2016–17 Denver Pioneers men's ice hockey season

The 2016–17 Denver Pioneers men's ice hockey team represented University of Denver in intercollegiate college ice hockey during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season. The head coach was Jim Montgomery and the team captain was Will Butcher. The team won the 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament. The team's leading scorer was Troy Terry.

2016–17 Denver Pioneers men's ice hockey season
NCAA Division I Champion
NCHC Champion
2017 NCAA Tournament, Champion
Conference1st NCHC
Home iceMagness Arena
Rankings
#1USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine[1]
#1USCHO.com[2]
Record
Overall33–7–4
Home16–3–2
Road12–3–2
Neutral5–1–0
Coaches and Captains
Head CoachJim Montgomery
Captain(s)Will Butcher
Alternate captain(s)Matt VanVoorhis
Matt Marcinew
Evan Janssen
Denver Pioneers men's ice hockey seasons
« 2015–16 2017–18 »

Season

Denver entered its fourth year under Jim Montgomery looking to continue several trends. The Pioneers had increased their wins and winning percentage over each of the previous two seasons and had yet to miss appearing in the NCAA tournament with Montgomery behind the bench.[3] After a semifinal finish in the 2016 Championship DU was projected to be a contender for the 2017 title and was ranked 3rd in the preseason.[4] Denver opened their season as the host for the Ice Breaker Tournament and fell flat on their face, losing both games and finishing last in the four-team tournament.

After that inauspicious beginning the Pioneers collected themselves and played host to #2 Boston University, winning both games. Denver finished out the month with four more wins against weaker teams and moved all the way up to #2 in the nation before their big series in North Dakota against the Fighting Hawks. The Pioneers battled the defending national champions to a 1–1 draw in the first game before losing in the 3–on–3 overtime session (which only gave UND a single point in the NCHC standings) then won a 3–2 defensive struggle in the second game. For their efforts Denver rose to #1 in the country but after tying the lowly Miami RedHawks twice they slipped below conference rival Minnesota–Duluth. Denver held the #2 ranking through a pair of wins against long-time rival Colorado College before meeting UMD for their final weekend before the winter break. In the first game Denver rode a tremendous second period to a 4–3 win but could only manage a single goal in the rematch and lost 1–3, leaving the top two teams ranked exactly where they were before the series.

The Pioneers did not play in a holiday tournament but instead went to Rhode Island for a series against the 2015 Champion Providence Friars. Denver got more than it could handle from the Friars, getting a bloody nose from their unranked opponent. The Pioneers returned home for a weekend before hitting the road for two consecutive weeks, splitting both series before returning to Colorado to face #18 Omaha. Despite some of their recent struggles Denver was still ranked #3 in the country and showed just how goo they could be by winning every remaining game on their schedule. DU entered its final weekend with the NCHC championship already won and after sweeping Omaha on the road they had the #1 ranking sewn up as well as the best record in the nation.[5]

Denver opened the NCHC Tournament at home against 8-win Colorado College and easily handles the Tigers, winning the two matches by a total score of 8–1 and outshooting their in-state rival 77–39. The Pioneers headed to Minnesota for the semifinal and played North Dakota in front of partisan Fighting Hawk crowd.[6] Despite several close calls Denver was unable to score on UND and the Hawks lone goal served as the game-winner. While the highly anticipated rematch against Minnesota–Duluth never happened, Denver did redeem themselves the next night with a 3–1 win over #8 Western Michigan. Even with their slip up in the semifinal, Denver retained the #1 ranking and went to Cincinnati as the #1 overall seed.

The pioneers opened the 2017 Tournament against WCHA champion Michigan Tech and dominated the Huskies, scoring the first five goals of the game and riding the outburst to a relatively easy 5–2 win. In the Midwest Final Denver met Penn State who, despite being in their first tournament, had won their opening game 10–3. Denver again got an early start, going up 2–0 before the Lions tied the game early in the second period. The DU offense roared a second time in the middle frame with three more goals while Troy Terry finished off his hat trick with an empty net goal in the third.

In the Frozen Four semifinal in Chicago, Denver opened against a surprising Notre Dame squad who were looking for their third consecutive upset but the buzzsaw that was the DU offense cut down the Fighting Irish with the first five goals of the game. Notre Dame was only able to manage 16 shots in the contest and scored a power play goal on their only opportunity of the night.[7] The Pioneers made the championship game and were finally able to play the rubber match against Minnesota–Duluth in front of 19,783 fans. The two teams fought a close first period but neither could manage to score. just under five minutes into the second Jarid Lukosevicius opened the scoring with his 14th of the season and added a second goal 16 seconds later. Duluth cut the lead in half with an Alex Iafallo power play marker a short while later but Lukosevicius completed his hat trick before the end of the period and Denver took a 3–1 lead into the final frame. The Pioneers weathered a furious onslaught by the Bulldogs, with Tanner Jaillet facing 17 shots in the third. Riley Tufte cut the lead to one with just over five minutes remaining but UMD was unable to even the score and Denver skated to its 8th national title.[8] Lukosevicius' hat trick was the first in a title game since 1993 scored by his coach, Jim Montgomery.

Just before the championship game, team captain Will Butcher was announced as the winner of the 2017 Hobey Baker Award[9] joining a slew of other awards by Denver players including the Mike Richter Award (Tanner Jaillet), NCHC Player of the Year (Butcher), NCHC Rookie of the Year (Henrik Borgström), NCHC Goaltender of the Year (Jaillet), NCHC Offensive Defenseman of the Year (Butcher) and the NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player Jarid Lukosevicius. Additionally Butcher was named to the All-American First Team while Jaillet made the second team. Both players made the NCHC First Team, Henrik Borgström and Dylan Gambrell each made the conference Second Team while Borgström and Michael Davies both made the All-NCHC Rookie Team.

Standings

2016–17 National Collegiate Hockey Conference standings
Conference record Overall record
GP W L T SOW PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
#1 Denver241833259824244337415280
#2 Minnesota–Duluth*241554352835642287714095
#10 Western Michigan24139214279754022135113114
#9 North Dakota241112113569634021163127104
St. Cloud State241013103164693616191105109
Omaha24913202974893917175122128
Miami245145323578036920791113
Colorado College244164117437736824470120
Championship: March 18, 2017
indicates conference regular season champion; * indicates conference tournament champion
Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll; updated March 6, 2017

Schedule

Date Time Opponent# Rank# SiteTV Decision Result Attendance Record
Exhibition
October 1 7:05 pm Mount Royal* #3 Magness ArenaDenver, Colorado (Exhibition) Jaillet W 4–1  3,206
Regular Season
Ice Breaker Tournament
October 7 7:35 pm vs. Ohio State* #3 Magness ArenaDenver, Colorado (IceBreaker) Jaillet L 2–3  3,984 0–1–0 (0–0–0)
October 8 7:05 pm vs. #5 Boston College* #3 Magness ArenaDenver, Colorado (IceBreaker) Cowley L 1–3  4,286 0–2–0 (0–0–0)
October 14 7:35 pm vs. #2 Boston University* #10 Magness ArenaDenver, ColoradoAltitude Jaillet W 4–3  4,686 1–2–0 (0–0–0)
October 15 7:05 pm vs. #2 Boston University* #10 Magness ArenaDenver, ColoradoAltitude2 Jaillet W 3–1  4,876 2–2–0 (0–0–0)
October 21 5:05 pm at Michigan State* #6 Munn Ice ArenaEast Lansing, Michigan Jaillet W 2–1  5,419 3–2–0 (0–0–0)
October 22 3:05 pm at Michigan State* #6 Munn Ice ArenaEast Lansing, Michigan Jaillet W 3–1  3,003 4–2–0 (0–0–0)
October 28 7:35 pm at vs. Western Michigan #3 Magness ArenaDenver, Colorado Jaillet W 3–1  3,689 5–2–0 (1–0–0)
October 29 7:05 pm at vs. Western Michigan #3 Magness ArenaDenver, Colorado Jaillet W 4–2  3,945 6–2–0 (2–0–0)
November 11 6:37 pm at #6 North Dakota #2 Ralph Engelstad ArenaGrand Forks, North DakotaMidcoSN Jaillet T 1–1 3x3 OTL 11,865 6–2–1 (2–0–1)
November 12 6:05 pm at #6 North Dakota #2 Ralph Engelstad ArenaGrand Forks, North DakotaMidcoSN Jaillet W 3–2  11,910 7–2–1 (3–0–1)
November 18 7:35 pm vs. Miami #1 Magness ArenaDenver, Colorado Jaillet T 1–1 SO (1-0 DU) 5,924 7–2–2 (3–0–2–1)
November 19 7:06 pm vs. Miami #1 Magness ArenaDenver, Colorado Jaillet T 2–2 SO (1-0 DU) 6,026 7–2–3 (3–0–3–2)
November 25 7:35 pm at Air Force* #2 Cadet Ice ArenaColorado Springs, Colorado Jaillet W 4–3 OT 2,742 8–2–3 (3–0–3–2)
November 26 7:05 pm vs. Wisconsin* #2 Magness ArenaDenver, Colorado Jaillet W 6–5  6,026 9–2–3 (3–0–3–2)
December 2 7:37 pm at Colorado College #2 World ArenaColorado Springs, Colorado Jaillet W 3–1  6,642 10–2–3 (4–0–3–2)
December 3 7:05 pm vs. Colorado College #2 Magness ArenaDenver, Colorado Cowley W 3–1  5,510 11–2–3 (5–0–3–2)
December 9 7:05 pm vs. #1 Minnesota–Duluth #2 Magness ArenaDenver, ColoradoASN Jaillet W 4–3  5,870 12–2–3 (6–0–3–2)
December 10 7:05 pm vs. #1 Minnesota–Duluth #2 Magness ArenaDenver, Colorado Jaillet L 1–3  6,186 12–3–3 (6–1–3–2)
December 30 5:05 pm at Providence* #2 Schneider ArenaProvidence, Rhode Island Jaillet T 2–2 OT 2,372 12–3–4 (6–1–3–2)
December 31 3:05 pm at Providence* #2 Schneider ArenaProvidence, Rhode Island Jaillet L 1–3  1,976 12–4–4 (6–1–3–2)
January 6 7:35 pm vs. Arizona State* #3 Magness ArenaDenver, ColoradoAltitude Jaillet W 5–1  5,458 13–4–4 (6–1–3–2)
January 7 7:05 pm vs. Arizona State* #3 Magness ArenaDenver, Colorado Cowley W 6–1  5,980 14–4–4 (6–1–3–2)
January 13 4:35 pm at #14 Western Michigan #1 Lawson ArenaKalamazoo, Michigan Jaillet L 0–3  3,125 14–5–4 (6–2–3–2)
January 14 5:05 pm at #14 Western Michigan #1 Lawson ArenaKalamazoo, Michigan Jaillet W 7–2  3,466 15–5–4 (7–2–3–2)
January 20 6:37 pm at St. Cloud State #2 Herb Brooks National Hockey CenterSt. Cloud, Minnesota Cowley L 2–3 OT 4,357 15–6–4 (7–3–3–2)
January 21 6:07 pm at St. Cloud State #2 Herb Brooks National Hockey CenterSt. Cloud, Minnesota Jaillet W 3–1  4,645 16–6–4 (8–3–3–2)
January 27 7:35 pm vs. #18 Omaha #3 Magness ArenaDenver, ColoradoCBS Jaillet W 5–3  5,159 17–6–4 (9–3–3–2)
January 28 7:05 pm vs. #18 Omaha #3 Magness ArenaDenver, Colorado Jaillet† W 5–0  5,602 18–6–4 (10–3–3–2)
February 3 7:35 pm vs. Colorado College #2 Magness ArenaDenver, Colorado Jaillet W 2–1  6,336 19–6–4 (11–3–3–2)
February 4 6:00 pm at Colorado College #2 World ArenaColorado Springs, Colorado Jaillet W 5–1  7,054 20–6–4 (12–3–3–2)
February 17 5:35 pm at Miami #2 Goggin Ice CenterOxford, Ohio Jaillet W 5–2  2,402 21–6–4 (13–3–3–2)
February 18 6:05 pm at Miami #2 Goggin Ice CenterOxford, OhioASN Jaillet W 5–2  2,764 22–6–4 (14–3–3–2)
February 24 8:05 pm vs. #18 St. Cloud State #1 Magness ArenaDenver, ColoradoCBS Jaillet W 4–3 OT 6,102 23–6–4 (15–3–3–2)
February 25 7:05 pm vs. #18 St. Cloud State #1 Magness ArenaDenver, Colorado Jaillet W 7–2  6,227 24–6–4 (16–3–3–2)
March 3 6:37 pm vs. #14 Omaha #1 Baxter ArenaOmaha, NebraskaCBS Jaillet W 4–2  5,683 25–6–4 (17–3–3–2)
March 4 6:07 pm vs. #14 Omaha #1 Baxter ArenaOmaha, Nebraska Cowley W 3–0  6,306 26–6–4 (18–3–3–2)
NCHC Tournament
March 10 7:35 pm vs. Colorado College* #1 Magness ArenaDenver, Colorado (NCHC Quarterfinal) Jaillet W 4–1  4,994 27–6–4 (18–3–3–2)
March 11 7:05 pm vs. Colorado College* #1 Magness ArenaDenver, Colorado (NCHC Quarterfinal) Cowley W 4–0  5,899 28–6–4 (18–3–3–2)
March 17 6:30 pm vs. #11 North Dakota* #1 Target CenterMinneapolis, Minnesota (NCHC Semifinal)CBS Jaillet L 0–1  8,168 28–7–4 (18–3–3–2)
March 18 2:37 pm vs. #8 Western Michigan* #1 Target CenterMinneapolis, Minnesota (NCHC Third Place) Cowley W 3–1  10,297 29–7–4 (18–3–3–2)
NCAA Division I Tournament
March 24 11:00 pm vs. #19 Michigan Tech* #1 U.S. Bank ArenaCincinnati, Ohio (Midwest Regional Semifinal)ESPNews Jaillet W 5–2  3,917 30–7–4 (18–3–3–2)
March 25 4:00 pm vs. #11 Penn State* #1 U.S. Bank ArenaCincinnati, Ohio (Midwest Regional Final)ESPNU Jaillet W 6–3  3,364 31–7–4 (18–3–3–2)
April 6 7:30 pm vs. #12 Notre Dame* #1 United CenterChicago, Illinois (National Semifinal)ESPN2 Jaillet W 6–1  19,626 32–7–4 (18–3–3–2)
April 8 6:00 pm vs. #3 Minnesota–Duluth* #1 United CenterChicago, Illinois (National Championship)ESPN Jaillet W 3–2  19,783 33–7–4 (18–3–3–2)
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Mountain Time.
Source:[10]

[10]

† Jailley and Cowley both played in the game and shared the shut out though neither officially receives credit for it.

Roster and scoring statistics

No.NameYearPositionHometownS/P/CGamesGoalsAssistsPtsPIM
19Troy TerrySophomoreRWDenver, CO3522234522
5Henrik BorgströmFreshmanCHelsinki, FIN3722214316
7Dylan GambrellSophomoreCBonney Lake, WA3813294221
4Will ButcherSeniorDSun Prairie, WI437303727
14Jarid LukoseviciusSophomoreRWSquamish, BC4316163231
26Evan JanssenSeniorLWGreen Bay, WI427192634
23Matt MarcinewSeniorFCalgary, AB4410122236
24Colin StaubSophomoreFColorado Springs, CO441010206
13Liam FinlayFreshmanRWKelowna, BC388111912
22Logan O'ConnorSophomoreRWMissouri City, TX447111810
21Michael DaviesFreshmanDKirkwood, MO443141720
18Emil RomigSeniorWVienna, AUT3696156
28Adam PlantJuniorDPenticton, BC433101345
9Tyson McLellanFreshmanCSan Jose, CA43571220
15Evan RittSeniorCLakewood, CO412101225
3Tariq HammondJuniorDCalgary, AB4436949
25Blake HillmanSophomoreDElk River, MN4317818
10Kevin ConleyFreshmanFWausau, WI2834712
6Matt VanVoorhisSeniorDEdina, MN4413410
2Erich FearFreshmanDWinnetka, IL60116
31Evan CowleySeniorGEvergreen, CO110110
27Sean MostromSophomoreDWayzata, MN10002
30Greg OgardSeniorGWilmette, IL20000
29Brad HawkinsonJuniorCAurora, CO20000
17Randy JundaJuniorLWDenver, CO90004
36Tanner JailletJuniorGParksville, BC360000
Total152251403432

[11]

Goaltending Statistics

No.NameGamesMinutesWinsLossesTiesGoals AgainstSavesShut OutsSV %GAA
36Tanner Jaillet3822222854688930.9291.84
31Evan Cowley1142552081682.9551.13
30Greg Ogard270000401.0000.00
open net244
Total44266833748010653.9301.80

2017 National Championship

(MW1) Denver vs. (W1) Minnesota–Duluth

Scoring summary
Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score
1st None
2nd DU Jarid Lukosevicius (14) Davies and Hillman 24:44 1–0 DU
DU Jarid Lukosevicius (15) Terry and Davies 5:00 2–0 DU
UMD Alex Iafallo (21) – PP Anderson and Pionk 27:16 2–1 DU
DU Jarid Lukosevicius (16) – GW Gambrell and Terry 32:23 3–1 DU
3rd UMD Riley Tufte (9) Peterson and Kotyk 54:39 3–2 DU
Penalty summary
Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM
1st UMD Dan Molenaar Elbowing 17:32 2:00
2nd DU Matt Marcinew Hooking 6:44 2:00
UMD Willie Rascob Indirect contact to the head; Elbowing 7:34 2:00

See also

References

  1. "Final USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
  2. "USCHO Division I Men's Poll - April 10, 2018". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
  3. "College Denver Men's Hockey Team History". USCHO.com. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  4. "USCHO Division I Men's Poll - September 26, 2016". USCHO.com. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  5. "Men's Division I Hockey Standings: 2016-2017". USCHO.com. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  6. "North Dakota vs. Denver Highlights - 3/17/17". NCHC.tv. March 17, 2017. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  7. "Thursday, April 6, 2017 Notre Dame (NDM) vs Denver (DEN)". College Hockey Stats.net. April 6, 2017. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  8. "Last Year's Loss Propels Denver to Its Eighth N.C.A.A. Title". NYTimes.com. April 9, 2017. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  9. "Denver's Will Butcher wins 2017 Hobey Baker Award". NCAA.com. April 7, 2017. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  10. "Denver Men's Hockey 2016-2017 Schedule and Results". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
  11. "Denver Pioneers (Men) 2016-2017 Team Statistics". College Hockey Stats.net. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
  12. "Denver 3, Minnesota Duluth 2". USCHO.com. 2017-04-08. Retrieved 2018-05-03.
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