Friday, Oct. 8—DU Hockey secures win after rocky start

By: Executive Editor, Conor Chapman

After a long wait, regular-season collegiate hockey is back, and the fans have returned with it.

The DU men’s hockey team started the season and Homecoming weekend with an 8-3 win over the Arizona State University (ASU) Sun Devils. The crowd in Magness Arena showed their excitement for the opening game with nonstop cheers and chants throughout the stadium, especially from the packed student section.

The game did not start well for the Crimson and Gold. An early-game penalty by senior Ryan Barrow (Banff, Alberta) seconds into the game allowed ASU’s Johnny Walker (Phoenix, AZ) to score a power-play goal 1:43 into the contest. The penalty was a warning that the game would be physical, with both teams crunching their opposition into the boards. After ASU’s opening goal, DU went on a 3-goal run, with sophomore Carter Savoie (St. Albert, Alberta), freshman Carter Mazur (Jackson, MI) and senior Brett Stapley (Campbell River, B.C.) scoring. However, the team was still sloppy, with poor handling of the puck and inaccurate passing occurring. 

In the second period, Denver continued to bombard the ASU goaltender with shots, with shots by seniors Cole Guttman (Los Angeles, CA) and Kyle Mayhew (Anaheim Hills, CA) eventually finding their way in. As DU kept scoring, the game became more physical, leading to both teams receiving roughing penalties after Mayhew’s goal. While playing 4-on-4, freshman Shai Buium (San Diego, CA) was called for an interference penalty that gave the Sun Devils a 4-on-3 power play. ASU scored on this powerplay to make the score 5-2, 10 minutes into the period. 

14:23 into the period, DU answered back with a power-play goal by Guttman to extend their lead. DU and ASU then picked up matching roughing penalties again, with junior Bobby Brink (Minnetonka, MN) scoring Denver’s 7th goal during the 4-on-4 play. 

The third period was a continuation, with the physicality high, penalties being wracked up by both teams. Freshman Massimo Rizzo (Burnaby, B.C.) capped off Denver’s night with their eighth on a power play, while ASU scored their own power-play goal with 17 seconds left in the game.

After the game, Guttman said the physicality of the game played into the team’s strengths: “We want to be a physical team, but we also want to be fast,” he stated. Guttman also heaped praise onto the defensemen, noting their excellent breakout passing and other offensive contributions.

Saturday, Oct. 8—DU hockey shows resilience in victory over Arizona State University 

By: Contributing Writer, Sam Sallick

The DU men’s hockey team won 4-3 Saturday night, fending off a determined Arizona State University (ASU) Sun Devils team to complete the series sweep. Unlike Friday’s one-sided game, Denver had to work to get this win. They trailed twice in the game but each time they answered and eventually came out on top. 

The first period was a penalty extravaganza, with the vast majority of the 20 minutes played with someone in the penalty box. This was not to DU’s advantage, as ASU relied heavily on the power play on offense. 

“We knew the power play was the only offense they had,” sophomore defenseman Mike Benning (St.Albert, Alberta), said. A point that is tough to argue, as the Sun Devils scored all six of their goals in the two-game series with the advantage. 

After a penalty-filled first seven minutes, DU scored the first goal of the game in one of the few 5-on-5 opportunities. Freshman Massimo Rizzo (Burnaby, B.C.) scored his second goal of the season, with sophomore Mckade Webster (St. Louis, MO) and fellow freshman Jack Devine (Glencoe, Ill.) assisting. 

Depth scoring was key to the victory, as ASU tried to make sure Denver’s first line did not dominate the way they did on Friday. Coach David Carle noted that the team was “able to showcase [their] depth scoring and ability to make plays throughout the forward group.” Carle said the performances from the second and third lines showed that “we can rely on different people to put the puck in the net.”

This early lead would not last due to DU being on the penalty kill for long stretches, allowing ASU to cash in on the power play. Sophomore Connor Caponi’s (Milwaukee, Wis.) major penalty on a hit to the head of an ASU player, an infraction for which he was ejected, put ASU on a five-minute power play. When asked if Caponi could receive any supplemental discipline, Coach Carle said that the league will look at it and that the team will “let the league operate their way through that (disciplinary) system.” 

ASU would cash in on the major penalty at 13 minutes 34 seconds into the first period to tie the game. Denver was lucky to only give up one goal though, with a Carter Savoie penalty leading to a 5-on-3 chance for the Sun Devils.

With DU players rotating in and out of the penalty box, it seemed like a matter of time before ASU took the lead. They did just that with a power-play goal with two minutes remaining in the period.

After the first period, there were not as many penalties, which allowed DU to assert their dominance in the 5-on-5 play. After a flurry of offensive pressure to open the second period, Rizzo scored his second goal of the game on a nice feed from freshman Sean Behrens (Barrington, Ill). DU continued to apply pressure and put the Sun Devils on the back foot, but they had no goals to show for it. 

The Sun Devils got their chance late in the period when they went back on the power play after a Tuomisto cross-check. Josh Doan (Scottsdale, AZ), scored on a nice wrist shot to put Arizona State up 3-2.

That lead would not last long, as with 20 seconds to go in the period junior Bobby Brink (Minnetonka, Minn.) scored a goal off of a creative faceoff play by sophomore Carter Savoie (St. Albert, Alberta) to set up the goal. Savoie said that the play was senior captain Cole Guttman’s (Los Angeles, Calif.) idea. Savoie said that Guttman was “getting tied up quite a bit from that side, so he said, ‘why don’t you try to poke it through and pass it back to Bob.’” That is exactly what happened, and it led to the game-tying goal.

The momentum from the goal carried into the third period, where the Crimson and Gold were in control of nearly all of the scoring chances. The Sun Devils’ goalie, Cole Brady (Pickering, ON), made some great saves, but eventually, DU broke through for the tie-breaking goal. Benning scored on a beautiful shot that beat Brady. It was assisted by senior Brett Stapley (Campbell River, B.C.), as well as Devine, who had three assists on the night.

That goal ended up being the game-winner as Denver held on to win by a score of 4-3. This was also the first regular-season series at Magness Arena to have fans since before COVID. The student section was rocking and there was a large homecoming crowd.

Carter Savoie, who played his freshman year without fans said that the fans were, “really loud and got us going right from the get-go in both games.”