They were two of the most anticipated NHL prospects at their position to come through the college hockey ranks in a long time, and they haven’t disappointed. Now, they’re both at the top of the marquee as the Colorado Avalanche and Minnesota Wild prepare to do battle with a spot in the Western Conference Final on the line.

“I’d say they are the two best defensemen in the world,” Avalanche defenseman Sam Malinski said. “It’s a fun matchup for everyone to watch. We’re all lucky to watch Cale every day. It’s going to be exciting.”

They have been the two most prolific offensive defensemen in the sport since 2019-20, their first full NHL season, and it hasn’t been particularly close. Makar has 26 more goals than anyone else at the position. Hughes has 45 more assists (Makar is second).

Makar’s 507 points are 76 more than anyone not named Hughes, who has 482. They have won three of the past four Norris Trophies. Makar has finished in the top three for five consecutive seasons. Hughes has done the same each of the past two years.

They have been compared to each other constantly, dating back to their days at Michigan and UMass. The comparisons on social media are often quite contentious.

It will almost certainly be a huge talking point in this series.

“It’s just funny,” Hughes said. “Pretty cool to have been able to come in with him. He’s a year older, but pretty much the same age, and there’s so many great defensemen in the league right now, honestly. You want to play the best and have that opportunity. This series with Colorado, I think it’s just a great opportunity to go up against those guys. They got a great team. We got a great team, and just looking forward to the matchup.”

Makar also played down the individual matchup, but both stars heaped plenty of praise on each other in the days leading up to Game 1 on Sunday night at Ball Arena.

“He’s ultra competitive,” Hughes said. “He’s always attacking. He’s a great goalscorer. Can really score and shoot the puck. He’s got great hockey sense, can skate. So he’s, obviously, going to be a problem, and I know he’s going to try to bring his best, and we’ll try to do that too.”

Added Makar: “There’s so much (he respects). I think when he has the puck, it’s incredible to watch. He’s very mobile and finds the right seams. We saw a lot of that in the Dallas series. … Him and (Brock) Faber in general have been incredible. At the Olympics, too. It’s fun watching those guys. They are incredible at breaking up the puck, and they’re in every rush. They make forwards’ lives challenging, and give them credit because they did a great job against Dallas.”

A pass-first facilitator and the NHL’s best finisher from the blue line

This is not just Makar versus Hughes, obviously. Their typical defense partners, Faber and Devon Toews, were also both Olympians. Both clubs are also missing a key second-pairing guy to start the series — Josh Manson for the Avs, Jonas Brodin for the Wild.

Minnesota was a very good team on Dec. 12, but the Wild became one of the top Stanley Cup contenders the following day when they sent a huge package of assets, headlined by former University of Denver star Zeev Buium, to Vancouver for Hughes. It was the biggest trade of the season.

“Made (me) a better coach, that’s for sure,” Minnesota’s John Hynes said. “We all see what he what he does on the ice. But I think for him, he’s just what I respect so much about him that I didn’t know, is I didn’t know him personally, but coached him here, and then had an opportunity to work with him at the Olympics and see him in that environment, just, I think, the type of guy he is. He’s a leader, he’s really intelligent, cares about the game, he’s coachable. He brings the on and the off-ice component of an elite player.”

They are obviously similarly world-class players, but there are some differences. Hughes is more of a pass-first facilitator, while Makar has been the game’s best finisher from the blue line since he entered the league.

They’re both on the smaller end of the defensive spectrum, but are also elite players without the puck.

“I feel like they’re similar, but then also when you see them kind of first-hand, so different too,” said Avs center Brock Nelson, who played with Hughes at the 2026 Winter Olympics. “I mean, maybe in just the way they kind of defend and body position, how they skate. Quinn is so, so dynamic and maybe in a little bit more fast-twitch way. Cale’s obviously dynamic in his own way, as well as in the ability to beat guys, unbelievable edges.

“Both guys can kind of just come in … one-man breakout. It¶¶Òõap hard to kind of really lock them up. You have to try and contain them and just kind of limit their space because they’re so shifty. Even when it feels really that you’re kind of draped all over them, they’re both slipping away from guys. … I feel like getting that matchup is going to be a fun one to watch.”

Here are the 11 moments that defined DU’s run to the program’s record-extending 11th crown:

Jan. 16: Look at where DU was in mid-January, and the national title seems improbable. The Pioneers were blasted 5-0 by rival North Dakota in what coach David Carle called a Following this shellacking, DU was 12-10-2 and was treading water in a season where it looked like it would be a stretch to even make the NCAA tournament.

Jan. 23: After rebounding with a 3-2 victory in North Dakota on Jan. 17, the Pioneers fell 4-2 to St. Cloud State at Magness Arena. It was the final low point in a season that only went up from there, as it was DU’s last defeat of 2025-26. The Pioneers squandered a 2-0 led by yielding but from then on, DU was nothing but clutch in tight games.

Jan. 24: This is the volta in the Pioneers’ season. In a 6-0 win over St. Cloud State, Johnny Hicks took over due to an injury to starting goalie Quentin Miller about five minutes into the game. Hicks to start his unbeaten streak that stretched to 16-0-1 by the end of the season, while the offense showed its depth with 11 players with at least one point.

Jan. 31: In a 1-0 overtime win against Minnesota Duluth that foretold the drama of the NCHC Frozen Faceoff championship, Rieger Lorenz scored 2:17 into the extra frame Hicks stopped 19 shots to earn his first career shutout, and it was the first of four overtime wins down the stretch as the Pioneers gained confidence in pressure situations.

March 14: DU beat rival Western Michigan in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff semifinal, , as Samu Salminen lit the lamp to win the game just under six minutes into OT. This came after DU forced the extra frame when Boston Buckberger scored with 3:41 left in regulation, with the Pioneers on the power play and Hicks pulled from net in exchange for an extra attacker.

March 21: The Pioneers looked like they were going to run Minnesota Duluth out of Magness Arena with three goals in a span of 10 minutes in the opening period. But the Bulldogs stormed back to tie the game, and Hicks stood on his head throughout OT before Kristian Epperson scored shortly into the second extra frame to claim an NCHC record fourth National Cup.

April 9: After dominating the regional round with two wins by a combined score of 11-2, Michigan gave the Pioneers a heavyweight bout in the Frozen Four semifinal. Buckberger had his pinkie lacerated by a Wolverines skate late in regulation, but had it stitched and bandaged, and returned to the ice for overtime following a bloody moment that defined DU’s resiliency.

April 9: For a moment against Michigan, it appeared as if Hicks’ Cinderella season was over. In the third period en route to a 49-save night, the goalie lay flat on his back for about 30 seconds at T-Mobile Arena after Wolverines forward Malcolm Spence took the puck to the precipice of the crease and DU defenseman Eric Jamieson met him there, causing a collision with Hicks. The play knocked the wind out of Hicks, who remained in the game.

April 9: In that same game against Michigan, DU looked cooked until Clarke Caswell’s textbook tip-in with 2:46 left in the third period tied the game 3-3. Caswell redirected a shot from Garrett Brown from the goal line, and then captain Kent Anderson scored only his second goal of the season in double OT to end the longest game in DU history at 92 minutes, 35 seconds.

April 11: Out-possessed, out-shot and out-of-sorts through the first two periods, Hicks kept DU in shouting distance with a 1-0 deficit entering the third. Then, after tying the game on a Rieger Lorenz rebound shot right in front of the net, Buckberger’s one-timer from the right point was tipped in by Kyle Chyzowski to completely steal the momentum from Wisconsin.

April 11: Chyzowski’s goal with 5:52 gave DU a 2-1 lead, and put the onus to seal the championship on the player who had carried them to the final game in Las Vegas: Hicks. The 5-foot-10, under-recruited freshman nicknamed Johnny Bricks delivered with a handful of flashy saves down the stretch, including a kick save with his leg pad with

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.

Michigan and Wisconsin came to Sin City to add another title for the conference in men’s hockey. The University of Denver had other ideas.

David Carle and the Pioneers slew both Big Ten Goliaths to remind everyone that DU remains the premier men’s college hockey program. The 11 national titles are more than any other program, but this is three in five seasons, with a fourth Frozen Four in there as well.

“A lot has been made of, like, haves and have-nots coming into college athletics and college hockey,” Carle said after the Pios defeated Wisconsin, 2-1, Saturday afternoon in the title game. “To me, we’re the thing that everybody wants. You want a smaller school who doesn’t have this behemoth budget and fan base and alumni base to still be able to be successful. I think we’re the proof of concept that it’s still possible.

“Yes, do we have advantages over other places? I am not sitting up here crying poor that we don’t have things. But we are a small institution. We are very committed, though, to our hockey program and making it a great experience for our student-athletes, our fans and our alumni. You don’t have to be big in hockey to be good. You have to invest and you have to care and have the right people to do great things. In a sport landscape, in college athletics, I think a place like Denver should really be celebrated.”

Adapting and thriving

There have been drastic, sweeping changes to college athletics during this run of Pios excellence. The transfer portal, Name, Image and Likeness deals and revenue sharing have changed college sports. Hockey added an extra seismic wrinkle before this season, allowing players from Canada’s three major junior leagues to be eligible.

Carle and the Pios continue to adjust and thrive with each change. Defenseman Eric Pohlkamp led this DU team in scoring and was a Hobey Baker finalist. Two years ago, he transferred from Bemidji State.

The CHL superstars who came to college hockey this year were the talk of the sport. Gavin McKenna and Jackson Smith at Penn State, Porter Matrone and Cayden Lindstrom at Michigan State, Cole Reschny and Keaton Verhoeff at North Dakota — all are recent or future NHL first-round picks.

Two former CHL players made the biggest plays Saturday night in the championship game. Kyle Chyzowski scored the title-winning goal in the third period. Johnny Hicks was the MVP of the Frozen Four, the NCAA Regional in Loveland and the NCHC Frozen Faceoff.

Both were in the WHL last year. Both are undrafted players. Now, they are NCAA champions.

“Just the standard we have every single day in the practices and how we treat each other, how people treat us in Denver,” said senior Samu Salminen, the team’s No. 1 center and also a transfer two years ago from UConn. “It’s a very special place to be. I feel like every single person who steps in that locker room, they know what it’s all about, and that’s winning. It’s all about team-first mentality. We don’t have individuals in this team. If we do, that’s a short run for those guys. I feel like our whole team has bought into that really well the whole year.”

‘Bigness doesn’t win championships all the time’

NHL teams have come calling for Carle, a 36-year-old coach with three NCAA championships and two World Junior Championship gold medals on his resume. With a 16-3 record, he has as many NCAA titles as NCAA tournament losses. He’s won as many titles as George Gwozdecky and Jim Montgomery combined.

He’s passed on multiple NHL jobs, and signed a multi-year contract extension with the school before this season. As long as he wants to be in Denver, Carle and the Pioneers plan to remain at the top of the sport.

Pohlkamp and junior Boston Buckberger could sign NHL contracts and move on. Three seniors need to be replaced.

The biggest question is whether both goalies, Hicks and fellow fabulous freshman Quentin Miller, will be here next fall or if the latter decides to transfer. But the Pios are expected to be loaded again next season.

Defenseman Ryan Lin, a potential top-10 pick in the 2026 NHL draft, committed to the Pios earlier this month. DU is also considered a finalist for defenseman Landon DuPont, the potential No. 1 pick in the 2027 draft, who wants to play college hockey next season. They also have three players from the USA Hockey National Team Development Program committed.

The rules of engagement have changed. The Pioneers’ place in the sport has not.

“I think we’re seeing that money doesn’t buy everything,” Carle said. “Bigness doesn’t win championships all the time, at least in our sport. Maybe that’s changing. Everybody seems to think it is, could, or will. I will tell you we will do our damnedest in our conference and in Denver to make sure that it doesn’t happen that way.

“We’re really proud to represent the NCHC, the best league in college hockey. If you’re a kid that wants to win and develop, we think it’s the best place to be.”

Two years after Matthew Davis put together a legendary run to help the University of Denver claim its record 10th national title, Pioneers freshman Johnny Hicks has done the same to capture No. 11.

Hicks made 29 saves, carrying his club for more than 45 minutes before the Pios finally sprung to life in a 2-1 victory Saturday afternoon at T-Mobile Arena against Wisconsin. This came two nights after a 49-save effort to outlast No. 1 national seed Michigan in a double-overtime semifinal win.

“I feel like I’m kind of at a loss for words,” Hicks said. “I’m just so proud of this group. We worked so hard for this and now that it’s here, it’s amazing.”

Still just 5-foot-10 regardless of how tall he has stood when it mattered for the Pios, Hicks is now 16-0-1 as the DU starter. The Pioneers finished this season on a 17-game winning streak, and the last two victories were equally improbable.

DU has now won three of the past five national titles, reaching the mountaintop in 2022, 2024 and 2026. The Pioneers’ 11 titles are now two more than any other NCAA program.

“It is in the walls,” Pios defenseman Cale Ashcroft said. “It’s the people that come through this program. We’re pushing each other to be better. We all have the same goals. At the start of the year, it is said that we want to win a national championship, and we’ll do anything to do it.”

Senior forward Rieger Lorenz found a breakthrough for the Pios at 7:31 of the third period. Kristian Epperson, who set up Kent Anderson’s double-overtime winner two nights ago, sent the puck to Garrett Brown for a slapshot from near the left circle. Lorenz battled in front and found just enough space to shovel home the rebound for his 17th goal of the season.

Freshman Kyle Chyzowski scored the championship winner at 14:08. He got a piece of a Boston Buckberger shot for his 13th goal of the year — and his third straight NCAA tournament contest with a tally.

It had been all Wisconsin to that point. The shots on goal were 25-6 in favor of the Badgers before Brown’s shot. Wisconsin clearly looked like a fresher team for the first 45 minutes, dominating in both possession time and the shot clock, but Hicks continued to write his incredible story by keeping DU in this one.

“He’s the best goalie in college hockey,” Ashcroft said. “Not much else to say about it. He’s undefeated. He’s phenomenal. He works so hard, so it’s awesome to see him have this success.”

Freshman center Vasily Zelenov put Wisconsin on the board at 6:24 of the opening period. He skated into the Pios zone on the left side and wired a wrist shot through a screen to beat Hicks. A seventh-round pick by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2024 NHL draft, it was Zelenov’s sixth goal of the season.

The Pioneers reached the title game with an instant classic, a double-overtime 4-3 win on Thursday against top-seeded Michigan. Hicks made 25 of his 49 saves after Clarke Caswell scored with 2:46 remaining in regulation to even the score at 3-3. Wisconsin played in the earlier game Thursday, knocking off No. 2-seeded North Dakota with a 2-1 victory.

Wisconsin, like DU, had a mid-season swoon. The Badgers lost six straight contests at one point — weekend sweeps by Penn State, Michigan State and Minnesota. They also lost 7-1 to Ohio State in the Big Ten tournament, but rebounded to win the Worcester Regional with a stunning comeback win against No. 3 seed Michigan State in the regional final.

But, just when it seemed like Wisconsin’s unlikely championship story was being written, DU just found a way.

“That’s a great question,” forward Kieran Cebrian said when asked how the Pios always seem to do that. “I think everyone in here trusts each other. We all want to play for each other and keep it going. I think the belief we have in each other is the biggest thing.”

The Pios finish the season at 29-11-3. DU was stuck in a 1-6-1 funk when starting goaltender Quentin Miller went down with an injury early in a Jan. 24 game against St. Cloud State. Hicks came in, helped the Pios to a 6-0 win, and outside of some cramping issues the next weekend, took off to become one of the great stories in college hockey this season.

When he gets a moment to start scrolling through his phone, Hicks will probably have a text massage from Davis waiting for him — one Denver hockey legend to another.

“We’ve been texting throughout the last few weeks,” Hicks said. “He’s just been wishing me the best of luck. It’s means a lot to have a relationship with a goaltender like that. Same with Magnus Chrona (the 2022 champion netminder), he’s been in touch as well.

“I’m just very grateful.”

Hughes, a 24-year-old senior from Michigan, signed a one-year entry-level contract for the 2026-27 season, the Avs announced Saturday. He will also sign a professional tryout contract with the Colorado Eagles and join them immediately.

“On the ice, he’s a two-way, 200-foot player with and without the puck,” Michigan coach Brandon Naurato said. “Great hockey IQ. We play a similar style to the Avs, so I think he’ll fit in well. Off the ice, I think he’ll be a great fit in that locker room. He was a captain and great leader for us. Those guys tend to know how to act when they get in a room with the (Gabe) Landeskogs, (Cale) Makars and (Nathan) MacKinnons) of the world.”

Michigan’s captain this season, Hughes was the highest-profile undrafted free agent in college hockey. He finished the year with 22 goals and 57 points in 40 games for the Wolverines, including a goal Thursday night in their semifinal loss to the University of Denver at the Frozen Four.

“There’s really no words,” Hughes said about his time at Michigan after the Wolverines lost in double overtime Thursday night to DU. “It means everything. I tried my best to leave it better than I found it. There’s so many unbelievable people within Michigan hockey that have impacted my life in a positive way.”

He was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award and also earned first-team All-America honors. Hughes, like fellow Michigan alum Gavin Brindley, also won Big Ten player of the year, helping the Wolverines to the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tourney.

Hughes, listed at 6-foot and 185 pounds, was a star in college hockey for multiple years. He and Brindley were freshmen together in 2022-23 and played together for two seasons. Hughes finished his college career with 69 goals and 179 points in 150 games. The Wolverines made the Frozen Four three times in his four years.

“Oh my gosh, he changed the program,” Naurato said. “For him to come back this year, that’s a story we will be telling future players for years to come. He showed that you can come back and lead Michigan to championships, to Frozen Fours, while also making himself even more NHL ready.”

Hughes also spent three years with the Brooks Bandits in the Alberta Junior Hockey League. He was the AJHL MVP in 2021-22, and spent two years as teammates with Avs prospect Taylor Makar.

He is the latest victory for Colorado in the UDFA market. The Avs have had great success with signing players like Logan O’Connor and Sam Malinski and helping them become key NHL contributors. Malinski, who signed a four-year, $19 million contract extension with the Avs in late January that begins next season, is represented by the same agency as Hughes.

Colorado’s quest for another Stanley Cup has led the Avs to trade away many prospects and draft picks, which both motivates the Avs to be aggressive in the UDFA market and makes the franchise an attractive landing spot, as evidenced by the success of some of their signings. The Avs have also added Penn State forward Matthew DiMarsico and Bowling Green defenseman Gustav Stjernberg as UDFA’s in the past month.

Hicks, a freshman sensation who has yet to lose a game since being thrust into the University of Denver net because of an injury to classmate Quentin Miller, was flat on his back on the ice at T-Mobile Arena and motionless for nearly 30 seconds. It was early in the third period of a tie game in a national semifinal against Michigan at the 2026 Frozen Four, and he got run over after Wolverines forward Malcolm Spence took the puck to the edge of Hicks’ crease and DU defenseman Eric Jamieson met him there.

“It just kind of knocked the wind out of me,” Hicks said. “I took a second to breathe and got up fine. I was just taking a breather. I was surprised. He kind of came out of nowhere. It was an unlucky play. I’m glad everyone was OK.”

Not only was Hicks fine to continue, but he was just getting started with the latest chapter of this fairy tale. Hicks finished the night with a career-high 49 saves and the Pioneers found a way to knock off the top-seeded Wolverines in an instant classic, 4-3, in double overtime. He and the Pios will play Wisconsin here on Saturday afternoon in the national title game.

The diminutive goaltender stood taller than anyone by the end of the night. He made 25 of those saves after Clarke Caswell scored with 2:46 left in regulation to send the game to overtime. Michigan sent wave after wave of offensive attacks in his direction, but the Wolverines could not find a fourth goal against Hicks.

He is now 15-0-1 since taking over the starter role with a 1.20 goals against average and a .957 save percentage. No team has scored four times on Hicks.

“I don’t think I even have to say it, but he’s unbelievable,” Pios defenseman Boston Buckberger said. “It¶¶Òõap like a broken record. We talk about how good he is, and he keeps showing up performing. He battles harder than anyone, works harder than anyone behind the scenes. For him to do what he did (Thursday) night was just utterly special. He got ran over, almost looked like a linebacker taking a hit and he got right back up.

“He’s a warrior for us. We love him back there.”

Hicks is listed at 5-foot-10 and 157 pounds. He’s a skinny guy. It’s unavoidable.

Pios captain Kent Anderson told a story Friday about the time Hicks was hiding from DU strength coach Matt Shaw, but it wasn’t what someone might expect after seeing the goaltender’s slight frame.

“He’s always putting in the extra work, but he was in our training room doing his little core workout,” Anderson said. “We were wondering, ‘What are you doing in the training room, not in the gym?’

“He was hiding from our strength trainer, Matt Shaw, because he was doing too much. He can never shut it off. He’s a competitor. Just shows the kind of guy he is. Couldn’t be more happy for him.”

The origin story for Hicks has quickly become part of DU’s storied hockey lore. Miller, who was having a fantastic freshman campaign, was injured early in a game against St. Cloud State.

Enter Hicks, who helped the Pios shrug off seeing their starting goaltender go down by pitching a shutout the rest of the way in a 6-0 win. He dealt with cramping issues in his first start the following Friday against Minnesota-Duluth and had to give way to No. 3 goalie Paxton Geisel.

The next night, Hicks was back in the net, and the opposing team finished the night with another goose egg. And he hasn’t looked back since.

“To me, those two moments, you kind of see what he’s all about mentally and as a competitor,” Pios coach David Carle said. “I think again you saw it last night after the big collision between him and Spence and Jamieson around our net. He kind of took a moment to gather himself, dusted himself off, got back in there and really wasn’t fazed by it.

“It’s kind of been him throughout this whole stretch. He’s not fazed by much.”

University of Denver captain Kent Anderson scored his second goal of the season with 7:25 remaining in the second overtime Thursday night, and the Pioneers advanced to the NCAA championship game with an incredible 4-3 win against No. 1-seeded Michigan.

“It’s special,” Pios defenseman Boston Buckberger, who missed parts of both overtimes while getting some work done on his hand, said. “For it to end with our captain, I live with him. He’s one of the best guys I know. It kind of makes you emotional.

“It seems scripted in a way. We’re just so pumped in here. We love everyone in this locker room and we can’t wait to go back to the national championship (game).”

DU freshman sensation Johnny Hicks made 49 saves. The Pios were outshot 52-26. It didn’t matter. They will play the upstart Wisconsin Badgers in the national title game here Saturday afternoon.

The Pioneers would extend their NCAA record to 11 national titles with a win over the Badgers, who upset No. 2-seeded North Dakota in the early game.

Freshman Clarke Caswell deflected a Garrett Brown shot just under the crossbar from the edge of the crease with 2:46 remaining in regulation to make it a 3-3 game. It was Caswell’s eighth goal of the season, and came on DU’s third shot of the period.

“Yeah, it was pretty special,” Caswell said of his goal. “The guys battled back the whole time. The belief never wavered. It’s a testament to how hard we work and how much we believe in each other.”

There was a scary moment with 16:07 left in the third. Michigan’s Malcolm Spence took the puck to the net and DU’s Eric Jamieson met him there. Their collision also wiped out Hicks and left him down on the ice for several minutes, but he stayed in the contest.

Hicks made 25 of his 49 saves after Caswell scored. That’s 25 saves in 35:21 of next-goal wins hockey.

“I think it just turns into a one-goal game and sudden death,” Hicks said. “There’s no point in saving any energy. You just give it everything you’ve got.”

Jayden Perron snapped a wrist shot from the top of the right circle past Hicks with 8:58 remaining to give the Wolverines the lead. Michigan converted on its first power-play opportunity of the night, while DU went scoreless on five chances — including two in the final period and one in overtime.

Pios defenseman Cale Ashcroft had the lone goal of the middle period to even the score at 2-2. Junior Sam Harris weaved his way through traffic to create a zone entry and then found Ashcroft for a long-range shot through traffic at 2:30 of the second. It was Ashcroft’s third goal of the season, and his first since Jan. 30 against Minnesota-Duluth.

Kyle Chyzowski opened the scoring midway through the opening period for the Pioneers. He finished a quick tic-tac-toe passing play with a one-timer after a bump pass from fellow freshman Brendan McMorrow. It was Chyzowski’s 12th goal of the season, which nudged him ahead of Kristian Epperson for the most among DU’s deep, talented freshman class.

Michigan scored a pair of goals 59 seconds apart to grab the lead before the first intermission. Josh Eernisse picked the puck out of a faceoff scrum at the right dot and rifled a wrist shot into the top corner to even the score.

Hobey Baker finalist TJ Hughes scored his 22nd goal of the year at 17:17 of the first. Adam Valentini’s shot was high over the net, and Hicks stumbled trying to get back to his left post. Hughes was there for an easy one, giving Michigan the advantage.

The Pioneers had a 10-4 advantage in shots on goal at one point, but the Wolverines flipped control of the proceedings and had the final five on net in the period.

Wisconsin won the opening game, upsetting the No. 2-seeded North Dakota Fighting Hawks, 2-1. The Badgers scored a pair of goals 27 seconds apart in the first period and survived a push in the final minutes to advance to the title game for the first time since 2010.

This was a meeting between the two most successful programs in Division I college hockey. Michigan came to Las Vegas with nine national titles, but none since 1998. The Pios came to Sin City seeking No. 11, and a third in five seasons after reaching the NCAA mountaintop in 2022 and 2024.

They will get their chance Saturday afternoon after another classic night in program history.

“That’s the reason I chose Denver, to win a national championship,” Caswell said. “Other programs offer some other stuff, but you don’t get the opportunity to win a national championship every single year unless you go to Denver.”

In the first five games following winter break, the Pioneers lost four times and tied once, looking nothing like a title contender. That included getting swept in a pair of contests at home against Western Michigan, and then traveling to rival North Dakota on Jan. 16 and getting shellacked  to fall to 12-10-2.

But since that defeat, the Pioneers have caught fire en route to Thursday’s Frozen Four semifinal showdown against Michigan. DU is unbeaten in its last 15 games, with a 14-0-1 record since Jan. 24 vs. St. Cloud State, when freshman Johnny Hicks took over in net.

“Our guys increased their level of urgency and execution,” DU head coach David Carle said. “We weren’t playing bad in the previous stretch, per se. It was just how hockey goes sometimes: Does (the game) go your way? And after some pucks started to go our way, we got some confidence and some momentum.

“We stuck with it throughout (the rough patch), and our guys haven’t looked back.”

Thursday’s game vs. Michigan at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas puts the two most accomplished programs in college hockey against each other. The Pioneers own a record 10 national titles, the most recent one coming in 2024, and are making their seventh Frozen Four appearance in the last 10 tournaments. The Wolverines have won nine national titles.

Hence a little extra motivation for DU to dispatch of Michigan to in the championship on Saturday in Las Vegas.

“We know it’s a big game with two of the most notorious college hockey programs going at it,” DU defender Boston Buckberger said. “We also know it’s going to be fast-paced and tight checking, and we just want to bridge the (championship) gap between us and them and hopefully make it 11-9 by the time it’s all over.”

Starting fast

With Hicks unbeaten in net — the freshman has been a wall in the postseason, earning Most Outstanding Player honors the NCHC Frozen Faceoff as well as the regional in Loveland — the DU attack is balanced with five players with 30 or more points.

The Pioneers, led by defenseman Eric Pohlkamp’s 21 goals, dominated their two games in the regional in wins over Cornell (5-0) and Western Michigan (6-2). Pohlkamp and Buckberger (10 goals, 18 assists) are a dynamic offensive force from the back end of the ice, as they rank first and second, respectively, among Frozen Four defensemen in points, goals, power-play goals and plus-minus rating. Meanwhile, senior foward Rieger Lorenz (16 goals, 18 assists) headlines the forwards.

Fueled by that firepower across its offense and defense, DU’s plus-9 goal differential in the first two rounds of the national tournament is the largest for the school since 1961, when the Pioneers won their third title. DU knows another fast start against Michigan is important, considering the Wolverines’ depth and equally balanced scoring.

“The first minutes are critical for the game and it’s been our identity for the last 15 games during this streak that we start games well,” senior forward Samu Salminen said. “Nothing’s changed going to the Vegas, and before this streak, going through the adversity we went through was good for us.

“Everybody had to check themselves in the mirror and we all found our identity and started working towards our end goal, which is winning the national championship.”

Should the Pioneers (13-7 all-time in the national semifinals) get past Michigan, they’ll earn their 14th NCAA championship game appearance. DU is 10-3 in those games, including five wins in a row.

Seven of DU’s players were on the ’24 title team, so a core of the key Pioneers have experienced what it takes to raise the trophy. And despite the blowouts at regionals, DU’s also battle-tested with four overtime wins, including in the NCHC semifinals (2-1 over Western Michigan) and championship (4-3 in double-OT over Minnesota Duluth).

On top of all that, this is a team not lacking in internal motivation.

The back of DU’s undershirts are emblazoned with “PERSONAL” in all caps, which Buckberger says stems from “everyone who wants to doubt us and think that we can’t get back to the mountaintop.”

“(That mantra) started early in the year,” Salminen said. “… A lot of things are personal because we’re the greatest college program ever. So everybody wants us to lose and everybody enjoys seeing us not doing well. We keep that mind. People want to see (DU) fail this weekend, but that’s not going to happen.”

Before Hicks burst onto the scene this year as the University of Denver’s catalyst to a Hicks was the goalie for the Brooks Bandits of the British Columbia Hockey League. And on game days, his focus left no room for words.

“He didn’t talk to the coaching staff, he didn’t talk to other players — he went completely mute the day of the game,” recalled Ryan Papaioannou, who coached Hicks for two seasons on the Bandits. “The first time I noticed it, we were at a morning skate and I said something to him about a drill, and he just nodded to me.

“Later, when he would walk in (the locker room), he’d have to walk by my office to get there. He would just turn and look at me and nod. It took some getting used to for (the coaching staff) but then you watch him work on his craft and you see how he plays, and it’s like, ‘Great, don’t talk to anybody. We don’t care.'”

With DU, the freshman has strayed slightly from his muted gameday approach — he carries a quiet, man-of-few-words confidence instead — but not much else has changed as Hicks has emerged as the Pioneers’ stalwart between the pipes.

has been a driving force behind DU’s resurgence after the Pioneers were treading water through the first half of the season. The team’s finishing stretch saw the Pioneers claim the NCHC Frozen Faceoff title, then dominate the Loveland Regional with a pair of wins over Cornell and Western Michigan by a combined scored of 11-2.

Since Hicks took over in net for an injured Quentin Miller on Jan. 24 vs. St. Cloud State, he hasn’t been beaten, with a 14-0-1 record that is the best-ever career start for a DU goalie in the modern statistical era.

“I wasn’t too sure of (my ability to lead DU to another Frozen Four), to be honest,” a ho-hum Hicks said. “I was more focused on my process. Everything has worked out so far, and I think we’re just all very excited for what’s next.”

Red-hot Hicks

Hicks was the Most Outstanding Player of the Frozen Faceoff tournament, capping his play there by stopping a career-high 41 shots in DU’s dramatic double-OT win over Minnesota Duluth. Then Hicks followed that up by earning Most Outstanding Player again at the Loveland Regional.

Entering next week’s Frozen Four, Hicks leads the country with a as well as a .958 save percentage.

This all coming from a guy who, judging by the fact that both Miller and Paxton Geisel got starts in net in 2025-26 before Hicks did, played the first part of the season as the team’s No. 3 goalie.

“He’s continued to elevate his game time and time again,” DU defenseman and senior captain Kent Anderson said. “He didn’t play a game the first half of the year, but if you came to watch practice or saw him in the gym, you’d think he was the starting goalie … he was preparing like he was going to be that guy every day.”

That preparation included visualization drills before each game, long before the song “Johnny B. Goode” became an arena anthem during the Pioneers’ run through four Frozen Faceoff home games at Magness Arena, and then again when it blared at Blue Arena in Loveland.

“The very moment he was called upon to get put in that game (on Jan. 24), it was clear he was ready,” said. “He had a built-in sense of calm — not nervous, not anxious, making really good, clean saves right out of the gate despite being called upon suddenly after seeing your starting goalie rolling and playing game after game.

“There was no hesitation whatsoever, and he’s never looked back from that moment.”

Small stature, big confidence

Hicks’ wild success this season is juxtaposed with the fact that he’s the opposite of what hockey’s central casting would tab as a typical dominant goalie.

At 5-foot-10, 157 pounds, if you see Hicks in street clothes, you might mistake him for the equipment manager. He has an artsy side that he leans into off the ice, including playing the guitar (he’s dreamed up a handful of acoustic songs) and painting landscapes of his native British Columbia.

But when he puts on the pads, he does it with the intention and fire of a young man raised on the game. Hicks started his hockey journey as a 3-year-old, when his dad, Derek, would shoot on him in the full-size hockey net perched in their living room. By the time he was 11, he was skating so much on the sheet of synthetic ice in the family garage that the ice, which had a lifetime warranty, developed a hole after just over a year.

“It was an all hockey, all the time atmosphere that Johnny grew up in,” Derek Hicks said. “We’d blast music and play hockey every night in the living room. He couldn’t get enough of it.

“As he got older, he would skate all day in the garage, and when he came in for breaks, he would be drenched in sweat. He would put his skate guards on, wouldn’t take his pads off, and there’d be John, sitting on the living room couch with all his gear on just taking a little break before he went back out there.”

He was a renowned youth goalie across Western Canada, but around the same time he was skating a hole in that synthetic ice, his size became an issue. Not in Hicks’ eyes, but in the evaluations of coaches.

At 14, he went to a school specifically for hockey players. Because of his smaller size and the coaches’ unfamiliarity with his game, Hicks was placed on the school’s second-level 15U prep team. But one outing that season showed Hicks’ mettle, when the young goalie rose up despite his team being drastically outmatched.

Hicks faced 104 shots in a game where his opponents “stopped tallying their shots (in the stat book),” according to his father’s accounting. He allowed just six goals for a 94% save percentage, and turned all of the Delta coaches’ heads in the process.

“He was definitely the best goaltender in our program that year, even though he was on our second team,” Delta Hockey Academy president Ian Gallagher said. “(In that game) he proved he has endless compete. He’s got a no-victim mentality. And that game also demonstrated he’s never looked at his size as a disadvantage, because he took every challenge and measured himself against the best every single time he could, even when he was under constant attack that day.”

Hicks has continuously made up for his lack of size with athleticism, positioning, puck control, reads and reaction time.

With that toolbox, he proved snap judgments made about his game because of his frame to be a “stigma,” as he called it, with a grin. He did it at Delta, where he emerged as the starter on the school’s top 17U prep team his second year there. He did it for the Merritt Centennials of the BCHL, where he was a two-team MVP. And he did it for the Brooks Bandits, where he went 26-3-0 with a 1.98 goals against average and seven shutouts in 2023-24.

And in 2024-25, when he made the jump midway through the season from Brooks to the Victoria Royals of the Western Hockey League — which is part of the , the country’s top junior circuit — he continued to excel with a 10-4-1 record and .909 save percentage. When the NCAA decided to permit CHL players to play Division I hockey it opened the door for Hicks, who was originally committed to Tennessee State, to land on Buchtel Boulevard.

“As an undersized goaltender you have to compensate in other areas, and be very good in those areas,” Massa said. “John’s athleticism and his intelligence level and his speed at which he can read and react has allowed him to compensate for that lack of size.

“He’s also a one-save goaltender, which is especially important when you play dynamic, high-powered teams. You have to be a one-and-done goaltender, and you can’t give them opportunities to feed off rebounds and chaos. John has shut teams down this year by taking away those opportunities.”

11th on deck?

Now, the Pioneers hope Hicks can ride the momentum to a record-extending 11th national title. in the Frozen Four semifinal at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, with the winner to face either North Dakota or Wisconsin for the national championship two days later.

All four teams left feature freshmen goalies, including North Dakota’s Jan Å punar, the But DU is counting on Hicks to be the ultimate X-factor in net. In 2025, the Pioneers lost the Frozen Four semifinals 3-2 in double OT to Western Michigan, a year after winning

“We’re only halfway home, so we haven’t done anything yet,” DU head coach David Carle said. “I don’t think (this team) is satisfied with just making it to a Frozen Four.”

“… Hopefully (Hicks) will stay focused, not see what too much of what (the media) is saying about him and stay in his own head and in his own routines… Our team’s played better in front of him. So it’s all kind of bottled up into a good little recipe, and the job is to keep it going.”