# 2020–21 Denver Pioneers men's ice hockey season

The 2020–21 Denver Pioneers men's ice hockey season was the 72nd season of play for the program and the 8th in the NCHC conference. The Pioneers represented the University of Denver and were coached by David Carle, in his 3rd season.

## Season

As a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic the entire college ice hockey season was delayed. Because the NCAA had previously announced that all winter sports athletes would retain whatever eligibility they possessed through at least the following year, none of Denver's players would lose a season of play. However, the NCAA also approved a change in its transfer regulations that would allow players to transfer and play immediately rather than having to sit out a season, as the rules previously required.
Denver came into the season with high expectations. From the start, however, nothing seemed to go right for the Pioneers. After the season's start was delayed, Denver joined the rest of the NCHC in Omaha, Nebraska for a condensed slate of games in December. The team started slow but looked like they were rounding into form in mid-December. Unfortunately, a theme for the entire season proved to be inconsistency. For most of the year the Pioneers couldn't string together a series of wins, or even strong performances, and they watched as their ranking fell every week until they left the top-20 altogether. By the end of the season Denver sat in the middle of the standings but was 3 games below .500.
While there were some who still included the Pioneers as possible bubble teams, their losing record was a sizable impediment to the team playing in the NCAA Tournament. Denver's only probably road to the tournament was to win the NCHC Championship and the team responded well in the quarterfinals, overcoming a 2-goal deficit to upset tournament-bound Omaha. In the semis they faced #2 North Dakota and took a lead into the third period. The Hawks outplayed Denver in the frame but, as time went along, it appeared that Magnus Chrona might be able to shut out UND. It took North Dakota pulling their goaltender to give them enough firepower to break through and tie the game. In the overtime session, Denver never found their footing and were outshot 9–1 in less than nine minutes. The final goal came from a UND stick and ended the game as well as any chance Denver had to extend their season. This was Denver's first losing season in 21 years.

## Departures

| Player | Position | Nationality | Cause |
| Devin Cooley | Goaltender | United States | Signed professional contract (Nashville Predators) |
| Mike Corson | Goaltender | United States | Transferred to Niagara |
| Michael Davies | Defenseman | United States | Graduation |
| Erich Fear | Defenseman | United States | Graduation |
| Jay Feiwell | Forward | United States | Left program |
| Liam Finlay | Forward | Canada | Graduation (Signed with KOOVEE) |
| Tyson McLellan | Forward | United States | Graduation (Signed with Nürnberg Ice Tigers) |
| Ian Mitchell | Defenseman | Canada | Signed professional contract (Chicago Blackhawks) |
| Mathias Emilio Pettersen | Forward | Norway | Signed professional contract (Calgary Flames) |
| Jared Resseguie | Forward | United States | Left program |
| Tyler Ward | Forward | Canada | Transferred to New Hampshire |

## Recruiting

| Player | Position | Nationality | Age | Notes |
| Michael Benning | Defenseman | Canada | 18 | St. Albert, AB; selected 95th overall in 2020 |
| Connor Caponi | Forward | United States | 20 | Brookfield, WI |
| Jack Caruso | Goaltender | United States | 21 | St. Louis, MO |
| Bo Hanson | Defenseman | United States | 22 | Boise, ID; transfer from St. Lawrence |
| Reid Irwin | Forward/Defenseman | Canada | 21 | Victoria, BC |
| Steven Jandric | Forward | Canada | 23 | Prince George, BC; transfer from Alaska |
| Corbin Kaczperski | Goaltender | United States | 24 | China Township, MI; graduate transfer from Yale |
| Carter King | Forward | Canada | 19 | Calgary, AB |
| Carter Savoie | Forward | Canada | 18 | St. Albert, AB; selected 100th overall in 2020 |
| Antti Tuomisto | Defenseman | Finland | 19 | Pori, FIN; selected 35th overall in 2019 |
| McKade Webster | Forward | United States | 20 | St. Louis, MO; selected 213th overall in 2019 |
| Jack Works | Forward | Canada | 19 | Yellowknife, NT |

## Roster

As of March 1, 2021.

## Standings

2020–21 National Collegiate Hockey Conference Standingsvte :
| | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record |
| | GP | W | L | T | OTW | OTL | 3/SW | PTS | PT% | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| #5 North Dakota †* | 24 | 18 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 54 | .750 | 94 | 47 | 29 | 22 | 6 | 1 | 114 | 57 |
| #2 St. Cloud State | 24 | 15 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 45 | .625 | 78 | 64 | 31 | 20 | 11 | 0 | 101 | 84 |
| #3 Minnesota Duluth | 24 | 13 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 43 | .597 | 72 | 54 | 28 | 15 | 11 | 2 | 84 | 66 |
| #13 Omaha | 24 | 14 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 40 | .556 | 79 | 69 | 26 | 14 | 11 | 1 | 85 | 81 |
| Denver | 22 | 9 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 31 | .470 | 61 | 60 | 24 | 11 | 13 | 1 | 67 | 66 |
| Western Michigan | 24 | 10 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 33 | .458 | 73 | 84 | 25 | 10 | 12 | 3 | 77 | 89 |
| Colorado College | 22 | 4 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 18 | .273 | 35 | 77 | 23 | 4 | 17 | 2 | 36 | 79 |
| Miami | 24 | 5 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 18 | .250 | 46 | 83 | 25 | 5 | 18 | 2 | 48 | 89 |
| Championship: March 16, 2021 † indicates conference regular season champion (Penrose Cup) * indicates conference tournament champion (Frozen Faceoff Championship Trophy) Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll |||||||||||||||||||

## Schedule and Results

| Date | Time | Opponent$^#$ | Rank$^#$ | Site | TV | Decision | Result | Attendance | Record |
| Regular Season ||||||||||
| December 2 | 6:35 PM | vs. #3 Minnesota Duluth | #4 | Baxter Arena • Omaha, Nebraska | Altitude | Chrona | L 1–2 | 0 | 0–1–0 (0–1–0) |
| December 4 | 6:35 PM | vs. #1 North Dakota | #4 | Baxter Arena • Omaha, Nebraska | Altitude | Chrona | L 3–4 $^{OT}$ | 0 | 0–2–0 (0–2–0) |
| December 5 | 7:05 PM | vs. St. Cloud State | #4 | Baxter Arena • Omaha, Nebraska | Altitude | Chrona | L 3–4 | 0 | 0–3–0 (0–3–0) |
| December 8 | 2:35 PM | vs. #1 North Dakota | #9 | Baxter Arena • Omaha, Nebraska | Altitude | Chrona | W 3–2 | 0 | 1–3–0 (1–3–0) |
| December 10 | 2:35 PM | vs. Miami | #9 | Baxter Arena • Omaha, Nebraska | Altitude | Chrona | W 5–1 | 0 | 2–3–0 (2–3–0) |
| December 12 | 11:05 AM | vs. #3 Minnesota Duluth | #9 | Baxter Arena • Omaha, Nebraska | Altitude | Chrona | L 1–4 | 0 | 2–4–0 (2–4–0) |
| December 15 | 2:35 PM | vs. Western Michigan | #8 | Baxter Arena • Omaha, Nebraska | Altitude | Kaczperski | W 3–2 | 0 | 3–4–0 (3–4–0) |
| December 17 | 6:35 PM | vs. Miami | #8 | Baxter Arena • Omaha, Nebraska | Altitude | Kaczperski | L 0–3 | 0 | 3–5–0 (3–5–0) |
| December 19 | 3:05 PM | vs. Western Michigan | #8 | Baxter Arena • Omaha, Nebraska | Altitude | Kaczperski | T 3–3 $^{SOW}$ | 0 | 3–5–1 (3–5–1) |
| December 20 | 3:05 PM | vs. #9 St. Cloud State | #8 | Baxter Arena • Omaha, Nebraska | Altitude | Chrona | L 1–3 | 0 | 3–6–1 (3–6–1) |
| January 1 | 7:06 PM | at Colorado College | #16 | Broadmoor World Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado | CBSSN | Chrona | L 3–4 | 0 | 3–7–1 (3–7–1) |
| January 2 | 7:07 PM | vs. Colorado College | #16 | Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado | | Kaczperski | W 6–1 | 0 | 4–7–1 (4–7–1) |
| January 17 | 7:05 PM | vs. #2 North Dakota | #18 | Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado | | Chrona | W 4–1 | 0 | 5–7–1 (5–7–1) |
| January 18 | 7:05 PM | vs. #3 North Dakota | #19 | Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado | CBSSN | Chrona | L 1–5 | 0 | 5–8–1 (5–8–1) |
| January 23 | 5:07 PM | at #11 Omaha | #19 | Baxter Arena • Omaha, Nebraska | | Kaczperski | W 4–1 | 1,322 | 6–8–1 (6–8–1) |
| January 24 | 5:00 PM | at #11 Omaha | #19 | Baxter Arena • Omaha, Nebraska | | Kaczperski | L 2–5 | 611 | 6–9–1 (6–9–1) |
| February 5 | 7:07 PM | vs. #9 Omaha | | Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado | | Chrona | W 3–1 | 0 | 7–9–1 (7–9–1) |
| February 6 | 6:07 PM | vs. #9 Omaha | | Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado | CBSSN | Kaczperski | L 4–5 $^{OT}$ | 0 | 7–10–1 (7–10–1) |
| February 12 | 6:37 PM | at #2 North Dakota | | Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, North Dakota | | Chrona | L 0–3 | 2,286 | 7–11–1 (7–11–1) |
| February 13 | 5:07 PM | at #2 North Dakota | | Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, North Dakota | | Chrona | L 2–5 | 2,466 | 7–12–1 (7–12–1) |
| February 25 | 7:07 PM | at Colorado College | | Broadmoor World Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado | | Chrona | W 5–1 | 0 | 8–12–1 (8–12–1) |
| February 27 | 7:05 PM | vs. Colorado College | | Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado | | Chrona | W 4–0 | 0 | 9–12–1 (9–12–1) |
| NCHC Tournament ||||||||||
| March 13 | 1:30 PM | vs. #11 Omaha | | Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, North Dakota (NCHC Quarterfinals) | | Chrona | W 5–4 | 1,864 | 10–12–1 |
| March 15 | 7:00 PM | at #2 North Dakota | | Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, North Dakota (NCHC Semifinals) | | Chrona | L 1–2 $^{OT}$ | 2,509 | 10–13–1 |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Mountain Time. ||||||||||

## Scoring statistics

| Name | Position | Games | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM |
| Cole Guttman | C | 23 | 8 | 14 | 22 | 12 |
| Carter Savoie | LW | 24 | 13 | 7 | 20 | 23 |
| Kohen Olischefski | RW | 23 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 21 |
| Michael Benning | D | 21 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 8 |
| Bobby Brink | RW | 15 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 4 |
| Antti Tuomisto | D | 24 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 23 |
| Hank Crone | LW | 13 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 4 |
| Ryan Barrow | F | 24 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 10 |
| McKade Webster | LW | 22 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 16 |
| Slava Demin | D | 21 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 22 |
| Jaakko Heikkinen | F | 24 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 6 |
| Brett Stapley | C | 13 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 2 |
| Justin Lee | D | 24 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 6 |
| Steven Jandric | LW | 20 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| Brett Edwards | F | 20 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 12 |
| Jake Durflinger | RW | 22 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 14 |
| Connor Caponi | F | 24 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 25 |
| Bo Hanson | D | 12 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Kyle Mayhew | D | 20 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 17 |
| Reid Irwin | C/D | 12 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| Jack Doremus | F | 14 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| Magnus Chrona | G | 18 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Griffin Mendel | D | 24 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 12 |
| Lane Krenzen | D | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Carter King | F | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Jack Works | F | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Corbin Kaczperski | G | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Jack Caruso | G | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bench | - | - | - | - | - | 8 |
| Total | | | 67 | 117 | 184 | 273 |

## Goaltending statistics

| Name | Games | Minutes | Wins | Losses | Ties | Goals Against | Saves | Shut Outs | SV % | GAA |
| Jack Caruso | 1 | 3:05 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.00 |
| Magnus Chrona | 18 | 1043 | 7 | 11 | 0 | 43 | 421 | 1 | .907 | 2.47 |
| Corbin Kaczperski | 9 | 392 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 17 | 112 | 0 | .868 | 2.60 |
| Empty Net | - | 17 | - | - | - | 6 | - | - | - | - |
| Total | 24 | 1456 | 10 | 13 | 1 | 66 | 534 | 1 | .890 | 2.72 |

## Rankings

| Poll | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 (Final) |
| USCHO.com | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 8 | 14 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | - | NR |
| USA Today | 4 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 12 | 14 | NR | NR | 15 | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
USCHO did not release a poll in week 20.

## Awards and honors

| Player | Award | Ref |
| Carter Savoie | NCHC Rookie Team | |

## Players drafted into the NHL
### 2021 NHL Entry Draft

| Round | Pick | Player | NHL team |
| 2 | 36 | Shai Buium$^†$ | Detroit Red Wings |
| 2 | 61 | Sean Behrens$^†$ | Colorado Avalanche |
| 3 | 70 | Carter Mazur$^†$ | Detroit Red Wings |
† incoming freshman