Denver’s defensemen rarely had a typical case of the Mondays, even after an off day to recover from a weekend college hockey series.

David Carle, introduced Tuesday as Denver ninth head hockey coach, would meet with his defensemen to work on shooting, edge work and various positioning drills. To a one, his charges described it as a highly valuable time, not only for hockey instruction, but life instruction.

That, as much as anything, is what the Pioneers are getting from their new coach, according to a cross section of those players who know Carle the best.

“He was so easy to not only talk to, but to learn from,” said Blake Hillman, who ascended from an undrafted player to getting selected in the NHL Entry Draft after his freshman season to playing four games for the Chicago Blackhawks this spring after his junior campaign. “He was a defenseman. It made it really easy for him to show us what he thinks is going to work.

“If we had something we thought was going to work better, any tips or insight, he was open to that. We had an open relationship, and I think everyone on the team did with him.”

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He can totally relate

If there is one attribute that stands above the others with Carle, even above his hockey brain, it’s what he brings on the personal level, his blue liners say.

“He’s been crucial to my development,” said Tariq Hammond, who went from barely playing as a freshman to captaining the Pioneers as a senior and playing in the American Hockey League this spring after DU’s season ended. “I don’t think there was one or two things. The first thing that comes to mind is him being approachable. You could ask him anything, whether it was hockey related or something else.

“You could talk about adjustments. It wasn’t his way or the highway. It was a collective decision. That was really big for me.”

Fellow senior Adam Plant, who like Hammond spent the tail end of spring apprenticing in the AHL, added, “I had a roller-coaster four years, but toward my senior year it rounded out. He’s a big part of that. He’s a mentor.

“(His greatest strength) I think it’s his ability to connect, especially with someone like me who never really connected well with coaches. I’ve had a tough time conversing with coaches, but he’s super easy to talk to. It’s incredible that bond we built.”

Sophomore Erich Fear made demonstrable gains in his game during his season season, not an uncommon progression in college hockey, but one made easier by his work with Carle.

“I think we’ve connected well. I have a lot of respect for him, and he’s a great guy that I can go to for anything,” said Fear, who was named Denver’s Male Sophomore Student-Athlete of the Year recently. “He’s helped me a lot with adjusting to life in college, figuring out my game and how I can help Denver hockey be successful.”

That ability to connect with people is important. To capitalize on it is an art form.

It’s all about the details

With that as a foundation, Carle then found his charges more receptive to his teaching, some of which was an offshoot of Jim Montgomery‘s message.

Carle’s experience as an elite player and his exposure to them – starting with older brother Matt – a DU Hobey Baker winner and 10-year NHL veteran – gave him a perspective that could help his D-men improve and improve quickly if they invested the time and toil.

“The way he would come to the rink and make sure we were detailed in practice, and in games, he was holding us accountable as well as (Montgomery was,” Hillman said. “Just having him behind me gave me the confidence to go out and do what I do best and not really worry about the game.

“If I made a mistake, I’d come back to the bench and he’d say, ‘I know you’re better than that, just go out and do what you can do.’ ”

Fear also spoke of Carle’s attention to details, and if you’ve listened to Montgomery at all in the past five years, a huge reason the Pioneers have been so successful was their individual and collective mastery of just that – details.

“Every time we get a chance to do skills work on the ice with him, we love it,” Fear said. “He’s a great guy to go out there with and work on things, the detail work.”

Defense got it done

For all of the points – style and real – that DU’s offense has generated the past few years, their airtight defense made that possible.

Last season, the Pioneers allowed 2.10 goals per game (tied for fifth) and had the eighth-best penalty kill (85.04 percent). In their championship season of 2016-17, they led Division I in D (1.82) and killed off 83.54 percent of foes’ power plays. In 2015-16, 2.34 goals allowed per game and 82.1 percent kill rate. Notice a trend?

“(Carle) was a huge part of that,” Hammond said. “He ran our D zone, made sure everything was working well, not only the penalty kill, which he was in charge of, but also five on five. He wasn’t afraid to walk down to the forward end of the bench and let the forwards know if they have to do something different or if a team was giving us a look we weren’t expecting.

“He’s got a great hockey mind and is quick to make adjustments. And if things weren’t working well we’d go to those adjustments. I think that’s a a huge part of why we were so strong defensively.”

The defenseman expressed zero doubt that Carle is made for coaching.

“In my eyes he’s going to make a really good head coach.”

 

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