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The Denver Pioneers returned to action this past weekend, heading east, to participate in the Ledyard Bank Classic. Denver faced off on Friday against host Dartmouth, earning a 1-1 tie, but falling in a shoot-out 2-1 (five rounds).
Danton Heinen (7) had the lone goal for the Pioneers on the power play in the third period. Heinen also had the only goal for Denver in the shoot-out. Evan Cowley had 43 saves.
On Saturday, the Pioneers found their stride with a 5-3 win over Brown. Tanner Jaillet took over in net for Denver, making 17 stops. Trevor Moore was the offensive star with a hat trick. Danton Heinen (8) and Ty Loney (5) also scored for the Pioneers. Denver jumped up a spot to 10th in the USCHO.com Division I Men's weekly poll. The Pioneers have a record of 11-5-1.
Missing from the Denver lineup was defensemen Will Butcher. Butcher was of course participating for Team USA in the 2015 World Junior Championship. Despite his best efforts, the Americans had another disappointing tournament after falling to Russia on Friday in the quarterfinals.
Butcher, who is expected to suit up for the Pioneers this weekend, was named one of the three best players for Team USA. Denver will play Nebraska-Omaha this week.
St. Cloud State split a two game set against Quinnipiac this past weekend. The Huskies took Friday's contest 3-2. SCSU overcame a 2-0 deficit to win the contest. On Saturday, Quinnipiac got the upper hand with a 4-1 win. Ben Storm, who played the last couple of games as a forward, returned to his position as a defenseman. He was paired with Niklas Nevalainen. The Huskies will host Miami this weekend.
Other Colorado Division I Men's Hockey results:
Colorado College dropped a pair of games to Providence over the weekend. The Tigers fell in overtime 5-4 on Friday and dropped a 5-3 decision to the Friars on Saturday. CC now sits at 3-13-1 for the season. Up Next: @Connecticut (Tue)
Air Force earned a 1-1 tie at Holy Cross on Friday and lost 3-1 to the Crusaders on Saturday. The Falcons enter the week with a 5-13-3 record. Up Next: Niagara (2)
Avs CHL Prospects Stats
(for games played through January 5, 2015)
| Team | League | Position | GP | G | A | TP | P/M | PIM | |
| Chris Bigras | Owen Sound | OHL | D | 34 | 12 | 29 | 41 | 3 | 36 |
| Conner Bleackley | Red Deer | WHL | C/RW | 38 | 18 | 19 | 37 | 7 | 43 |
| Mason Geertsen | Vancouver | WHL | D | 37 | 7 | 18 | 25 | 9 | 68 |
| Nick Magyar | Kitchener | OHL | RW | 33 | 9 | 5 | 14 | -4 | 10 |
| Julien Nantel | Rouyn-Noranda | QMJHL | C | 36 | 15 | 19 | 34 | 1 | 20 |
| Alexis Pepin | Gatineau | QMJHL | LW | 24 | 10 | 4 | 14 | -6 | 20 |
| Kyle Wood | North Bay | OHL | D | 34 | 10 | 11 | 21 | 3 | 8 |
| GP | GA | GAA | SV% | W | L | ||||
| Spencer Martin | Mississauga | OHL | G | 31 | 85 | 2.98 | 0.921 | 15 | 13 |
| OTL | SOL | SO | |||||||
| 1 | 0 | 1 |
Chris Bigras has certainly been motivated since he was cut from Team Canada prior to the WJC. He earned OHL Player of the Week honors for the week ending December 21, 2014. Through those efforts, he was named OHL Defenseman of the Month for December. In six contests in December, Bigras had four goals and nine assists.
Bigras has already surpassed his career point totals and not only leads all OHL defensemen in scoring, but currently is tops in points for defenders in the CHL.
Spencer Martin has been a standout this season for Mississauga. Unfortunately, injury appears to have ended the playing season for Martin. Martin suffered a knee injury in a December 21st game against the Sudbury Wolves.