2020–21 Denver Pioneers men's ice hockey season

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2020–21 Denver Pioneers
men's ice hockey season
Conference5th NCHC
Home iceMagness Arena
Rankings
USCHONR
USA TodayNR
Record
Overall10–13–1
Conference9–12–1–0–2–1
Home4–2–0
Road2–5–0
Neutral4–6–1
Coaches and captains
Head coachDavid Carle
Assistant coachesTavis MacMillan
Dallas Ferguson
Corey Wogtech
Captain(s)Kohen Olischefski
Alternate captain(s)Ryan Barrow
Griffin Mendel
Denver Pioneers men's ice hockey seasons
« 2019–20 2021–22 »

The 2020–21 Denver Pioneers men's ice hockey season was the 72nd season of play for the program and the 8th in the NCHC conference. The Pioneers represented the University of Denver and were coached by David Carle, in his 3rd season.

Season[edit]

As a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic the entire college ice hockey season was delayed. Because the NCAA had previously announced that all winter sports athletes would retain whatever eligibility they possessed through at least the following year, none of Denver's players would lose a season of play.[1] However, the NCAA also approved a change in its transfer regulations that would allow players to transfer and play immediately rather than having to sit out a season, as the rules previously required.[2]

Denver came into the season with high expectations. From the start, however, nothing seemed to go right for the Pioneers. After the season's start was delayed, Denver joined the rest of the NCHC in Omaha, Nebraska for a condensed slate of games in December. The team started slow but looked like they were rounding into form in mid-December. Unfortunately, a theme for the entire season proved to be inconsistency. For most of the year the Pioneers couldn't string together a series of wins, or even strong performances, and they watched as their ranking fell every week until they left the top-20 altogether. By the end of the season Denver sat in the middle of the standings but was 3 games below .500.

While there were some who still included the Pioneers as possible bubble teams, their losing record was a sizable impediment to the team playing in the NCAA Tournament.[3] Denver's only probably road to the tournament was to win the NCHC Championship and the team responded well in the quarterfinals, overcoming a 2-goal deficit to upset tournament-bound Omaha. In the semis they faced #2 North Dakota and took a lead into the third period. The Hawks outplayed Denver in the frame but, as time went along, it appeared that Magnus Chrona might be able to shut out UND. It took North Dakota pulling their goaltender to give them enough firepower to break through and tie the game. In the overtime session, Denver never found their footing and were outshot 9–1 in less than nine minutes. The final goal came from a UND stick and ended the game as well as any chance Denver had to extend their season. This was Denver's first losing season in 21 years.[4]

Departures[edit]

Player Position Nationality Cause
Devin Cooley Goaltender  United States Signed professional contract (Nashville Predators)
Mike Corson Goaltender  United States Transferred to Niagara
Michael Davies Defenseman  United States Graduation
Erich Fear Defenseman  United States Graduation
Jay Feiwell Forward  United States Left program
Liam Finlay Forward  Canada Graduation (Signed with KOOVEE)
Tyson McLellan Forward  United States Graduation (Signed with Nürnberg Ice Tigers)
Ian Mitchell Defenseman  Canada Signed professional contract (Chicago Blackhawks)
Mathias Emilio Pettersen Forward  Norway Signed professional contract (Calgary Flames)
Jared Resseguie Forward  United States Left program
Tyler Ward Forward  Canada Transferred to New Hampshire

Recruiting[edit]

Player Position Nationality Age Notes
Michael Benning Defenseman  Canada 18 St. Albert, AB; selected 95th overall in 2020
Connor Caponi Forward  United States 20 Brookfield, WI
Jack Caruso Goaltender  United States 21 St. Louis, MO
Bo Hanson Defenseman  United States 22 Boise, ID; transfer from St. Lawrence
Reid Irwin Forward/Defenseman  Canada 21 Victoria, BC
Steven Jandric Forward  Canada 23 Prince George, BC; transfer from Alaska
Corbin Kaczperski Goaltender  United States 24 China Township, MI; graduate transfer from Yale
Carter King Forward  Canada 19 Calgary, AB
Carter Savoie Forward  Canada 18 St. Albert, AB; selected 100th overall in 2020
Antti Tuomisto Defenseman  Finland 19 Pori, FIN; selected 35th overall in 2019
McKade Webster Forward  United States 20 St. Louis, MO; selected 213th overall in 2019
Jack Works Forward  Canada 19 Yellowknife, NT

Roster[edit]

As of March 1, 2021.[5][6][7]

No. S/P/C Player Class Pos Height Weight DoB Hometown Previous team NHL rights
3 Finland Antti Tuomisto Freshman D 6' 5" (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 2001-01-20 Pori, Finland Ässät U20 (Nuorten SM-liiga) DET, 35th overall 2019
4 British Columbia Griffin Mendel (A) Senior D 6' 4" (1.93 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1999-02-18 Kelowna, British Columbia Penticton (BCHL) —
6 Missouri McKade Webster Freshman F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 2000-07-28 St. Louis, Missouri Green Bay (USHL) TBL, 213 overall 2019
7 British Columbia Brett Stapley Junior F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 177 lb (80 kg) 1999-02-23 Campbell River, British Columbia Vernon (BCHL) MTL, 190th overall 2018
8 Alberta Carter Savoie Freshman F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 2002-01-23 St. Albert, Alberta Sherwood Park (AJHL) EDM, 100th overall 2020
10 Finland Jaakko Heikkinen Senior F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1997-03-17 Helsinki, Finland Jokerit U20 (Nuorten SM-liiga) —
11 British Columbia Steven Jandric Senior F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 203 lb (92 kg) 1997-08-18 Prince George, British Columbia Alaska (WCHA) —
12 British Columbia Kohen Olischefski (C) Senior F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 187 lb (85 kg) 1998-02-01 Abbotsford, British Columbia Chilliwack (BCHL) —
14 Idaho Bo Hanson Senior D 6' 1" (1.85 m) 203 lb (92 kg) 1997-11-13 Boise, Idaho St. Lawrence (ECAC) —
15 Alberta Carter King Freshman F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 178 lb (81 kg) 2001-08-30 Calgary, Alberta Surrey (BCHL) —
16 California Jake Durflinger Senior F 5' 8" (1.73 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1997-10-06 Walnut Creek, California Bloomington (USHL) —
17 California Slava Demin Junior D 6' 3" (1.91 m) 191 lb (87 kg) 2000-04-04 Cypress, California Wenatchee (BCHL) CHI, 99th overall 2018
18 Alberta Ryan Barrow (A) Senior F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 184 lb (83 kg) 1997-02-15 Banff, Alberta Langley (BCHL) —
19 California Cole Guttman Junior F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 169 lb (77 kg) 1999-04-06 Los Angeles, California Dubuque (USHL) TBL, 180th overall 2017
20 Alberta Michael Benning Freshman D 5' 8" (1.73 m) 178 lb (81 kg) 2002-01-05 St. Albert, Alberta Sherwood Park (AJHL) FLA, 95th overall 2020
21 British Columbia Reid Irwin Freshman D 6' 1" (1.85 m) 178 lb (81 kg) 1999-03-01 Victoria, British Columbia Sherwood Park (AJHL) —
22 Tennessee Connor Caponi Freshman F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 186 lb (84 kg) 2000-03-20 Nashville, Tennessee Waterloo (USHL) —
23 Minnesota Lane Krenzen Sophomore D 5' 9" (1.75 m) 183 lb (83 kg) 1998-02-21 Twig, Minnesota Austin (NAHL) —
24 Minnesota Bobby Brink Sophomore F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 164 lb (74 kg) 2001-07-08 Minnetonka, Minnesota Sioux City (USHL) PHI, 34th overall 2019
25 Northwest Territories Jack Works Freshman F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2001-05-23 Yellowknife, Northwest Territories Okotoks (AJHL) —
26 Colorado Jack Doremus Senior F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 178 lb (81 kg) 1997-04-15 Aspen, Colorado Lincoln (USHL) —
27 California Kyle Mayhew Junior D 5' 7" (1.7 m) 156 lb (71 kg) 1997-12-25 Anaheim Hills, California Fairbanks (NAHL) —
28 Alberta Brett Edwards Sophomore F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1998-09-10 Grande Prairie, Alberta Drumheller (AJHL) —
30 Sweden Magnus Chrona Sophomore G 6' 5" (1.96 m) 207 lb (94 kg) 2000-08-28 Skellefteå, Sweden Skellefteå J20 (J20 SuperElit) SJS, 152nd overall 2018
31 Missouri Jack Caruso Freshman G 5' 9" (1.75 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1999-06-07 St. Louis, Missouri Fairbanks (NAHL) —
32 Manitoba Justin Lee Sophomore D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2000-03-14 Waskada, Manitoba Fargo (USHL) —
33 Michigan Corbin Kaczperski Senior G 6' 3" (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1996-03-02 China Township, Michigan Yale (ECAC) —
37 Texas Hank Crone Junior F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 151 lb (68 kg) 1998-02-19 Dallas, Texas Fargo (USHL) —

Standings[edit]

2020–21 National Collegiate Hockey Conference Standings
Conference record Overall record
GP W L T OTW OTL 3/SW PTS PT% GF GA GP W L T GF GA
#5 North Dakota †* 24 18 5 1 2 1 0 54 .750 94 47 29 22 6 1 114 57
#2 St. Cloud State 24 15 9 0 3 3 0 45 .625 78 64 31 20 11 0 101 84
#3 Minnesota Duluth 24 13 9 2 1 2 1 43 .597 72 54 28 15 11 2 84 66
#13 Omaha 24 14 9 1 4 0 1 40 .556 79 69 26 14 11 1 85 81
Denver 22 9 12 1 0 2 1 31 .470 61 60 24 11 13 1 67 66
Western Michigan 24 10 11 3 1 0 1 33 .458 73 84 25 10 12 3 77 89
Colorado College 22 4 16 2 0 2 2 18 .273 35 77 23 4 17 2 36 79
Miami 24 5 17 2 0 1 0 18 .250 46 83 25 5 18 2 48 89
Championship: March 16, 2021
† indicates conference regular season champion (Penrose Cup)
* indicates conference tournament champion (Frozen Faceoff Championship Trophy)
Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll

Schedule and Results[edit]

Date Time Opponent# Rank# Site TV Decision Result Attendance Record
Regular Season
December 2 6:35 PM vs. #3 Minnesota Duluth #4 Baxter Arena • Omaha, Nebraska Altitude Chrona L 1–2  0 0–1–0 (0–1–0)
December 4 6:35 PM vs. #1 North Dakota #4 Baxter Arena • Omaha, Nebraska Altitude Chrona L 3–4 OT 0 0–2–0 (0–2–0)
December 5 7:05 PM vs. St. Cloud State #4 Baxter Arena • Omaha, Nebraska Altitude Chrona L 3–4  0 0–3–0 (0–3–0)
December 8 2:35 PM vs. #1 North Dakota #9 Baxter Arena • Omaha, Nebraska Altitude Chrona W 3–2  0 1–3–0 (1–3–0)
December 10 2:35 PM vs. Miami #9 Baxter Arena • Omaha, Nebraska Altitude Chrona W 5–1  0 2–3–0 (2–3–0)
December 12 11:05 AM vs. #3 Minnesota Duluth #9 Baxter Arena • Omaha, Nebraska Altitude Chrona L 1–4  0 2–4–0 (2–4–0)
December 15 2:35 PM vs. Western Michigan #8 Baxter Arena • Omaha, Nebraska Altitude Kaczperski W 3–2  0 3–4–0 (3–4–0)
December 17 6:35 PM vs. Miami #8 Baxter Arena • Omaha, Nebraska Altitude Kaczperski L 0–3  0 3–5–0 (3–5–0)
December 19 3:05 PM vs. Western Michigan #8 Baxter Arena • Omaha, Nebraska Altitude Kaczperski T 3–3 SOW 0 3–5–1 (3–5–1)
December 20 3:05 PM vs. #9 St. Cloud State #8 Baxter Arena • Omaha, Nebraska Altitude Chrona L 1–3  0 3–6–1 (3–6–1)
January 1 7:06 PM at Colorado College #16 Broadmoor World Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado CBSSN Chrona L 3–4  0 3–7–1 (3–7–1)
January 2 7:07 PM vs. Colorado College #16 Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado   Kaczperski W 6–1  0 4–7–1 (4–7–1)
January 17 7:05 PM vs. #2 North Dakota #18 Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado   Chrona W 4–1  0 5–7–1 (5–7–1)
January 18 7:05 PM vs. #3 North Dakota #19 Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado CBSSN Chrona L 1–5  0 5–8–1 (5–8–1)
January 23 5:07 PM at #11 Omaha #19 Baxter Arena • Omaha, Nebraska   Kaczperski W 4–1  1,322 6–8–1 (6–8–1)
January 24 5:00 PM at #11 Omaha #19 Baxter Arena • Omaha, Nebraska   Kaczperski L 2–5  611 6–9–1 (6–9–1)
February 5 7:07 PM vs. #9 Omaha Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado   Chrona W 3–1  0 7–9–1 (7–9–1)
February 6 6:07 PM vs. #9 Omaha Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado CBSSN Kaczperski L 4–5 OT 0 7–10–1 (7–10–1)
February 12 6:37 PM at #2 North Dakota Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, North Dakota   Chrona L 0–3  2,286 7–11–1 (7–11–1)
February 13 5:07 PM at #2 North Dakota Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, North Dakota   Chrona L 2–5  2,466 7–12–1 (7–12–1)
February 25 7:07 PM at Colorado College Broadmoor World Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado   Chrona W 5–1  0 8–12–1 (8–12–1)
February 27 7:05 PM vs. Colorado College Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado   Chrona W 4–0  0 9–12–1 (9–12–1)
NCHC Tournament
March 13 1:30 PM vs. #11 Omaha Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, North Dakota (NCHC Quarterfinals)   Chrona W 5–4  1,864 10–12–1
March 15 7:00 PM at #2 North Dakota Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, North Dakota (NCHC Semifinals)   Chrona L 1–2 OT 2,509 10–13–1
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Mountain Time.

[8]

Scoring statistics[edit]

Name Position Games Goals Assists Points PIM
Cole Guttman C 23 8 14 22 12
Carter Savoie LW 24 13 7 20 23
Kohen Olischefski RW 23 4 10 14 21
Michael Benning D 21 3 8 11 8
Bobby Brink RW 15 2 9 11 4
Antti Tuomisto D 24 2 9 11 23
Hank Crone LW 13 5 4 9 4
Ryan Barrow F 24 4 5 9 10
McKade Webster LW 22 3 6 9 16
Slava Demin D 21 3 5 8 22
Jaakko Heikkinen F 24 1 7 8 6
Brett Stapley C 13 4 3 7 2
Justin Lee D 24 4 2 6 6
Steven Jandric LW 20 1 5 6 6
Brett Edwards F 20 2 2 4 12
Jake Durflinger RW 22 2 2 4 14
Connor Caponi F 24 2 2 4 25
Bo Hanson D 12 1 3 4 4
Kyle Mayhew D 20 0 4 4 17
Reid Irwin C/D 12 3 0 3 6
Jack Doremus F 14 0 2 2 6
Magnus Chrona G 18 0 2 2 0
Griffin Mendel D 24 0 2 2 12
Lane Krenzen D 3 0 1 1 4
Carter King F 3 0 1 1 0
Jack Works F 5 0 1 1 2
Corbin Kaczperski G 9 0 1 1 0
Jack Caruso G 1 0 0 0 0
Bench - - - - - 8
Total 67 117 184 273

[9]

Goaltending statistics[edit]

Name Games Minutes Wins Losses Ties Goals Against Saves Shut Outs SV % GAA
Jack Caruso 1 3:05 0 0 0 0 1 0 1.000 0.00
Magnus Chrona 18 1043 7 11 0 43 421 1 .907 2.47
Corbin Kaczperski 9 392 3 2 1 17 112 0 .868 2.60
Empty Net - 17 - - - 6 - - - -
Total 24 1456 10 13 1 66 534 1 .890 2.72

Rankings[edit]

Main article: 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey rankings
Poll Week
Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 (Final)
USCHO.com 5 4 5 4 9 8 14 16 17 18 19 20 NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR - NR
USA Today 4 5 6 4 8 7 12 14 NR NR 15 NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR

USCHO did not release a poll in week 20.[10]

Awards and honors[edit]

Player Award Ref
Carter Savoie NCHC Rookie Team [11]

Players drafted into the NHL[edit]

2021 NHL Entry Draft[edit]

Round Pick Player NHL team
2 36 Shai Buium† Detroit Red Wings
2 61 Sean Behrens† Colorado Avalanche
3 70 Carter Mazur† Detroit Red Wings

† incoming freshman [12]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "NCAA approves blanket waiver for 2020 fall sports athletes to retain year of eligibility". CBS Sports. August 21, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  2. ^ "DI Council grants waiver to allow transfer student-athletes to compete immediately". NCAA. December 16, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  3. ^ "Bracketology: With Selection Sunday around the corner, taking one last stab at how the NCAA hockey tournament field will look". USCHO. March 18, 2021. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  4. ^ "Denver Men's Hockey Team History". USCHO. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  5. ^ "2019–20 Men's Ice Hockey Roster". Denver University. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  6. ^ "Kohen Olischefski Named Captain for 2020-21 Season". Denver University. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  7. ^ "Ian Mitchell Signs with Chicago Blackhawks". Denver University. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  8. ^ "Denver Pioneers (Men) 2020-2021 Schedule and Results". College Hockey Stats. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  9. ^ "Denver Univ. 2020-2021 Skater Stats". Elite Prospects. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  10. ^ "USCHO Division I Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  11. ^ "Five Teams Represented on 2020-21 NCHC All-Rookie Team". nchchockey.com. March 8, 2021. Archived from the original on April 12, 2021. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  12. ^ "NCAA player rankings, selections in 2021 NHL Draft". USCHO.com. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
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