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The Pioneer hockey team is about to get serious.
In the 60th year of the DU hockey program, polls say the Pioneers are No. 1.
After disappointing ends to the last several seasons, the team is ready to bring home an
NCAA championship, a WCHA title and the Gold Pan Trophy.
“I think after our disappointing loss last year we want to come out and have a great year. I think maybe that might have even helped us,” said Joe Colborne, sophomore forward.
“We’re all hungry in there.”
The Pioneers finished last season with a 4-2 loss to Miami (Ohio) in the first round of the NCAA West Regional.
“It was a good year, but it left you feeling kind of empty, like boy, oh boy, we can do better,” said head coach George Gwozdecky. “I think that’s a big motivation for us this year.”
The No. 2-ranked team in the country is looking for redemption, which is expected.
Twenty one of the Pioneers are returning to the lineup, as well as what many consider the nation’s top recruiting class.
Leading the team as captain is senior Rhett Rakhshani and assistant captains seniors
Tyler Ruegsegger, Matt Glasser and junior Kyle Ostrow.
Highlighting the freshmen class are defensemen Matt Donovan, Paul Phillips, William Wrenn and forward Drew Shore, all NHL draft picks.
DU faces a difficult schedule, opening the season hosting NCAA Frozen Four participant Vermont, followed by two back-to-back weekends of road games, first traveling to Ohio to take on Ohio State. The second game of the series will be played in the Nationwide Arena, home of the NHL’s Blue Jackets. The Buckeyes are 6-0-2 all-time in games played at the arena.
Their second consecutive road game series will be against the University of Minnesota, before returning home to take on Minnesota State Homecoming weekend.
The rest of the season lineup includes four games each against conference in-state rival Colorado College and conference rivals North Dakota, Minnesota.
In December, DU will begin their quest to win back the Gold Pan trophy from the CC Tigers.
“It’s been a tough couple of years with them so we’re excited to have a good, tough, fought challenge,” said Tyler Ruegsegger, senior assistant captain.
Although Tyler Bozak, former star forward, left DU after his sophomore season, the Pioneers are not expecting any shortcomings.
“We’ve got some potential to be pretty explosive offensively,” said Gwozdecky.
Defensively, Denver will be starting junior Marc Cheverie as No. 1 goaltender, but it is likely that freshman Adam Murray will get a lot of ice time, in what may be developed as a two-man goaltending rotation. This rotation was successful in 2004 and 2005, when The Pioneers won back-to-back NCAA championships.
The Pioneers will open the season this weekend during the 60th Anniversary celebration of the program. The puck drops Friday at 7:37 p.m. and Saturday at 7:07 p.m.
WCHA Poll
The 39th annual Grand Forks Herald WCHA Coaches Poll
- Denver
- North Dakota
- Wisconsin
- Minnesota
- St. Cloud State
- Minnesota Duluth
- MSU – Mankato
- Colorado College
- Alaska Anchorage
- Michigan Tech
