The defending NCAA champion University of Denver hockey team is all but guaranteed to begin the season ranked No. 1 nationally, so it wasn’t a surprise that the Pioneers on Tuesday were unanimously chosen by the media to win the Penrose Cup as the National Collegiate Hockey Conference regular-season champions.
DU, which returns 16 lettermen including four of the seven members of the preseason NCHC first-team, received all 30 first-place votes from media regularly covering the eight-team league. Colorado College was picked eighth.
Monday, Pioneers forwards Henrik Borgstrom, Troy Terry and Dylan Gambrell and goalie Tanner Jaillet were selected to the preseason all-NCHC first team. Borgstrom, a sophomore, and juniors Terry and Gambrell were DU’s top three scorers last season. Jaillet, a senior, won the Mike Richter Award as national goalie of the year.
The Pioneers also return four of their top six defensemen and introduce a stellar freshman class.
DU opens Oct. 13 when it begins a two-game series at Notre Dame.