It was a “baptism under fire,” said DU Head Coach George Gwozdecky, as his Pioneer hockey team defeated the University of Calgary 5-1 at Magness Arena Sunday night in an exhibition game in which DU played seven freshmen.
“We play these type of games to get a sense and gauge of where we are at as a team,” Gwozdecky said. “It gives [our freshmen] the experience of getting the jersey on… and playing a live game against live opponents.”
The Pioneers got a chance to do just that, as they rotated through four full lines and two goalies while dominating a strong, fast Calgary team.
Despite having only one upper classman on the starting line, it was a Pioneer senior that sent a message early to Calgary.
Senior forward Tom May, anchoring the Pioneers third line Sunday, bulldozed the Calgary defense creating three good scoring chances on his first two shifts, one resulting in a shot that rang off of the crossbar.
The rest of the Pioneers followed May’s lead, peppering Calgary goalie Scott Talbot with pucks until one found the back of the net at 16:41 of the first period.
With a delayed penalty to a Calgary defenseman during 4-on-4 play, the Pioneers pulled senior goalie Peter Mannino for an extra attacker. Controlling the puck, sophomore forward Brock Trotter slipped in between three Calgary defenders, spun and backhanded a shot over Talbot’s pad for the first goal of the game.
The second period started just how the first ended, with the Pioneers dominating.
Only 49 seconds into the period, the Pioneers stretched their lead to two, when sophomore Rhett Rakhshani tapped in a beautiful feed from freshman Anthony Maini into a wide-open net.
Maini corralled the puck in the slot and was all alone on Talbot when he slid a no-look pass over to Rakhshani for the easy goal.
“Everyone was waiting for Maini to shoot, but most people don’t have the vision that he has,” said Gwozdecky of his talented freshman.
The lead stayed at two until the Pioneers converted on a power play late in the period, when freshman forward Tyler Bozak tipped in Maini’s shot from the point to give the Pioneers a 3-0 lead with two minutes left.
Starting the third, the Pioneers scored quickly once again, as Maini buried a shot 28 seconds in. Another Pioneer goal by freshman Kyle Ostrow at 12:05 put the game out of reach at 5-0.
Calgary managed to chip a goal past freshman goalie Marc Cheverie on a power play with six minutes left. Cheverie, who replaced Mannino midway through the second period, made 10 saves in his first appearance between the pipes for the Pioneers.
“I thought it was a pretty good start for us,” said Maini of his first game wearing a DU uniform. “We still have a lot of work to do. We came out and played pretty hard, and we got a few lucky bounces.”
The Pioneers received great production from their rookies, as five of their seven freshmen helped to register nine points, including three by Maini and two by Bozak and defenseman Chris Nutini.
Though the win was a satisfying start to the Pioneers’ 2007-08 season, it did not come without its setbacks. Rakhshani was knocked out of the game on an open-ice hit in the middle of the second period. Rakhshani is the Pioneers second-highest returning scorer from last season, and looks to be out indefinitely.
“There are a lot of positives that we can take out of a game like this, but the injury is obviously a negative,” said Gwozdecky.
The Pioneers open up their regular season Friday at Magness Arena against the University of Maine. The puck drop is scheduled for 7:37 p.m.
