After 17 years of dedicating his life to the sport of hockey, sophomore Jared Wright became a national champion on April 13. 

Denver took center stage at the Xcel Center in St. Paul, Minn. almost a month ago, facing off against Boston College (BC). Prior to that, DU managed not one, but two overtime wins that placed them in the championship game. 

For fans, waiting until the second period for a goal was nothing short of tantalizing. Wright managed to shoot the puck into the net midway through the second period, allowing Denver to gain the confidence needed to shut out their opponents. Boston College tried to battle it out, but with a brick wall in front of the goal and true grit from the players at DU, they managed to clinch their second title in three years. 

Now with time to reflect, Wright gave some insight into what it took for him to play for the University of Denver, his experience coming to DU and what it’s like to be a national champion. 

Monroe: When did you realize you loved hockey and wanted to become a professional? 

Wright: Probably around the age of 15 when I moved to *St. Thomas Academy. It’s about 15 minutes away from my house; it’s a private school, and that’s when I decided to take hockey more seriously and try to play Division I hockey. 

Monroe: Were your parents supportive of that? 

Wright: Yea, for sure. My mom and my grandparents put a lot of money into me and being successful, especially going to St. Thomas Academy. It was not a cheap school so that was a big stepping stone, I would say not only in hockey but in life as well. 

*St Thomas Academy: All-boys preparatory school in Mendota Heights, Minn. 

Monroe: What drew you to commit to DU? 

Wright: I’d say mainly just the culture and the coaches. The people they have going there —everyone just has a big commitment to hockey, and they’re all-team first-players, and I think that contributes to the culture and winning championships for sure. 

Monroe: When did you commit to DU? 

Wright: I committed to DU [in] August of 2022, and I was actually supposed to go back and play junior hockey for another year, but I was able to go into college for the 22-23 season luckily, and that was my freshman year. 

Monroe: Why didn’t you play that additional year of junior hockey?

Wright: I did play one year of junior hockey, and I was supposed to go back for a second year, and I honestly thought at the time, over the summer, I wasn’t ready for college hockey. But then I had my visit at DU and it went really well, and I thought that David Carle and the coaching staff, I don’t know, saw something in me I guess, so I was very lucky in that sense, just because I could’ve been anyone else, and I was fortunate enough to go in at that time and it felt really nice. Even though I wasn’t confident going into that summer that I was going to be able to play college hockey, just through them, I just kind of found confidence [because] they had that much faith in me. 

Monroe: Can you walk me through what it felt like when you scored in the championship? 

Wright: It was pretty surreal, just especially being in Minnesota with my grandparents there — I mean they don’t get to see me play a whole lot in person and it was really nice to be able to play in front of them and score that goal. It was a really nice goal, a great play by Rieger [Lorenz], I kinda kicked it out to him on the outside, then he gave it back. I don’t know how the puck somehow found a way in the net, but it was an awesome game and an awesome goal. I was just really happy we could win. 

Monroe: What emotions were you feeling in the moment when the timer counted down? Was there anything going through your head? 

Wright: I don’t know, probably nothing going through my head. *laughs* You’re throwing your gloves up in the air, you’re just so happy and so proud — just to do it for the school. Obviously, we have an amazing program and amazing students that support us a lot and kinda just a big moment overall, not just for the hockey team but the whole school as well. I think being the first to 10 was just huge for DU. In terms of my emotions, I don’t really remember much, just being really, really happy just for my teammates and everyone that’s a part of the school. 

Monroe: You weren’t here when we won 2 years ago. Has the team dynamic changed at all now that you are able to share that experience with the upperclassmen? 

Wright: I think that’s what is special about Denver is that the culture stays the same and the team dynamic. We bring in very similar people every year and we had a big freshman class this year, and I just feel like we have a very welcoming culture and everyone gelled well together from the start of training camp in the fall. I wouldn’t say the difference between my freshman year and sophomore year team dynamic has changed. 

Monroe: Now that many players are leaving and signing big deals, how do you feel? 

Wright: It’s very exciting for those guys, I mean that’s the goal for almost everyone. Part of DU hockey is to eventually play pro and it’s a good thing; it’s not a bad thing. You want people to move on and, obviously, some people are going to have to step up on our team and fill some of the shoes of those important players that left. But I think that has happened over the years at DU because DU has been such a successful program. People sign and then people have to elevate their playing game, but we’re definitely not worried at all in terms of the future. We know we have a lot of depth among our players, and I believe that’s why we won… because we had a lot of depth on our team. I have no worry that we’re gonna be a top team again competing for the national championship next season. 

Monroe: How does it feel, going into a new season knowing that you are defending the title? 

Wright: It’s pretty crazy. I’m really looking forward to Banner Night* against Northeastern. It was a big deal. My freshman year, obviously I wasn’t part of the [20]22 team, but it felt really special when that happened. I can’t even imagine when they raise the banner, knowing I was a part of that team and a part of history. No one will be able to take that away from us, so I’m looking forward to that day. 

*Banner Night: Night when the Championship flag is brought to the roof of the arena, marking history each time they are raised. Occurs in one of the early games of the following season. Banner night will occur on the first home game of the 2024-25 season versus Northeastern University.

Monroe: Now that all of this has had time to sink in, what are your emotions? 

Wright: I don’t know, you just take a step back and just look at the season overall. I’m just incredibly lucky to be part of this program, like I said earlier, just that the coaches found something in me, I would just say lucky. I mean not a lot of kids get to be part of something special like this. I mean one team wins every year, and if you can take a step back, it’s a pretty special thing to do, and it’s just been crazy. Just very lucky, is how I would describe it. 

Monroe: Anything you’d like to add or anyone you want to give a shoutout? 

Wright: Shoutouts? *ponders for a minute* I’ll shout out Aidan Thompson.