College Hockey Update:  Last weekend featured a top ten matchup in which Denver flexed some home ice muscle and moved up two spots to #2, sweeping Minnesota-Duluth, which edged the Bulldogs down to #10.  Elsewhere, Notre Dame edged up to #1 on its sweep of Penn State, and on Cornell’s results; Cornell dropped down two pegs to #3 after hosting and beating Union College, but then hosting and losing to R.P.I..  St. Cloud State moved up two rungs to #4 after hosting and sweeping Nebraska-Omaha; Mankato State moved up two notches to #5 after hosting and sweeping Alaska-Anchorage; and Ohio State edged down to #6 after hosting and beating Michigan State Friday night, but hosting and losing to them Saturday night.  Clarkson dropped four spots to #7 after losing at Quinnipiac Friday night and losing at Princeton Saturday night; Providence edged down to #9 after visiting Vermont and settling on a tie Friday night, and losing there Saturday night; and an idle North Dakota moved up two pegs to #8.

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Saturday night at home Denver had huge help from junior forward Dylan Gambrell, of Bonney Lake, WA., who scored the game winning goal in his teams 4-3 win over Minnesota-Duluth, and also tallied a late third-period assist on the goal to tie the game at three apiece.  In a see-saw game in which Denver got a blistering 44 shots off, it was a Logan O’Connor goal four minutes into the first that put Denver up 1-0.  But UMD struck back six minutes later and then again eight minutes after that, to take a 2-1 lead into the break.  Five minutes into the second Ryan Barrow tied it at two apiece for Denver, but four minutes later UMD made it 3-2.  With half a minute left in the frame, Jarid Lukosevicius scored (Dylan Gambrell on the assist) to tie at at 3-3 going into the break.  Midway through the third Dylan Gambrell struck with the game winner to make it 4-3, Denver.

Gambrell is tied for third on his team in goals scored, with eleven, and is first in assists, with 23.  As a sophomore he was fourth on the team in goals with 13 and was first in assists with 30; as a freshman he was second in goals with 17, and was second in assists with 30.  He was drafted by the San Jose Sharks in the second round of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, with the 60th pick overall.  His hometown of Bonney Lake, WA., is 37 miles south of Seattle, between Puyallup and Enumclaw, and is home to 17,000.

The University of Denver was founded as a Methodist Seminary in 1864 by Governor John Evans, and was named the University of Denver in 1888.  It enrolls 5,700 undergraduates, and 5,900 graduate students.  In 1925 its sports teams were named the Pioneers, and they have won 23 NCAA Ski Team Titles, the most of all schools, and the hockey team has won eight NCAA titles, the second most of all schools.  The hockey team plays its home games in the 6,000 seat Magness Arena, completed and opened in September of 1999.  Denver is the defending national champion.

How is Denver doing what they do?  Retention.  They have nearly the same roster they had last year.  And on that roster, three of the top four leaders in goals scored are the top three assist leaders.  This team is really led on offense by Henrik Borgstrom, first in goals with 17, and tied for third in assists, with 20; Dylan Gambrell, tied for third in goals with 11, and first in assists with 23, and Troy Terry, tied for third in goals with 11, and second in assist with 21.  That threesome is quite an offensive engine for these Pioneers.  Add to that Jarid Lukosevicius, who is second on the team in goals with 13, and is seventh on the team in assists with 9, and Denver is a team that can certainly beat anyone on any given day of the week.  Denver is 16-6-6, is ranked #2, and plays next on Friday, February 16th, at Colorado College, in the opener of a home-and-home series.

This week there are two top-ten matchups, as #1 Notre Dame will host #6 Ohio State for two games, and #3 Cornell will play one game at #7 Clarkson Friday night.

This provides the top ten teams, rankings, records, and last weekend’s results:

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That’s all for now.  Stay tuned, and go Terriers!

— Tom