NCAA College Hockey Season Preview: University of Denver

Last year was a roller coaster of a season for the Denver Pioneers and their fans. The season started with little in the way of expectations in what looked like more of a rebuilding year. But expectations quickly changed as Denver got off to a hot start and become one of the top teams in the country. But things started to turn sour when leading scorer Brock Trotter was forced to leave the team in February. The Pioneers were able to cling to third place in the WCHA, and managed to rebound by winning the WCHA tournament, but were eliminated in the first round of the NCAA tournament by Wisconsin. It was a performance that wasn't far off from what people expected at the beginning of the year, but far short of where Denver thought they could given their hot start to last season.

Who is Gone: Defenseman Chris Butler left the team to sign with the Buffalo Sabres of the NHL. The loss hurts, but after last season, it was practically a given that Butler would leave for the pros. Peter Mannino graduated as one of the most decorated goalies in DU's long history. The Pioneers also lost an excellent leader in defenseman and captain Andrew Thomas, a quality forward in Tom May, and a depth defenseman in Zach Blom.

Who is New: The Pioneers recruiting class underwent some last minute shuffling when it was determined that defensive recruit David Carle had a heart condition that would end his hockey career. But the loss of Carle was dampened when Wisconsin recruit Patrick Wiercioch backed out of his commitment to UW to play for Denver this coming season. The true star of the class, however, should be Alberta forward Joe Colborne, who was drafted in the first round of the NHL Draft by the Boston Bruins this summer. Colborne is a big forward that plays more of a finesse style and should contribute right away for Denver. Also joining the class is defensive defenseman John Lee, brother of NHLer Brian Lee, and Luke Salazar, a late bloomer who could contribute someday.

Forwards

Projected Lines:

Colborne-Ruegsegger-Rakhshani
Glasser-Bozak-Ostrow
Maiani-Martin-Jackson
Gifford-Vossberg-Cunningham

As far as top end offensive talent, Denver may have the best in the WCHA. Ruegsegger and Rakhshani are two of the most exciting players in the WCHA and should have great years. Tyler Bozak had an excellent freshman season, and turned down pro contract offers to return to Denver this season. Joe Colborne should add some extra offensive punch to help give Denver one of the most dangerous powerplay units in the league. On the lower lines, young players like Matt Glasser, Kyle Ostrow, and Jesse Martin became more dangerous as last season went on and could give Denver some secondary scoring behind their top four players.

Denver's offense really struggled last season once Brock Trotter left the team, but after having the summer to adjust to life without Trotter, they should be back and be incredibly dangerous for opposing teams to face.

Defensemen

Projected Defensive Pairings:

Brookwell-Mullen
Testwuide-Wiercioch
Lee-Cook

This group isn't as strong as the forward group. It's impossible to replace a player as good as Chris Butler was last year, and his presence will be sorely missed. Patrick Mullen is a converted forward that could provide some offense from the blueline. Cody Brookwell should be a defensive stalwart on the blueline. Denver will have to count on youngsters Wiercioch and Lee to play well as freshmen.

Goalies

Cheverie
Paulgaard
Guinn

This is perhaps the area of biggest concern for Denver. For the past four years, Peter Mannino has been a rock for Denver in goal. Marc Cheverie will take over in goal and is a bit of an unknown. Cheverie had good numbers in his freshman season last year, but he only played 141 minutes, and only played one full game. Whether he can carry the load for Denver against better competition has yet to be determined. Backing him up is Lars Paulgaard, who sat out last year in order to qualify academically to play college hockey. Paulgaard may be effective in spot duty, but doesn't have the talent to be an every-game starter, so Denver will need a great season from Cheverie.

Overall

This is a Denver team with a lot of talent on the offensive end. Their are still some question marks on defense and in goal, but coach Geroge Gwozdecky always seems to get the most out of his players, and has a knack for turning unheralded players into excellent college hockey players. The most important thing for Denver is to play consistently over the course of the season. They've developed a bit of a reputation over the past couple years of starting the season extremely well, but fading down the stretch. Ultimately, Cheverie should be the key to how far this team can go.