Anchorage’s David Carle. Photo courtesy of the University of Denver
Bench boss David Carle of Anchorage, who guided the University of Denver to the 2022 NCAA Division I hockey title, has the Pioneers back in the title hunt again.
Denver (27-9-3) won the National Collegiate Hockey Conference’s championship last weekend with a 3-1 win over Omaha that pushed the Pioneers’ winning streak to five games. The Pioneers, the No. 1 seed in the Springfield, Mass., regional, open the NCAA’s Thursday against No. 4 seed UMass (20-13-3).
Carle earlier this season coached Team USA to the gold medal in the World Junior Championship. He was a Denver assistant coach under head coach Jim Montgomery, the current Boston Bruins head coach, when the Pioneers won the NCAAs in 2017.
The Carle Clan owns deep history in the NCAAs. David’s older brother, Matt, the retired NHL defenseman, won national championships with Denver in 2004 and 2005. (Matt also won World Junior gold in 2004, and he’s also the only Alaskan to win the Hobey Baker Memorial Award as college hockey’s best player. He hoisted hardware in 2006.)
Denver has two other Alaska connections. David Carle’s assistant coaches include Tavis MacMillan and Dallas Ferguson, who both played at UAF, ascended to become Nanook head coaches and played professionally in Alaska. They are Canadians by birth, Alaskans by cred.
Two players from Alaska are headed to the NCAAs too.
Sullivan Mack
Junior forward Sullivan Mack of Anchorage furnished the primary assist on the game-winning goal Saturday, when Cornell beat St. Lawrence 3-1 for the ECAC championship. Mack owns 5-10—15 totals in 27 games.
The Big Red (21-6-6) are the No. 3 seed in the Springfield regional and winners of five straight games. They face No. 2-seeded Maine (23-11-2) on Thursday.
Fifth-year captain Caleb Moretz of Fairbanks helped RIT win the Atlantic Hockey title and an automatic berth into the NCAAs with Saturday’s 5-2 win over American International College.
The Tigers (27-10-2), winners of seven straight games, are the No. 4 seed in the Sioux Falls, S.D., regional and face top-seeded Boston University (26-9-2) on Thursday.
Moretz owns 1-5—6 totals in 38 games and has played 158 career games.
Bret Link
Colorado College, which includes freshman winger Bret Link of Anchorage, narrowly missed making the 16-team NCAA field. The Tigers, in the Pairwise Rankings that mimic the formula the NCAA Ice Hockey Committee uses to determine at-large berths, finished .004 points behind UMass for the last spot.
At least four Alaska players have won NCAA Division I titles. Besides Matt Carle’s two rings, winger Barrett Heisten of Anchorage won with Maine in 1999. Defenseman Kord Cernich of Anchorage won with Lake Superior State in 1988 and defenseman Josh Bilben of Soldotna won with Lake Superior in 1994.