DU Hockey Raises Championship Banner, Eyes Repeat Title

NCAA Photos via Getty Images

When the University of Denver hockey team takes to the ice this weekend, the Pioneers will be ready to defend their national championship title—and look back one more time on the record-setting season that took them atop the mountain as the kings of college hockey.

On Saturday, the championship banner will at long last be raised prior to game time at approximately 5:45 p.m. Puck drop is slated for just after 6 p.m. Denver is also commemorating 75 years of Pioneer hockey throughout the season.

“It’s all to pay tribute to everyone who’s come before us and just how special our program and the culture here are,” senior goalie Matt Davis says. “To be fortunate enough to be one of the guys that was part of one of the teams that are commemorated up there forever—it’ll be really special.”

As the team watches its 10th national championship banner reach the rafters at Magness Arena on Saturday, the players will also be looking toward the goal for this season: to win another national championship.

“It’s a good moment to look back at it and then turn the page—to look up and see what you want to play for this year as well,” says senior captain Carter King.

A winning history and culture

Denver became the first team to win 10 NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey National Championships after it defeated Boston College 2-0 on April 13. The team has won 11 straight games dating back to March 9 against Colorado College.

DU hockey’s winning ways started 75 years ago, when the program played its first-ever games against Saskatchewan on Dec. 19-20, 1949. 

DU will host a 75th anniversary reunion the weekend of Nov. 8 to commemorate this milestone, when DU plays Lindenwood. Denver hockey alums over the last seven-plus decades, like Adrian Veideman, will be recognized.

“I think it’s incredible that this program has been around for 75 years, and I’m honored to have been a very, very small snippet of those years,” says Veideman, a former team captain.

A member of DU’s NCAA Championship teams in 2004 and 2005, Veideman says Denver’s “tight-knight culture” has played a significant role in the program’s historic success. 

“When you look at the recruits and the players that come in to play at DU, they’re not always top prospects for the National Hockey League. They’re players with very high character who are very personable,” he says. “It’s not necessarily about getting the most highly-touted players in the country; it’s about bringing players in that fit a culture, fit a team and fit a family-type program.”

Eyes on the future

The Pioneers began the 2024-25 campaign with a sweep against the University of Alaska Anchorage on Oct. 5-6 before an early-season bye week. 

During that series, head coach David Carle won his 150th career game, and ranks fourth in program history in victories   behind Murray Armstrong (460), George Gwozdecky (443) and Ralph Backstrom (182).

Davis and Carter are happy with the team’s start to the season and are looking forward to building on it over the course of the season. In addition to the squad’s returning players, the team has welcomed several freshmen and transfer players this season.

“Our bench is deep. We have a lot of skill, and it’s going to be challenging for teams to be able to match all four of our lines,” King says.

As a senior on the team, Davis knows there will be challenges throughout the season in reaching their goals and that it’s important to stay level through the ups and downs.

“You can’t get too high or too low. Every year you’re going to go through setbacks, and sometimes that’s what you need to win,” Davis says. “Both of the teams that I’ve been on where we’ve been fortunate enough to win (a national championship), we went through losing skids and came out better from it.”

Veideman offered similar advice to the team as it embarks on its title defense campaign.

“The hockey season is a really long journey, so it’s taking it day-by-day and showing up to the rink with enthusiasm and coming together as a team,” he says. “So when those adverse moments happen in those big-time games, you’re ready for it.”