The University of Denver was eliminated by the Miami RedHawks this evening at the NCAA Regionals in Minneapolis. Miami jumped out to an early lead and never trailed in a 4-2 victory.Denver seemed out of sync all evening drawing countless offsides penalties, giving up odd man rushes and committing early penalties.
Its a disappointing end to a very successful season that saw DU finish 2nd in the WCHA regular season, finish as runner-up in the WCHA playoffs and draw the overall #3 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Providing the pro defections are kept to a minimum DU should be one of the favorites in the WCHA next season.
Box Score
Denver Post game recap
USCHO.com game recap
19 comments:
Just kind of crying inside right now...
I'm super upset... :(:(:(
We need an intervention. :-)
Still was a great season. We'll be back better than ever next year.
Looking forward to the mascot reveal in DC. Tough way to end the season. The future of Bozak will be interesting to follow over the coming weeks.
That game was the hockey equivalent of watching a dog chase a laser pointer but the dog never catching it.
I do think we'll be better than ever next year. All the young players will be a year more seasoned, Chevy should be even better. It'll hurt losing Bozak, but hopefully Rahk and Ruegs will make some real noise next year, as will Colborne and Wiercoch. Increasingly anesthesized, I'm feeling a lot more expansive than I was when ESPN2 was on and driving a stake through my heart.
That was an embarrassing display. Given this, and last years failure in Madison, one has to wonder whether George remains able to connect with and motivate his charges.
I'm on my third glass of wine to try and anesthistize the pain. But sht happens.
Lets not let it distract us from the bigger goal which is multi year; BRING BACK BOON!! Don't let this disaster deflect our efforts to kill the chicken and restore our rightful mascot Denver Boon. Funds are still needed. Write a check ,or if you have already done so ,write another one. lets show Coombe that we mean business and will not go away.
BRING BACK BOON
BRING BACK BOON
BRING BACK BOON
Blaming Gwoz is ridiculous. Have some perspective.
This is team that was picked for third/fourth and finished second in the WCHA. And they did it with only two regular senior players! The freshman class this year may DU's best ever. Chevy went from untested to second team all league. They went to the conference final and earned an NCAA berth as a #1 seed with enormous, huge injuries to their very best players. And despite all that, they put a league record 18 guys on the all league academic team.
I don't know what you expected, but this team went far above expectations in my book, and Gwoz and the staff did a great job.
I know the great gwoz. He is a class guy in every respect. His heart is with his players. Anyone who blames him for this loss has his proverbial head up his ass. Go watch the Broncos,you clearly do not know anything about D.U. hockey. I am now debating whether or not to have my 4th glass of wine. The pain still lingers.
The freshmen class coming in next season has the potential to be as good or possibly even better than this year's. Assuming Bozak is the only underclassman that DU loses, they should be in fine shape for next year.
It was a team loss. The entire Pio squad played without any sort of emotion. Perhaps that's what happens when virtually ALL the pre-game press was focused on ONE player. There are at least 35 D1 teams that would have beat DU today.
If it was the Gophers the whole Internets would be saying they "pissed down their legs". But since it's DU I don't think you'll see much of that.
And oh yeah ... Bob Norton is such a shit representative of College Hockey. ESPN should dump him and get Bob McKenzie on board.
There's no reason to blame Gwoz for such a loss. Gwoz cares for his team and he clearly demonstrates it...anyone remember that game in North Dakota this season.
Overall I do think DU had a successful season, especially with all the injuries (especially to key players) and a senior class of only three individuals. I expect a great season from DU next year since our core team will be more seasoned and we'll have that great leadership from both Tylers and Rhett still.
Kudos and thanks to all the DU staff and especially our senior class.
Missing Mullen will be also huge.
We lose Mullen and Testwuide, but we have three freshmen Defensemen coming in who may be our best trio ever.
Wrenn, Phillips & Donovan are elite players who have succeeded against the best players in the world in international competition.
Very disappointing way to end an otherwise terrific season. From the individual accolades to the team success the Pios have a lot to be proud of. I had high hopes this postseason but it just wasn't meant to be.
Watching this game vs Miami was painful. Watching the 1st period I couldn't figure out how DU could come out so listless and sluggish. They just looked like a tired bunch and and a group without any legs. I kept hoping things would change as the game wore on but it never happened. I can only assume that DU was a worn out team and didn't have the necessary energy to compete at such a level as is required in this one-and-done playoff. I think the injuries finally caught up with them.
I'm excited about next season, given the returning and incoming talent. I think the one glaring weakness with the DU program right now is a lack of players willing to be physical. It seemed that in about 90% of the game time this year the Pios were the hittees, not the hitters. I think some of these guys got worn down from absorbing hits and not returning any. Hockey is a tough physical game and relying too much on speed and finesse is not enough. I think Gwoz and his staff really need to make this team difficult to play against. I hope next year's bunch can bring a little more nastiness to the ice.
Twister,
I think you make a valid point about the physicality, but DU has many speedy, small forwards. No matter how much time they spend in the weight room it isn't going to change that.
This season has proven to me that small quick forwards are the way to go. But you must have slick puck moving defensemen to control the puck through the neutral zone.
I have mixed feelings in regards to the "speedy" vs "strong" forwards. You need the speed, but absolutely do need the muscle as well. Getting the right mix is one of the jobs of Gwoz and his staff. Unfortunately, the players who do posses both are usually in MJ by the time they are 17.
In the end, I would much rather have guys who can skate but may be a bit small vs. some lump of shit who is 6'6 235 but would have circles skated around him by cctig.
DG,
Yep, I agree with what you're saying. I like DU's mix of speedy forwards. There is no substitute for speed and quickness, regardless of the sport. I don't necessarily think DU needs more size. Size is overrated in most sports. But I think our mix of players can afford to play more physical, whether it's in the corners, crashing the net, creating screens, forechecking etc.
I think Clark from UAA is a good example. He was flying around, playing the body, creating turnovers, and generally creating havoc against DU in the WCHA playoffs. I'd like to see our guys do more of that and make life more difficult for our opponents' d-men.
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