Tag: denver pioneers hockey

There is tough news for the other top NCAA hockey programs that were happy to see Matt Davis exhaust his college eligibility: It appears the University of Denver has found another one.

It was a winding journey for Quentin Miller to get here, but he looks quite at home in net for the Pioneers. He made 29 saves Friday night, outdueling Colorado College star netminder Kaidan Mbereko in a 2-1 overtime win in front of the largest crowd ever for a hockey game at Magness Arena (7,073).

“He’s amazing. He’s the best person and kid too, so you just want to see him have success,” DU defenseman Boston Buckberger said. “I think what he’s done for our team, being kind of a brick and our foundation back there, we know we can rely on him. He’s bailed us out numerous times already. When we go the other way and get our chances, we’ve got to look back and give kudos and credit to him.

“If it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t have been able to come back (Friday) night. Huge credit to him. I just hope he keeps it rolling, because it’s awesome.”

People toss around the term legend too loosely in sports, but Davis became one at DU after his incredible 2024 postseason run leading the Pioneers to an NCAA-record 10th national championship. He also helped the Pios back to the Frozen Four last year, and finished his career 6-1 in NCAA Tournament games with eight goals allowed.

Those are massive skates to fill. Enter Miller, who played for three different Canadian junior teams and 10 months ago wasn’t playing at all because of an injury.

A Montreal native, Miller was the backup goalie for the Patrick Roy-led Quebec Ramparts in 2022-23. That team won the Memorial Cup, and helped Roy return to the NHL with the New York Islanders. His work also made him a fourth-round pick in the 2023 NHL draft by his hometown Montreal Canadiens.

Miller was traded in the middle of the next season to Rimouski. He needed shoulder surgery in September 2024, so Rimouski, which was hosting the Memorial Cup, traded for another goaltender. When he was getting close to returning from the surgery, there wasn’t going to be obvious playing time for him, so he went west to the BCHL and joined the Chilliwack Chiefs.

That’s when the Pioneers got involved. Before players with CHL experience were granted NCAA eligibility, junior players often committed years in advance of college. The forthcoming rule change drastically altered the recruiting landscape last season.

“(Assistant coach Tavis MacMillian) learned of a guy in Chilliwack that was coming out of injuries, so just connections and people that we know up there,” DU coach David Carle said. “We didn’t have a long time to watch him, because he came back from injury sometime in late January, early February. We made the decision to recruit him and fortunately for us, he was able to get (33) games in through the BCHL playoffs.

“We have good connections in the Montreal organization as well, and they were supportive of him coming here. That all kind of factors into it.”

Miller played 10 regular-season games for the Chiefs, then helped them to the BCHL championship series before losing to the Brooks Bandits. The Pios not only had to replace Davis, but his backup from the past two seasons, Freddie Halyk, also transferred to Brown.

The three goalies on the roster are two freshmen — Miller and Johnny Hicks — plus junior Paxton Geisel, who had appeared in one game in two years.

“I think that was the big question coming into this year. We didn’t really have a goalie,” junior defenseman Eric Pohlkamp said. “But (Miller) has come in and he’s been fantastic. Even from game one against Air Force, he had a really good game, and he’s just embraced it. He’s super confident. He’s easy to play with. He’s getting better on his goalie breakouts and just keeps improving.”

Miller improved to 6-2-1 with a .941 save percentage after the win Friday night. He helped DU go to Western Michigan, the defending NCAA champs, and sweep the Broncos last weekend with 76 saves on 80 shots.