Freshman Josiah Didier is following a long list of Colorado-raised hockey players to develop into NCAA Division I skaters with NHL potential.
The young University of Denver defenseman, however, is unique when it comes to his success on skates.
He is the first player from the 2009-10 Colorado Thunderbirds 16-under team to reach such heights. Didier, now 18 and standing 6-foot-2 and 206 pounds, served as an assistant captain for that Angelo Ricci-coached team that captured Colorado’s first and only Tier 1, triple-A national championship.
“I’m proud to be one of the first guys coming out,” Didier said Wednesday while preparing for DU’s two-game series at Michigan Tech this weekend. “There are lots of guys who have played for Angelo and all these other (local) organizations that have been good and have had lots of success. I’m proud to be one of them.”
Didier, who began skating at the mite level (8-under) with the Littleton Hockey Association, played on the state’s most successful triple-A team with at least seven players who will play Division I hockey within the next two years. Forwards Quentin Shore, Brad Hawkinson and Landon Smith have committed to DU; forward Christian Heil has pledged to Colorado College; and defenseman Matias Cleland is headed to New Hampshire. Defenseman Gavin Stoick is playing for the U.S. under-18 team and is uncommitted.
“It’s amazing,” Didier said, looking back on that Thunderbirds team. “At that time, it was my dream to come here. Once that season was over, they recruited me and it became true. One year of juniors and all of a sudden I’m here. It’s amazing.”
Didier attended ThunderRidge High School in Highlands Ranch for three years. He grew about 2 inches and put on 15 pounds since moving to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in the summer of 2010. After committing to DU that summer, he was scheduled to play two years of junior-A for the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders of the United States Hockey League and join the Pioneers as a 19-year-old.
But he was so impressive during his senior year of high school in Cedar Rapids that the Montreal Canadiens spent a fourth-round pick on him (97th overall) in June, and DU decided he was ready for the college game.
The Pioneers lost sophomore de- fenseman Matt Donovan to the New York Islanders last spring, and Didier’s NCAA shelf life might also be cut short because of the lure of the NHL.
“We felt he was ready and we needed him to be here,” DU coach George Gwozdecky said of Didier. “There are too many unknowns every year to keep a guy like Josiah back another year. He had improved so much in that one (junior-A) year, we felt it was necessary to bring him in.”
Didier’s team-appointed “big brother” is fifth-year senior defenseman John Ryder, who grew up in Colorado Springs and played for the T-birds.
“Josiah, he’s already made big strides,” Ryder said. “He’s getting better every day.
“He has all the tools to be a great, great hockey player. He seems like a kid who doesn’t look tough at first, although he is big and imposing. But he won’t back down from anybody, and he’ll stand up for his teammates. He’s a tough kid.”
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
Josiah Didier
What: DU freshman defenseman
Hometown: Littleton
High schools: ThunderRidge (three years) and Washington in Cedar Rapids, Iowa (one year)
Favorite NHL player: Nicklas Lidstrom
NHL rights: Montreal Canadiens (fourth round, 97th overall, in 2011)
What’s on his stick: Two sets of handwritten initials, one private and the other “RB” — in honor of late Littleton youth hockey coach Ron Brodeur
College hockey
NO. 2 DENVER (3-1, 2-0 WESTERN COLLEGIATE HOCKEY ASSOCIATION) AT MICHIGAN TECH (4-2, 2-2 WCHA)
Notes: DU is 4-of-20 on the power play (20 percent) after beginning 0-of-10. . . . MTU produced one of its two WCHA victories against DU last season. . . . The Huskies are led by first-year coach Mel Pearson, a 1981 MTU alum and longtime assistant to Red Berenson at Michigan. . . . MTU began 4-0, sweeping American International (4-3, 3-1) and Wisconsin (2-1 OT, 3-2 OT) at home before losing twice at Bemidji State last weekend (6-5, 3-1). . . . DU is ranked No. 2 in both national polls. The Pioneers have been among the top 15 since Jan. 23, 2006.
NO. 3 COLORADO COLLEGE (2-0, 2-0 WCHA) AT RENSSELAER (1-4, 0-0 EASTERN COLLEGE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE)
Notes: CC returns to action for the first time since Oct. 16, when it capped a season-opening two- game sweep against visiting Bemidji State. . . . CC beat (2-1) and tied (2-2) Rensselaer to open last season in Colorado Springs. Rensselaer is the first of seven CC opponents that played in last season’s NCAA Tournament. The Engineers are coached by former DU assistant Seth Appert, who was hired by CC athletic director Ken Ralph in 2005 when he served in the same position for RPI. . . . The Engineers have produced only six goals this fall and have been shut out three times.
CANISIUS (1-2, 1-0 ATLANTIC HOCKEY ASSOCIATION) AT AIR FORCE (3-2-1, 2-0 AHA)
Notes: Air Force is on a four-game unbeaten streak (3-0-1) since losing one-goal games to North Dakota and Michigan State on opening weekend. . . . The Falcons and Golden Griffins meet three times in the regular season, including twice in Buffalo, N.Y., at the end of January. . . . Canisius opened the season with 7-1 and 4-0 losses at Quinnipiac but upset Rochester Institute of Technology 3-1 last weekend.
Mike Chambers, The Denver Post
