Thursday, November 14, 2024

Men’s Notes: Defending Champ Denver off to Dominant Start

Pioneers Have Rattled off 10 Straight Wins to Begin Season

The term “championship hangover” is an oft-used (overused?) phrase in the sports world. The theory is that championship teams sometimes struggle the following season due to a variety of nonquantifiable factors: lingering injuries from the previous season’s playoff run, an increased sense of satisfaction resulting in a lack of urgency, etc.

Whether the concept is myth or reality, it certainly does not apply to the 2024-25 Denver Pioneers.

The defending national champions have rattled off a 10-0-0 start and remain firmly entrenched as the No. 1 team in both national polls. In fact, DU’s start is unprecedented this century in NCAA Division I men’s hockey.

Prior to this year, only three defending national champions this century opened their title defense with winning streaks longer than two games. DU’s 10-0 start this year has doubled the previous best start:

Season-Opening Win Streaks by Defending NCAA Champion (Since 2000)
Rk.	Team, Year	Wins
1.	Denver, 2024-25	10
2.	North Dakota, 2016-17	5
	Union, 2014-15	5
4.	Boston College, 2010-11	3
5.	Denver, 2022-23	2
	Boston College, 2008-09	2

Denver has held on to its No. 1 USCHO.com national preseason ranking for a total of seven weeks, the longest such streak on record (since 2007-08):

Weeks Ranked #1 to Begin NCAA Title Defense (Since 2000)
Rk.	Team, Year	Weeks
1.	Denver, 2024-25	7
2.	Denver, 2017-18	5
3.	North Dakota, 2016-17	4
4.	Denver, 2022-23	3
	Boston College, 2010-11	3

Both streaks will be put to the test this weekend when the Pioneers open NCHC play with a series at No. 9/10 North Dakota.

Daily Scoreboard | Weekly Schedule | Stat Leaders | Goaltending Leaders

Must Read:

Boston Globe: Boston College made a strong statement with sweep of Maine

College Hockey News: Team of the Week: Boston College

College Hockey News: Montes’ passion fuels his growth at Ohio State

College Hockey News: Chesley adding another dimension to Minnesota back line

College Hockey News: CHL players eligible for college hockey starting in 2025-26

Duluth News Tribune: Bulldogs’ Zam Plante learning to play minus Max, for now

EP Rinkside: NCAA Stock Watch: Michael Hage, Zeev Buium already outplaying draft position

Grand Forks Herald: Hockey commissioners ask NCAA to be mindful with delayed enrollment rule

Grand Forks Herald: College hockey opens its doors to Canadian major junior players

NHL.com: Color of Hockey: Lee has ‘bright future’ as rookie with Kings

USCHO: While still inconsistent to date, Sacred Heart finding success with freshmen, transfers, returnees

USCHO: Dartmouth off to ‘a good start’ in ’24-25

USCHO: Michigan surging early as Wolverines ‘not supposed to be doing what we’re doing’

Must Hear:

Bulldogs Insider: Arnott, Shaugabay take different paths to UMD

CHN Insiders: Featuring Boston College head coach Greg Brown

Inside Atlantic Hockey: Featuring Niagara forwards Shane Ott and Trevor Hoskin

NHL @TheRink: Will Smith’s 1st goal with Sharks, living on his own

Parting Schotts: Hauge reviews Alaska games, previews St. Lawrence/Clarkson, talks NCAA ruling on CHL

Pucks in Deep: Featuring Colorado College captain Stanley Cooley

The CCHA Show: Featuring Lake Superior State F Dawson Tritt and Ferris State F Cole Burtch

The Kevin Karius Show: College Hockey Inc.’s Sean Hogan on the changing landscape of NCAA hockey

The Pipeline Show: College Hockey Inc. Executive Director Sean Hogan on CHL eligibility rule change

TSN Ottawa: Hogan: The players are the big winners, no longer have to make massive decisions at 15

UND Hockey Podcast: UND sweeps again in Duluth

USCHO Spotlight: College Hockey Inc.’s Sean Hogan discusses CHL eligibility, growth in face of change

USCHO Weekend Review: Higher-ranked top 20 teams mostly dominate, NCAA major junior decision

A Tigers Tale:

Remaining in the state of Colorado, yet another NCHC squad remains among the nation’s unbeaten teams: the 8-0-0 Colorado College Tigers.

CC welcomed Arizona State to the NCHC last weekend by sweeping the Sun Devils in what were the first-ever conference games for ASU. That gave the Tigers an 8-0 mark to start the year for the first time since 1956-57 when CC captured its last NCAA championship.

It’s been a true team effort so far for the Tigers, who have been without last year’s scoring leader – junior Noah Laba (Jr., Northville, Mich.) – for the last five games due to injury. CC doesn’t have a single skater in the top 125 of the national scoring race, but 14 different players have scored at least one goal and nine different players have already contributed six-plus points.

Between the pipes, returning All-America netminder and Mike Richter Award finalist Kaidan Mbereko (Jr., West Bloomfield, Mich.) has started all eight games and owns a sparkling .941 save percentage.

Special teams have been rock-solid, too, with a power play converting at 25 percent and a penalty kill clicking at 90 percent. CC also boasts a team shooting percentage (13.0) that ranks fourth in the NCAA.

The Tigers face another stiff NCHC test this weekend, traveling to Western Michigan for a showdown with No. 11/13 Western Michigan.

Workin’ Overtime:

When Vermont battled then-No. 17 UMass to a 3-3 overtime tie (and shootout win) last Friday, it marked a school-record fifth consecutive overtime game for the Catamounts. The previous record of four was set in January 2001.

UVM has already played extra time in six of its first nine games this season, going 1-2-3 in OT.

The Catamounts are nearly halfway to the school record of 14 overtime games set by the 2017-18 squad. The NCAA Division I men’s record of 19 overtime games was set by Colgate in 2008-09.

Milestone Watch:

Providence F Nick Poisson (Gr., Vancouver, British Columbia) and Minnesota F Jimmy Snuggerud (Jr., Chaska, Minn.) enters the weekend on the verge joining college hockey’s 100-point club. Poisson sits at 99 career points, while Snuggerud has 97:

Active NCAA Career Scoring Leaders
Rk.	Player, School	Pts
1.	Lukas Sillinger, Arizona State	127
2.	Jack Devine, Denver	123
3.	Carter Wilkie, North Dakota	114
4.	Gunnarwolfe Fontaine, Ohio State	105
5.	Lynden Breen, Maine	104
6.	Ayrton Martino, Clarkson	100
7.	Nick Poisson, Providence	99
8.	Jimmy Snuggerud, Minnesota	97
9.	Cameron Berg, North Dakota	92
10.	Three players tied w/	90

Clarkson senior F Ayrton Martino (Toronto) became the most recent member of that exclusive club when he notched a pair of assists during a Nov. 2 tie with Alaska.

Fit to Print:

“I think I developed from a junior hockey player into a man.”

— Los Angeles Kings rookie F Andre Lee (UMass Lowell, 2019-22), a native of Sweden, on his three collegiate seasons at UMass Lowell (source: NHL.com).

NHL Note of the Week:

Columbus D Jack Johnson (Michigan, 2005-07) skated in his 1,200th career NHL game Sunday in Anaheim, becoming the 22nd NCAA alumni in history to reach that milestone. He joined former collegiate teammate and recently retired Andrew Cogliano (Michigan, 2005-07) in that exclusive club.

Johnson, the third overall pick by Carolina in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, is in his 19th NHL season. He earned first-team All-America honors at Michigan as a sophomore in 2006-07.

Fries at the Bottom of the Bag:

No. 3/4 Michigan State (7-1-0) is off to its best start since 2007-08 when it started 8-1-0 as the defending NCAA champion. Head coach Adam Nightingale (MSU ’05) claimed his 50th career win behind the MSU bench Saturday against Ohio State, making him the fastest bench boss in program history (85 games) to reach that milestone … Minnesota Duluth F Anthony Menghini (So., Brainerd, Minn.) scored all three Bulldog goals in Friday’s 7-3 loss to North Dakota, with all three coming via the power play in the third period. Menghini did not score a single PPG in 37 games as a freshman … Brown F Max Scott (So., San Jose, Calif.) and Northeastern F Jack Williams (Jr., Biddeford, Maine) each won 22 faceoffs in their respective games last Saturday, the best single-game total in the country this season. Scott went 22-11 (66.7%) in a 3-1 loss at Cornell, while Williams was 22-7 (75.9%) in a 6-5 setback to Providence … Western Michigan G Cameron Rowe (Gr., Wilmette, Ill.) made his 100th career start in Friday’s 2-1 win at Omaha … Cornell F Dalton Bancroft (Jr., Centre Hastings, Ontario) scored eight seconds into Friday’s 2-2 tie with Yale, tied for second-fastest goal to open a game in team history … Army freshman G JJ Cataldo (Stuart, Fla.) earned his first NCAA shutout with a 39-save effort in Friday’s 1-0 win over Niagara. Cataldo boasts a 1.26 goals against average and .960 save percentage through his first four appearances.

Longest Active Point Streaks:

10 games, F Carter King (Denver)
- 7-6—13, began Oct. 5 at Alaska Anchorage
10 games, F Aidan Thompson (Denver)
- 7-10—17, began Oct. 5 at Alaska Anchorage
9 games, D Eric Pohlkamp (Denver)
- 4-9—13, began Oct. 6 at Alaska Anchorage
8 games, F Gabe Perreault (Boston College)
- 5-8—13, began Oct. 11 at Michigan State

Longest Active Goal Streaks:

4 games, F Stiven Sardarian (Michigan Tech)
- 4-2—6, began Nov. 1 at Northern Michigan
4 games, F Evan Werner (Michigan)
- 5-2—7, began Nov 1. at Boston University

College Hockey Inc. Resources:

Did you know? 93% of NCAA Division I men’s hockey players earn their degree!