Photo by: Megan Westervelt

On a night that saw the Pioneers win and junior goaltender Marc Cheverie break the all-time shutout-streak record for the University of Denver, there should have been no cause for worry. However, early in the third period there was a very scary moment for Cheverie and Pioneer fans.

On a seemingly innocent play, Minnesota State forward Justin Jokinen slid into the Denver goaltender skates first. Jokinen’s right skate clipped the exposed calf of Cheverie causing him to be face down immediately.

The crowd silenced immediately as the No. 1-ranked goaltender in the nation lay with blood dripping from his leg and onto the ice.

Captain Rhett Rakhshani was on the bench when this happened.

“I was not really worried at first, because most of the times when goalies get hit, they are able to get up and shake it off,” said Rakhshani.

“Then the referee came over and said he was cut pretty bad and it was near his Achilles [tendon].”

After the game, head coach George Gwozdecky came in and told Rakhshani and the team that Cheverie had been cut pretty bad, but he would fully recover.

The day after the injury Cheverie said that his leg felt sore, but he is very optimistic about the injury.

“It is supposed to only be a couple weeks, so hopefully I have a speedy recovery and can be back on the ice,” Cheverie said.

According to The Denver Post, Cheverie is expected to miss two to four weeks with the injury.

Cheverie was immediately taken Porter Adventist Hospital where he received multiple stitches.

 

 

The shutout record was more of a relief for Cheverie than anything.

“I wasn’t really thinking about it,” Cheverie said with a laugh, “it was just nice to know that once I got past five minutes I didn’t have to talk about it anymore.”

He had been talking to the previous record holder and former teammate Peter Mannino over the past couple of days about it.

“Peter was really happy for me, he just gave me some words of encouragement,” said Cheverie.

The record now stands at 223 minutes and 41 seconds. Cheverie eclipsed Mannino’s mark by just under 15 minutes.

Freshman Adam Murray will now start in net.

The Pioneers travel to Murray’s home state of Alaska this weekend to play against WCHA conference rival, University of Alaska-Anchorage.

The games are on Friday night at 7:05 p.m. and Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. Both games are Alaska time.