On April 17, DU’s hockey season came to a close with the 59th Annual DU Hockey Awards Evening. The ceremony was hosted by the voice of Denver hockey: Jay Stickney, who addressed the victories and memories from the Pioneer’s successful season. Stickney is the announcer at all home hockey games.
“We were the number one scoring team in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference [NCHC] this year, when we were last the year before. Winning the first round for our seniors who had three years of losing in the first round of the NCAA tournament was huge,” said head coach Jim Montgomery.
The Pioneer hockey team was the best that it has been in a long time. The team said goodbye to seven outstanding seniors: Larkin Jacobsen (Sioux City, Iowa), Josiah Didier (Littleton, Colorado), Daniel Doremus (Aspen, Colorado), Zac Larazza (Scottsdale, Arizona), Ty Loney (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), Matt Tabrum (Colorado Springs, Colorado) and Joey LaLeggia (Burnaby, British Columbia).
Four of the seven graduating seniors are currently playing on teams in the American Hockey League (AHL) in hopes of being pushed to the National Hockey League (NHL) level by their respective teams. Didier is drafted by the Montreal Canadiens, Doremus by the San Jose Sharks, Loney by the Anaheim Ducks and LaLeggia by the Edmonton Oilers.
At the ceremony, Jacobsen won the award for Most Improved Player. He scored 10 points this season from five goals and five assists. He also scored four of the five game winners; two of them back-to-back against Colorado College on Feb. 20 and 21. For Jacobsen, the memories he made at DU are everything. He also won the Dr. Art Mason Memorial Award for Top Scholar-Athlete. Graduating with a 3.98 GPA, Jacobsen will be using his degree in finance at Goldman Sachs in the coming months.
“I will always remember how I felt every time I walked into that locker room, onto the ice and into war with my brothers,” Jacobsen said.
During the ceremony, Larazza discussed that being a true Pioneer is all about being passionate. Next to speak was Tabrum, who, after getting a little choked up, gave some advice to his younger teammates.
“To the returning players, enjoy it while it lasts because in the blink of an eye, you will be up here giving this speech,” he said.
All the senior players who were not in attendance, with the exception of Loney, sent in videos to thank their coaches, families and teammates for a great career at DU.
Doremus sent a video from the Worcester Shark’s locker room.
“I have to thank my teammates. It’s been hands down the best four years of my life. The memories I have with you guys I’ll never forget. I can’t believe how quickly it goes,” Doremus said in his video.
Other awards went to Danton Heinen (Langley, British Columbia): Freshman of the Year, Grant Arnold (Centennial, Colorado) and Doremus: Most Inspirational Player, Gabe Levin (Marina del Rey, California): Sportsmanship Award, Didier: Best Defensive Player, and Trevor Moore (Thousand Oaks, California) and Heinen: Best Offensive Player.
An award for community service was given to the team as a whole, which was accepted by team captain Arnold. The award for Most Valuable Player was given to LaLeggia, who fittingly scored his first pro-hockey goal for the Oklahoma City Barons during the ceremony. His new team went on to win 3-0 over the Iowa Wild in the AHL’s playoffs. LaLeggia was also given the award for Star of the Year after being named first star of the game five times, second star of the game two times and third star of the game three times.
The inaugural Daniel Ritchie Spirit Award was given to Jim Wiste. Wiste played for the Pioneers in the 1960s before playing in the NHL for the Chicago Blackhawks, Vancouver Canucks and the World Hockey League. Wiste now runs the Campus Lounge, which is located on University Boulevard and is a hot spot for DU hockey fans. During the season, Wiste gave the team a pep-talk about what it is like to compete in the NCAA tournament and at the ceremony, he gave a few parting words to the seniors.
“Seniors, it’s time you change your jerseys. You’re alumni now, but we need you [in terms of the program]. We set the bar high and everybody is chasing us,” Wiste said.
Although the 2014-2015 season has officially come to a close, the players, coaches, families, alumni and fans are excited for what the future holds.
“Our expectation is that we are going to be an NCAA tournament team again,” Montgomery said. “That’s what Denver hockey is about. It’s a new puzzle next year. We are losing seven key players that played prominent roles on our team. And we’re excited about our freshman class that is coming in with the players that are returning, but it’s really too early to say where we’re going to be. We’ll assess what we have at the beginning and see where the pieces fit. We might be a totally different team next year.”
