Les Lancaster came to Denver looking to building a resume for his future. How soon he’ll need to put that to use remains to be seen.

For now the graduate transfer has made himself at home on No. 7 Denver’s blue line, helping the Pioneers to a 3-0-1 start with an NCHC-opening series against Western Michigan on deck this weekend. He’s scored two goals already, including a last-minute tying one against Alaska Fairbanks two weekends ago.

Lancaster’s decision to relocate after three wildly successful seasons at Mercyhurst, a member of the Atlantic Hockey Conference, combined several factors – academics, location and, of course, hockey.

This was no fly-by-night transfer. Lancaster had to sweat out 12 classes during his final semester and over the summer in order to graduate from Mercyhurst.

“I wasn’t even sure if I could graduate in order to transfer at first,” Lancaster said. “I had to talk to professors, get the approval from academic deans. This was something I wanted to do. One semester I had seven classes during hockey season then I joined the golf team when that was done. I took five more classes during the summer.

“Pursing a graduate degree at Denver was something I wanted to do.”

DU’s standing in the college hockey world didn’t hurt either. But Lancaster had his sights set on an International Security graduate degree, and Denver is one of just two of the 60 Division I hockey schools that offers it. Once his playing days are done, something he hopes is a ways off, his next career field could take him in any number of directions, including perhaps a special agent for the government.

“It is something I really wanted to pursue,” the Michigan native said. “Denver is a top-10 school in international studies. My parents moved out to the Loveland area, and I haven’t lived near them in six years.

“Denver fell into my lap, but the hockey played a part in it.”

Lancaster’s arrival gives DU three seniors and seven upperclassmen, and every single one of them is crucial in helping the 20 underclassmen navigate the NCHC.

“He adds a veteran presence to a young team,” DU coach David Carle said. “He’s played a lot of college hockey games (115 and counting), so that experience has been invaluable. It’s helped our young guys, and it’s helped him transition to how we play.”

Lancaster built a strong hockey resume at Mercyhurst, never playing fewer than 36 games in a season and never scoring fewer than 26 points. He had nine goals during a 29-point freshman season when he was selected Atlantic Hockey’s rookie of the year. The next season he was named the conference’s best defenseman. And he was an all-league pick the past three years, twice on the first team.

He’s also teaming with junior Michael Davies to give the Pioneers a new shutdown pair.

“They’re both really good skating defensemen. They take away time and space well,” Carle said. “They’re starting to figure each other out more and communicating better on the ice. That’s allowing them to have really good gaps and create turnovers.

“They’re going to be playing against other teams’ top lines, starting with Western.”

Lancaster’s presence means Davies gets to play with a veteran for the third consecutive season – he was paired with Tariq Hammond as a freshman and Adam Plant last season.

“We’d heard a lot of good things about him before he came, so I expected him to be good,” Davies said. “And he’s been great for us so far. I love playing with him. He’s an easy guy to play with and a super easy guy to talk to.”

Lancaster has some flair to his game, and it’s not uncommon to see him joining (or leading) a DU rush. He played forward until late in his Midget hockey days, and it shows.

“He’s got some good offensive instincts,” Davies added. “He can jump in the rush and make stuff happen. He opens up lanes well for our forwards.”

The first impression offers a taste of what’s to come, Carle said.

“As you see him in the way we play, you’re going to see him get more comfortable and have more of an impact on the game,” the coach said.

Lancaster said over and over how grateful he is for his three years at Mercyhurst, but there is a heightened level of excitement about playing for DU and in the premier conference in college hockey.

“I want to play my game, and I feel like I’ve done that,” he said. “It’s only for one year, so I’ve got to make the adjustment quick. At the end of the day it’s still hockey. Your skill eventually takes over. The talent level is higher and it’s a little bit faster.

“(The transition) has been smooth. The coaches, the players, even my professors, they’ve definitely made my transition from Mercyhurst to Denver really easy. I couldn’t be happier to be a Denver Pioneer for my last year of college hockey.”

It’s a sentiment the Pioneers clearly share.

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