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 Colorado College'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	 	Signed professional contract (Nashville Predators)
Mike Corson 	Goaltender	 	Transferred to Niagara
Michael Davies 	Defenseman	 	Graduation
Erich Fear 	Defenseman	 	Graduation
Jay Feiwell 	Forward 	 	Left program
Liam Finlay 	Forward 	 	Graduation (Signed with KOOVEE)
Tyson McLellan 	Forward 	 	Graduation (Signed with Nürnberg Ice Tigers)
Ian Mitchell 	Defenseman	 	Signed professional contract (Chicago Blackhawks)
Mathias Emilio Pettersen	Forward 	 	Signed professional contract (Calgary Flames)
Jared Resseguie 	Forward 	 	Left program
Tyler Ward 	Forward 	 	Transferred to New Hampshire
==Recruiting==
Player 	Position 	Nationality	Age	Notes
Mike Benning 	Defenseman 	 	18 	St. Albert, AB; selected 95th overall in 2020
Connor Caponi 	Forward 	 	20 	Brookfield, WI
Jack Caruso 	Goaltender 	 	21 	St. Louis, MO
Bo Hanson 	Defenseman 	 	22 	Boise, ID; transfer from St. Lawrence
Reid Irwin 	Forward/Defenseman	 	21 	Victoria, BC
Steven Jandric 	Forward 	 	23 	Prince George, BC; transfer from Alaska
Corbin Kaczperski	Goaltender 	 	24 	China Township, MI; graduate transfer from Yale
Carter King 	Forward 	 	19 	Calgary, AB
Carter Savoie 	Forward 	 	18 	St. Albert, AB; selected 100th overall in 2020
Antti Tuomisto 	Defenseman 	 	19 	Pori, FIN; selected 35th overall in 2019
McKade Webster 	Forward 	 	20 	St. Louis, MO; selected 213th overall in 2019
Jack Works 	Forward 	 	19 	Yellowknife, NT
==Roster==
As of March 1, 2021.
==Standings==
==Schedule and Results==
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!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular Season
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!colspan=12 style=";" | 
==Scoring Statistics==
Name 	Position	Games	Goals	Assists	Points	
 	C 	23 	8 	14 	22 	12
 	LW 	24 	13 	7 	20 	23
 	RW 	23 	4 	10 	14 	21
 	D 	21 	3 	8 	11 	8
 	RW 	15 	2 	9 	11 	4
 	D 	24 	2 	9 	11 	23
 	LW 	13 	5 	4 	9 	4
 	F 	24 	4 	5 	9 	10
 	LW 	22 	3 	6 	9 	16
 	D 	21 	3 	5 	8 	22
 	F 	24 	1 	7 	8 	6
 	C 	13 	4 	3 	7 	2
 	D 	24 	4 	2 	6 	6
 	LW 	20 	1 	5 	6 	6
 	F 	20 	2 	2 	4 	12
 	RW 	22 	2 	2 	4 	14
 	F 	24 	2 	2 	4 	25
 	D 	12 	1 	3 	4 	4
 	D 	20 	0 	4 	4 	17
 	C/D 	12 	3 	0 	3 	6
 	F 	14 	0 	2 	2 	6
 	G 	18 	0 	2 	2 	0
 	D 	24 	0 	2 	2 	12
 	D 	3 	0 	1 	1 	4
 	F 	3 	0 	1 	1 	0
 	F 	5 	0 	1 	1 	2
 	G 	9 	0 	1 	1 	0
 	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	 	
 	1 	3:05 	0 	0 	0 	0 	1 	0 	1.000	0.00
 	18 	1043 	7 	11 	0 	43 	421 	1 	.907 	2.47
 	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 	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.
==References==
Category:Denver Pioneers men's ice hockey seasons
Denver Pioneers 
Denver Pioneers 
Denver Pioneers