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Denver Pioneers revel in 75th anniversary bash: ‘Greatest college hockey program in history of mankind’

By Mike Chambers Special to The Denver Gazette November 10, 2024 | updated 9 months ago

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University of Denver hockey alumni celebrate at the program's 75th anniversary ceremony at Magness Arena on Saturday, Nov. 9. (Justin Tafoya/Clarkson Creative Photography)

Justin Tafoya/Clarkson Creative Photography

The celebration of success was on steroids.

The pinnacle of a weekend-long 75th anniversary gala for the University of Denver hockey program concluded Saturday, after the defending NCAA champions and No. 1-ranked Pioneers improved to 10-0 before more than 150 proud alumni at Magness Arena.

The celebration was etched in the ice by this 2024-25 squad in a nonconference two-game series sweep against Lindenwood, and it was as impressive as the litany of surrounding championship hardware in the building.

There are a record 10 of them inscribed “NCAA Division I champion.” That’s one more than Michigan and two more than longtime league rival North Dakota.

“We are all part of the greatest college hockey program in the history of mankind,” DU coach David Carle said pregame Saturday from a private event inside the Ritchie Center.

Carle spoke from a podium, with five national championship trophies to his left (1958, 1960, 1961, 1968, 1969) and five to his right (2004, 2005, 2017, 2022, 2024).

In winning two of the last three championships, and three of the last seven (the 2020 Frozen Four was canceled), the Pioneers became “TENver” — the first to double digits — while Michigan hasn’t won it all since 1998 and North Dakota just twice since 2000.

“I believe we’re heading to Crimson Tide, Alabama, prestige,” said former forward Grant Arnold, the Centennial native who captained DU for two seasons from 2014-2016. “There’s some connection with the crimson (color), in my mind. I just connect the two — just dominance, great freshmen coming in, the culture, all that kinds of stuff.”

The current team entered Saturday leading the country in goal-scoring (5.00) and goals-against average (1.33), and the series ended with DU extending its winning streak to 18 games dating to last season. The 10-0 start is the best to begin a season in program history, and the current Pioneers embody the legacy of a program that has produced 1,602 victories, 54 all-Americans and two Hobey Baker Award winners in Matt Carle (2006) and Will Butcher (2017).

“The current team is always going to be the current team, but I think the current team is a product of everybody in this room,” former goalie Ron Grahame (1969-73), who later became DU’s athletic director, said pregame from the private event. “I think we’re the best-kept secret as far as longevity and success.”

And the ability to brag.

“The best thing about success is bragging to everyone else about the 10 championships and that you were a part of a great program like this,” said former center Don Mercier, who as a senior played for coach Ralph Backstrom in the 1986 Frozen Four. “I got buddies that played for North Dakota and that’s the best thing to talk about. We’re ahead of them and we’re never looking back. And Michigan. They’re the worst (nonconference opponent). North Dakota is fine because they’re in our division, but Michigan, they’re cheap.”

Like Michigan and North Dakota, along with the big Minnesota universities and Boston College and Boston University, DU recruits on its history. It starts with national championships and includes regularly producing NHL players.

“It’s such a huge family. When you come here you’re instantly indoctrinated into what was done before you. You learn about the history and you try to repeat that, and improve on it or at least try to maintain it,” said former defenseman Rod Summers (1986-90), who heads up the DU Hockey Alumni group. “Over 75 years there’s obviously been some gaps, some years where we weren’t necessarily great. But it always flowed back.”

The biggest championship drought in the 75 years of DU hockey was in the late 1970s and most of the 1980s. Coach George Gwozdecky took over behind the bench in 1995, and, in his 10th season, he returned the Pioneers to glory with a Cinderella run to the 2004 title in Boston, where DU’s previous title (1969) was won. Behind Carle and freshman center Paul Stastny, the Pioneers repeated as champions in 2005 in Columbus, Ohio.

Defenseman Nick Larson was a junior and senior on those back-to-back championship teams.

“People had forgotten about the ’60s for a long time. We lost our way there a little bit in the middle there, but to see this whole thing turn around in the late 1990s and 2000s was great,” Larson said. “And today, it’s the best team, best (program), ever.”

Larson credits Gwozdecky and his predecessor, Jim Montgomery, for the three championships in the first 17 years of this century. They both hired Carle and groomed him as an assistant coach.

“’DC,’ I mean, he’s like a superhero,” Larson said of Carle, who became the youngest coach to win two NCAA titles at age 32 and has a career record of 158-62-16 record.

Gwozdecky was the only former DU head coach to attend Saturday’s celebration.

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“We all are a piece to the puzzle,” Gwozdecky said of the program. “It’s neat to see all the guys back and telling the same stories and just having fun being together again. It’s great to see what they’ve built and continues to be built, what David and his staff have done and the wonderful team they have on the ice again this year.”

Montgomery was celebrating DU’s anniversary from Boston on Saturday. The Bruins’ head coach, an hour before facing the Ottawa Senators at TD Garden, said, “DU hockey is excellence personified over 75 glorious years. It was an honor to be a part of something special with all the legendary Pio players and coaches who have made it the premier college hockey program in the country.”

The community interest has become obvious. In 2023-24, DU set a home attendance record by averaging 6,130 fans. Entering Saturday, the Pioneers were averaging 6,750, including standing-room only.

Defenseman Sean Behrens, who left DU to sign with the Avalanche in the offseason, was among those in attendance. He anticipates another celebration at the Frozen Four in April.

“This year’s team has more experience and more of an idea of what it takes to win (than last season),” Behrens said. “I think this team – their starting point is ahead of where ours was last year. It’s awesome to see.”

***

By the numbers

Denver Pioneers hockey 75th anniversary

Inaugural season: 1949

All-Time record: 1,600-997-174

National championships: (10) 1958, 1960, 1961, 1968, 1969, 2004, 2005, 2017, 2022, 2024

Frozen Four appearances: (19) 1958, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1986, 2004, 2005, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2024

NCAA Tournament appearances: (33) 1958, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1986, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024

WCHA tournament championships: (15) 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1986, 1999, 2002, 2005, 2008

NCHC tournament championships: (3) 2014, 2018, 2024

WCHA regular-season championships: (12) 1957-58, 1959-60, 1960-61, 1962-63, 1967-68, 1971-72, 1972-73, 1977-78, 1985-86, 2001-02, 2004-05, 2009-10

NCHC regular-season championships: (3) 2016- 17, 2021-22, 2022-23

Hobey Baker winners: (2) Matt Carle (2006), Will Butcher (2017)

All-Americans: 54 (Last: Zeev Buium, Jack Devine, Massimo Rizzo, 2024)

—Source: University of Denver athletics

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Mike Chambers Special to The Denver Gazette

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