Talk to any of those former Pioneers about the season’s turning points — and there were plenty — and one moment typically is put on the table before all others. And that occurred on a frigid night in Mankato, Minn., just before the 2003 holidays.
Heading into that Western Collegiate Hockey Association series against Minnesota State, it had been an uneven start to say the least for DU. Nagging injuries were mounting, a situation that only worsened in Minnesota. The Pioneers escaped with a tie in the first game of the series, but lost the services of Caldwell, the team’s captain, for the finale. Fellow senior defenseman Jussi Halme joined Caldwell on the sideline after a wayward shot broke his jaw.
Yet perhaps the biggest burden saddling the Pioneers that weekend wasn’t anything occurring on the ice, but a devastating emotional loss the Pioneers were facing off it. Earlier in the week, the entire program was shocked to learn of the sudden death of NHL legend Keith Magnuson, a DU alum who remained not only the Pioneers’ biggest cheerleader, but the program’s emotional leader and hockey savant for everyone from the team’s top prospects to the last man on the bench.
In Mankato, however, every moment proved to be a nightmare, despite racing to a seemingly insurmountable 7-1 lead early in the second period of the finale. With Gwozdecky out of town to attend Magnuson’s funeral, assistants Steve Miller and Seth Appert were forced to double and even triple-shift the team’s few healthy defensemen.
What followed was as improbably demoralizing as the season’s grand conclusion was improbably exhilarating. Mankato reeled off seven consecutive goals against the undermanned and emotionally wounded Pioneers.
