University of Denver Spring 2026

A late-season surge helped DU’s hockey team clinch its record-setting 11th national championship.

Text by Matt Meyer | Photos courtesy of NCAA Photos/Clarkson Creative

I n the final seconds of the DU hockey team’s 6-2 win over Western Michigan to clinch a Frozen Four berth, ESPN’s John Buccigross summed it up best: “The standard is the standard, and the standard is Denver.” The standards are indeed high for the Pioneers, who have repeatedly reached college hockey’s mountaintop with a record 11 national championships. But the 2025-26 campaign didn’t always seem destined for the same greatness. Across December and January, Denver had a seven-game winless stretch that David Carle (BA ’12), the Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach, called “a precarious situation.” It was a tale of two seasons: Ten of the Pioneers’ first 14 games were on the road, including long trips to Boston and Kalamazoo, Michigan. But starting in January, DU made just three short road trips over the final 16 games of the regular season. Consistent time on home ice, a healthy lineup, and NCAA regional matchups held close to home all helped the Pioneers prosper, and they rode a 14-game winning streak into the NCAA championships—the Frozen Four—in Las Vegas. There, they prevailed in a thrilling semifinal showdown with Michigan. They went on to defeat Wisconsin to claim the championship in a come-from-behind victory that showcased DU’s trademark patience and determination. A goalie made for the moment A big part of the Pioneers’ unbeaten streak was Johnny Hicks, the freshman goalie who was named the Most Outstanding Player in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference’s end-of-season tournament, the Frozen Faceoff. Hicks took the reins at a pivotal point for the

team, when Quentin Miller had just snapped the seven game losing streak in a win over North Dakota. The following weekend, though, Miller exited the game early with an injury, and Hicks came on to stop 22 shots in a victory over St. Cloud State on Jan. 24. “To come in when he did, to be unfazed, to be the calmest person in the room—I think that speaks to his preparation, his focus, and his attention to detail,” Carle said. “Certainly, he’s been excellent for us on the stretch run.” The Pioneers didn’t lose the rest of the way, and Hicks posted a .958 save percentage with 1.12 goals against average, both the best in the NCAA by large margins. He was one of four freshmen goalies between the pipes during the Frozen Four. Rookies make their mark Hicks wasn’t the only freshman making waves for the Pioneers. Miller was also a freshman, as were Clarke Caswell, Kristian Epperson, Brady Milburn, Eric Jamieson, Kyle Chyzowski, Payton Nelson, Brendan McMorrow, and Reid Varkonyi. Miller and Hicks were steady in net, while the other eight first-year players contributed 120 of the team’s 395 points going into the Frozen Four. While some of those players come from traditional recruiting pipelines like the amateur United States Hockey League (USHL), others were recruited from the Canadian Hockey League (CHL)—whose players just became eligible to play in the NCAA. The CHL is the umbrella organization that governs what are widely considered the three best junior hockey leagues in the world: the Western Hockey League, the Ontario Hockey League, and the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey

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UNIVERSITY OF DENVER MAGAZINE | SPRING 2026