(above) DU hopes to begin another miraculous run tonight against the BadgersFrom: Rocky Mountain News
by Pat Rooney
Chris Butler had to stop and think for a moment.
Last year, the Frozen Four was in Butler's hometown, St. Louis. This year, it's in his new hometown, Denver.
Asked whether it would have been a bigger thrill for the University of Denver to reach college hockey's biggest event back home or at the Pepsi Center in two weeks, Butler paused - but only briefly.
"That's tough to say. I probably would have played in front of more family and friends in St. Louis," said Butler, a junior defenseman and one of DU's alternate captains. "But to play here, in the town where your home school is, it's going to be awesome. Hopefully, we can get there. I can't even tell you how excited I am. This is probably going to be the most fun I've had playing hockey in a long time."
DU's quest to return to the Frozen Four for the first time since it captured its second consecutive national championship in 2005 begins today, as the Pioneers face Western Collegiate Hockey Association rival Wisconsin in the first round of the Midwest Regional on the Badgers' home ice in Madison, Wis. (4:30 p.m. MDT, Comcast Cable-Ch. 5).
Top-seeded North Dakota opens the regional against
Princeton at 1 p.m. MDT today, with the winners vying for a berth in the Frozen Four in the regional final Sunday.
Butler, like the bulk of the players on DU's roster, will be making his NCAA tournament debut today.
Any nerves the Pioneers' youngsters might have been expected to battle were vanquished last week, when DU posted two impressive victories in the WCHA Final Five and won the championship match against Minnesota in front of about 18,000 Golden Gophers fans.
"I think adapting to the Olympic ice (at the Kohl Center) will be very important to us," Butler said. "But I think we have a team that has done well on the Olympic ice, like how we played at Minnesota. Our team speed really showed there. Hopefully, we can do that again this weekend."
DU still retains four players from its 2005 title team, including captain Andrew Thomas, forward Tom May and goaltender Peter Mannino.
Although only Mannino played a leading role on that team, the experience of those three and fellow senior Zach Blom has provided a level of calm and confidence to an otherwise young Pioneers team.
"We just try to pay attention to what they are doing and what they are saying at all times," freshman center Tyler Bozak said. "We know they know what it takes to win the national championship. When they pipe up or have something to say, we listen closely. We're not as experienced as them, so it is good to see how they prepare."
by Pat Rooney
Chris Butler had to stop and think for a moment.
Last year, the Frozen Four was in Butler's hometown, St. Louis. This year, it's in his new hometown, Denver.
Asked whether it would have been a bigger thrill for the University of Denver to reach college hockey's biggest event back home or at the Pepsi Center in two weeks, Butler paused - but only briefly.
"That's tough to say. I probably would have played in front of more family and friends in St. Louis," said Butler, a junior defenseman and one of DU's alternate captains. "But to play here, in the town where your home school is, it's going to be awesome. Hopefully, we can get there. I can't even tell you how excited I am. This is probably going to be the most fun I've had playing hockey in a long time."
DU's quest to return to the Frozen Four for the first time since it captured its second consecutive national championship in 2005 begins today, as the Pioneers face Western Collegiate Hockey Association rival Wisconsin in the first round of the Midwest Regional on the Badgers' home ice in Madison, Wis. (4:30 p.m. MDT, Comcast Cable-Ch. 5).
Top-seeded North Dakota opens the regional against
Princeton at 1 p.m. MDT today, with the winners vying for a berth in the Frozen Four in the regional final Sunday.
Butler, like the bulk of the players on DU's roster, will be making his NCAA tournament debut today.
Any nerves the Pioneers' youngsters might have been expected to battle were vanquished last week, when DU posted two impressive victories in the WCHA Final Five and won the championship match against Minnesota in front of about 18,000 Golden Gophers fans.
"I think adapting to the Olympic ice (at the Kohl Center) will be very important to us," Butler said. "But I think we have a team that has done well on the Olympic ice, like how we played at Minnesota. Our team speed really showed there. Hopefully, we can do that again this weekend."
DU still retains four players from its 2005 title team, including captain Andrew Thomas, forward Tom May and goaltender Peter Mannino.
Although only Mannino played a leading role on that team, the experience of those three and fellow senior Zach Blom has provided a level of calm and confidence to an otherwise young Pioneers team.
"We just try to pay attention to what they are doing and what they are saying at all times," freshman center Tyler Bozak said. "We know they know what it takes to win the national championship. When they pipe up or have something to say, we listen closely. We're not as experienced as them, so it is good to see how they prepare."
1 comment:
Okay. Deep Breath.
We saw what happened to a very good CC team last night.
I can only hope every one of our Pios knows that anything can happen, every game is The Big Game now, do NOT take Wisconsin lightly.
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