Friday Gameday: Penrose Champs Until We Ain't

One of the NCHC's most-storied rivalries renews this weekend in Grand Forks 
as Denver travels to take on UND. Photo Credit: GF Herald.

Welcome to November and welcome, in earnest, to the start of our University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks' defense as the back-to-back Penrose Cup champions. The rest of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference has to chase down the green and white if they plan on taking the cup as regular season champions and that chase begins this weekend as hated rival Denver travels to Grand Forks for a two-game series.

UND, ranked No. 8/10 this week, hasn't had a terrific start to the season going just 4-3 in their first seven games including a last week's disappointing loss to Penn State in Nashville, but DDC believes that reigniting the rivalry with the Pios could certainly be a catalyst for the Hawks as conference play kicks off.

DU, ranked No. 11/13, has had a solid 4-2 start to their campaign and is led by a dominant first line of sophomore Carter Savoie, junior Bobby Brink, and senior Cole Guttman. The trio has tallied a whopping 30 points in the Pioneers' six games. 

As UND fans, we all well know what these battles are all about overall and what it means this weekend. Here's what to look for in DDC's weekly "Who? What? How" series preview as NCHC play begins as one of the conference's most bitter rivalries renews inside Ralph Engelstad Arena.

Who?

Players to Watch

University of Denver Pioneers

So. F., Carter Savoie, 6 goals, 6 assists -- 12 points; Sr. F., Cole Guttman, 3g, 6a -- 9pts; Jr. F., Bobby Brink, 3g, 6a -- 9pts; Fr. F., Massimo Rizzo, 5g, 3a -- 8 pts; Jr. G., 3-1-0, 3.12 GAA average, .868 sv%; Fr. G., Matt Davis, 1-1-0, 2.36 GAA, .911 sv%

University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks

So. F., Riese Gaber, 3 goals, 6 assists -- 9 points; So. D., Jake Sanderson, 3g, 5a -- 8pts; Fr. F., Jake Schmaltz, 4g, 4a -- 8pts; Jr. F., Ashton Calder, 4g, 3a -- 7pts; Jr. F., Judd Caulfield, 3g, 3a -- 6pts; Sr. G., Zach Driscoll, 4-3-0, 2.74 GAA, .890 sv%

What?

Standout Stats and Notes

Denver

DU So. Carter Savoie

Denver's top line of Brink (No. 3, +9), Savoie (t-No.8, +8), and Guttman (t-No.8, +8) all rank near the top nationally in plus/minus rating.

Savoie's 6 goals is tied for sixth in the NCAA and his 12 points has him tied for 9th. He is also second in the NCAA with 34 shots on goal.

DU's penalty kill has been a struggle this year with a paltry 59.3% kill rate on the year, 56th out of 59 in NCAA, but their 27.6% power play is 12th in the country. 

Former UND commit, freshman Massimo Rizzo has had a hot start in his first year in college hockey with five goals on the season.

UND

The Fighting Hawks' power play has been solid so far this season, scoring at a 30.8% clip, good for No. 4 in the NCAA. Their 81.3% penalty kill is 28th.

This weekend marks games number 301 and 302 in the long-storied history of UND versus Denver. Those 302 games is the most played against any opponent in the team's history.

UND lost a 6-4 tilt to Penn State last weekend, dropping just their fourth game since 2018 when scoring at least 4 goals. The Hawks are 44-4-2 in that span when scoring four.

How?

How'd they get here?

The Pioneer's last action came two weekends ago when they dropped two games on the east coast, one to Providence College 6-5 and the next night to Boston College, 5-1. Denver (4-2-0) was 4-0 to start the season prior to those back-to-back losses.

UND (4-3-0) returns home after a stinging 6-4 loss to Penn State last Saturday in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game in Nashville. After starting the season with three-straight wins, the Fighting Hawks have lost three of their last four. 

Both teams are playing their first NCHC action of the season and this will be the only series between the two teams this year. 

Oh, the memories. Photo credit: Sports Illustrated

The Pick

Ahhhh. Good ol' Denver. The memories are endless and the hatred is real. Nick Schmaltz, Robbie Bina, Jesse Martin, Brad Malone, Peter Maninno, and so on, and so on, and so on... To say these teams know each other well is an incredible understatement.

These are always fun, but DDC is nervous for this weekend. These nerves come from two things -- DU's 5 goal a game scoring clip and UND's lack of team scoring and cohesion so far this season. The Green and White lack depth scoring and playing against a team like the Pioneers who is scoring in bunches, DDC fears a shootout, run-and-gun type series. With all of that said, UND's weekend split against Quinnipiac, particularly in their Saturday night win, gives DDC confidence that the Hawks can slow down a solid offensive team. Containing the top line of Brink, Savoie, and Guttman will obviously be the key. These three men have had a dominant start, so UND must find a way to make other players on the ice score goals against them. 

One of those other players, former UND recruit, freshman Massimo Rizzo has shown the ability to pot goals, so this will need to be a defensive performance for the Hawks this weekend. If they can hold the fort like they did against QU, they will be fine this weekend. 

Chemistry, flow, and team gelling has been the bugaboo for UND so far as the development of these pieces just hasn't gotten there. Skating at home, kicking off the NCHC schedule, against a massive rival, there's no better time for this to happen then in this series. DDC is picking a split.

UND takes one Friday, 4-2 and DU rebounds for Splitsville on Saturday, 5-3.

As always, thanks for the read! Check back early next week for DDC's look at how it all went down from the Ralph.