Magnus Chrona, International Goalie of Mystery.

At least that’s what I thought until Magness Mayhem collided with Magnus this week.

The freshman goaltender has played a significant role in helping top-ranked Denver start 4-0 heading into this weekend’s series against No. 6 Boston College in what many consider one of the non-conference series in Division I hockey this season.

Chrona, it turns out, likes to keep things simple. So being thrust into the Pioneers’ starting job when junior Devin Cooley went down with a lower body injury that is expected to keep him sidelined four to six weeks wasn’t an earth-shattering moment.

“Before every season I go in with the mindset to always work hard,” Chrona said. “I’ve always been in situations to compete with my other goalie partner, and I think that’s really good, we lift each other and both play better.”

Another tag-team cage match

The skate was on the other foot last season, when Cooley took the reins while Filip Larsson rehabbed after groin surgery kept him out of DU’s lineup until late November. Cooley went on to post spectacular numbers of .934, 1.85 and four shutouts within his 11-6-2 record.

Chrona, like Larsson, is a native of Sweden and is very much his own man. That is reflected in his approach to goaltending, a trade he’s plied since he turned 12. Despite being born in a masked-man hotbed, Chrona is more concerned about building his game than emulating others’.

“I like to make my own path,” he said. “Take a bit from others and make your own path, that’s really important. Play your own game, that’s what got you here.”

Speaking of that, just how did Magnus come to want to play at Magness Arena?

“I saw the path Larsson did. I also talked to him about it, plus the combination of studies and hockey,” said Chrona, who is donning No. 30, just as Larsson did. “We trained with each other this summer. I saw his path through the USHL and Denver. I asked him his thoughts about Denver, and he said he loved it.”

It would be hard to argue with Larsson, who after joining the lineup eventually spearhead the Pioneers’ run to the Frozen Four with a lights-out stretch of hockey in which he allowed more than two goals just twice in his final 10 starts. That span also included two shutouts.

Keep calm and goalie on

Magnus Chrona

Chrona opened his DU shutout tab in the second game at Fairbanks. Around that, he’s been pretty consistent, allowing three, zero, one, and three goals thus far.

“I thought he was dynamite, especially Saturday in Fairbanks,” DU coach David Carle said. “He was really clean and sharp and poised. Against Lake State he made some really big saves. We got scored on first, and he made a few really big saves to keep it just at one (goal). I’ve been really happy with his composure and his adjustment into college hockey.”

Chrona started out as a defenseman. Sweden emphasizes smaller area games in the early years of youth hockey, so Chrona didn’t begin playing on full sheets of ice regularly until he turned 12. After playing for his hometown team (IFK Taby), he played for AIK and Nacka HK before spending last season playing junior hockey eight hours from home. It was good preparation an even bigger move this season.

He said his transition to Denver and college hockey has gone as well as could be expected.

“It’s been really good,” Chrona said. “The first (DU) game was really intense, but I’m getting used to it now. My adjustments to everything else – practice, school, the team – has gone really good. I feel like I’m developing each week. … The whole team is helping me.”

Adjustment process

Still, there has been a bit of a break-in period for Chrona and his teammates over the past few weeks.

“The biggest difference has been when pucks are dumped in (the DU zone),” said defenseman Ian Mitchell, DU’s captain. “The communication on where he wants the puck, whether he’s going to play it to us on his forehand or on his backhand. That’s something that takes a little bit of time to get used to.

“We’re still in the process of getting to know his tendencies with the puck and vice versa, where we’re going to be. I think that’s the biggest thing, communication, when you have a new goalie.”

For Chrona, the smaller rinks in North America have led to another adjustment, and it’s one that the fifth-round pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning (2018, 152nd overall) knows he’ll have to master.

“With smaller rinks … the speed goes way up, and the shots can come from anywhere, especially from the corners,” he said. “Even there you can just toss pucks in (the slot). It’s dangerous all the time.”

Chrona approaches each game with … silence.

“He’s been pretty quiet,” Mitchell said. “Before the game he’s pretty focused, in his own world, doing his own thing. We just leave him along, and he’s been great for us so far.”

So what can DU fans expect this weekend? The 6-foot-5 Chrona plays a basic game, cutting down angles, limiting second chances. Or as his coach described it: “Big and boring.”

Neither a bad thing when it comes to stopping pucks.

©First Line Editorial 2019