For those keeping score at home, Denver is five months ahead of schedule.

Among other things on a whirlwind day of news Tuesday, the Pioneers announced their 2019-2020 non-conference schedule. That order of business held up the announcement of the current season’s schedule until this past July 16.

It also means we should know their entire schedule for next season by mid-April, given the NCHC typically releases the following season’s slate then.

The Pioneers will play two more non-conference games next season (12) than they did this season, and they’ll face a couple of up and coming programs at home, including UMass, which has flirted with No. 1 for much of this season and includes Colorado Avalanche first-round draft pick Cale Makar. The defenseman, however, is expected to sign with the Avs after the Minutemen’s season ends.

Two other themes emerge from the schedule.

First, just like this season, the Pioneers begin with a tour of the WCHA, and they’ll rack up plenty of frequent flyer miles while on it – starting the campaign on Oct. 5-6 at Alaska Fairbanks, the school formerly coached by current DU assistants Tavis MacMillan and Dallas Ferguson and now is home to former director of hockey operations Joe Howe, and then going to Lake Superior State on Oct. 11-12. DU hosted Fairbanks this past October and entertained Lake State in October 2017.

After that, the Pioneers are playing a mix of emerging teams and a traditional power that’s down on its luck.

The home portion of the schedule opens with a third non-conference weekend in a row when Boston College, which has struggled to a 10-16-3 record thus far this season, visits on Oct. 18-19.

It’s reasonable to expect the NCHC campaign to begin the following weekend, and then Niagara of Atlantic Hockey comes to Magness Arena. The Purple Eagles have gone from one of the worst teams in Division I to challenging for their conference in two seasons under coach Jason Lammers.

The fifth non-conference series offers further intrigue with a visit to Arizona State, which has spent nearly all season ranked and is a good bet to reach the NCAA Tournament in just its fourth season of existence.

The last series will see UMass come to town to ring in the New Year on Jan. 3-4. The Minutemen also will make the Tournament next month and are poised to hold a regional top seed.

One notable absence? The Pioneers will not play Air Force next season.

NCHC honors, again

If it seems as though DU has a player selected all-NCHC something just about every week, you’re not imagining things.

Sophomore goaltender Devin Cooley was chosen the leagues Goalie of the Week after his 27-save shutout at Minnesota Duluth in his first appearance in 10 games due to an injury. It was the second time this season Cooley has been so honored. Tag team partner Filip Larsson also has been cited for the honor twice. And it’s the 14th time this season a Pioneer has won a weekly honor from the league.

Three players have been selected players of the month by the NCHC – Emilio Pettersen (Rookie/October), Larsson (Goalie/December) and Tyler Ward (Rookie/January).

Brains of the operation

The Pioneers had 14 players selected to the NCHC’s NCHC Academic All-Conference team, meaning they had at least a 3.0 grade-point average and have been in school at least a year. The 14 were the second most of any team in the conference.

Nine of the 14 were selected NCHC Distinguished Scholar Athletes, meaning their gpa was north of 3.5.

Those nine are Ryan Barrow, Jake Durflinger, Erich Fear, Tyson McLellan, Griffin Mendel, Ian Mitchell, Kohen Olischefski, Ryan Orgel and Colin Staub. They were joined on the All-Academic team by Devin Cooley, Michael Davies, Jaakko Heikkinen, Jarid Lukosevicius and Jared Resseguie.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise, by the way, given the attributes Denver looks for in its recruits, which we detailed last season.

©First Line Editorial 2017-19