DENVER — The University of Denver hockey team is headed to its third straight Frozen Four after rolling past Western Michigan 6-2 on Sunday in the NCAA West Regional Final at Blue Arena in Loveland. Denver scored four times in the first period and never let the Broncos get back into the game.
The win sends the Pioneers to the program’s 21st Frozen Four appearance and fourth in the last five seasons. Freshman forward Kyle Chyzowski led the way with a career-high three points, scoring two goals and adding an assist, while freshman Brendan McMorrow, junior Kieran Cebrian and junior Eric Pohlkamp each had a goal and an assist. Senior center Samu Salminen and junior left wing Sam Harris also scored. Denver outshot Western Michigan 32-28 and went 1-for-3 on the power play.
Freshman goalie Johnny Hicks stopped 26 of 28 shots to stretch his unbeaten run to 15 games and improve to 14-0-1. He was voted the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA West Regional, and Hicks, Cebrian, Harris, Clarke Caswell and Cale Ashcroft were named to the All-Tournament Team.
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The result kept Denver on course in the NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament, which has been played since 1948 and sends 16 teams from six Division I conferences into regional play before the four winners advance to the Frozen Four. Denver has won 10 national championships, most in the sport, and the program’s history runs from its first title in 1958, when it beat North Dakota 6-2 at Williams Arena in Minneapolis, to its most recent in 2024, when it defeated Boston College 2-0 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.
That history now leads to Thursday, April 9, when Denver meets No. 1 overall seed Michigan at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The winner advances to the national championship on Saturday, April 11, with North Dakota and Wisconsin meeting in the other semifinal. ESPN2 will carry the semifinals, will air the final and the games will also stream on Unlimited for subscribers, while radio coverage will be on 104.3 The Fan.
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Denver also finished 4-2-0 against Western Michigan this season and went 2-0 against the Broncos in the postseason after beating them in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference tournament. After another lopsided regional win, the Pioneers arrive in Las Vegas looking like a team built for April, with scoring, depth and a goalie who has not lost in more than a month.
