In a transformational summer that featured multiple changes, the University of Denver hockey program decided to leave the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, instead joining the newly forged National Collegiate Hockey Conference as a founding member.
In addition to the move, the program earned top honors this summer when the Hockey News ranked DU No. 1 as the best overall collegiate hockey program.
While those announcements drew headlines throughout the early summer, the program continued to pursue innovation in late August, becoming the first collegiate team to announce roster spots via Twitter.
During the busy summer season, the Pioneers also named former University of New Hampshire associate head coach David Lassonde as an assistant coach for the 2011 – 2012 season.
Lassonde, a 23-year coaching veteran, joins the DU hockey team after former assistant coach Derek Lalonde accepted an offer from the Greenbay Gamblers of the United States Hockey League to serve as head coach and general manager.
Lassonde’s collegiate coaching career began in 1988 as a goalie coach. He later coached for the University of Wisconsin and Miami University. He coached in 15 tournaments and is no stranger to the NCAA Tournament.
“David will assume the same role as Derek Lalonde had last season with us,” said head coach George Gwozdecky. “He was our number-one candidate to fill the position and has an extraordinary ability to work with goal-tending prospects. He will help develop forwards, denfensmen, as well as goal-tending, which makes him very unique.”
As for the roster, the Pioneers needs to replace major holes from the 2010 – 2011 team after the graduation of captain Kyle Ostrow and assistant captain Anthony Miani. In all, DU will welcome 11 new Pioneers to its roster, including freshmen Wade Bennett, Josiah Didier, Daniel Doremus, Larkin Jacobson, Joey Laleggia, Zac Larazza, Ty Loney, Scott Mayfield, Juho Olkinuora and Matt Tabrum, as well as junior Zack Hope.
With the addition of Wade Bennett to the team, the Bennetts will become the third set of brothers to play for the Pioneers in recent years. Other brother duos include Drew and Nick Shore and Kyle and Shawn Ostrow.
Larazza and Laleggia intend to make a large impact on the success of the team, as they both bring impressive resumes to the Pioneers. Larazza, an Arizona native, previously played for the United States National Developmental Program, helping the United States earn a gold medal at the 2011 International Ice Hockey Federation World Men’s Under-18 Championship in Crimmitschau, Germany and Under-18 Five Nations Tournament in Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic. Laleggia, a native British Columbia, was an offensive phenom for the Penticton Vees, tallying 82 points in 58 games.
The Pioneers will open their season against McGill University in an exhibition game on Oct. 1 at 7:07 p.m. They will also face the United States Under-18 team on Oct. 7 at 7:37 p.m. before opening up their regular season with back-to-back road match-ups against Boston College on Oct.14 and Boston University on Oct. 15.
