When coach Jim Montgomery took over the University of Denver hockey team in 2013, his first recruit was a familiar face and trusted soul. Evan Janssen was Montgomery’s third-line center for Dubuque of the United States Hockey League when the Fighting Saints won the 2013 Clark Cup championship.
DU hired Montgomery on April 13, 2013 and the coach’s first move was to sign Janssen, a blue-collar forward from Green Bay, Wis. Nearly four years later, Janssen has the country’s best hockey hair and is a key cog for the No. 2-ranked Pioneers, who have a home-and-home series with Colorado College on Friday (Magness Arena) and Saturday (Broadmoor World Arena).
Janssen, who plays in every situation and was voted as having the country’s , has six goals and 14 points in 26 games. He is doing the same things he did for Montgomery at Dubuque in 2013-14.
“I knew he was someone I could win with and someone I could trust in all situations,” Montgomery said of Janssen, 23. “Not only had we won a championship but he was one of our go-to guys, during our championship run, as a role player. Unbelievable teammate, unbelievable heart — as a person and on the ice — and a lot tougher than people think on the ice.
“But the biggest thing for me is, he’s the safety net. He knows what he’s supposed to do in every situation. That’s why he’s excelling on the power play. He knows exactly what coaches want. He thinks the game like a coach.”
Before joining DU at age of 20, Janssen wasn’t among Dubuque’s top-13 scorers in the regular season, but had a good postseason. He took official visits to Air Force and Clarkson and also attracted interest from Holy Cross and Connecticut. But he jumped at the chance to follow the coach he knew best to a perennial power.
“Things couldn’t have worked out better for me. Dream come true,” Janssen said. “Denver, obviously, being a very storied program and knowing Monty was going to bring his culture to Denver really excited me. I’ve never seen a coach turn a culture around for a program the way he does. The guy is a winner. Wherever he goes, he wins championships. I wanted to continue to be a part of that.”
Janssen is proud to be a Pioneer, and proud of his flow. He gets one haircut per year, after the season in April, and his Grizzly Adams look was voted the best in the country on Jan. 11. He beat Anthony Louis of Miami, UMass-Lowell’s Gage Hough, Clarkson’s Jordan Boucher and Yale identical twins Evan and Mitchell Smith.
“Heckuva honor,” Janssen joked. “They were going to do an all-Frozen Four hair team last year (in Tampa, Fla.), but it never happened. I woke up one morning (last month) and had a ton of texts and stuff coming in. It was pretty comical.”
Janssen said he cut his hair unusually short last April and he isn’t satisfied with the length yet. He expects it to be terrific if the Pioneers return to the Frozen Four, this year in Chicago.
“It’s not a peak-performing length, but it will get there,” he said.
Janssen facts
Five facts about University of Denver hockey player Evan Janssen:
— Green Bay native and Packers fan.
— Has four assists in his past three games.
— Assistant DU captain along with fellow seniors Matt Marcinew and Matt VanVoorhis under classmate Will Butcher, the captain.
— Saw his potential game-tying shot bounce off the cross bar against eventual NCAA champion Providence in a 2015 regional championship game.
— Scheduled to graduate with a degree in real estate construction management in June.