Photo by: Andrew Fielding
With one week remaining in the regular season, the Pioneer hockey team has positioned itself to potentially earn the No. 2 seed in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association’s postseason tournament, following a split last weekend on the road against No. 12 Nebraska-Omaha.
In addition, No. 5 Denver (20-9-5, 16-7-3 WCHA) walked away from the hard-fought road series only two points behind league-leading North Dakota in the conference standings.
If the Pioneers can overcome the Fighting Sioux in the final weekend of the regular season, then they can claim part of the regular season crown, which would be their second consecutive WCHA regular-season championship.
On Sunday, UND earned the conference’s No. 1 seed in the postseason tournament, and at least a share of the WCHA’s regular season title, the 15th in school history and a league record.
All the Fighting Sioux (24-8-3) need is a win or a tie in their two-game series against last-place Michigan Tech this weekend to take sole possession of the highly-prized trophy.
“Last year we won a league title, that was pretty nice,” said head coach George Gwozdecky. “It’s nice to win regular season championships, but the most important time of year is right around the corner and its those postseason championships that everyone remembers, and it is how you do in the postseasdon that defines your season as being a success or not.”
Denver lost 5-2 in the series’ first contest against UNO (20-12-2, 16-8-2), allowing the Mavericks to score two shorthand goals.
The Pioneers were fueled by outstanding performances from a pair of freshman the next night.
Freshman forward Jason Zucker, the WCHA scoring leader with 20 goals and 36 total points in 26 league games, added his 19th and 20th goals of the season, while freshman goalie Sam Brittain made 27 saves in a performance between the pipes.
“[Sam and Jason] played very well, Jason had two key goals and he made some nice plays,” said Gwozdecky. “Sam was strong for us in the second and third period.”
DU scored first for the first time in nine games, when Zucker burried a slap shot past goalie John Faulkner in the opening period.
The team went on to win 4-2 after Omaha took the lead at the end of the first period.
“[That first goal] certainly gave us a boost, didn’t last for long, but it gave us a boost and we want to continue to see if we can get ahead early,” said Gowzdecky.
The win marked the 20th for the Pioneers this season, which allowed DU to join the University of Michigan as the only hockey program to eclipse 20 wins in each of the past 10 seasons.
In addition, the win kept another streak alive – the Pioneers have defeated all 10 of their WCHA opponents this season, refusing to be swept once.
The Pioneers conclude their regular season this weekend with a two-game series against eighth-place St. Cloud State (14-15-5, 10-12-4) at Magness Arena.
The win last Saturday kept the Pioneers’ hopes of winning their conference alive; however, the more intriguing story line may be who starts in net for Denver when the puck drops at 7:37 p.m.
Brittain earned his 14th win of the season on Saturday night, following a loss the previous night by sophomore goalie Adam Murray.
The team will more than likely use a goalie-by-committee rotation; however, Gwozdecky has not decided on who will be the team’s starter come the postseason.
“Nothing new [on goalie situation],” said Gwozdecky. “We’ll make the starting decision on Thurday and like previous weeks we will evaluate after Friday’s game.”
As for his players, Brittain and Murray have been competing in goal all season with Brittain’s best performances coming earlier in the year and Murray’s more recently.
“It’s the coach’s decision [to start Murray on Friday]. Adam played well, but we didn’t get the bounces we wanted,” said Brittain after Saturday’s win. “We got to keep competing and make sure we keep working hard, because it’s down to the crunch time of the season. Of course I want to play every game, and so does Adam. But there’s an understanding that there is a level of competition.”
While both will likely play against the Huskies, the advantage may tip in favor of Brittain, following his most recent win.
However, St. Cloud State is a hot team right now, sweeping then-No. 13 Wisconsin last weekend, and could shake things up for the Pioneers going forward.
The WCHA playoffs begin on March 11 and conclude with the Red Baron WCHA Final Five on March 17-19. Last season, DU was topped in the semi-finals by UND.
