The University of Denver men’s hockey team has announced its 2015–16 regular season schedule, a 34-game slate featuring 24 NCHC games and 10 nonconference matches.
Denver will open its 67th campaign of NCAA Division I play with a home-ice exhibition match against the Calgary Dinos on Oct. 4, prior to taking on Air Force in a home-and-home series the following weekend. The Pios will then take on the MSU Spartans at Magness Arena on Oct. 16 and 17, with a road trip to Boston (at Boston College Oct. 30 and at Boston University Oct. 31) wrapping up DU’s October schedule. Denver then opens up November with a home-and-home series versus Colorado College prior to traveling to Minnesota-Duluth and Wisconsin on consecutive weekends. December will see the Crimson & Gold visiting North Dakota prior to hosting St. Cloud State in advance of the NCHC’s holiday break. In the New Year, 11 of Denver’s final 18 games will be staged at Magness Arena, including a January series versus Notre Dame and a regular season-ending series against Nebraska–Omaha in March.
“We believe this is a very good schedule — both for our team and for our fans,” says Pioneers head coach Jim Montgomery. “We travel to some tough arenas early on — Wisconsin, Boston College and Boston University — which will be a good test for a young team working toward building strong chemistry. We’re also welcoming some strong nonconference opponents to Magness Arena this season in Notre Dame and Michigan State, two programs with a lot of history that college hockey fans don’t get to see too often in this part of the country.
After finishing their 2014–15 campaign with a record of 24-14-2 and advancing to the “Elite Eight” for the first time since 2011, the Pioneers came in at No. 5 on the final editions of both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls, both of which were announced on Monday. Defenseman Joey LaLeggia, meanwhile, was named to the 2014-15 All-USCHO Team on Tuesday and also captured All-CHN honors, as did forward Danton Heinen.
The 24 victories posted by DU in 2014–15 marked the 14th consecutive season in which the program has posted at least 20 wins, the longest active streak in the NCAA.
2015–16 DU REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE
October 4 vs. Calgary (exhibition)
October 9 at Air Force
October 10 vs. Air Force
October 16 vs. Michigan State
October 17 vs. Michigan State
October 30 at Boston College
October 31 at Boston University
November 6 vs. Colorado College
November 7 at Colorado College
November 13 at Minnesota-Duluth
November 14 at Minnesota-Duluth
November 20 at Wisconsin
November 21 at Wisconsin
December 4 at North Dakota
December 5 at North Dakota
December 11 vs. St. Cloud State
December 12 vs. St. Cloud State
January 1 vs. Notre Dame
January 2 vs. Notre Dame
January 8 at Nebraska-Omaha
January 9 at Nebraska-Omaha
January 15 vs. Western Michigan
January 16 vs. Western Michigan
January 22 vs. Minnesota-Duluth
January 23 vs. Minnesota-Duluth
January 29 at Miami
January 30 at Miami
February 12 vs. North Dakota
February 13 vs. North Dakota
February 19 at Colorado College
February 20 vs. Colorado College
February 26 at Western Michigan
February 27 at Western Michigan
March 4 vs. Nebraska-Omaha
March 5 vs. Nebraska-Omaha
NCHC Playoffs begin on March 11; the 2016 Frozen Faceoff will be staged in Minneapolis March 18–19
NCAA Regionals begin on March 25; the 2016 Frozen Four will be staged in Tampa April 7–9