LOVELAND • Murray Armstrong has company in the Denver hockey record book.
The iconic coach whose name and picture are all over the Pioneers’ facility is no longer the only coach in program history to reach three straight Frozen Fours.
After No. 2 seed DU’s 6-2 win over No. 1 seed Western Michigan on Sunday at Blue Arena, David Carle and his Pios are heading to April 9’s Frozen Four in Las Vegas — a fourth trip in the last five seasons for the star head coach who is only in his eighth season in charge of his alma mater.
“There’s nothing better than winning,” junior Sam Harris said. “The culture at this program is incredible. We had the freshmen come in and from day one, they were like, ‘We want to win here. There’s no option to lose.’ It’s an amazing feeling to come out on top of this regional and punch our ticket to Vegas.”
The University of Denver’s Sam Harris celebrates a goal against Western Michigan on Sunday in the NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey West Regional Final at Blue Arena in Loveland. (Michael Ciaglo/Clarkson Creative Photography)
What was expected to be a heavyweight battle between the top seeds in the Loveland Region that were meeting for a fourth time in the playoffs in the past two seasons was all DU from the opening puck drop — and a lot of it was because of this freshman class that saw seven of them see significant ice time in the win.
Harris scored two minutes into the game to open the scoring, while freshman Kyle Chyzowski tallied a few minutes later to give the Pios a 2-0 lead.
The Broncos pulled within one through defenseman Zach Bookman a little over one minute later, but DU would go on to add two more before the end of the first period with senior Samu Salminen and freshman Brendan McMorrow taking advantage of odd-man rushes to beat the defending national champion goaltender Hampton Slukynsky.
“That was huge,” junior defenseman Cale Ashcroft said. “We kinda preached our start going into the game. It gave us a lot of momentum to go into that period, get four goals and sit on that lead for the rest of the game.”
After a scoreless second period, WMU made things interesting with a goal from defenseman Theo Wallberg that cut DU’s lead to two with under 10 minutes to play, but the three-goal advantage was quickly restored a few minutes later as Denver native Kieran Cebrian scored off yet another odd-man rush by the Pios.
A few minutes later, the bench was empty, sticks and gloves were flying into the air as the entire DU team mobbed around standout freshman goaltender Johnny Hicks, who remained unbeaten on the season and was named Most Outstanding Player for the regional after stopping 26 shots on Sunday.
“It’s definitely a cool feeling,” Hicks said. “That was a very intense game, to say the least. There was a lot of emotions, in general, with both teams going back and forth. We came out on the good side and it was a very exciting and fun game to be a part of. I’m very grateful for this experience.”
The University of Denver’s Reid Varkonyi skates up ice on Sunday against Western Michigan in the NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey West Regional Final at Blue Arena in Loveland. (Michael Ciaglo/Clarkson Creative Photography)
DU will now take a 15-game unbeaten streak that spans back into late January to the Frozen Four. The Pios will play No. 1 overall seed Michigan, with rival North Dakota and Wisconsin facing off in the other semifinal.
“We’ve been hot for so long, and we got hot at the right time,” Chyzowski said. “It’s really nice to see us click at this time of year. To be able to find our best game right now is huge, and we’re feeling really confident going into Vegas.”
That confidence is infectious throughout the entire DU program. Carle was quick to point out postgame that this will be a seventh Frozen Four appearance in the last decade.
Even though this is a young team, every one of the 10 freshmen on the roster came to the Pios knowing the recent history and eager to add to it.
“The first day we got here, we could kinda sense the chemistry this team had and in the culture,” Chyzowski said. “Now that we’re at the end of the year here, we’re totally bought in, and it’s really fun. I do think we have a good chance to win it all.”
With another Frozen Four trip booked, merging expectations and results is becoming DU’s specialty.
“You come to Denver with the expectation to win,” Carle said. “We recruit players who want to win, who want to be a part of something bigger than themselves. This (freshman) group is no different. Their fingerprints are obviously all over this game. It starts with our leadership, bringing them along. If you want to win and play to a high standard, you come to Denver.”
GAME RECAP
No. 2 Denver 6, No. 1 Western Michigan 2
What happened: The Pioneers got their revenge on the Broncos from last year’s Frozen Four and took down the defending champions with a convincing win that sends David Carle’s team to this year’s Frozen Four — a third straight trip to college hockey’s biggest stage. DU continues its unbeaten streak, stretching it to 15 games heading to Las Vegas next month.
Star of the night: Freshmen have led the way for the Pios much of this season and it was fitting that they carried the way again. Forward Kyle Chyzowski tallied three points (one goal and two assists), while goaltender Johnny Hicks continued his stellar play in net, stopping 26 of 28 shots on the way to earning Most Outstanding Player honors for the Loveland Regional.
Quotable: “Really proud of our program. I think our guys have really bought into each other, playing the right way and any given night, anybody can step up. We’re really excited to be able to continue to keep playing in what we know will be an excellent Frozen Four. It’ll be a very fun event for everybody in Vegas.” — Carle
Up next: The Pios will face No. 1 overall seed Michigan in a national semifinal on Thursday, April 9, at T-Mobile Arena
Loveland Regional All-Tournament Team
Most Outstanding Player: Denver goaltender Johnny Hicks
F: Kieran Cebrian, DU
F: Clarke Caswell, DU
F: Sam Harris, DU
D: Zach Bookman, Western Michigan
D: Cale Ashcroft, DU
G: Hicks