After a bitter ending to last year’s hockey season, the team, coaches and fans are extremely excited to start fresh this upcoming season. The Pioneers are ready to get back on the ice and make this season even better than the last.
Last season, the Pioneers made it to the quarterfinal round of the NCAA tournament. The game took a turn for the worse in the third period when former Pioneer Joey LaLeggia was ejected from the game due to a contact-to-the-head major penalty. This set off a chain of events that allowed a tied game to go from 1-1 to 4-1 before the final buzzer.
Losing seven seniors has been difficult to overcome, but Head Coach Jim Montgomery has a plan for how to keep the Pioneers in contention for the NCAA Frozen Four.
“The key to our success this season will be about how hard we are to play against. Last year, there was no easy night against Denver hockey. So many bodies are replacing those seven seniors, so it’s going to take some time for us to become a consistently difficult team to play against,” Montgomery said.
There is a large amount of new talent on the team with a freshman class of seven. These young men show promise, but they are still adapting to DU and the style of the team.
It is always a challenge to replace veteran talent with fresh blood, but in time, great things will likely be seen from the newest players. Coach Montgomery is optimistic.
“We believe we have a talented class that is going to help us with our depth and how hard we will be to play against,” Montgomery said.
Another significant point of interest is who will be Denver’s starting goalie for the upcoming season.
Junior Evan Cowley (Evergreen, Colorado) began in goal last season, but started to split time with the rise of sophomore Tanner Jaillet (Red Deer, Alberta). While Coach Montgomery does not have a clear answer to who will be taking the majority of the playing time, he believes that there will be a rotation because both Cowley and Jaillet excelled during the season when a rotation was in place.
In regards to the first line of players, “[Trevor] Moore (Jr., Thousand Oaks, California) and [Danton] Heinen (So., Langley, British Columbia) are our best forwards. I don’t know if I’m going to keep them together, try to find someone to play with them, or split them up,” said Coach Montgomery.
It is still too early for a first line to be decided. When one is chosen, it probably will not remain exactly the same because lines are fluid and changes should be expected.
Photo by Carolyn Angiollo
The Pioneers’ schedule is more difficult this season than last. Two very important contests will be on the road against Boston College and Boston University on Halloween weekend and a few weeks later when the team travels to the University of Minnesota-Duluth. These are some of the best teams in the nation and competing against them on the road will surely be a challenge for the Pioneers.
One of the most exciting things in the minds of many fans is the ‘Battle on Blake.’
This game is scheduled for Feb. 20 and the Pioneers will be facing off against the Colorado College Tigers at Coors Field.
The team and Coach Montgomery are as excited for this contest as the fans are.
“I’m expecting 25,000 hockey fans and when you put the rivalry in, it’s just great theatre. We get one day on the open ice before the game so let’s just go out and enjoy the moment and play as good as we can,” he said.
In the exhibition game on Oct. 4, the Pioneers shut down the University of Calgary Dinos 4-0 in Magness Arena.
Denver hockey is also currently ranked 5th in the nation by the NCAA and U.S. College Hockey. The season home opener is scheduled for Oct. 10 against the Air Force Academy. The puck drops at 7:06 p.m. in Magness Arena.
