Men’s Ice Hockey Sophie Hamill & Ron Knabenbauer
DENVER – The No. 4 University of Denver hockey team kicks off the 2024-25 Gold Pan series against the No. 10-ranked Colorado College Tigers with a home-and-home series this weekend in one of the most-played rivalries in college hockey.
Both contests of the in-state showdown start at 7 p.m. MT, and each will be available to stream on NCHC.tv. The opening game on Friday at Ed Robson Arena in Colorado Springs will be televised locally on CW2 (KWGN-TV) and nationally in Canada on TSN 2. Saturday in Denver will be broadcast regionally on Altitude 2. Limited tickets for Saturdays’ outing at Magness Arena are available.
After the weekly college hockey rankings were released on Monday, Colorado College came in at No. 10 in the polls while Denver dropped two spots to No. 4. The Pios are getting set to play their third top 10-matchup of the season and their second in as many weeks; they are 3-1-0 in such games in 2024-25.
The Pioneers’ (13-3-0, 3-3-0 NCHC) season record ran perfectly until losing both games to Arizona State at home on Nov. 22-23. DU spent last weekend in Kalamazoo, Michigan, against the No. 7 Western Michigan Broncos and split the series. Friday night resulted in a 3-2 loss for the Pioneers, but they captured a 3-2 overtime win on Saturday as captain Carter King scored the game-winning goal at 2:11 in the extra stanza.
The Tigers (9-4-1, 3-2-1 NCHC) faced non-conference opponent Providence this past weekend, recording two losses of 4-3 and 5-1 against the then-No. 10-ranked squad in the country. The last time CC won in regulation was more than a month ago on Nov. 9 against ASU, and six out of their 14 games this season have needed overtime.
The state of Colorado rivalry’s all-time record has DU leading at 197-123-21, with the Pios sporting an 8-2 record in the past 10 matchups. Last season’s contests went 3-1 in favor of Denver—the only loss was by a 4-3 score in Colorado Springs on March 8. The Pioneers had won 13 consecutive regular-season meetings against the Tigers before that defeat.
DU has been able to take the Gold Pan for the last five seasons and has won it 18 times overall since the trophy’s inception in 1993-94. As reigning champions of the Gold Pan, the Pioneers only need a series split to win it again, while CC needs to win the four-game regular-season series outright to take the trophy home.
This series is DU’s last two contests before a two-week break for the holidays. The team returns for the UNLV exhibition game on Dec. 30 at 6 p.m. MT. Saturday’s game also marks the Pioneers’ only home regular-season contest in a six-week span, as they’ll next play at home on Jan. 10-11 versus Miami. Denver is wrapping up a season-long three-game road swing on Friday at CC and is in a stretch where the team is playing five-of-six regular-season outings away from home.
Saturday’s theme night at Magness Arena is "Gold Out for the Gold Pan," where fans attending are encouraged to wear gold to the game. Fans can also pick up an LED rally towel at the Huntington Bank kiosk on the main concourse.
This weekend marks the 342nd and 343rd time that the two Colorado teams will face each other and will tie the Michigan-Michigan State series for the most-played rivalry in college hockey on Saturday night.
LAST TIME OUT: The No. 2 Pioneers recorded a weekend split at the No. 7 Broncos in a top-10 series, falling 3-2 on Friday before posting a 3-2 overtime win on Saturday.
Denver nearly erased a three-goal deficit on Friday as freshmen Jake Fisher and James Reeder tallied in the third period. The Pios came back from being down 1-0 and 2-1 on Saturday, as Samu Salminen tied the outing with 1:06 remaining before Carter King netted the game-winner in overtime.
Zeev Buium combined for three points (1g/2a) in the two games and scored on Saturday. Goaltender Matt Davis made 24 saves on Friday and stopped 19 shots on Saturday.
EXTRA GOOD IN EXTRA TIME: Denver played its first overtime contest of the season on Saturday and won 3-2 after Carter King tallied at 2:11 of the extra period. It was the Pioneers’ first OT game since defeating Boston University 2-1 on April 11 in the 2024 NCAA Frozen Four Semifinals at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.
DU has now won four straight overtime contests and is unbeaten in its last nine outings that have gone beyond regulation (7-0-2). The Pios went 6-1-3 overall in OT games in 2023-24, including picking up an extra-time victory at Western Michigan on Dec. 9, 2024.
King’s OT goal was the second of his career as he also netted the winner on Dec. 2, 2023 versus North Dakota. Overall, it was King’s second game-winning goal of the season and seventh of his career.
NOTABLES:
PIONEERING OFFENSE: Denver is tied for the nation’s lead in scoring with Minnesota by averaging 4.1 goals per game and ranks second behind the Gophers in total tallies with 66. The Pios led the NCAA last season with 202 total goals and a 4.59 average.
DU scored at least four goals in each of the first 11 contests this season, and the Pioneers have had 13 different players score and 19 of the 22 skaters register at least one point this year. Nine DU players have already reached double-digits in points.
PLAYING AHEAD: The Pioneers have had the lead or have been tied for most of the season, as they’ve not trailed in 84.2 percent of game play this season (810:21/962:11)—leading for 51.6 percent of the time (496:45) or has been tied for 32.6 percent (313:36).
DU has only been down on the scoreboard in 15.8 percent of game play this season (151:50) and didn’t trail for the first 244:12 of the season (4+ games).
SAMMY SCORING: Sophomore Sam Harris’ 11 goals this year are tied for the second-most in the nation with Wisconsin’s Quinn Finley (Boston College Ryan Leonard, 12). He also shares the NCAA lead with BC’s Ryan Leonard for game-winning goals with five, with three of them coming in consecutive game: Nov. 8-9 vs. Lindenwood and Nov. 15 at North Dakota—the first time that a Pioneer has notched the winning tally in three consecutive outings in the last four years (since 2021-22).
The San Diego, California, native recorded his second multi-goal game of the year on Nov. 9 vs. Lindenwood (Oct. 5 at Alaska Anchorage), with both tallies coming in a matter of 5:49 to break a 1-1 take and mark the fastest two goals scored by a single Pioneer player this season.
Overall, Harris has points in 11 of the 15 games he’s played this season, which included a career-best nine-game point streak from Oct. 18-Nov. 16 (8g/6a).
DIVINE DEVINE: Senior Jack Devine leads the nation in scoring with 25 points and also paces all players in the NCAA with 24 assists. He recorded assists in each of each of the first eight contests of the season (1g/15a) for the longest assist and point streak of his career and has points in 15-of-16 games this year.
The Glencoe, Illinois, native has registered multiple points in six outings, including in five of the first six games and in three consecutive outings from Oct. 19-26. Devine opened the season with a personal-best four assists on Oct. 5 at Alaska Anchorage (all on the power play) and recorded three points on Oct. 26 vs. Wisconsin (1g/2a) and Nov. 14 at North Dakota (0g/3a)—he owns 12 career three-point games in his college tenure.
Devine was named both the NCHC and National Player of the Month for October after leading all players with 14 points (1g/3a) in six games. It was his first career monthly honors.
PIONEERS IN THE POLLS: Denver is ranked No. 4 in country in both the USCHO.com and USA Hockey/The Rink Live nationals polls that were released on Monday. The Pioneers were selected No. 1 in each of the first eight polls this year and in nine straight dating back to the final rankings from last season.
The NCHC leads all conferences with six programs ranked and is tied with Hockey East for the most in the top 10 in the USCHO.com poll with four each. Joining DU in the rankings are Western Michigan at No. 6/6, St. Cloud State at No. 9/9, Colorado College at No. T-10/11, North Dakota at No. 16/18 and Arizona State at No. 19/20.
DEVINE CLIMBING THE LEADERBOARD: Senior forward Jack Devine registered two assists last weekend at Western Michigan now has 131 career points (45 goals, 86 assists) in 134 career games. The Glencoe, Illinois, native ranks 40th on the school’s all-time scoring list and is one point from a tie for 37th place with Bill Stewart (1979-83), Dylan Gambrell (2015-18) and Joey LaLeggia (2011-15). He is three points from tying for 35th with Dave Berry (1980-84) and Tom Miller (1966-69).
Devine became the 103rd Pioneer to reach 100 career points after scoring in his 109th contest on March 8, 2024 at Colorado College. The forward is five goals away from being the 61st player in school history to score 50 career goals and the first since Cole Guttman on Feb. 11, 2022 against Minnesota Duluth.
DOMINANT AT THE DOT: The Pioneers rank eighth in the nation by winning 54.2 percent of their faceoffs this season, including posting season-high winning percentages of .640 and .643, respectively, on Nov. 1-2 at Yale.
Carter King leads Denver in faceoff wins (198) and winning percentage (.593), while Samu Salminen is second with a .580 winning percentage in draws and Kieran Cebrian is second in draw victories at 130. King set a personal best by winning 20-of-34 faceoffs on Oct. 19 against Northeastern for the most wins by a Pioneer since Tyson McLellan went 23-for-35 on Jan. 4, 2020 against Massachusetts; he won 18 faceoffs on Dec. 7 at Western Michigan.
MAGNESS MADNESS: Denver has sold out each of its eight home games season, averaging 6,641 fans. The Pioneers set attendance records on Oct. 18-19 during homecoming weekend against Northeastern, including a new single-game high with a crowd 7,051 on Saturday for its banner-raising ceremony and series finale. Overall, 13,888 people watched the series sweep of NU—the most for a two-game weekend in school history and breaking the previous mark by more than 1,200 fans.
In 2023-24, DU set a home attendance record by averaging 6,130 fans at Magness Arena across 20 games, besting their previous high mark of 6,022 over the course of 24 contests in 2006-07. Denver had a sold-out crowd of 7,033 for its regular-season finale against Colorado College on March 9, which at the time was the highest-attended hockey game at Magness Arena in program history. DU had set its last high mark for attendance in its previous game against CC on Nov. 3 at Magness with a crowd of 7,021.
Overall, 122,594 people watched the Pioneers at Magness Arena in 2023-24 (20 games) after 133,117 people visited DU’s home rink in 23 games in 2022-23 (the second-highest attended season in the rink’s history). If the 17,952 that witnessed Denver defeat Colorado College at Ball Arena on Jan. 27, 2023 are included in the data (it officially counted as a DU home game), then 151,069 people watched Pioneer home games in 2022-23—the highest total attendance for the team since 1999.
CELEBRATING 75 YEARS OF THE PIONEERS: Denver is commemorating 75 years of Pioneer hockey throughout 2024-25 to recognize its diamond jubilee as a program. DU hosted its 75th Anniversary reunion on Nov. 8-9 when Lindenwood visited Magness Arena. Among the activities were pre and post-game receptions for alums, alumni games and family skates and an on-ice recognition of approximately 150 former players in attendance during Saturday’s first intermission, with each of the team’s NCAA-record 10 championship trophies being presented as well.
The 2024-25 season is actually the 76th in DU hockey history, but the team’s 75th anniversary of its first game is in December. The Pioneers’ first-ever contests were at home on Dec. 19-20, 1949 against Saskatchewan, with the squad losing 17-0 and 9-1 in the series. Denver’s first win was Jan. 27, 1950 at Wyoming, and the program’s first home victory came against that same Wyoming squad on Feb. 18, 1950 (10-6) at the old DU Arena.
TICKETS: Limited tickets for Denver hockey’s 75th anniversary in 2024-25 are still available. Click here to purchase and for more information.
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