Sophomore defenseman T.J. Fast, a native of Calgary, Alberta, has left the team and officially withdrawn from the University of Denver to pursue other opportunities, head coach George Gwozdecky announced. Fast tallied four assists in 19 games for the No. 7 Pioneers (15-7-2, 9-5-2 WCHA) this season. He finished his DU career with 11 points … Read more
Like many other teams in the WCHA, Denver head coach George Gwozdecky is staring into the face of a whole new offense, so his plan is to build from the back line of defense, up to the front. The Pioneers platooned goalies last season with Peter Mannino and Glenn Fisher, and their opportunities will not … Read more
The University of Denver and the Metro Denver Sports Commission have unveiled the 2008 NCAA Frozen Four logo and announced the on-sale date for tickets to the 2007 NCAA West Regional. The Pepsi Center will host the 2007 NCAA West Regional and 2008 NCAA Frozen Four, marking the first time in the history of college … Read more
Denver junior Paul Stastny will forego his final two seasons of collegiate eligibility after signing a multi-year contract with the National Hockey League’s Colorado Avalanche today. Stastny was the club’s second round selection (No. 44 overall) in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. He begins his NHL career with the same franchise that his hockey hall-of-fame … Read more
It’s not quite a three-peat, but Denver defenseman Matt Carle finished his college hockey career a champion once again. Carle was named the 26th recipient of the Hobey Baker Memorial Award Friday evening at the Bradley Center. He won two national championships in his first two seasons with the Denver Pioneers and took home the … Read more
Denver junior defenseman Matt Carle, Boston College senior forward Chris Collins and Wisconsin junior goaltender Brian Elliott make up the 2006 Hobey “Hat Trick,” announced Wednesday by the Hobey Baker Foundation. Carle, Collins and Elliott were selected from among the original list of 10 finalists announced two weeks ago; one will win the 2006 Hobey … Read more
Junior defenseman Matt Carle of Denver will forgo his senior season at Denver to sign with the San Jose Sharks. Carle was named the WCHA Player of the Year, WCHA Defensive Player of the Year and a First Team All WCHA. This season Carle had 11 goals and 41 assists. “We are excited about Matt … Read more
Denver’s Matt Carle has been through the fire, and as the Pioneers prepare for Minnesota, Dave Starman says the junior defenseman is poised for the ultimate individual honor.
He may not have arrived to much fanfare, but Kevin Ulanski left Denver amid plenty of it. Nicholas Jon Wood traces the path of one of the Pioneers’ key championship contributors.
Brock Trotter, Denver’s then-leading scorer and the reigning WCHA Rookie of the Week, will miss the remainder of the season after sustaining a severed right Achilles tendon on a hit from North Dakota’s Matt Smaby during Friday night’s game between the Sioux and the Pioneers. Smaby’s check on Trotter came behind the UND goal, and … Read more
Denver may be the two-time defending NCAA champion, but head coach George Gwozdecky and Co. see only the season to come.
The 80 goals of production lost will be hard to replace. So will the experience of the four departed defensemen out of the regular lineup. But the way the Denver Pioneers have taken care of things in the last two seasons, those might turn out to be merely minor inconveniences. En route to back-to-back NCAA … Read more
Brett Skinner, a senior-to-be and captain-to-be of Denver, gave up his final year of collegiate eligibility to sign with the Vancouver Canucks. “It was the toughest decision of my life,” Skinner told the Denver Post. “I’m leaving the captain behind, a great program, and the comfort of being at a place like Denver. But obviously … Read more
For his efforts in leading Denver to back-to-back NCAA Division I titles, George Gwozdecky has been chosen winner of the 2005 Spencer Penrose Award as Division I Men’s Coach of the Year. The Pioneers went 32-9-2, finishing with a 4-1 win over North Dakota in the NCAA championship game. It is the second such honor … Read more
It hadn’t been done for 30 years. Now it’s been done twice in a row. Back-to-back national championships. Boston University achieved the feat in 1971 and 1972. Six times after that teams returned to the title game, but couldn’t pull off the repeat. Another four times they got as far as the Frozen Four, but … Read more
If you score a highlight-reel goal in the national semifinals, you expect to turn the TV set on later to relive your moment of glory. Your buddies will congratulate you on a truly “sick” move while the sportscaster extols your virtues for millions of viewers. So imagine Luke Fulghum’s surprise when ESPNews didn’t show him … Read more
If the decision backfired, the negative headline was already written: It Wasn’t Broke. All season long, Denver coach George Gwozdecky had employed as pure of a goaltending rotation as possible. Sophomore Glenn Fisher would take the opening game of a weekend and freshman Peter Mannino would follow the next night. Heading into the Frozen Four, … Read more
During the regionals, ESPN analyst Barry Melrose likened Denver’s power play to taking a pretty girl on a date. It looks good, he said, but in the end, you still didn’t score. After Thursday’s NCAA semifinal, you can call Denver’s power play Don Juan. The six power-play goals it scored was an all-time single-game NCAA … Read more
Denver coach George Gwozdecky, who stuck religiously with his goaltender rotation throughout the season and into the NCAA tournament, has decided to start freshman Peter Mannino in Thursday’s semifinal game against Colorado College. Meanwhile, sophomore defenseman J.D. Corbin broke his collarbone in Wednesday’s practice and will miss the Frozen Four. Corbin played every game this … Read more
A very different team produced a familiar result for Denver, which has a shot at a second straight NCAA title this weekend.