Five fingers make a fist. A bloody pinkie explains DU hockey’s success.
The Pioneers returned home on Sunday afternoon, their Sun Country charter greeted by the arches of water reserved for champions. Forward Samu Salminen walked off the plane, raising the hardware to the blue skies.
For the third time in five years, DU stands alone in college hockey. They long ago stopped being fantastic and became dynastic. The drone above, the media crew below, cameras rolling, the Pioneers could live in these snapshots forever.
But understanding the Pioneers’ breathtaking run requires a deeper examination of the scene. The players, legs tired, hair disheveled and voices hoarse, wore matching outfits: black shorts, white national championship t-shirts and black caps.
For all other schools, these are souvenirs. For the Pios, it is standard-issued gear.
It was hard to tell them apart. You think this happens by accident or a group chat?
They are not a team. This dramatically undersells their relationships. They are brothers willing to do anything for each other.
Which brings us to Boston Buckberger and his left pinkie. During the semifinal win over Michigan, he found himself sliding toward the boards, arms outstretched.
Wolverines forward Will Horcoff stood in his path like a second baseman waiting to tag him out. Instead, Horcoff stepped up to avoid Buckberger’s stick and, with all his weight, crunched down with his right foot.
“I think I got tripped by one of the Michigan players and just fell. And the guy that was beside me skated over my glove and cut right through my finger,” Buckberger said. “Immediately, I kind of felt like something was wrong.”
Or gone.
As Buckberger made his way to the bench, he held up his hand and it looked like he bought a prop from a Spirit Halloween pop-up. Blood stained his wrist, part of his palm and it looked like the tip of his pinkie was missing.
“Once I took it out, I could see blood leaking all over,” Buckberger said. “My twin brother Braxton sent me a bunch of pictures afterward. I can see why people thought it was so bad.”
Suddenly, in the biggest game of his life, Buckberger had become Ronnie Lott. The 49ers Hall of Fame safety had his pinkie mangled on a tackle during a game in 1985, and played with a splint before having the digit amputated after the season.
Thankfully, doctors spared Buckberger this outcome.
With the skin flapping, his words, not mine, the medical staff went full MacGyver on Buckberger. He received seven stitches and missed five minutes of ice time. Seriously.
This is the math that makes the Pios work: 7 + 5 = 3.
In a time when so many kids focus on their personal brand, DU players love their school and teammates beyond reason. In the biggest games. In excruciating pain.
“I was so happy to be able to get back out there. Kudos to all the behind-the-scenes people who made it happen. Everyone involved is just as big a member of our team,” said Buckberger, whose sniper shot was redirected by Kyle Chyzowski for the winning goal in the title game. “Once it was comfortable, I wasn’t thinking about it. There was no way I wasn’t going to play. You have to leave everything on the ice.”
When writing the chapters of DU’s dominance, there must be breathless paragraphs about their resilience and toughness. Quietly, DU has become to defensemen what Ohio State is to receivers and LSU is to cornerbacks.
Last season, the Pios featured the ridiculously talented Zeev Buium, who went straight to the NHL. Before him, his brother Shai won two national titles.
This year, there is Buckberger and Eric Pohlkamp. These players speak to coach David Carle’s eye in recruiting. He lands future NHL stars and guys who will become undrafted free agents.
He seeks talent that fits. Not talent over everything else.
The result? The Pios’ culture assaults the senses the moment players step onto campus.
The standard is the standard.
Develop them as men. And teach them how to win.
This is Carle’s Way.
“We want players with killer instincts who want to compete,” said the 36-year-old Carle, buttoned-up and matter-of-fact as always. “But we can do both. We want them to succeed here and beyond (in the NHL).”
This was probably Carle’s best coaching job of his three titles, and why NHL teams, like the Anaheim Ducks and Chicago Blackhawks did a year ago, will likely try to gauge his interest in going pro.
But it is hard to leave something as special as he has nurtured on DU’s campus, where there will be a raucous celebration Tuesday night.
These Pioneers were nobody’s idea of favorites. They had a clumsy start to the season. And at one point, they dropped six straight games in January.
“We were in a pretty dark place. We just knew that we had so much talent,” Buckberger said. “Just looking in the mirror and having talks with guys, we did not want to waste it, leave anything unsettled or any stone unturned. From that moment on, everyone bought in.”
As the Pios regained traction, something weird happened. They found a goalie who forgot how to lose. Johnny B. Goode? More like Johnny Be Great.
Johnny Hicks finished the season 16-0-1.
He stands small and plays huge. His 5-foot-10-inch-ish frame fills the net and fear becomes a stranger. When the Pios’ offense finally awoke in the third period against Wisconsin — DU is a rattlesnake that patiently waits to strike — belief swelled.
Moments later, everyone knew they were going to win when a sprawling Hicks appeared to block a shot with his neck and swallow the puck.
“It was actually caught underneath my shoulder,” Hicks said with a smile. “With those guys playing in front of me, it gives me so much confidence.”
Again, it goes back to who the Pios are. The connective tissue. Before each period, Buckberger would skate up to Hicks, tap his pads. In the delirium on Saturday night, he texted Buckberger how much that meant to him.
Buckberger is not the first, but rather the last Pio to bleed Crimson Red.
DU has won a record 11 national championships.
And it is easy to put your finger on why.
