SB Nation Denver - Pioneers Start NCAA Tournament Action On Saturday

Denver In Midwest Region Of NCAA Division I Men's Hockey Tournament

2011-03-25T18:17:34Z

Denver received the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region. Denver's regional opponents will be the Western Michigan Broncos No. 3 seed (who they face off with first), the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) Engineers No. 4 seed and foe North Dakota Fighting Sioux No. 1 seed. The Pios, in very limited action, are 2-2 against the Broncos, 11-1 versus the Engineers and 115-132-8 against conference mate North Dakota. The Pios do hold a historical advantage in the NCAA tourney going 4-1 versus the Sioux and won their only match versus RPI. To start things off on Saturday the 26th of March the Sioux will face RPI at 11:30am MDT and DU will face WMU at 3pm. The winners will face of Sunday, March 27th at 3:30 MDT. The Frozen Four starts Thursday the 7th of April

The Midwest Regional games will be played at the Resch Center in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Resch Center has been prettied up and newly painted with the NCAA logos. Hosting the event will be Michigan Tech University (the only way they are getting close to the tourney) and PMI Entertainment Group. The last time Green Bay hosted, five years ago, the final game came down to a 3OT thriller in which Wisconsin beat Cornell 1-0.

There are many previews out there including from

The staff reporters at USCHO.com

Elliot Olshansky at NCAA.com

Mike Eidelbes at Inside College Hockey

College Hockey News also does a great job following the whole Tournament.

The Tournament has been criticized for its structure, the one loss and done, way of doing things. In fact in the past four tourneys, No. 1 seeds are just 9-7 against No. 4 seeds in the first round. The conclusion some might take is luck means much more than quality of the team. Not sure I am fully on board with that way of thinking, although I would like to see series match-up as opposed to only one game, but it does mean your squad better be on top of their game from dropping of the puck.

Lastly my sure to be completely wrong predictions

West Regional - Yale vs. Air Force: AF; Union vs. Minnesota-Duluth: Union; Regional Final: Union

Northeast Regional - Miami vs. New Hampshire: Miami; Merrimack vs. Notre Dame: Merrimack; Regional Final: Miami

Midwest Regional - North Dakota vs. RPI: RPI Denver vs. Western Michigan; Denver; Regional Final: Denver

West Regional - Boston College vs. Colorado College: CC; Michigan vs. Nebraska-Omaha: Michigan; Regional Final: Michigan

DU Erupts For Four Goals In Third Period Advance To WCHA Tourney Finals

2011-03-18T22:10:58Z

In traditional 2010-2011 DU fashion they were behind at the end of the first period 1-2 (even though they started the scoring for once) and tied 2-2 at the end of the second. Then, once again, the third period came and DU adjusted, scoring four in the final twenty minutes.

Kyle Ostrow started and finished the scoring with a goal at six minutes into the first period and an empty netter in the last couple minutes of the third. Also scoring for Denver were Drew and Nick Shore, Jarrod Mermis and Luke Salazar. Getting assists for the Pios were Matt Donovan, Chris Nutini, Beau Bennett, David Makowski, Drew Shore, Anthony Maiani (2), Jason Zucker, John Ryder and Shawn Ostrow. A great sign for DU is everyone was involved... evidenced by thirteen of eighteen Pios getting on the score sheet. Another good sign was Denver was 2-3 on the power play, something they struggled with early in the season. DU also got a strong performance from Sam Brittain as he made 36 saves on 38 shots.

DU will now wait for the second semi-final match-up between North Dakota and Colorado College. Either match-up will pit DU against a bitter rival so I am sure they are just rooting for a 6-OT game no matter who the winner is.

Denver Heading Back To WCHA Frozen Five

2011-03-17T23:58:18Z

Denver is preparing the best it can for this weekends Frozen Five Tournament. Friday's semi-final with be the No. 2-seeded Pios versus No. 6 Bemidji State (14-17-5) who beat No. 3 Minnesota-Duluth (22-9-6) in Thursday's quarterfinal. Denver won both games versus Bemidji State this season. The other side of the bracket will be No. 1 North Dakota (28-8-3) playing the winner of the No. 5 Alaska-Anchorage (16-17-3) and No. 4 Colorado College (21-17-3). Denver, who has more WCHA playoff championships (15) than any other is making their fourth straight Frozen Five appearance

With the Broadmoor Trophy up for grabs DU has brought back some big guns to help them focus.

To get his team focused on the task ahead, Pioneers coach George Gwozdecky is going to have former stars Mark Rycroft, Gabe Gauthier and Paul Stastny talk to the team today after practice.
"They're going to talk about their experiences at this time of the year, tournament time, and hopefully expound some of their wisdom on how they prepared in order to help our guys accomplish our goals," Gwozdecky said.

Adrian Dater writes about how it appears, in prior seasons, the Pios had been less focused on the playoffs at hand and more on their future as NHLers. Coach Gwozdecky has his own opinions: he believes it's a yearly distraction that affects many teams. It's a part of the current culture of college hockey and teams need to deal with it. Gwozdecky also believes that injuries and recovery time are major factors instead of NHL futures for his players.

Drew Shore believes this year is different than last year's. Pro futures may have been a large concern around this time last year, but this set of players is different. They just want to win.

The Pios were a bit of a surprise this year but Coach Gwozdecky has a way of repeating the same type of surprises every year. This year is was Jason Zucker and Drew Shore

"I don't think that any of us on our staff expected Jason to come in and provide the type of offensive numbers that he put up," Gwozdecky said of Zucker.

As for Shore, "he came into this year and started out really, right from the very first game and has been a major part of our team and where we are at right now.

Let hope the young Pios and keep focused this weekend and bring home the Broadmoor Trophy.

D-rah! E-rah! N-rah! VER Boom.

Denver, our Denver,

We sing to thee,

Fairest of colleges,

Give her three times three,

Rah, rah, rah!

Long may we cherish

her Faithful and true.

University of Denver

For me and you.

Pioneers Host Mavericks In WCHA Playoffs

2011-03-11T16:56:28Z

Well, tourney time is here. To start things off we have the WCHA tourney, first round is this weekend. Six teams will be eliminated this weekend to set-up the frozen five (actually six) in St. Paul Minnesota next weekend. For the first time, six teams will advance (because of the expansion of the WCAH to twelve teams) and battle for the Broadmoor Trophy and entrance to the NCAA Tournament. Round one pits the No. 1 seed versus No. 12, No. 2 versus No. 11 and so on, which is how we get DU (No. 2) playing MSU (No. 11) this weekend at Magness. For complete details on the WCHA tourney see the WHCA website.

Following the first round of WCHA playoffs, the six winning teams will be re-seeded No. 1 thru No. 6 according to their regular season finish and will then advance to the 2011 Red Baron™; WCHA Final Five at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minn. The Final Five will be contested March 17, 18 and 19. There will be two quarterfinal games on Thursday at 3:37 pm CT and 7:07 pm CT, two semi-final games on Friday at 2:07 pm CT and 7:07 pm CT, with the Broadmoor Trophy championship contest on Saturday at 7:07 pm CT. The No. 1 and No. 2 seeded teams for the Final Five will receive a bye on Thursday. The winner of the Broadmoor Trophy receives the WCHA's automatic berth in the NCAA Div. 1 Men's Ice Hockey championship tournament.

The WCHA announced their annual awards yesterday, March 10, 2011. A recap can be read here.

Their opinions, which I am positive, are more intelligent than mine, differ in a couple areas. Here is my nobody really cares about my opinion but here you go anyway ballot:

Player of the Year: Matt Frattin (seriously can't be anyone else, even I smart enough to know this), North Dakota; Rookie of the Year: Jason Zucker (another no-brainer but only because Jaden Schwartz, CC was injured, he "might" have made it close), Denver Coach of the Year: Dean Blais, Nebraska-Omaha (But close considering the job Gwozdecky did with such a young DU team).

First Team F-Matt Frattin, North Dakota; F-Jack Connolly, Minnesota-Duluth; F-Jason Zucker, Denver; D-Jake Gardiner, Wisconsin D-Eric Olimb, Nebraska-Omaha;(leaving Justin Schultz, Wisconsin off might seem a bit stupid, but his +/- for the season was even while Olimb was a +12 and defensemen are supposed to be graded a little bit by their defense aren't they); G-Kent Patterson, Minnesota (the Gophers MVP, and it isn't even close)

Second Team F-Jaden Schwartz, CC;F-Drew Shore, Denver (he was a +29 for those of you who scoff at this homer pick only Zucker was close at a +24); F-Jason Gregoire, North Dakota; D-Chay Genoway, North Dakota; D-Justin Schultz, Wisconsin; G-Aaron Dell, North Dakota

Third Team (lets see if we can fill this with teams not yet represented); F-Tommy Grant, Alaska Anchorage(tied for most game winning goals); F-Matt Read, Bemidji State; F-Garrett Roe, St. Could State; D-Deron Cousens, Michigan Tech (cause I feel sorry for him); D-Kurt Davis, Minnesota State; G-Sam Brittain, Denver (cause he deserved it)

All Rookie Team F-Jason Zucker, Denver; F-Jaden Schwartz, Colorado College; F-Nick Bjugstad Minnesota; D-David Makowski, Denver; D-Justins Faulk, Minnesota-Duluth; G- Sam Brittain, Denver

Considering the all the Pios on the All-Rookie team, should we ask the question? Is this DU's best recruiting class ever?

Now back to DU and this weekends match-up. It looks like this, the Pios and Mavs meet for the first time in the WCHA Playoffs, which is a bit surprising. DU hosts the first round of the WCHA Playoffs for the 8th season in a row and seek their fourth consecutive trip to the WCHA Final Five (yes actually six). The Pios won three of four games and tied in the other this season against MSU but two went into overtime and one was a one point game. For more information see the DU website. What ever you want to call it, the second season, playoff season, championship season, etc.... we can all agree it has its share of breathless moments, exhilarating periods, electrifying play, thrilling wins and is an intoxicating time of the year.

Pioneers Host St. Cloud State In Last Regular Season Series

2011-03-04T14:40:02Z

The last regular season series pits Denver against the Huskies of St. Cloud State. A matchup that has been very even since the series started in 1988. DU is 37-31-4 all-time against SCSU. The Pioneers are 19-19-2 against the Huskies at home, including four straight two-game series splits. Denver is currently 2nd in the WCHA and while they could tie for the league title, the odds are against it as they would have to sweep the Huskies and North Dakota would have to get swept by.. ahem, Michigan Tech. It is much more likely they will end up right where they are now. Considering the 3rd and 4th place teams play each other, they can do no worse than 3rd. SCSU who is currently 8th could finish as high as 5th. Here are some more notes on the series

Jason Zucker was named National Rookie of the Month

Zucker leads the WCHA in scoring (36 points) and is tied for first in goals (20) in 24 league games. He leads WCHA rookies in goals and scoring for league and all games. The 5-foot-11, 180-pound freshman is riding a career best nine-game point streak (4-10-14). He is second among NCAA rookies in points per game (1.19) and tied for second in goals (20).

It appears Captain Kyle Ostrow will be back in action this weekend. Hopefully, he will join the century club at Denver. One thing I do know for sure, his leadership will be a welcome addition heading into playoff season.

Playoff hockey, an exciting time where everything gets a bit more... tense. Goals become more important, as does your goaltending. We have seen strong goaltending carry the Pios to WCHA (15) and NCAA (7) tournament championships. What is in store for this very young Pios team? We will have to wait to find out... but I can tell you the hope and excitement surrounding the playoff season is a time I can't wait for every year.

No. 6 Denver Travels To No. 12 Nebraska-Omaha

2011-02-25T16:01:27Z

Denver deservedly dropped a couple spots in the polls after last weekend's disappointment, only taking two points at home against Michigan Tech. UNO had their own rough Friday night, losing to AAU. Just like Denver though they bounced back on Saturday. Denver moved to 15-6-3 good for second in the WCHA, two points back of North Dakota. UNO is tied with Minnesota-Duluth only one point back of the Pios. Both teams have clinched home ice for the first round of the WCHA Playoffs. The Pios are 7-2 all-time against the Mavericks in the very young series, started in 1997.

Special teams could decide this weekend's matchup. The Pios have been giving their opponents too many opportunities; this is evident as they lead the WCHA in penalty minutes. For reasons only Coach Gwozdecky can explain they have been getting away with it. The Pios have the best penalty kill in the league and have scored a WCHA leading five shorthanded goals. UNO’s power play has been on the decline as they Mavericks have only scored three goals on forty-three chances since January 22nd. Denver needs a good start, they are 17-0-3 when leading or tied after two periods. UNO has been good at home and on only one occasion have they let a team leave the Qwest Center with more than two points (that one time was in January though).

Mike Chambers talks about Dustin Jackson roots in Omaha and Coach Gwozdecky talks about the MacNuaghton cup

"It's a terrific race, certainly . . . But we're looking forward to this weekend for a number of reasons. We want to build off what we reestablished last Saturday (5-1 win over MTU), because there's no question that our previous five games weren't our best. We want to continue to build because, with four games left in the regular season, there's not much more time to fine-tune your game before the postseason. So that's the emphasis right now."

In some Jesse Martin feel good news: Time to call it a comeback?

No. 4 Denver Hosts Michigan Tech

2011-02-18T15:15:21Z

This will be the only time the Pioneers face the Huskies in regular season action this season. Denver's record against MTU is 114-81-18. They first faced off in 1951. The Pioneers have a winning record of 76-26-10 mark against the MTU in Denver, including a 13-game unbeaten streak at Magness Arena. DU also has an eight-game overall winning streak against Michigan Tech. They have outscored the Huskies, 35-13, during the streak.

Michigan Tech is on a record setting streak (winless in 26 straight games), one Denver would like to help them extend. The Huskies are 3-23-4 on the season, a winning percentage of .167, which is actually better than their 2009 winning percentage of .153. To say it is a low point in Huskies history is being kind. The Huskies are last the WCHA in goals scored per game (1.73) and goals allowed per game (4.09). One kind thing I can say about Michigan Tech is they do have a storied history including three national championships (1962,1965 and 1975) and seven WCHA championships.

Denver will be happy to be home as they haven't lost since Oct. 16 and are 9-0-1 in conference play. Denver can reach the 20 win plateau for the 10th straight season with a sweep this weekend. The Pios are currently ranked No. 4 in the USCHO poll, the USA Today poll, RPI and pairwise rankings. They are also one point from the WCHA lead. All those things put DU in great shape for a NCAA tourney bid.

In players news, David Makowski, who is having an excellent freshman year leading WCHA rookie defensemen with 21 points won't be in Friday's lineup against the Huskies after receiving a five-minute major and 10-minute game disqualification for fighting at Minnesota last Saturday. Also, Kyle Ostrow won't be getting his 100th point for the Pios anytime soon as Kyle had emergency surgery last Friday. Mike Chambers at the Denver Post has more.

Lastly for those ready for playoff hockey WCHA tickets are now on sale.

Denver Pioneers Are Game No. 3 On Hockey Day In Minnesota

2011-02-11T16:18:21Z

The fourth-ranked Denver Pioneers (17-6-5, 13-4-3 WCHA) travel to Minnesota (11-11-4, 8-9-3 WCHA) and will join in on the five year-old tradition, Hockey Day. Hockey Day Minnesota is a day in Minnesota run in cooperation with the Minnesota Wild and Fox Sports North that features at least two Minnesota high school boys hockey games, a Minnesota Gopher men's hockey game and a Minnesota Wild NHL game. Interestingly enough this is Denver's third time being involved in Hockey Day, the Pios lost in 2007 and won in 2008. This will be only time they will face off in the regular season this year. The Pios are tied with North Dakota a top the WCHA standing with 29 points, while the Gophers are in eighth with 19 points. The Pios have won their last four games at Mariucci Arena.

Last weekend Denver held on to the Gold Pan by splitting with CC, losing Friday night 2-3 but winning Saturday night at Magness 5-3. Jesse Martin spoke at the midway point of period one.

"What Jesse said during that break seemed to really give us some life," Denver head coach George Gwozdecky said. "All of the sudden the whole tide turned, we had energy and we had a great finish."

Denver has nine players with 14 points or more this season. The breakdown looks like this, two seniors, one junior, two sophomores and four freshmen. Just so we don't forget out the defense Sam Brittain, Denver's top goalie is also a freshman. While the backup Adam Murray is just a sophomore. Things look good for Denver's present and future.

Other Pioneer notes:

Kyle Ostrow (50-49=99) needs just one point to join the DU 100-point club.

Drew Shore took home some honors for his play last weekend.

Some links from around college hockey nation:

Another excellent preview from Mike Chambers at the Denver Post.

The Daily Gopher a SB Nation blog, gives us a Minnesota perspective.

The Pioneer Press has a write-up on DU Pioneer and Minnesota Wild draftee, Jason Zucker. The Star Tribune, the other Minnesota paper also weighs in on Jason.

Roman Augustoviz also has a preview of the weekend series.

Pio, John Lee is profiled in his hometown paper The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead.