As a freshman on the University of Denver’s national championship team two years ago, Jack Devine scored only three goals over 36 games as a member of the third and fourth lines.
Despite having to fight for ice time for the first time in his hockey career, Devine didn’t stop believing in what he could become in crimson and gold. He didn’t jump into the transfer portal. He just put his head down and kept working.
A couple of seasons later, the junior forward leads the nation with 21 goals as a key cog in DU’s high-powered offense that ranks No. 1 in Division I at 5.25 goals per game.
“Prior to him coming, we were very honest that we had good players he was going to play behind, and he was going to have to learn his craft without the puck a bit more,” DU head coach David Carle said. “We believed that year-by-year, incrementally, he would improve and take on a bigger role, and he did that. We laid out all those expectations, and it’s been really cool to see it all come to fruition.”
Devine is also tied for second in the nation in points (39) and tied for fifth with eight power-play goals. He’s been nothing short of dynamic for the No. 4 Pioneers (17-5-2), who are also getting premier production out of their other first-line forwards: junior Massimo Rizzo (first in the country in points with 42 and second in assists with 32) and senior captain McKade Webster.
“Rizzo is continuing to have an attack mentality without the puck,” Carle said. “(That trio) has got great chemistry and they’re all kind of doing something good a little bit differently. (Rizzo) is confident with the puck on his stick, very confident attacking at people and making plays, and he’s got a guy in Devine that can finish. Webster as our captain has done some of the dirty work for them and keeping plays alive.”
Devine emphasized the weight room this past offseason, training at DU for about two months. One of the youngest players in college hockey as a freshman, the 20-year-old, is starting to come into his own physically.
“(In 2021-22) on a team that’s stacked, my focus was, ‘How could I find my role and try to make a difference?’” said Devine, who had an assist in the title victory over Minnesota State. “I was able to rise to that occasion and carve out a role to help our team win the championship. So I knew I just had to stay patient and keep working. I used it as motivation, tried to get extra ice time in practice, extra time in the weight room. When the opportunity came, I just wanted to be ready.”
As good as the Pioneers offense has been, Carle acknowledges the defense remains a “work in progress.”
“But the group is buying into the fact that we need to defend at a higher level if we want to do what we want to do at the end of the year,” he noted.
Junior goalie Matt Davis missed 13 games with a lower-body injury but is 5-0-1 in his six starts since returning. He is riding a career-best eight-game unbeaten streak dating back to Oct. 21 at Boston College.
Meanwhile, freshman phenom Zeev Buium, the second-youngest player in college hockey, is playing way above his age. The blueliner is tied for fifth in the nation with 32 points, a mark that leads all NCAA defensemen, while he’s also tied for third with 26 assists.
Buium starred on the U.S. National Junior under-20 team that won gold at the IIHF World Junior Championship, with Carle standing behind the bench. The 18-year-old projects as a first-round pick in June’s NHL Entry Draft. With how he’s playing, he might even be a top-10 selection.
“He’s been unbelievable for us,” Rizzo said. “His footwork, his skill, his vision, his production, and he comes to the rink every day ready to work. It’s been impressive to see. His ceiling is really, really high.”
DU’s road will only get steeper from here. The Pioneers have played the seventh-hardest schedule in the nation, according to the College Hockey News Power Ratings, and that ranking is likely to climb with seven of their remaining 12 games on the road and five of those against ranked teams. The gauntlet begins this weekend as the Pioneers travel to take on NCHC rival No. 5 North Dakota on Friday and Saturday.
The Pioneers remain confident they’ll be set up where they want to be when the NCHC playoffs begin on March 15.
“We’ve got a lot of confidence in the room that this is a group that can (win the national title),” Rizzo said. “Even though we’re relatively young, everyone brings the mindset that no one can beat us.”
