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Denver, CO

Bulldogs can't dig out of early hole in loss to Denver

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Bulldogs can't dig out of early hole in loss to Denver


DULUTH — Fifth-ranked Denver scored three goals on its first five shots en route to a 5-2 victory over Minnesota Duluth on Saturday at Amsoil Arena, chasing Bulldogs

senior goaltender Zach Stejskal

from the home net after just 6 minutes and 39 seconds.

Fifth-year

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senior goaltender Matthew Thiessen

made 28 saves on 30 shots in relief of the Cohasset native. It was a solid effort by Thiessen — who has been backing up Stejskal since his last start on Feb. 3 — but not enough to prevent the Bulldogs from losing a fourth-straight game.

Freshman defenseman Zeev Buium — a potential first-round pick in the upcoming 2024 NHL Draft — gave Denver a 1-0 lead after a mere 31 seconds had ticked off the Amsoil Arena game clocks Saturday while Pioneers senior wing Connor Caponi and sophomore wing Jared Wright scored within 74 seconds of each other to force UMD to make an early goaltender change.

Buium finished with a goal and two assists Saturday, helping set up Pioneers freshman wing Sam Harris for goals in the second and third periods.

The Bulldogs

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trailed 2-0 and 4-2 on Friday against Denver

and fought back both times to tie the game before losing in 3-on-3 overtime.

Sophomore wing Ben Steeves and freshman center Matthew Perkins scored for the Bulldogs in the second period to cut Denver’s lead to a goal, though the Pioneers got a goal from Harris on the power play late in the period for a 4-2 advantage heading to the third period.

Steeves’ power-play goal 33 seconds into the second period was his first goal since Jan. 27, ending a three-game drought for the NCHC’s leading goal scorer. He now has 22 on the season — putting him third in the NCAA — with 12 coming via power plays.

Steeves finished Saturday’s game from the penalty box as he and freshman wing Anthony Menghini received 10-minute misconducts in the final 10 minutes of the game with UMD down by three.

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UMD has six games remaining in the regular season and is on the road the next two weekends at league-leading North Dakota, and Colorado College.

The seventh-place Bulldogs, who are now 10 points back of fourth-place Denver, host second-place St. Cloud State the final weekend of the regular season on March 9-10, and if the season ended today, would travel to St. Cloud the following weekend to face the Huskies in the NCHC quarterfinals for the third consecutive season.

Minnesota Duluth goaltender Matthew Thiessen (36) makes a save against Denver on Saturday at Amsoil Arena in Duluth.

Clint Austin/Duluth Media Group

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Minnesota Duluth forward Luke Loheit (16) skates with the puck against Denver forward McKade Webster (6) on Saturday at Amsoil Arena in Duluth.

Clint Austin/Duluth Media Group

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Minnesota Duluth forward Connor McMenamin (39) skates with the puck against Denver forward Jack Devine (4) on Saturday at Amsoil Arena in Duluth.

Clint Austin/Duluth Media Group

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Minnesota Duluth forward Kyle Bettens (24) and Denver defenseman Zeev Buium (28) chase the puck on Saturday at Amsoil Arena in Duluth.

Clint Austin/Duluth Media Group

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Minnesota Duluth forward Kyle Bettens (24) skates with the puck against Denver forward Aidan Thompson (7) on Saturday at Amsoil Arena in Duluth.

Clint Austin/Duluth Media Group

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Minnesota Duluth defenseman Luke Bast (38) sweeps the puck away from the goal against Denver forward Rieger Lorenz (14) on Saturday at Amsoil Arena in Duluth.

Clint Austin/Duluth Media Group

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Minnesota Duluth defenseman Aaron Pionk (8) skates with the puck against Denver forward Sam Harris (12) on Saturday at Amsoil Arena in Duluth.

Clint Austin/Duluth Media Group

college men play ice hockey

Minnesota Duluth goaltender Matthew Thiessen (36) makes a save against Denver on Saturday at Amsoil Arena in Duluth.

Clint Austin/Duluth Media Group

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Minnesota Duluth forward Ben Steeves (6) skates with the puck against Denver forward Jared Wright (18) on Saturday at Amsoil Arena in Duluth.

Clint Austin/Duluth Media Group

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Minnesota Duluth goaltender Zach Stejskal (35) reacts on the bench after allowing three early goals against Denver on Saturday at Amsoil Arena in Duluth.

Clint Austin/Duluth Media Group

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Minnesota Duluth forward Jack Smith (12) reaches for the puck against Denver forward Alex Weiermair (39) on Saturday at Amsoil Arena in Duluth.

Clint Austin/Duluth Media Group

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Minnesota Duluth forward Ben Steeves (6) bumps gloves with Minnesota Duluth goaltender Matthew Thiessen (36) after scoring a goal against Denver on Saturday at Amsoil Arena in Duluth.

Clint Austin/Duluth Media Group

college men play ice hockey

Minnesota Duluth forward Blake Biondi (27) and Minnesota Duluth forward Luke Loheit (16) celebrate after Minnesota Duluth forward Ben Steeves (6) scored a power-play goal against Denver on Saturday at Amsoil Arena in Duluth.

Clint Austin/Duluth Media Group

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Minnesota Duluth forward Carter Loney (33) skates with the puck against Denver defenseman Kent Anderson (21) on Saturday at Amsoil Arena in Duluth.

Clint Austin/Duluth Media Group

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Minnesota Duluth defenseman Owen Gallatin (20) reaches for the puck against Denver forward Kieran Cebrian (24) on Saturday at Amsoil Arena in Duluth.

Clint Austin/Duluth Media Group

Matt Wellens

Co-host of the Bulldog Insider Podcast and college hockey reporter for the Duluth News Tribune and The Rink Live covering the Minnesota Duluth men’s and women’s hockey programs.





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Denver, CO

Denver hockey’s Johnny Hicks wins DU Pioneers’ Male Athlete of the Year

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Denver hockey’s Johnny Hicks wins DU Pioneers’ Male Athlete of the Year


Where good news shines What a year it was for Johnny Hicks. The Denver Pioneers’ freshman goaltender was named Denver Athletics’ Male Student-Athlete of the Year on Friday. In helping the Pioneers to their 11th NCAA championship, Hicks was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. He set school records with a 16-0-1 mark and 1.19 […]



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Denver, CO

Rockies’ Ryan Feltner pitches a gem, Jake McCarthy shines in 8-3 win over Giants

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Rockies’ Ryan Feltner pitches a gem, Jake McCarthy shines in 8-3 win over Giants


The Rockies threw a boffo welcome-back for Ryan Feltner on Saturday night, and the right-hander was the biggest party animal of all.

Coming back from an elbow injury and making his first big-league start since April 23, the right-hander celebrated by pitching six crisp, efficient innings in Colorado’s 8-3 win over the Giants at Coors Field. Feltner allowed no runs, just four hits, struck out two, and walked none.  He needed just 63 pitches, throwing 41 for strikes.

“I felt great and felt like all of my pitches were working,” said Feltner, who became the first Rockies starter to pitch six scoreless innings with no walks since lefty Kyle Freeland on Sept. 5 of last season vs. San Diego.

“I was really happy about the efficiency part of the game,” Feltner added. “It’s always important to go deep into a game here (at Coors).”

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Manager Warren Schaeffer said there was never any thought about pushing Feltner past six innings after Feltner made just two minor league rehab starts.

“There was no reason to push him into the seventh; he did his job,”  Schaeffer said. “His fastball command was exceptional, his slider was good and he got double-play balls early when he needed to. I just thought he controlled his game very well.

“He controlled his emotions, he was in attack mode, and like we talked about before the game, when he does that, he’s pretty dang good.”

The Rockies, who beat San Francisco 8-6 on Friday night on a walk-off homer by Ezequiel Tovar, clinched their first series win since sweeping the Mets from April 24-29 in New York.

Feltner got plenty of support.

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The Rockies have had a nasty habit this season of scoring early only to see the offense go into hibernation. That wasn’t the case on Saturday. The Rockies kept piling on and taking away any chance for late-game drama in LoDo.

“When a guy goes out there and grinds away, like Feltner did, you want to reward them with run,” said center fielder Jake McCarthy, who had a big night from the leadoff spot, going 3 for 4 with a walk and driving in four runs.

McCarthy’s 427-foot two-run homer in the fourth off Giants right-hander Adrian Houser gave Colorado a 4-0 lead. McCarthy added an RBI single in the fifth and another in Colorado’s three-run seventh. He also recorded his club-leading 10th stolen base and reached base four times for the eighth time in his career.

“I haven’t been patient the last week, I had a lot of pretty bad at-bats” he said. “But I think it’s just about getting good pitches to hit.  … Getting into good counts, seeing pitches and taking pitcher’s pitches you can make it easier on yourself. I think I did a good job of that tonight.”



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Denver, CO

Colorado outdoor spirit, music comes to downtown Denver

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Colorado outdoor spirit, music comes to downtown Denver


For one weekend a year, Denverites no longer have to drive to the mountains to experience the outdoor life Colorado has to offer. Although the music and film offerings may not be as plentiful in the mountains. The Outside Days festival returned to Denver Friday, bringing yoga, rock climbing and other outdoor activities to downtown. […]



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