Colorado Rubber

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Air Force, Colorado College, Denver name captains for 2022-23 college hockey season

 

As the 2022-23 college hockey season gets underway, all three NCAA Division I teams based in Colorado recently announced their captains heading into the new season.

For Air Force, senior Willie Reim and junior Luke Rowe will each wear a “C” while senior Blake Bride and junior Luke Robinson will each wear an “A.”

Reim, a forward from North Oaks, Minn., was an alternate captain last season. He played in 32 games last season and was second on the team with 11 goals and 25 points.

Rowe, a defenseman from Succasunna, N.J., wore the “C” last season along with 2022 graduate Alex Schilling. Rowe played in 35 games last season and had six goals and 16 points with three power-play goals and a team-high 57 blocked shots.

Bride, a forward from Broomfield, was an alternate captain last season. He played in 31 games and had three goals and six points and was one of two Falcons to score short-handed.

During his Colorado youth days, Bride skated for the Hyland Hills Jaguars, Front Range Panthers, Colorado Thunderbirds and Boulder Bison.

Robinson, a defenseman from Nashville, Tenn., played in all 36 games last season and had one goal and three assists for four points with 39 blocked shots.

Air Force opened the season losing an exhibition game 5-1 to Colorado College last Saturday at Cadet Ice Arena. The Falcons will open the regular season by co-hosting the Ice Breaker Tournament, Oct. 7-8, also at Cadet Ice Arena.

At Colorado College, graduate student Bryan Yoon and junior Logan Will have been named team captains. Junior Hunter McKown and sophomore Stanley Cooley will serve as alternate captains.

Yoon, a defenseman from Parker, returns to the CC squad for a fifth season in ’22-23. He is the team’s active scoring leader with 57 points (six goals, 51 assists) in 129 career games after collecting one goal and 11 assists in 36 games last season. Yoon was selected to the NCHC All-Rookie Team as a freshman after finishing second in the NCHC and third in nation among freshmen with 23 assists. His 26 points (three goals, 23 assists) that season were the most by a CC freshman defenseman since Scott Swanson had 48 in 1995-96. Yoon finished second on the team with 16 assists as a sophomore.

Back home, Yoon played for the Thunderbirds.

Will appeared in 32 games and tied for second on the team with 18 points (six goals, 12 assists) last season. He tied for the team lead with 12 assists and tied for third with six goals. The center from Ames, Iowa, finished sixth in the NCHC last season with 610 faceoffs taken, and 16th in the league in faceoff pct. (.508) as a freshman.

McKown paced the Tigers with 13 goals, 21 points and 85 shots as a sophomore in ’21-22. The forward from San Jose, Calif., posted the first hat trick of his career, including the game-winning goal, in a 4-3 overtime victory over Miami. McKown, who led the team with three game winners last season, competed for Team USA at the 2022 World Junior Championship in Edmonton, Alberta, this past August.

Cooley was one of only three Tigers to appear in all 36 games last season and led the team with four power-play goals. He finished in a tie with Will for second in scoring with 18 points and the team lead with 12 assists, including a career-high three at Air Force. A Regina, Sask., native, Cooley was second on the team with 84 shots and attempted a career-high seven in the 4-3 overtime victory against Miami.

Colorado College opens the regular season on Oct. 7 against Alaska Anchorage at Ed Robson Arena.

For defending national champion Denver, senior defenseman Justin Lee has been named captain and will be joined on the Pioneers’ leadership group by alternate captains Kyle Mayhew, McKade Webster and Carter Mazur.

“Our staff is excited and encouraged to name these four men as our captains,” said DU head coach David Carle. “Led by Justin Lee, all four have been through different experiences in their time at DU that makes them uniquely qualified to have this responsibility. Their team-first attitude will allow them to hold themselves and their teammates to the high standards of Pioneer hockey.”

Lee served as an alternate captain last season during Denver’s run to the NCAA national championship. He appeared in 38 games in 2021-22 and registered career highs with 13 assists and 16 points. Lee finished third on DU with a plus-23 rating and placed fourth on the team with 33 blocked shots. His 76 shots on goal were the second-most by a defenseman on the squad.

“It means a lot to me, and I’m very honored to be named captain of this program,” Lee said. “There is a lot of tradition here at Denver, and I am very excited to wear the letter. I’ve had a lot of great leaders in the past here at Denver and have learned a lot of things along the way. I just try to be the hardest working guy every day.”

The Waskada, Manitoba, native has recorded 28 points (nine goals, 19 assists) in 92 career games. The senior was named Denver hockey’s recipient of the Keith Magnuson Best Defensive Player Award and was a finalist for NCHC Defensive Defenseman of the Year in 2021-22.

This is the first time in Lee’s career that he’s served as a team captain.

Mayhew is entering his fifth season with the Pioneers in 2022-23 after gaining an extra year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The senior defenseman appeared in 40 games last year and recorded career highs in goals (two), assists (nine) and points (11). The Anaheim Hills, Calif., native finished second on the team last season with 43 blocked shots and blocked three or more shots in six games, including tying for the team high of four on three occasions. Mayhew has appeared in 112 career NCAA games and has collected 22 points (four goals, 18 assists).

Webster is heading into his junior campaign at DU after setting career highs with six goals, eight assists and 14 points in the Pioneers’ 2021-22 championship season. The St. Louis native also finished tied for third on the squad with four game-winning goals last year while posting a personal best plus-13 rating as well. Webster has appeared in 60 career games and has 23 points (nine goals, 14 assists).

Mazur was named the NCHC Rookie of the Year in 2021-22 after leading all Denver freshmen and finishing second in the nation in scoring by a first-year player, registering 38 points (14 goals, 24 assists) in 41 games. A member of the 2022-23 NCHC Preseason All-Conference Team, Mazur produced a plus-23 rating—second-highest among freshmen and placed fifth on DU in shots (103) and sixth in shooting percentage (13.6). The sophomore was named the NCHC Rookie of the Month on three occasions last year and was named one of the United States best three players at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship this past summer.

The Pioneers downed UNLV 10-0 in an exhibition game Oct. 1 at Magness Arena and opens the regular season by co-hosting the Ice Breaker Tournament versus Notre Dame and Maine on Oct. 7-8.

Photo/Colorado College Athletics

— Matt Mackinder

(September 30, 2022)

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