Pioneers goalie Tanner Jaillet’s focus is on beating Colorado College, taking Gold Pan.
Tanner Jaillet’s mental laundry list is admittedly too long.
The University of Denver senior goalie doesn’t want to think about winning another NCAA championship in April. He doesn’t want to look into becoming the first two-time winner of the Mark Richter Award as the country’s best goalie during the Frozen Four. He would rather not discuss winning another National Collegiate Hockey Conference regular-season or tournament championship next month.
And, in the immediate future, he would rather forget that he’s just two appearances shy of tying Stephen Wagner for the career program record for games played (124) and just seven victories behind Ron Grahame for the DU career record for wins (82).
For now, Jaillet just wants to focus on winning the Gold Pan this weekend, and the Pioneers can do that with a win or two ties against Colorado College. The Pioneers (16-6-6) and Tigers (12-12-4) tied twice in December, and CC can reclaim the Gold Pan with a win and a tie, or a series sweep.
Denver has won the Gold Pan the past three years, forging a 1212 tie in annual ownership. The trophy must be won outright, so DU keeps it in case of a tie. This weekend’s series begins Friday in Colorado Springs (8 p.m., CBS Sports Network) and concludes Saturday in Denver (7 p.m., Altitude).
“If you start looking down the road, you’re setting yourself for failure,” Jaillet said Thursday. “We have a game Friday, and a game Saturday, with a chance to win the Gold Pan. That’s all I’m concerned about.”
But he’s not opposed to talking about breaking individual program records. Jaillet is scheduled to start both games this weekend, thus is all but destined to tie Wagner (1996-2000) with 124 games played. Denver, which sits No. 3 nationally in the PairWise Ranking, will play a minimum of eight more games this season, so Jaillet has a shot at matching Grahame (1970-73) with 82 career wins.
DU could play a maximum of 14 more games if it returns to the national championship game.
“(Setting records) was never my intention. I came here to do my best and play with some great teams and enjoy my teammates,” said Jaillet, who grew up in Parksville, British Columbia. “I’m pretty proud to do what I’ve done, especially with a program like Denver, with so much history and a winning culture. It’s just awesome.”
Denver is on a seven-game unbeaten streak (5-0-2) but will be without standout junior winger Troy Terry this weekend. Terry, the team’s third-leading scorer, is playing for the U.S. Olympic hockey team.
CC is 3-1-1 in its last five games, including a victory a week ago at North Dakota. Tigers sophomore forward Nick Halloran is fourth nationally in scoring with 40 points (17 goals).
“CC is a very good hockey team that has become vastly improved offensively,” DU coach Jim Montgomery said. “They transition well to offense. Their top line is scary good, and they’ve got that goalie (sophomore Alex Leclerc) who seems to play great against us. We’re playing consistently well now, and we’re getting better, which is exciting. We’ve improved dramatically defensively, and now we’re improved offensively because of the good defensive play.”