From: Rocky Mountain Newsby Pat Rooney
Their offense undoubtedly has reached a crossroad. Still, the University of Denver Pioneers know they have to get their marquee defense back on track this week.
That's because one of the nation's most prolific scorers is about to invade Magness Arena.
Following a split of a Western Collegiate Hockey Association series against defending national champion Wisconsin, DU will host Niagara on Friday and Saturday in the team's final nonconference series of the season.
Niagara, which is in second place in College Hockey America, has won five consecutive games behind the play of sophomore forward Ted Cook.
"We haven't seen any tape on them yet, but we know Cook is a phenomenal player," DU coach George Gwozdecky said. "He is lights-out one of the top offensive players in the country."
Cook burst on the college hockey scene last year as one of the nation's top freshmen, posting 20 goals and 20 assists in 36 games.
He has picked up where he left off. Cook leads the nation in goals (20) and power-play goals (13), while ranking in a tie for fourth with 34 points.
DU (15-7-2) had a seven-game unbeaten streak snapped with a 4-0 loss Saturday against Wisconsin but remains in second place in the WCHA, one point ahead of St. Cloud State.
One year after the Pioneers' nonconference woes led to their failure to reach the NCAA tournament, DU can pad its résumé for the NCAA West Regional in March at the Pepsi Center with a strong showing against the Purple Eagles (13-6-3), who began the weekend ranked 19th by U.S. College Hockey Online.
"This series will probably make a statement as to where we'll wind up," said Gwozdecky, whose team has a 6-2-0 nonconference record.
"This is our final nonconference games of the season and we know what happened to us last year with our nonconference record. This is our last two shots to give it our best so that once the regular season is done, we can give ourselves the best chance to make our postseason run long."
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