BOULDER — The Colorado Buffaloes Division I club ice hockey team’s playoff hopes ended on a heartbreaker, missing the ACHA National Tournament by one seed as the No. 22 team in the country. While they won’t be playing in the postseason, the Buffs season goes on in a homestand against the Oregon Ducks.
With nine seniors graduating after the season ends, the black and gold will be looking to retool and compete next season looking to reach nationals for the first time since 2018.
The Ducks came into the weekend ranked No. 61 in the country. The Buffaloes took the chance to give some rookies and depth players a chance to get some playing time and possibly prepare for next season.
Let's take a look at some of the players who could be big parts of next season's team.
Caiden Boucher - goalie
Matt Server, half of the two-headed monster in net, is set to graduate this year. As of Friday night, Server has a .917 SV%, 3.39 goals against average, and two shutouts. Liam O’Gwen will be returning, but the Buffs will need a second goaltender to hold down the fort. The answer seems to be Caiden Boucher, a freshman goalie playing in his second game of the season Friday night taking home his first win of the season.
And it isn’t a secret that the team has confidence in their youngster between the pipes.
“We have four great goalies,” assistant coach Sam Thrutchely said earlier this season.
Garrett Micciche, Joshua Genin, Owen Dickinson, Charles Samburg - forwards
A combined 28 games were played by these four forwards. Garrett Micciche has played in eight games this season. In Friday night's match against the Ducks, Micciche scored the first goal of his career to tie the game at 2-2 in the second period for the Buffaloes.
Joshua Genin, Owen Dickinson, and Charles Samburg all also played Friday night on offense and gained some experience this season that could help add to the team next year. With six forwards’ careers coming to an end, these four could add depth to the lineup come next fall.
Grant Robinson and Aiden Hebel - defense
The Buffaloes will be losing two of their top six defenders in a solidified pairing of Luke Gosnell and Caleb Gold. In the first match against the Ducks, two players made their debut for Colorado, both taking their rookie laps before the contest. Hebel came to CU with prior experience, playing two seasons for the Arizona State Sun Devils Division II program. In addition to the two playing Saturday night, Cam Crawford has the potential to step into the defensive core and contribute.
“Now that the Nationals run is over, good chance to get some young guys in a game, get them some good experience, give us a chance to watch their game and give them things to think about to work on going into next year,” head coach Trace Jablin said. “It’s really just about experience [and] building confidence.”
The Buffaloes will play their final home game of the season on Saturday night. Senior night for the Buffs as they look to sweep the Oregon Ducks. You can catch all the action on the Sko Buffs Sports YouTube channel.
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