DU Pioneers bit by the injury bug

While the Denver Pioneers have suffered some injuries problems and appear to have broken a mirror in the team locker room, hence the bad luck, the Fighting Sioux hockey team can’t overlook the Denver Pioneers. Let's give credit where credit is due; any team that is lead by Denver head coach George Gwozdecky is a good hockey team, there also appears to be some sandbagging going on in Denver as well. One thing we learned from last season first series with DU is that while the media reports someone as being out and or questionable they seem to show up dressed and ready to play on game day as well, that same scenario happened last season with Chevy their goaltender.

Denver Pioneer --- DU’s maximum 22-player traveling party will feature the 22 players capable of playing at North Dakota this weekend. Weird injuries and illness continue to plague the Pios, who depart for Grand Forks on Thursday and face the Fighting Sioux on Friday and Saturday at Engelstad Arena.

I was at practice today and learned that sophomore goalie Adam Murray and classmate Paul Phillips, a defenseman, will remain in Denver over the weekend. Murray, who missed last weekend’s series against Wisconsin with a groin injury, skated with his gear before practice but then sought treatment during it.

“It’s just slow,” DU coach George Gwozdecky said of Murray’s recovery. “It’s the groin area; that major muscle goaltenders need. It’s improving but very, very slow in improving. He’s going to stay home and continue to rehab and hopefully start skating and practicing next week.”

Phillips, who has played in all six games this season, is out after suffering complications from a dry, bloody nose. True story. He required nasal surgery.

“He had sinus congestion that turned into an infection, and as a result, his nose was running and he was blowing it,” Gwozdecky said of Phillips. “The combination of the infection, blowing the nose, the high altitude and dry air, he developed a pretty severe nose bleed on Monday.

“It would start, and stop, and start again (over and over). We thought it had it stopped, but Tuesday morning about 3 a.m. he couldn’t get it to stop and he was admitted to the hospital. They did some exploratory surgery (Tuesday) night . . . and found he had blown out a blood vessel. They cauterized it and he is about to be released. He’s probably 10 days to two weeks away (from returning).”

Meanwhile, junior forward Dustin Jackson (mononucleosis) and freshman center Nick Shore (broken wrist) will remain out. Jackson has yet to play this season and Shore hasn’t played since the season opener at Vermont. Freshman forward Justin Jones still has not been academically cleared by the NCAA, thus he cannot practice with the team. Senior defensemen Jon Cook and Joey Brehm are DU’s only extra players, so both will travel to North Dakota.