fisher, Tory Pitner, Eric Pohlkamp, James Reeder and Samu Salminen.
 
Overall, DU has seven skaters that were a member of its 2024 championship squad in Boston Buckberger, Anderson, Ashcroft, Brown, Cebrian, Harris and Lorenz.  Buckberger was hurt and did not play in last year's national tournament (upper body).
 
DENVER, THE KINGS OF COLLEGE HOCKEY: The Pioneers have been among the top programs since the turn of the century as their five national titles since 2000 are the most among all collegiate squads. Boston College is second with four.
 
Since 2004, Denver's nine Frozen Four appearances are tied with Boston College and North Dakota for the most in the NCAA in that time.  DU (5), BC (3) and Minnesota Duluth (3) are the only programs to win multiple national championships since 2004.
 
DU IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: Denver is in the national tournament for the 35th time in program history and has reached the Big Dance in now 17 consecutive full seasons since 2008.  The Pioneers have made it to the NCAA Frozen Four in now four of the past five seasons and seven times in the last 10 held tournaments (2016, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2024, 2025, 2026).  DU's 10 overall national titles are the most in college hockey, with the program also owning the most since the turn of the century (five).
 
Denver has a 48-26 all-time record in the NCAA Tournament and is 19-4 dating back to 2017 and 22-6 in its past 28 tournament contests since 2015. Head coach David Carle owns a 14-3 all-time mark in 17 NCAA games since taking over in the 2018-19 campaign.  DU has posted a 23-12 all-time record in opening-round games after it defeated Cornell on March 27 in the West Regional Semifinals in Loveland, Colo.
 
NCAA TOURNAMENT EXPERIENCE: Senior forward Rieger Lorenz has the most experience in the NCAA Tournament among active players with 10 games played over the past four seasons.
 
Denver senior Kent Anderson and juniors Kieran Cebrian and Sam Harris are tied for second among active players with nine contests, along with former Pioneer Tristan Lemyre of Minnesota State (Lemyre scored a key goal for DU in the 2024 Regional Semifinals vs. UMass in Springfield, Mass., en route to that year's national title).
 
Eight Pioneers played in their first career NCAA Tournament game on March 27 during the Regional Semifinals vs. Cornell: Clarke Caswell, Kyle Chyzowski, Kristian Epperson, Johnny Hicks, Eric Jamieson, Brendan McMorrow, Brady Milburn and Reid Varkonyi.
 
DENVER VS. MICHIGAN IN THE NATIONAL TOURNAMENT: DU (10) and UM (9) rank first and second for the most National Championships in college hockey and are set to meet for just the fifth time in the NCAA Tournament.  The Pioneers are 1-3 in the previous four matchups, with their only victory coming in that last meeting with a 3-2 overtime victory in the 2022 Frozen Four Semifinals in Boston, Mass.
 
Each of Denver and Michigan's previous three contests in their all-time series have come in the national tournament, with the Wolverines winning by 5-3 scores in both the 1999 Quarterfinals in Worcester, Mass., and in the 2002 Quarterfinals on home ice in Ann Arbor.  The teams also met in the 1964 national championship game, with Michigan winning 6-3 in Denver at the old DU Ice Arena.
 
HISTORY VS. MICHIGAN: The Pioneers lead the all-time series with a 47-36-1 record, which included a 10-game winning streak from Dec. 17, 1957 to Feb. 9, 1962.  This will be the first meeting since DU and UM faced off in the 2022 Frozen Four and just the third matchup in the last 44 years.  Each of the teams' previous three meetings have come in the NCAA Tournament, with Michigan winning by 5-3 scores in both the 1999 first round and 2002 quarterfinals before Denver won that last national semifinal game by a 3-2 margin in overtime in Boston.  The only other NCAA matchup between the squads was in the 1964 championship game when the Pios lost 6-3 on home ice at the old DU Arena.  The Pioneers are 4-6 in the last 10 games of the all-time series, with UM winning six straight from 1981-2002.  The teams haven't played in the regular season since they were members of the old WCHA during the 1980-81 season.  Denver went 44-29-1 vs. Michigan in conference play from 1951-1981.  The teams are 1-1 in neutral-site contests, with both coming in the national tournament.
 
SCOUTING THE WOLVERINES: Michigan is the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and owns a 31-7-1 record.  The Wolverines defeated Bentley 5-1 in the Albany Regional Semifinals on March 27 before holding off a Minnesota Duluth comeback to win 4-3 on March 29 in the East Final to advance to their fourth Frozen Four in five years.  UM went 17-6-1 in conference play during the regular season and defeated Notre Dame, Penn State and Ohio State to win the Big Ten Tournament Championship.  Michigan lead all squads with nine players with 10 or more goals this season and lead the NCAA at 4.6 goals per game, 0.5 more than second-place Quinnipiac (4.1).  The Wolverines are the only program in college hockey with two players with 50 or more points, with Hobey Baker Hat Trick finalist TJ Hughes leading the squad with 56 points (21g/35a).  Michael Hage paces UM with 38 assists and is second on the team with 51 points.  Jayden Perron is third with 40 points (17g/23a) and Will Horcoff is fourth with 38 points while leading the Wolverines with 25 goals.  Freshman Jack Ivankovic has started 34 of the 43 games for Michigan and owns a 25-7-1 record, 2.13 goals-against average, .923 save percentage and three shutouts.
 
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 teammate 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 … Boston Buckberger and TJ Hughes played on the Brooks Bandits and won an AJHL Championship together 2021-22 … Brady Milburn and Kienan Draper played for the BCHL Chilliwack Chiefs in 2021-22 … Garrett Brown was a teammate of Garrett Schifsky at the end of the 2022-23 campaign with the USHL Waterloo Black Hawks … 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 of the Pioneers (San Diego) and Aidan Park of the Wolverines (Playa Vista) are both from Southern California … Michigan's Jayden Perron used to play in the NCHC at North Dakota (2023-2025).
 
PREVIOUS MEETING (APRIL 7, 2022): Carter Savoie scored with 14:53 gone in overtime, converting on his own rebound to lead Denver past Michigan 3-2 in the Frozen Four semifinal on Thursday night and into the NCAA championship game at TD Garden in Boston.  Magnus Chrona made 19 saves for the Pioneers, who twice went ahead in regulation, on goals from Brett Stapley and Cameron Wright. But both times Michigan tied it — on goals from Jimmy Lambert and Thomas Bordeleau, the latter with 11 minutes left in regulation.  It stayed that way until Michigan failed to clear the puck from its own zone, with two Wolverines skating past the puck near the blue line, each leaving it for the other.  The puck found its way to Hobey Baker finalist Bobby Brink in the corner.  He centered it to Savoie, who delivered the winner on his second try.  Erik Portillo stopped 30 shots for the Wolverines in the matchup of college hockey's two most decorated programs.  Denver scored first when Stapley picked up a rebound, slid it over to his backhand and easily beat Portillo with eight minutes gone in the first period. Michigan tied it four minutes into the second, when Nolan Moyle dug the puck out from behind the net and sent it in front to Lambert coming across the middle.  Denver took a 2-1 lead when Mike Benning flipped it in from the blue line and Wright it off the post and in.  Michigan tied it with 11 minutes to play in regulation after Mark Estapa threw himself to the ice to block a shot. The puck bounced off him and into the neutral zone, where Michael Pastujov grabbed it and took off.
 
BIG VS. THE BIG TEN: Denver 18-3-4 all-time against Big Ten Conference squads since the league began play in men's hockey in 2013-14, including winning seven of the last eight matchups dating back to the 2018-19 season.  DU is 5-1 in national tournament contests vs. the Big Ten since 2014.
 
In those seven recent wins, the Pioneers earned series sweeps against Wisconsin on the road (Jan. 4-5, 2019) and at home (Oct. 25-26, 2024), defeated Notre Dame in the Ice Breaker Tournament (Oct. 7, 2022), beat Ohio State in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament (March 29, 2019) and topped Michigan in overtime in the 2022 Frozen Four Semifinals (April 7, 2022).  The seven-game win streak ended on Nov. 29 with a 6-5 overtime loss to Minnesota in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game at Ball Arena—the only time the two teams have faced each other since they were members of the WCHA.
 
Denver last played Penn State on March 24, 2018 in the NCAA Regional Semifinals in Allentown, Pa., (won 5-1) and Michigan State on the road on Oct. 21-22, 2016 (2-1 and 3-1 wins).  Ohio State is the only other Big Ten program to defeat Denver since the conference began, winning 3-2 at Magness Arena on Oct. 7, 2017 and 5-1 in the 2018 NCAA Regional Final in Allentown.
 
FACING NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS: The Pioneers are 31-7-3 overall against non-conference opponents since the start of 2023-24 and were unbeaten in 14 straight home games (13-0-1) against non-NCHC squads from Jan. 7, 2023-Oct. 11, 2025 before falling 4-3 in overtime to Alaska Anchorage on Oct. 31, 2025.
 
The Pioneers played 11 total non-conference games during the regular season, going 4-5-2 in those outings.  The team made trips to Boston, St. Louis and down to the Colorado Springs area to play Air Force, while Bentley, Alaska Anchorage and Maine visited Magness Arena during the year.  DU hosted Minnesota in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game at Ball Arena in downtown Denver on Nov. 29.
 
PIONEERS IN THE NHL: Denver has had 15 alums skate in the NHL this season, tied with North Dakota for the fifth-most among all NCAA programs.  Only Michigan has more NHL alums among Frozen Four teams with 25, while Boston College has the most overall in college hockey (26).
 
Four Pioneers have made their NHL debuts this season with Mike Benning and Jack Devine with Florida, Tristan Broz with Pittsburgh and Jared Wright with Los Angeles.  Other DU alums to skate in the National League this season are Bobby Brink (Philadelphia/Minnesota),  Zeev Buium (Minnesota/Vancouver), Devin Cooley (Calgary), Danton Heinen (Columbus/Pittsburgh), Scott Mayfield (NY Islanders), Carter Mazur (Detroit), Dakota Mermis (Toronto), Trevor Moore (Los Angeles), Logan O'Connor (Colorado), Troy Terry (Anaheim) and Jason Zucker (Buffalo).
 
Overall, DU has had 89 all-time players skate in an NHL game and 141 players be drafted by NHL clubs.
 
POHLKAMP NAMED A HOBEY HAT TRICK FINALIST: Junior defenseman Eric Pohlkamp is a Hat Trick Finalist for the Hobey Baker Award as this year's top men's college hockey player.  Pohlkamp is the fourth Pioneer to be named to the Hobey Baker Hat Trick since 2018, joining Henrik Borgstrom in 2018, Bobby Brink in 2022 and Zeev Buium in 2025
 
Joining Pohlkamp as Hat Trick finalists are TJ Hughes of Michigan and fellow NCHC-member Max Plante of Minnesota Duluth.  The award will be presented on Friday, April 10 during the Frozen Four festivities in Las Vegas.
 
Denver has had two previous Hobey Baker Award winners in Matt Carle in 2006 and Will Butcher in 2017.  Fellow Pioneer defenseman Boston Buckberger was also a team nominee this year for the award.
 
CARLE FINALIST FOR COACH OF THE YEAR: Denver head coach David Carle was named a finalist for the second-straight season for the Spencer Penrose Award, which is given annually to the Men's D-I Coach of the Year by the American Hockey Coaches Association.  The winner is selected by the nation's 63 Division-I head coaches and will be announced on Tuesday, April 7; the award will be presented at the coaches' convention on April 29 in Florida.
 
This is the 36-year-old's fifth time up for the accolade, as he was also a finalist in 2019, 2022, 2024 and 2025 during DU's previous three trips to the Frozen Four.  Pioneers have won the award four times in program history: Murray Armstrong (1961), Ralph Backstrom (1986), George Gwozdecky (2005) and Jim Montgomery (2017).
 
HERE'S JOHNNY!: Freshman Johnny Hicks is unbeaten in his first 15 career decisions at 14-0-1, and he has started each of the last 14 games since Quentin Miller suffered a lower-body injury on Jan. 24 vs. St. Cloud State.  Hicks' 15-game unbeaten streak is believed to be the longest stretch by a DU goaltender to begin his collegiate career in program history.
 
He has recorded career-best performances in back-to-back weekends during the NCHC Tournament.  He made 38 saves on 39 shots faced in an overtime win vs. Western Michigan on March 14 in the conference semifinals before denying 41-of-44 shots in a double-OT win in the championship game vs. Minnesota Duluth on March 21.  During the league quarterfinal round, he recorded his second career individual shutout in Game 1 vs. Miami with 23 saves on March 6 and posted a career-best 117:36 shutout streak across three games from Feb. 28 to March 7.
 
Hicks earned two NCHC weekly honors this season, which included his first Goaltender of the Week award on Feb. 17 after stopping 57-of-60 shots in the series at Omaha on Feb. 13-14.  He was selected as Rookie of the Week on Feb. 3 after recording 48-of-49 saves in a sweep of Minnesota Duluth and making his first career start on Jan. 30.
 
The Kamloops, British Columbia, native leads the nation with a 1.12 goals-against average and .958 save percentage in 19 games and 14 starts this season (Minimum 33% of minutes played by team).  He has allowed one goal or fewer in 10 of the 15 games during his current unbeaten streak.
 
LORENZ ON THE LIST: Denver senior Rieger Lorenz leads all active NCAA players with 167 career games played, which is tied with Ed Cristofoli (1985-1989) for the third-most in program history and the most by a four-year Denver player.  Lorenz is one game from tying Ryan Barrow for second place on the all-time list.
 
Connor Caponi set the school record last season and finished his career with 185 games played while Barrow previously set the mark with 168 contests in the 2022 NCAA National Championship Game, but both Caponi (2020-2025) and Barrow (2017-2022) played five years with the Pioneers by gaining an extra year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
 
RIEGER RISING: Forward Rieger Lorenz's career-long 12-game point streak came to an end in the Regional Final vs. Western Michigan on March 29.  His stretch from Jan. 31-March 27, which featured eight goals and eight assists, was the longest of the season by a Denver player and tied with Zeev Buium (Nov. 3-Dec. 9, 2023) for the fifth-longest by a Pioneer since 2005.  It was the longest point streak by a Pioneer since Aidan Thommpson had a run of 14 contests to start the 2024-25 campaign.
 
Lorenz also posted a personal best by scoring in five straight games from Jan. 30-Feb. 14 for the longest goal scoring streak by a DU skater since Miko Matikka netted a marker in six consecutive contests from Nov. 4-24, 2023 (6g/1a).  The Calgary, Alberta, native's previous best goal streak was three in row as a sophomore from Nov. 11-19, 2023 (4g/0a), and the previous long for the season by a Pioneer was defenseman Eric Pohlkamp's four-game run from Nov. 1-14 (4g/2a).
 
IN POHL POSITION: Junior Eric Pohlkamp leads all NCAA defensemen and ranks tied for 25th among all skaters in the country with 18 goals this season.  He is also first among players at his position in total scoring with 39 points.
 
Pohlkamp ranks tied for third in Denver history for the most goals by a blueliner in a single season with Mike Busniuk (1973-74), and his 18 markers are the most by a DU D-man since Greg Woods tallied 19 times as a freshman in 1975-76.
 
EVERY NIGHT: Denver has 15 of its 25 players that have played in all 41 games this season: Kent Anderson, Cale Ashcroft, Boston Buckberger, Hagen Burrows, Clarke Caswell, Kieran Cebrian, Kyle Chyzowski, Jake Fisher, Sam Harris, Eric Jamieson, Rieger Lorenz, Eric Pohlkamp, James Reeder, Samu Salminen and Reid Varkonyi.  In addition, goaltender Paxton Geisel has suited up in all 41 contests, serving as a backup in 39 of them.
 
Juniors Buckberger and Harris have both played in 126 of a possible 129 career games over the last three seasons, with Buckberger playing in 85 straight contests to start his college career before missing last year's NCAA Tournament with an upper-body injury.
 
TAKE ME HOME, COLORADO: Denver improved to 12-2 all-time in national tournament games in the state of Colorado after winning both West Regional contests at Blue Arena on March 27-29.  The Pios own a 4-0 all-time record in Loveland and sport a 4-0 mark in NCAA games in Colorado Springs and a 4-2 record in such outings in Denver.
 
Prior to its 2022 games at Blue Arena, DU hadn't played an NCAA Tournament contest in the state of Colorado since 2004.  That squad defeated Miami 3-2 and North Dakota 1-0 on March 26-27, 2004 in the West Regionals in Colorado Springs to advance to its first Frozen Four since 1986 and ultimately win its sixth national title two weeks later in Boston.
 
SENIOR CLASS SUCCESS: Denver's 2026 seniors are just the second class in DU history to make it to three consecutive Frozen Fours, joining the 1973 seniors that also accomplished the feat (1971-1973). 
 
DU's graduating class owns the second-most victories with 120, and this year's group took sole possession of the second spot from the 2005 class by winning its 113th game on Feb. 27 against Arizona State.  They became the 17th class in DU's annals to record 100 career victories when they reached the milestone on Nov. 14 vs. Colorado College.
 
So far, the 2026 seniors' accolade list includes four Gold Pan trophies over rival Colorado College, three, 30-win seasons, two NCHC Frozen Faceoff titles (2024, 2026), the 2022-23 NCHC Penrose Cup, three-straight trips to the NCAA Frozen Four (2024, 2024, 2026) and the 2024 national championship.
 
OFFENSIVE DEFENDERS: Denver has received 27.0 percent of its goals this season from defenseman (40-of-148), including 35 combined tallies from three Pioneers in Eric Pohlkamp (18), Boston Buckberger (10) and Eric Jamieson (7).
 
DU is the only program in the country with three rear guards with seven or more goals and are among four squads in the nation to have multiple blueliners reach that goals threshold (Air Force, Clarkson, Colgate.
 
Denver D-men scored 40 goals last season in 2024-25, with Zeev Buium (13) and Pohlkamp (11) leading the position group in double-digit tallies.  The Pios had 22.9 percent of their markers in 2024-25 come from blueliners (40-of-174).
 
TRENDS: Denver is…

• 19-1-0 when scoring four or more goals and 24-5-1 when tallying three or more times.
• 23-1-2 when holding opponents to two or fewer goals and is 27-3-3 when the opposition tallies three or less.
• 19-3-0 when scoring first.
• 16-1-0 when leading after the first period and 19-1-0 when leading after the second.
• 11-3-2 when the opponent has more shots on net.

TENZER STREAK EXTENDED: Denver extended its "Tenzer" Streak of winning 20 or more games in a season to 24 consecutive seasons with its win on Feb. 27 vs. Arizona State.  It is the longest active stretch in the country that dates back to 2001-02.
 
The streak is named after former DU Director of Hockey Operations David Tenzer, who spent 16 seasons with the program from 2001-02 (the start of the streak) until retiring in 2017.  The program only played 24 total contests in the COVID-shortened 2020-21 campaign.