The DU hockey team had their first game of the season in a 9-1 exhibition win against the Lindenwood Lions, a Division II school based outside of St. Louis.
After giving up an early goal less than two minutes into the game, it was one-way traffic for the Crimson and Gold the rest of the way, scoring nine unanswered goals and out-shooting the Lions 58-14.
Coach David Carle saw this as a good opportunity to get the team up to game speed, saying that he “thought that was the fastest that things had to be, and so that was good for our guys to handle live fire and puck pressure.” He saw this exhibition as the final step in what he called the team’s “journey through preseason camp.”
The offense certainly looked up to speed, with 15 players making it on the scoreboard and six tallying multi-point games. Coach Carle singled out sophomore left wing McKade Webster (St. Louis, MO) as a player who impressed him, calling him an “unsung hero.” Carle said that he thought Webster was “really hungry in his one-on-one battles” and Carle “liked his ability to attack the net and attack off the rush.”
Webster was not alone though, with other key contributors including, but not limited to, captain and senior Cole Guttman (Los Angeles, CA) and freshman Carter Mazur (Jackson, MI), who was mentioned by Coach Carle as a player who impressed him. Freshman defenseman Shai Buium (San Diego, CA) was also a key contributor, potting two goals in his first game in action with the team.
Not only a sound victory, the Saturday night game was also the first time the team has played in front of a home crowd in 574 days. The support was something Captain Cole Guttman brought up, saying that it was something the team was “really happy about.” He noted that “it’s been a while since we’ve had the normal experience.” For much of the team, this was the first time they have had that normalcy.
Fans returning to the stands should help the team move past last season, which was a disappointing 10-13-1 campaign. Guttman called last season’s results “unacceptable,” but noted that the team will not dwell on the past. He did say that the team “wants to use that [last season] as motivation.”
With 18 returning players, including five of DU’s six top scorers from a year ago, the team should be able to return to form. The squad was also supplemented with a talented freshman class that includes multiple NHL draft picks.
That skill and talent was enough to overwhelm Lindenwood, but the real tests are still to come. Answers will come soon enough though, with the team’s first regular-season games coming on Oct. 8 and Oct. 9 versus Arizona State at home, hopefully to a big Homecoming crowd.
Despite the 9-1 win, Guttman said there is “still more room to grow when the season starts.”
