Last season, the Pioneers hockey team entered the NCAA tournament as the No. 1 seed in the East Regional and the No. 2 overall seed in the tournament, yet lost in the first round to the Rochester Institute of Technology.
This season they enter the national tournament as the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Midwest Regional, and the No. 7 overall seed. The Pioneers, however, may be in better position to break a five-year long winning-drought that has persisted since the program won back-to-back national titles in 2004 and 2005.
The Pioneers (24-11-5) will play the No. 3-seeded Western Michigan (19-12-10) at 3 p.m. MST on Saturday in Green Bay, Wisc., at the Resch Center.
Denver enters this postseason after playing in “one of the best game in [Western Collegiate Hockey Association] tournament history,” according to head coach George Gwozdecky, resulting in 3-2 loss to North Dakota (30-8-3) in double overtime of the 2011 Red Baron WCHA Final Five.
Despite the loss, the Pioneers are playing better than they were at this time last year, where they entered the NCAA’s following back-to-back losses in the Final Five, and they’re playing their best hockey since January, following a four-game win streak heading before the loss to the Fighting Sioux.
“I am very proud of the way our team has been performing recently, especially last night [against UND],” said Gwozdecky. “It was an exciting and draining game mentally and physically, but we responded to every challenge and we are now a toughened-tournament ready team now, and playing the way we want to at this time of the year.”
Most importantly, the Pioneers are getting outstanding play from freshman goalie Sam Brittain down the playoff stretch, which Gwozdecky said is crucial at this time of the year.
“When you get to this stage in the postseason, goaltending is the key to success and keeping your season alive,” said Gwozdecky. “It is truly a goaltender’s tournament, and we have one of the best [in the nation] and he is playing his best.”
Brittain made 33 saves against UND and hung tough against one of the nation’s better offenses. The night before, he tied a career-high with 36 saves against Bemidji State in the semifinals of the WCHA tournament.
The freshman will start against Western Michigan after splitting starts with sophomore Adam Murray in three of the last four series’ in the regular season.
In addition to Brittain, the Pioneers saw great efforts from their seniors as caption Kyle Ostrow led the team against Bemidji, while Anthony Maiani and Dustin Jackson each scored against UND.
If they win, the Pioneers could potentially play their division foe in a rematch in the regional final at 3:30 MST on Sunday.
“There are no worries regarding that,” said Gwozdecky when asked about the team looking ahead to ahead to a revenge match. “Our players knows what needs to be done and they will have complete focus for Western Michigan.”
Although the senior class has been to the NCAA tournament the past three years, the group has failed to garnish any success, propelling a winless stretch in the postseason that has haunted the program.
“This is an experienced group used to playing in close situations and can handle the ups and downs that happen at this time of the year,” said Gwozdecky regarding the group’s inexperience in terms of advancing past the first round. “It’s hard to define it as a struggle of any sorts, because we feel it’s a tremendous opportunity to play at this time of the year against the highest level of competition.”
Despite being winless from 2006-2010, DU has been able to advance to the postseason four out of five years.
In preparing for Western Michigan, the team has watched film of other teams. The Western Michigan Broncos lost 5-2 to Miami (Ohio) in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) Championship on Saturday night, following a three game winning streak.
“I haven’t seen any of them thus far to be honest,” said Gwozdecky. “But we will be concentrating on their last two postseason games against Ferris State and Miami. They are on a heck of a run recently.”
As for the rest of the field, Gwozdecky says that the team has learned the hard way that all 16 teams are capable of winning the national title.
The difference between entering the tournament as the No. 2 and the No. 7 makes no difference, according to Gwozdecky; yet after last year’s first round implosion, Denver maybe able to benefit from being a little less of the national radar.
“Seeding doesn’t really matter, because as we have found out in different ways, a No. 4 can beat a No. 1 and a No. 3 can beat a No. 2, and any seed is capable of advancing and then potentially winning it the whole thing,” said Gwozdecky.
According to the coach, the team will likely depart from Denver on Thursday.
The winner of the Midwest Regional Final will take on the winner of the West Regional in the 2011 NCAA Frozen Four, which will be played on April 7 in St. Paul, Minn.
