Last season — an NCAA Frozen Four campaign for the Denver Pioneers — the seven-time NCAA champions were 7-7-2 at Christmas before beginning a 16-1-3 tear on Jan. 1. They became what every other team feared. Following an 0-4 December in which they were hammered in two-game series by North Dakota and St. Cloud State, they figured out “the right way to play” under third-year coach Jim Montgomery, who for the third consecutive year had the Pioneers rolling into the NCAA Tournament.
Each of Montgomery’s three previous teams have slowly learned to win under his system. The first advanced to the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the second to the second round (quarterfinals) and the third to the Frozen Four. They each started slow but ended with losses in games they felt they could have won (albeit the 2014 loss to Johnny Gaudreau and the Boston College Eagles wasn’t close). The last two years, their season ended in tight games to the eventual national champion.
This year, DU is already on a big-time role — probably because the upperclassmen fully understand the drill. The Pioneers, who swept Western Michigan by 3-1 and 4-2 scores over the weekend, take a six-game winning streak into their bye week. They are 6-0 since finishing last at the IceBreaker Tournament, losing to Ohio State and Boston College after having just three full practices with Montgomery and his staff.
DU junior defenseman Tariq Hammond said he and his teammates don’t question Montgomery. They know his coaching exudes success.
“He hasn’t changed much and we have a lot of veterans on our team,” Hammond said. “We just continue to play the right way and build off each other. We know who we are, where the puck is going and we’re going to play fast. We’re doing that better than ever. We had a tough start last year but our freshmen have done a great job with our systems and figuring out what Pioneer hockey really is. I’m really happy with our progress but we can get a lot better in a lot of areas. We’ll keep moving on. We have high expectations and our team is coming together.”
Senior defenseman Matt VanVoorhis is one of DU’s assistant captains. He also said Montgomery is never questioned. And he said that has helped early this season.
“Having the leadership crew we had last year, we had our struggles but figured out the right way to play around Christmas, and that’s helped us at the beginning of this year,” VanVoorhis said. “We know what works and what makes our team really successful. It’s easy because we have a lot of seniors. We’ve been through it for three years. It makes is easier for us to lead by example. It helps the whole process.”