The most successful team in men’s college hockey continued its illustrious history of pissing everybody off. The Denver Pioneers won the 2026 Frozen Four with back-to-back miracle wins against the run of play.

As a huge Goalie Enthusiast, I’m putting this magical run on Denver goalkeeper Johnny Hicks, a freshman who went undefeated on the season — 16-0-1. Hicks saved 78 of 82 shots in the Frozen Four.

At 5-foot-10, Hicks was unwanted by the NHL and underrecruited. He was supposed to play at Tennessee State (!!!), which was trying to become the first HBCU with a college hockey team. The Tigers had trouble getting their program off the ground (they’re slated to start the 2026-27 season) and Hicks went to Denver as an apparent backup.

Incredibly, this is the second time Denver has won a national championship in this exact fashion in the last three years. In 2024, the Pioneers were outshot in the semifinal and championship game, and goalkeeper Matt Davis won Frozen Four MOP as the Pios took the title.

Anyway, I need somebody to explain what the heck is up with Denver hockey. Denver doesn’t have a football program and has never made the men’s Division I NCAA Tournament in basketball. The program is thousands of miles from most of the other hockey powerhouses, which are grouped in New England and the around Great Lakes. And yet they just can’t stop winning this thing!