The Denver hockey team made the NCAA tournament for the seventh straight year this season.
Unfortunately, first round exits in six of those seven seasons have left a bitter taste in the mouths of the Pioneer fans, myself included. It’s probably my own fault for allowing myself to get my hopes up.
Boston College is clearly one of the best teams in the nation this year. They had won 26 games on the season, they are a top-five ranked team in the nation, and they have arguably three of the top 10 players in the nation, including Hobey Baker-favorite Johnny Gaudreau.
Meanwhile, Denver made the tournament on a wing and a prayer. They likely wouldn’t have gotten into the tournament if not for their NCHC tournament victory, and maybe more importantly the massive upsets of Miami over both St. Cloud State and North Dakota, both of which were favored to win the conference.
Regardless of how it happened, I was excited. Boston College had lost three of their last four games. Denver had won four straight and was playing with confidence. It looked like the stuff of which upsets are made.
Maybe I was still just reeling from the amount of upsets March Madness had given us and thought it would carry over to hockey. Either way, I was wrong.
Boston College took control of the game early and beat Denver in a convincing manner, 6-2.
But what does this mean for the program in the future? Last season, after the fifth first round exit in the last six years, Coach George Gwozdecky was fired, seemingly due at least in part to a lack of tournament success since 2005.
So with Jim Montgomery’s Pios exiting early yet again, the questions are inevitable.
Despite their continued tournament failures, is it fair to call Jim Montgomery’s first year at the helm a success? My answer is yes.
There will always been questions that a head coach needs to answer, but the ones that Gwozdecky’s departure left were on another level. Montgomery has, in part at least, begun to answer them.
As students, alumni, and fans of DU we expect a certain level of excellence from the hockey program.

The question was whether or not this could continue after the iconic Gwozdecky was canned. In truth, especially seeing some of the struggles this year, I had my doubts. However, their emergence in the end of the season began to stir some confidence.
The victory in the NCHC gives DU another trophy to put behind the glass, but more importantly, their appearance in the big tournament solidifies their position as a national hockey powerhouse under Montgomery.
Six consecutive appearances in the NCAA tournament is an achievement in itself, considering only 16 teams go, but Montgomery’s ability to overcome the initial growing pains of a new head coaching job and bring them to a seventh consecutive playoff appearance sends a message to both the rest of the nation and potential recruits that this is still a program committed to winning.