Defending National Collegiate Hockey Conference Frozen Faceoff champion the University Denver will play a total of 34 games — including 18 regular-season home contests at Magness Arena — in its 2014-15 schedule.
The 18-game home slate is highlighted by a nonconference visit from Boston College over homecoming weekend (Oct. 31-Nov. 1), as well as nonconference games against Air Force (Nov. 21) and Wisconsin (Nov. 22).
The Pioneers will open the 2014-15 slate with an exhibition contest against McGill on Saturday, Oct. 4, at Magness Arena before hosting Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the opening series of the regular season on Oct. 17-18.
The Pioneers, who advanced to their seventh-consecutive NCAA Tournament last season and secured the 13th consecutive 20-win season in the program’s history, will open the second season of NCHC league play on Friday, Oct. 24, at Minnesota Duluth.
“I think right from the start of the season our schedule will really test us,” Denver head coach Jim Montgomery says. “The nonconference portion is very competitive and will prepare us for another challenging season of NCHC play.”
Denver’s schedule features a minimum of 11 contests against foes that qualified for the 2014 NCAA Tournament, as well as four games against in-state rival Colorado College and 2014 NCAA Frozen Four participant North Dakota.
The Pioneers nonconference slate is highlighted by a Jan. 2-3 trip to the Dartmouth Showcase Tournament, where Denver will be joined by Brown, Dartmouth and Boston College.
Denver will also trek east for two games in December as it takes on Cornell in a two-game set (Dec. 5-6).
DU’s 18-game home regular-season schedule is headlined by two-game series against Western Michigan (Nov. 7-8), Colorado College (Nov. 14 and Feb. 21), North Dakota (Dec. 12-13), St. Cloud State (Jan. 16-17), Minnesota Duluth (Jan. 30-31) and Miami (Ohio) (Feb. 27-28).
Denver also plays at Minnesota Duluth (Oct. 24-25), Colorado College (Nov. 15 and Feb. 20), Omaha (Jan. 9-10), Miami (Ohio) (Jan. 23-24), North Dakota (Feb. 13-14) and St. Cloud State (March 6-7).
The Pioneers return 23 letterwinners from last season’s team that posted a mark of 20-16-6 and captured the NCHC Frozen Faceoff Championship, including 2014 NCHC Defenseman of the Year and Offensive Defenseman of the Year Joey LaLeggia, who is back for his senior campaign after generating 12 goals and 13 assists en route to being named as a second team All-America selection.
Denver also returns last year’s leading scorer, Trevor Moore, who tallied 32 points (14 goals, 18 assists) during his freshman season.
Season tickets for 2014-15 are currently on sale. Ticket packages begin at $198. Single tickets, starting at $9, go on sale in early September.