University of Denver hockey’s unbeaten streak entering NCHC championship fueled by lights-out freshman goalie

Johnny Hicks couldn’t care less that he stands 5-foot-10. He was born that way, after all.

There is a growing stigma in the hockey world, Hicks said, about size and height. The long-limbed keepers are prevalent. DU hockey just had a two-year run behind local legend Matt Davis, who was 6-foot-1. And the Pioneers went into the season with 6-foot-3 freshman Quentin Miller as the heir apparent to Davis, with Hicks, the other freshman goalie, waiting quietly in the wings.

Well — not too quietly, if you happened to observe a Denver practice anytime since Hicks arrived from the WHL’s Victoria Royals this summer.

“There’s obviously some lazy goalies out there,” star defenseman Eric Pohlkamp smiled on Thursday. “But (Johnny) doesn’t take a shot off. He’s blocking every shot, whatever it is. And no, he’s been super fun to watch. He competes every single day.

“And it’s tough for us, in practice, because we want to score.

It’s become quite tough for opponents, too, since Hicks first stepped in the goal for an injured Miller in late January. From that point on, an underwhelming DU squad — sitting at just 14-11-2 and 2-6-1 in their last nine matches — has gone streaking. Denver hasn’t been beaten across its last 12 matches heading into Saturday’s NCHC championship against No. 6 Minnesota Duluth, as a deep squad has finally found a flowing offense.

And Hicks has been the lynchpin in the goal, with a truly remarkable stretch since stepping in for Miller: an 11-0-1 record in 12 starts, with two shutouts and a .961 save percentage on the season.

“If they do get a breakaway, you know he’s got it,” Pohlkamp said. “So the confidence he gives you is unbelievable.”

Injury creates an opportunity

That offensive freedom, perhaps, wasn’t quite there early in the season for a historic program coming off another Frozen Four run in the 2024-25 season. Denver was averaging just two goals per outing over that nine-match slump, entering a Jan. 24 matchup with St. Cloud State, where Miller exited with an injury a few minutes into the game. The roster was gripping their sticks “a little harder,” as Keiran Cebrian said, to try and find net. A vicious cycle.

And the group didn’t quite know what to expect from Hicks when he first took up the mantle, Pohlkamp said.

“But then, he came in and was excellent right from the start, which is honestly really hard to do,” Pohlkamp said. “To get thrown in the fire like that and do what he did.”

DU’s staff knew plenty well what Hicks was capable of. Head coach David Carle and goaltenders coach Ryan Massa recruited Hicks out of Canada around this time last year, as Hicks was rehabbing from an injury. Carle noticed one key fact: once Hicks got hurt, his Victoria Royals club started to “nose-dive,” as Carle remembered.

“The teams he was on,” Carle said, “anytime he was in the net, were winning games.”

History is repeating itself, with Hicks in Denver. Shots are finding the net with more regularity across the past couple of months, as Carle’s 2025-26 group wields a remarkably balanced attack: 12 different Pioneers have more than 15 points, with the NCHC championship match and an NCAA tournament run still left to come. Pohlkamp, who leads Denver with 17 goals and 37 points, was named a top-10 finalist for the 2026 Hobey Baker Award, which recognizes the best men’s college hockey player in the country.

“If I get it, I get it,” Pohlkamp said. “But, really looking at this weekend, and Saturday, and then (NCAA) regionals in Loveland, so. Hopefully, I’ll put a ring on my finger. That’d put the cherry on top, for sure.”

That stretch starts Saturday against the sixth-seeded Bulldogs (23-13-1), as Hicks’ role takes on greater importance. Minnesota Duluth will trot out a formidable and wholly contrasting man in the goal: Adam Gajan, who was named to Slovakia’s Olympic team in January. He stands 6-foot-3. He is long where Hicks is shorter. And yet Hicks has already beaten him twice before — a Friday-Saturday back-to-back in late January, as Denver beat Minnesota Duluth 4-3 and 1-0 to realign their season at the start of Hicks’ dominant stretch.

Hicks, for one, has paid particular attention to not paying attention to his numbers. Or his prospect profile, with his height. Or any external chatter about his performance. He is trying to focus, moment-to-moment, on the patch of ice that he patrols directly below the crossbar.

“If I can do that, I can do anything,” Hicks said. “And I know this team has the exact same mindset.”

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