# 2022–23 Denver Pioneers men's ice hockey season

The 2022–23 Denver Pioneers men's ice hockey season was the 74th season of play for the program and 10th in the NCHC. The Pioneers represented the University of Denver in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, were coached by David Carle in his 5th season and played their home games at Magness Arena.

## Season

Coming off of the program's 9th National Title, Denver, had 5 of the six regulars on the blueline returning, along with starter Magnus Chrona, and offense was taken over by a mix of returners, freshmen and transfers including Carter Mazur and Massimo Rizzo.
Denver retained its #1 ranking entering the season and won the Ice Breaker Tournament to kick off the '23 season. In the second week the team was swept by Massachusetts, and finished the first month of the season with 4 straight wins. Denver regained first place and kept their spot after losing to Omaha after Thanksgiving. By the winter break, Denver had a 7-game winning streak.
The Pioneers began the second half by losing to Alaska. Denver recovered to earn a split; the loss removed them from first place. The team won a pair of 7–0 shutouts over last-place Miami, and were then swept by St. Cloud State and had a place at the conference title.
Denver was 9–1 in their final ten games and finished well ahead of everyone else for the regular season crown and Denver made the NCAA tournament with one of the four #1 seeds. As they began their postseason run, Chrona was nursing a lower-body injury and could not play in the quarterfinals. Denver defeated the Miami RedHawks. Chrona returned for the semifinal and was in goal against Colorado College. He allowed one marker on the power play. Denver was eliminated.
The Pioneers still began the NCAA tournament as the #4 overall seed and had the top spot in the East Regionale. Their opponent in the first round was Cornell, who got off to a quick start and took an early lead. The team was shut out for the 5th time that season. It was the first time in nearly 30 years that Denver had been shut out in consecutive games.

## Departures

| Player | Position | Nationality | Cause |
| Ryan Barrow | Forward | Canada | Graduation (signed with Manchester Storm) |
| Bobby Brink | Forward | United States | Signed professional contract (Philadelphia Flyers) |
| Cole Guttman | Forward | United States | Graduation (signed with Chicago Blackhawks) |
| Reid Irwin | Forward/Defenseman | Canada | Left program (retired) |
| Carter Savoie | Forward | Canada | Signed professional contract (Edmonton Oilers) |
| Brett Stapley | Forward | Canada | Graduation (signed with Laval Rocket) |
| Antti Tuomisto | Defenseman | Finland | Signed professional contract (HC TPS) |
| Jack Works | Forward | Canada | Transferred to Michigan Tech |
| Cameron Wright | Forward | Canada | Graduation (signed with Colorado Eagles) |

## Recruiting

| Player | Position | Nationality | Age | Notes |
| Kent Anderson | Defenseman | Canada | 18 | Calgary, AB |
| Tristan Broz | Forward | United States | 19 | Bloomington, MN; transfer from Minnesota; selected 58th overall in 2021 |
| Casey Dornbach | Forward | United States | 25 | Edina, MN; graduate transfer from Harvard |
| Tyler Haskins | Forward | United States | 19 | Rochester, MN |
| Tristan Lemyre | Forward | Canada | 21 | Mirabel, QC |
| Rieger Lorenz | Forward | Canada | 18 | Calgary, AB; selected 56th overall in 2022 |
| Lucas Ölvestad | Defenseman | Sweden | 20 | Tampa, FL |
| Aidan Thompson | Forward | United States | 20 | Fort Collins, CO; selected 90th overall in 2022 |
| Jared Wright | Forward | United States | 20 | Burnsville, MN; selected 169th overall in 2022 |

## Roster

As of August 26, 2022.

## Standings

2022–23 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 | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record |
| | GP | W | L | T | OTW | OTL | SW | PTS | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| #6 Denver † | 24 | 19 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 56 | 94 | 53 | 40 | 30 | 10 | 0 | 150 | 86 |
| #11 Western Michigan | 24 | 15 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 86 | 60 | 39 | 23 | 15 | 1 | 148 | 102 |
| #20 Omaha | 24 | 13 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 42 | 71 | 64 | 37 | 19 | 15 | 3 | 109 | 97 |
| #5 St. Cloud State * | 24 | 12 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 41 | 85 | 68 | 41 | 25 | 13 | 3 | 133 | 95 |
| Minnesota Duluth | 24 | 10 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 33 | 65 | 81 | 37 | 16 | 20 | 1 | 95 | 114 |
| #17 North Dakota | 24 | 10 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 33 | 75 | 70 | 39 | 18 | 15 | 6 | 127 | 110 |
| Colorado College | 24 | 6 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 25 | 37 | 60 | 38 | 13 | 22 | 3 | 79 | 99 |
| Miami | 24 | 3 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 39 | 96 | 36 | 8 | 24 | 4 | 73 | 137 |
| Championship: March 18, 2023 † 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 |
| Exhibition ||||||||||
| October 1 | 6:00 PM | at UNLV* | #1 | Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado | | Chrona | W 10–0 | 4,781 | |
| Ice Breaker Tournament ||||||||||
| October 7 | 7:05 PM | #11 Notre Dame* | #1 | Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado (Ice Breaker Tournament) | Altitude | Chrona | W 5–2 | 5,859 | 1–0–0 |
| October 8 | 6:00 PM | Maine* | #1 | Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado (Ice Breaker Tournament) | Altitude | Davis | W 3–1 | 5,447 | 2–0–0 |
| Regular Season ||||||||||
| October 14 | 5:00 PM | at #13 Massachusetts* | #1 | Mullins Center • Amherst, Massachusetts | ESPN+ | Chrona | L 2–4 | 7,297 | 2–1–0 |
| October 15 | 5:00 PM | at #13 Massachusetts* | #1 | Mullins Center • Amherst, Massachusetts | ESPN+ | Chrona | L 0–3 | 6,315 | 2–2–0 |
| October 21 | 7:00 PM | #11 Providence* | #4 | Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado | Evoca | Chrona | W 4–1 | 5,218 | 3–2–0 |
| October 22 | 6:00 PM | #11 Providence* | #4 | Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado | Evoca | Chrona | W 3–2 | 6,324 | 4–2–0 |
| October 28 | 5:00 PM | at Miami | #3 | Steve Cady Arena • Oxford, Ohio | | Chrona | W 4–0 | 1,921 | 5–2–0 (1–0–0) |
| October 29 | 5:00 PM | at Miami | #3 | Steve Cady Arena • Oxford, Ohio | | Chrona | W 4–2 | 2,011 | 6–2–0 (2–0–0) |
| November 4 | 7:00 PM | #4 St. Cloud State | #2 | Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado | Altitude | Chrona | L 3–4 $^{OT}$ | 6,015 | 6–3–0 (2–1–0) |
| November 5 | 6:00 PM | #4 St. Cloud State | #2 | Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado | Evoca | Chrona | W 3–2 | 6,220 | 7–3–0 (3–1–0) |
| November 11 | 6:00 PM | at #12 North Dakota | #2 | Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, North Dakota (Rivalry) | Midco | Chrona | W 3–2 | 11,738 | 8–3–0 (4–1–0) |
| November 12 | 5:00 PM | at #12 North Dakota | #2 | Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, North Dakota (Rivalry) | Midco | Chrona | W 6–3 | 11,852 | 9–3–0 (5–1–0) |
| November 25 | 7:00 PM | Omaha | #1 | Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado | | Chrona | L 0–3 | 5,689 | 9–4–0 (5–2–0) |
| November 26 | 6:00 PM | Omaha | #1 | Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado | | Chrona | W 6–3 | 5,269 | 10–4–0 (6–2–0) |
| December 2 | 7:00 PM | Arizona State* | #1 | Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado | Altitude 2 | Chrona | W 3–2 | 5,260 | 11–4–0 |
| December 3 | 6:00 PM | vs. Arizona State* | #1 | Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado | | Davis | W 5–2 | 5,510 | 12–4–0 |
| December 9 | 6:00 PM | at Minnesota Duluth | #1 | AMSOIL Arena • Duluth, Minnesota | MY9 | Chrona | W 3–2 | 6,487 | 13–4–0 (7–2–0) |
| December 10 | 6:00 PM | at Minnesota Duluth | #1 | AMSOIL Arena • Duluth, Minnesota | MY9 | Chrona | W 4–3 $^{OT}$ | 6,354 | 14–4–0 (8–2–0) |
| December 16 | 7:00 PM | Lindenwood* | #1 | Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado | Altitude 2 | Davis | W 5–0 | 4,944 | 15–4–0 |
| December 17 | 6:00 PM | Lindenwood* | #1 | Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado | | Davis | W 5–4 | 5,268 | 16–4–0 |
| January 6 | 7:00 PM | Alaska* | #1 | Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado | Altitude 2 | Crona | L 1–3 | 6,221 | 16–5–0 |
| January 7 | 6:00 PM | Alaska* | #1 | Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado | | Crona | W 7–2 | 6,254 | 17–5–0 |
| January 13 | 7:00 PM | Miami | #4 | Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado | | Crona | W 7–0 | 5,858 | 18–5–0 (9–2–0) |
| January 14 | 6:00 PM | Miami | #4 | Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado | Altitude 2 | Crona | W 7–0 | - | 19–5–0 (10–2–0) |
| January 20 | 6:30 PM | at #4 St. Cloud State | #3 | Herb Brooks National Hockey Center • St. Cloud, Minnesota | FOX 9+ | Crona | L 3–7 | 4,080 | 19–6–0 (10–3–0) |
| January 21 | 5:00 PM | at #4 St. Cloud State | #3 | Herb Brooks National Hockey Center • St. Cloud, Minnesota | FOX 9+ | Crona | L 0–2 | 5,148 | 19–7–0 (10–4–0) |
| January 27 | 7:00 PM | Colorado College | #5 | Ball Arena • Denver, Colorado (Rivalry) | Altitude | Crona | W 2–0 | 17,952 | 20–7–0 (11–4–0) |
| February 4 | 6:00 PM | at Colorado College | #4 | Ed Robson Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado (Rivalry) | ATTRM | Crona | W 4–1 | 3,892 | 21–7–0 (12–4–0) |
| February 10 | 7:00 PM | North Dakota | #4 | Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado (Rivalry) | CBSSN | Crona | W 5–3 | 5,979 | 22–7–0 (13–4–0) |
| February 11 | 6:00 PM | North Dakota | #4 | Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado (Rivalry) | | Crona | W 5–2 | 6,193 | 23–7–0 (14–4–0) |
| February 17 | 7:00 PM | Minnesota Duluth | #3 | Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado | | Crona | W 6–2 | 6,218 | 24–7–0 (15–4–0) |
| February 18 | 6:00 PM | Minnesota Duluth | #3 | Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado | Altitude 2, TSN2 | Davis | L 5–6 | 6,361 | 24–8–0 (15–5–0) |
| February 24 | 5:00 PM | at #5 Western Michigan | #3 | Lawson Arena • Kalamazoo, Michigan | CBSSN | Chrona | W 5–2 | 3,947 | 25–8–0 (16–5–0) |
| February 25 | 4:00 PM | at #5 Western Michigan | #3 | Lawson Arena • Kalamazoo, Michigan | | Chrona | W 3–1 | 4,419 | 26–8–0 (17–5–0) |
| March 3 | 7:00 PM | Colorado College | #3 | Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado (Rivalry) | CBSSN | Chrona | W 2–1 | 6,667 | 27–8–0 (18–5–0) |
| March 4 | 6:00 PM | at Colorado College | #3 | Ed Robson Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado (Rivalry) | ATTRM | Chrona | W 4–2 | 3,894 | 28–8–0 (19–5–0) |
| NCHC Tournament ||||||||||
| March 10 | 7:00 PM | Miami* | #3 | Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado (Quarterfinal Game 1) | | Davis | W 6–2 | 4,873 | 29–8–0 |
| March 11 | 6:00 PM | Miami* | #3 | Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado (Quarterfinal Game 2) | | Davis | W 7–2 | 5,567 | 30–8–0 |
| March 17 | 3:00 PM | vs. Colorado College* | #3 | Xcel Energy Center • Saint Paul, Minnesota (Semifinal, Rivalry) | CBSSN | Chrona | L 0–1 | 10,242 | 30–9–0 |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||||||
| March 23 | 3:30 PM | vs. #12 Cornell* | #4 | SNHU Arena • Manchester, New Hampshire (East Regional Semifinal) | ESPNews | Chrona | L 0–2 | 3,631 | 30–10–0 |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Mountain Time. Source: ||||||||||

## Scoring statistics

| Name | Position | Games | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM |
| Massimo Rizzo | C | 38 | 17 | 29 | 46 | 14 |
| Carter Mazur | LW | 40 | 22 | 15 | 37 | 32 |
| Casey Dornbach | F | 40 | 13 | 21 | 34 | 29 |
| Michael Benning | D | 39 | 13 | 21 | 34 | 38 |
| Aidan Thompson | C | 32 | 10 | 22 | 32 | 4 |
| Jack Devine | RW | 38 | 14 | 17 | 31 | 19 |
| Tristan Broz | C | 40 | 10 | 18 | 28 | 35 |
| Carter King | F | 38 | 11 | 12 | 23 | 6 |
| Shai Buium | D | 38 | 4 | 17 | 21 | 18 |
| Sean Behrens | D | 31 | 3 | 18 | 21 | 29 |
| McKade Webster | LW | 30 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 34 |
| Kyle Mayhew | D | 40 | 2 | 11 | 13 | 18 |
| Justin Lee | D | 40 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 59 |
| Jared Wright | LW | 34 | 8 | 4 | 12 | 2 |
| Rieger Lorenz | C/LW | 37 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 20 |
| Tristan Lemyre | D | 17 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 2 |
| Owen Ozar | F | 27 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 10 |
| Connor Caponi | F | 39 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 26 |
| Brett Edwards | F | 38 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 18 |
| Lucas Ölvestad | F | 22 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
| Kent Anderson | D | 22 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Magnus Chrona | G | 32 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Tyler Haskins | F | 13 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Lane Krenzen | D | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Matt Davis | G | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jack Caruso | G | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | | | 150 | 250 | 400 | 431 |

## Goaltending statistics

| Name | Games | Minutes | Wins | Losses | Ties | Goals Against | Saves | Shut Outs | SV % | GAA |
| Jack Caruso | 3 | 11:08 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.00 |
| Matt Davis | 13 | 509:27 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 185 | 1 | .925 | 1.77 |
| Magnus Chrona | 32 | 1861:43 | 22 | 9 | 0 | 68 | 739 | 4 | .916 | 2.19 |
| Empty Net | - | 27:35 | - | - | - | 3 | - | - | - | - |
| Total | 40 | 2409:53 | 30 | 10 | 0 | 86 | 928 | 5 | .915 | 2.14 |

## Rankings

| Poll | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | 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 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 (Final) |
| USCHO.com | 1 (37) | - | 1 (41) | 1 (46) | 4 | 3 (7) | 2 (15) | 2 (5) | 1 (44) | 1 (41) | 1 (17) | 1 (29) | 1 (26) | - | 1 (29) | 4 (3) | 3 (4) | 5 | 4 (1) | 4 | 3 (7) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 (1) | - | 6 |
| USA Today | 1 (25) | 1 (25) | 1 (30) | 1 (33) | 4 | 3 (4) | 2 (15) | 2 (1) | 1 (29) | 1 (25) | 2 (10) | 1 (14) | 1 (15) | 2 (13) | 2 (14) | 3 (2) | 3 | 3 | 4 (2) | 4 | 3 (1) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 6 |
Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 1, 13, or 26.

## Awards and honors

| Player | Award |
| Michael Benning | AHCA West All-American Second Team |
| Carter Mazur | AHCA West All-American Second Team |
| Massimo Rizzo | AHCA West All-American Second Team |
| Magnus Chrona | NCHC Goaltender of the Year |
| Justin Lee | NCHC Defensive Defenseman of the Year |
| Michael Benning | NCHC Offensive Defenseman of the Year |
| Magnus Chrona | NCHC Three Stars Award |
| Magnus Chrona | NCHC First Team |
| Michael Benning | NCHC First Team |
| Massimo Rizzo | NCHC First Team |
| Carter Mazur | NCHC Second Team |

## Players drafted into the NHL
### 2023 NHL Entry Draft

| Round | Pick | Player | NHL team |
| 5 | 133 | Sam Harris $^†$ | Montreal Canadiens |
† incoming freshman