DENVER — It's not easy to win a national championship, but the University of Denver hockey team has brought home hardware nine different times.
And after winning the NCAA title this weekend in Boston, the Pioneers received a heroes' welcome in their own home.
"It's unbelievable," senior captain Cole Guttman said. "It's been the best 48 hours of my life. The celebration with the community and everyone on campus and just with all of the boys has been so much fun. We work so hard for it, so to have some fun and relive the moment has been awesome."
Sophomore defenseman Mike Benning added: "I just looked around for a second and everything was just going right and everyone was celebrating and having that moment with the guys, it was a special moment and the highlight of my career so far."
Senior forward Cameron Wright recalled the iconic moment: "That was the best moment for us, right up there with winning it on Saturday because the fans are why we do it and they're the reason why we're here and they're the reason why we can play, so it's great to come back here and see how excited they are for us."
There was also a standing ovation for the head man in charge, head coach David Carle, who is celebrating his second national championship, tied with his older brother Matthew.
"He quickly reminded me that it only took him three years to do two, so I'm a little behind him in efficiency," Carle said with a laugh. "Obviously, Denver hockey and our family go back a long way, so we're so glad to add to the tradition that it is and now I've got to beat him to three."
They'll think about getting number 10 soon enough, but Guttman is thinking about how nice his team's trophy will look alongside its eight siblings.
"It's going to be so nice to see it sitting there," he said. "It's not just this, you go into the locker room and you see all of the different championships, you see the 2017 championship, all of the different players holding up the trophy, and it just makes us all so excited to go and do the same thing."
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Sports