For the second time in three seasons, the Pioneer hockey team finds itself ranked near the top of both national preseason polls.
In 2009, DU earned the No. 1 overall preseason ranking but fell short of expectations, losing 2-1 to Rochester Institute of Technology in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
This season, the Pioneers (25-12-5) are ranked No. 4 overall in both the USCHO.com and USA Today preseason rankings.
In addition, the team earned the top spot in the Western Collegiate Hockey Assiociation’s preseason media poll, receiving 15 first-place votes and edging out in-state rival Colorado College.
The Pioneers return a lot of top talent from a 2010-2011 squad that advanced to the NCAA Midwest Regional Final only to lose 6-1 to WCHA-foe North Dakota.
“We felt we fell short of some of our goals last season, but we were able to gain experience in the process,” said head coach George Gwozdecky. “We are returning a lot of our top talent, so of course the expectations are high for us.”
Among the top returners are forwards Drew Shore and Jason Zucker, who will lead a loaded Pioneer offense.
Shore, a junior, decided to return to DU this offseason, foregoing an opportunity to play with the NHL’s Florida Panthers.
He was named co-captain alongside fifth-year senior Dustin Jackson in the offseason, following a year where he recorded 46 points on 23 goals and 23 assists.
Zucker, a sophomore, finished his freshman campaign with 23 goals and was awarded the WCHA’s Rookie of the Year title.
Last Thursday, he was named the WCHA Preseason Player of the Year, edging out CC’s Jaden Schwartz by two votes.
“I think it [being named Preseason Player of the Year] is definitely good for the team, and good for him as an indiviudal,” said Shore of his fellow linemate. “Jason’s going to have a big year for us and he is only going to keep getting better and better.”
Alongside Shore and Zucker on offense will be senior Luke Salazar and sophomores Beau Bennett, Jarrod Mermis and Nick Shore.
“Our top five to six offensive guys give us an advantage in terms of depth,” said Gwozdecky. “They all had good seasons last year and we expect them to have a strong seasons this year and keep improving.”
Salazar has netted 33 career goals at DU and brings a lot of experience on the ice to a team that is fairly young.
The Pioneers look for Bennett to continue from a freshman season that featured 25 points on nine goals and 16 assists. Bennett, a first-round pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins, will most likely be teamed with the younger Shore – who tallied 18 points on seven goals and 11 assists – and Mermis .
As a freshman last season, Mermis was named DU’s Most Improved Player.
“We are going to have fierce competition in practice, especially at forward,” said Gwozdecky. “We have a lot of depth up front. No spot is secure, so it will be fun watching our guys compete.”
If the six returning forwards weren’t enough for Gwozdecky, the team boasts a strong incoming class of scorers, which includes Zac Larraza, Daniel Doremus and Ty Loney. The trio of freshman combined for 76 points last season at various developmental levels.
“Zac, Dan and Ry are three guys that have shown they can produce,” said Gwozdecky. “However, all of our freshman forwards, including Matt Tabrum and Larkin Jacobson, are going to play a role on this team as the season progresses.”
While the Pioneers offense brings a lot of excitement for the 2011-2012 season, the team refuses to rest on its expectations and preseason hype.
“It’s an obviously an honor [to be ranked in the preseason top 5], but after being here a few years, I’ve realized it doesn’t mean anything,” said Shore. “When I was a freshman we were preseason No. 1, last year we were lower than that and what I’ve realized is that it can change in one weekend.”
Shore acknowledges that the preseason awards does put the spotlight on the team; however, it does not affect the team’s mindset as it prepares for its regular season opener on Oct. 14 against No. 5-ranked Boston College.
“The mindset right now is that we play strong in our exhibition matchups and we start the season off with some wins,” said Shore. “None of the guys in here are paying attention to rankings.”
One of the challenges the team is at goalie, where junior Adam Murray looks to start for the injured Sam Brittain.
DU will be without Brittain, a sophomore and the club’s No. 1 goaltender last season, until at least mid-January.
In his two years at Denver, Murray has started in 17 contests and recorded a 9-7-1
overall record; however, he has a sub-par goals against average of 3.6 goals against allowed.
According to Gwozdecky, the goalie competition is closed for now as the team’s two backups–Juho Olkinuora and Zack Hope–have no experience at the Division I level.
“We are not going to do a goalie by committee this year–Adam is going to be our starter,” said Gwozdecky. “Playing a tandem would not be wise for us at this point, because our backups are too inexperienced.”
Although depth at goalie is concerned, the Pioneers are relatively deep at the defensive end, where alternative captains John Lee and Paul Phillips anchor a group of young, talented skaters.
Sophomore David Makowski is the Pioneers’ top returning defenseman, following a freshman season that included 30 points and an All-WCHA Rookie Team selection.
The two-way blueliner will play a pivotal role on the ice for the Pioneers this season, according to Gwozdecky.
“David has a unique skill set and will play a different type of role than the other defenders,” he said. “He certainly chipped in a lot offensively last year for us, manning some of our power plays, and we expect him to do a lot for us again.”
Senior John Ryder will provide additional experience to a corps that lacks veteran experience after the midseason departures of William Wrenn and Matt Donovan.
Despite the early departures, the unit still has depth thanks in large part to newcomers Joey LaLeggia, Scott Mayfield and Josiah Didier.
Similar to Makowski, LaLeggia is a two-way defenseman who led the British Columbia Hockey League in scoring for defensemen in the past two seasons.
Didier has offensive abilities as well, while Mayfield is known for being a hard-hitting enforcer after being named the Most Valuable Player at the 2010 World Junior A Challenge, where he helped lead the Americans to a gold medal.
“Joey certainly has a lot of offensive capabilities that will be shown once he adjusts to playing at this level,” said Gwozdecky. “Scott Mayfield is another big body out there for us that will make our defense tougher.”
With all three freshmen defenders poised to make an immediate impact, the Pioneers can prepare to slow down some of the country’s best offensive players on their scheduling, including CC’s Schwartz, Minnesota Duluth’s Jack Connolly, Miami’s Reilly Smith and North Dakota’s freshman Rocco Grimaldi.
“We have a lot of experience at the defensive end, which is always a good thing,” said Gwozdecky. “Guys like Lee, Ryder and Phillips, they’ve all seen plenty of game action and know what to expect.”
The Pioneers will be challenged early and often by their difficult schedule, which features 11 games against teams ranked in the preseason top 10 polls.
In addition, the team plays in 16 contests against 2011 NCAA Tournament partipants, including a pair of two-game series against 2011 Frozen Four participant North Dakota and 2011 NCAA champion Minnesota-Duluth. UND and UMD are ranked No. 3/3 and No. 8/10, respectively, in the preseason polls.
In total, Denver has 20 games on its regular season schedule against teams in USCHO.com’s preseason top 20 poll, which makes the Pioneers’ schedule arguably the most difficult in the country.
“Our schedule is always difficult, because we want to challenge ourselves with our non-conference schedule,” said Gwozdecky. “There’s no better way to test yourself than to start the season with Boston College and Boston University.”
Despite its schedule, the team is excited to get on the ice and prove themselves worthy of the high preseason expectations.
“This is a very talented and experienced group of guys,” said Shore. “Everybody is excited to get back at it and work toward our goals as a team.”
