Denver coach George Gwozdecky is one who generally keeps his emotions in check. So if you were expecting a big display after his team’s dramatic MacNaughton Cup-clinching victory last Saturday, you were bound to be let down.

Cheverie continues to make Denver look good.

After addressing and congratulating his Pioneers behind closed doors, Gwozdecky sat with reporters and offered a smile and words of thanks when he was congratulated on directing Denver to its 12th WCHA regular-season title. If it seemed that his mind was on other things, that’s because he was already looking ahead.

“Our plan all along was to try to win as many games as we could down the stretch and put ourselves in a position for the postseason. If that included the MacNaughton Cup, all the more merrier,” Gwozdecky said, after Rhett Rakhshani’s goal with just seconds left in overtime lifted the Pioneers to a 4-3 win at Minnesota State. “We’ve done it before where we’ve tried so hard to win that thing that we’ve ended up emotionally spent. I’m excited for the regular season to end and the most fun part of the season to begin.”

Gwozdecky was likely referencing his deep and talented 2002 team, which charged to the WCHA’s regular season and playoff titles, only to bow out quietly in the NCAA playoffs. By contrast, these Pioneers hadn’t even wiped off the sweat from their Cup-clinching effort when they were already talking about the next piece of hardware they intend to collect.

“The Gold Pan is very serious for us,” said goalie Marc Cheverie, referencing the traveling trophy that the Pioneers battle Colorado College for each year. “We haven’t won that in a number of years. We want that bad because no one on our team has ever had it.”

There’s little more than the Gold Pan to play for this weekend when the Pioneers host, then visit, the Tigers. Denver will hoist the Cup on Friday, is assured of a home playoff series with 10th-place Michigan Tech, and is looking like a solid No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. And with Cheverie rattling off 21 wins and a half-dozen shutouts this season thus far, there’s talk that another significant piece of hardware may revisit Denver. In the Saturday win, Cheverie showed off the credentials that give him a realistic to join Robb Stauber and Ryan Miller on the short list of Hobey-winning goaltenders. Just seconds before Rakhshani’s game-winner on Saturday, Cheverie stopped the Mavericks on a 2-on-1 break.

“Marc Cheverie continues to be the guy that makes us look great,” Gwozdecky said. “I’m sure he’s going to have a lot of accolades in the postseason, and he deserves them all.”

Making Cheverie’s job a little bit easier is the Pioneers’ top line of Rakhshni, Tyler Ruegsegger and Joe Colborne. That trio combined for two goals and six assists on Saturday. Gwozdecky admits that two years ago, when Rakhshani and Ruegsegger were juniors, he thought there was “no bloody way” they would stick around for a fourth year of college hockey. But he’s delighted they did.

“Like any top line they’ve really been able to mesh well and really develop some pretty good magic between the three of them,” said the coach. “All three are different players, but all three are very effective when you combine their strengths and what they can do together.”

How far they can go together as a team is the next focus. It’s been well-documented that the 1991 Northern Michigan squad was the last to win the MacNaughton Cup outright and win a NCAA title in the same season. But Gwodecky’s 2005 Denver team shared the Cup (with Colorado College) and then won the national title, so some might argue that the “curse” has already been broken. One thing these Pioneers have rarely done this season is blow out their opponents. In their current 10-game winning streak, a 5-1 triumph over Minnesota has been as close to a rout as they’ve seen, and the players think that’s a good thing.

“We keep finding ways to win,” Cheverie said. “We’re not dominating teams. Every game is tough.”

Now the true tough work begins, with four more trophies (Gold Pan, Broadmoor, Hobey and NCAA title) in their sights as the Pioneers eye March and April. Not to lessen the importance of the Cup, which Gwozdecky believes is the hardest conference title to win in college hockey, but the celebration will be somewhat muted, as energy is conserved for what they expect will be a longer run.

“We know this is far from over,” Colborne said outside the visitors’ locker room in Mankato. “We’ll enjoy it tonight, but then we’ve got to move on because there’s a lot more we want to do with our season.”

RARE ROAD SWING FOR CC

After getting swept at home by North Dakota last weekend, Colorado College will be going on the road for the playoffs for just the second time in the last 17 seasons. In 2004, the Tigers traveled to Denver for a pair and swept the Pioneers. Denver made good use of the extra weekend of rest, and went on to win the NCAA title that season.

One playoff scenario has CC traveling to Minnesota Duluth for round one. After the Bulldogs visited CC in the playoffs last year and upset the Tigers, there are surely one or two CC players who would relish the opportunity to return the favor.

FIRE AWAY BADGERS

Someone has clearly gotten the message to Wisconsin that a shot on goal is never a bad play. En route to scoring 10 goals last weekend in a sweep at Michigan Tech (by identical 5-2 scores each night), the Badgers recorded an amazing 113 shots on goal. They had 63 on Friday, and a relatively tame 50 on Saturday.

Speaking of the Badgers, this is our favorite stat of the week: If Blake Geoffrion holds on to claim the WCHA scoring title this weekend, he will be the first Wisconsin player to do so since two Badgers shared the honor at the end of the 1977-78 season. Who were they? None other than current Badger men’s hockey coach Mike Eaves and current Badger women’s hockey coach Mark Johnson (who took a leave of absence to coach the Team USA women to a silver medal in Vancouver).

A DECC THROWBACK

With the Winter Olympics still going last weekend, and so many flashbacks to the 1980 Miracle on Ice being referenced, it seems appropriate that Minnesota Duluth played like the days of Reaganomics had returned. The Bulldogs 3-0 shutout of Minnesota last Saturday marked the first time UMD had blanked the Golden Gophers since a 8-0 win on Nov. 14, 1980.