Not that Denver coach David Carle isn’t a sentimental person, but he’s generally more interested in looking ahead than back.
His Pioneers have had a week and a half to stew on their first two defeats of the season, at home to new NCHC member Arizona State. A last-minute ASU goal Nov. 22 snapped Denver’s recent 21-game winning streak, one victory shy of tying a program record from 1968. The Sun Devils then got hot over the final 40 minutes of the series, winning 5-2 in the rematch.
Coming out of that series, ASU coach Greg Powers told reporters he wished his team was playing again the following weekend, so as to help keep the Sun Devils’ momentum going. Second-ranked Denver was off last weekend, too, and by the time the Pioneers play again this Friday at No. 7 Western Michigan, Carle’s group will have handled its business as usual.
“You play the schedule that you’re given and you find a way to make it work, but certainly having to chew on (the losses to ASU) for a longer time, you can say that that’s good because it gave us more time to work on things, but also bad because you didn’t get an opportunity to make it right,” Carle said. “I’m indifferent to it. I don’t think it really matters.
“The guys have been good and engaged (in practice since then), and no different. We knew there would be bumps in the road during the year, and we’re just trying to use it in a way to propel our growth, and we have another good team we’re playing this weekend, and we’ll try and play better. Even if we play better and do everything right, we’re still playing a great hockey team in Western Michigan, so results aren’t guaranteed in this league, and you have to earn it every night and every weekend.”
In suffering its first home series sweep since January 2020, Denver couldn’t overcome the pace and intensity of an Arizona State team that had begun picking up steam following an early-season spell with injuries to several key players.
Many things went right for the Pios in that series, though. They’ve now scored power-play goals in 11 consecutive games, junior forward Aidan Thompson increased his career-best point streak to 14 games (10 goals, 12 assists) and sophomore Sam Harris’s 11th goal of the season placed him in a tie for first nationally with Boston College’s Ryan Leonard.
Denver might need that duo and many others to click this weekend if the Pioneers are to get back to winning ways against a WMU team that has won three of its last four games. The Broncos are fresh off a home-and-home split with No. 6 Michigan.
“They’re really good and they have no holes in their game, so it’s just living in the battle, shift-to-shift and period-to-period, and sticking to the script,” Carle said. “I think we got off-script a little bit against Arizona State in different moments, and they made us uncomfortable and forced us into those situations, and for us, it’s about staying connected with and without the puck.
“It’s going to be hard, and that’s our league. It’s a shift-to-shift challenge and being engaged physically and mentally throughout your whole game is going to be critical, so for us, playing in a tough environment, it’s going to be a great challenge.”
And for as much as Denver would be glad to start building a new lengthy winning streak this weekend, don’t expect Carle to keep count.
“We care about hanging national championship banners,” Carle said of his program, which has won a NCAA-record 10 national titles and two under him, including last season’s. “I don’t care about winning streaks.”
