DU Pioneers hockey embracing underdog role at Frozen Four: “No one wants us to win”

ST. LOUIS — Who knew being the bad guy could be this much fun?

“Oh, yeah. Now it’s a whole other level of this,” Carter King, loquacious captain of the DU Pioneers hockey team, reflected recently. “No one wants us to win. I think that’s pretty clear. Especially when you win a lot recently, teams get a little sick of you winning.

“So it’s an honor to have that. And we appreciate almost the increased intensity we get from opponents, so it’s prepared us for going to the tournament this year.”

The really fun part? The way the Pios (31-11-1) have used that hate as jet fuel from the University neighborhood to New Hampshire to the Gateway City, where they’ll begin defense of their national championship at the 2025 Frozen Four against Western Michigan (32-7-1) at 3:30 p.m. Thursday in the first of two NCAA national semifinals.

The winner of Thursday’s semi will take on the winner of Penn State-Boston University in the championship game at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.

“We’ve talked about it in the sense that we have guys in the room that were a part of the ’22 team (that won the NCAA championship) and the ’23 team that failed to do it,” DU coach David Carle, whose Pios are seeking back-to-back titles and an 11th national crown, said at the start of his squad’s NCAA journey. “But they were able to get back there in ’24. So we have a lot of experience in the room with trying to navigate this season because it’s not an easy season to go through with getting everyone’s best and having that target squarely on your chest.”

Especially when the targets are internal, too. If DU wins out Thursday and Saturday at the Enterprise Center in downtown St. Louis, the program will have become the first since 1961 to win three NCAA crowns over a four-year span.

The last team to pull that off? DU, which notched three titles between 1958 and ’61. The only other program that can match that stretch of dominance is Michigan, which won five titles over six years (1951-53, 1955-56).

“There’s no doubt that I think the guys are excited for the opportunity to try and do it,” Carle said. “It’s certainly on our mind. But we’re very focused on just staying in the present and trying to make sure that we’ve grown as much as we can throughout this whole season.”

DU was able to power through the Manchester Regional on the wings of defense, goaltender Matt Davis and a little spite. All of that is still in the lunch pails they’re lugging to the banks of the Mississippi River, as well as a month of egos bruised by the Broncos, who won two of the three head-to-head meetings during the season. And every contest was decided by a single goal. Western Michigan’s most recent win over the Pios was probably the most galling, as the Broncos erased a 3-0 DU lead in the third period and rallied for a 4-3 victory in overtime of the Frozen Faceoff Championship.

So Thursday’s rematch isn’t just a matter of payback. It’s a point of pride.

“It’s the legacy that this program has,” King said. “It’s such an honor to play here and be a captain here. It’s truly so special. The names and just the quality of people that run through this program is unbelievable. The coaches, they pride themselves on recruiting good people. And it shows in our locker room and in the culture we have here.”

Even if no one wants you to win.

No one in Kalamazoo, at any rate.

“I mean, all year this year, it’s been tight,” Davis said. “It’s been hard, and it’s certainly something that is going to be really valuable for us in the tournament here.

“I mean, these one-and-done games, anything can happen. And whether you’re the underdog or not, it doesn’t matter once the puck drops. And, yeah, I think we’ve definitely got a chip on our shoulder here.”

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