Denver will probably be the preseason favorite in the WCHA next season. Mike Chambers, who covers the Pioneers for the Denver Post, said that the 2009-10 team might be coach George Gwozdecky’s best ever. Which is saying a lot since GG won two NCAA titles this decade.

Here is the WCHA’s season-ending report on DU:

Denver concluded its 2008-09 season with a 4-2 loss against Miami University at the NCAA West Regional in Minneapolis, Minn. … DU’s season was highlighted by clinching home ice for the WCHA playoffs and advancing to the WCHA Final Five and NCAA Tournament.

(DU finished second to North Dakota in the regular-season standings and lost to Minnnesota Duluth in the championship game of the Final Five.)

The Pioneers landed a WCHA-record 18 members on the All-WCHA academic team and senior captain J.P. Testwuide (Vail, Colo.) was named WCHA Student-Athlete of the Year.

Goaltender Marc Cheverie (Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia) and defenseman Patrick Wiercioch (Maple Ridge, British Columbia) earned All-WCHA Second Team honors, while junior forward Rhett Rakhshani (Huntington Beach, Calif.) and sophomore forward Anthony Maiani (Shelby Township, Mich.) were named to the All-WCHA Third Team … Wiercioch and forward Joe Colborne (Calgary, Alberta) were named to the All-WCHA Rookie Team … Maiani led DU in scoring with 10-31–41, while Wiercioch was the highest scoring defenseman with 12-23–35 … Tyler Ruegsegger (Lakewood, Colo.) led DU with 12 power-play goals, while rookie Luke Salazar (Thornton, Colo.) had a team-leading five game-winning goals … Cheverie started every game in goal and finished the season with a 23-12-5 mark, a 2.34 goals-against average, a .921 save percentage and four shutouts.

Rakhshani became the 90th member of the Pioneer Century Club for 100-point scorers … Testwuide, who was the first Coloradan to captain the Pioneers in 60 years of varsity hockey, led the Pioneers to their eight consecutive season with 21 or more wins … DU has made back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances in 2008 and 2009.

(DU’s last season will also be remembered for a series in North Dakota in which coach Gwozdecky walked all the way across the ice to complain to an official about the way the game was being called. He was later suspended for a game for communicating with his bench after being ejected after his walk on the ice which was a YouTube hit.)

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