Three of the team’s four captains study business.
From left: Rieger Lorenz, Boston Buckberger, Kent Anderson
The 2023-24 University of Denver men’s hockey team will be revered forever. The Pioneers took home their 10th national championship—the most of any program in history.
They did it with help from the country’s highest-powered offense, outstanding goaltending and the best captain Boston Buckberger has ever played for.
“[McKade Webster] just embodied Denver Pioneer hockey,” said Buckberger, now a junior defenseman. “His personality, his leadership, his mentality toward every single day was that we were going to grow and get better every single day. We didn’t need to peak in January.”
Buckberger channeled his old captain a lot this season. He now wears an alternate captain’s “A” on his sweater, a symbol of his role guiding the Pioneers through a rough start to the year and toward another championship run.
“All of the teams that have made it to Frozen Fours or won championships have had great leadership,” said David Carle, the Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach, “and we certainly feel like this team has the potential to realize that as well.”
Daniels College of Business students are at the forefront. Three of the four team captains (plus Carle, who has a Reiman School of Finance degree to his name) represent an institution that prides itself on teaching ethical leadership.
There’s Kent Anderson, the quieter, collectively minded captain, studying finance.
Rieger Lorenz, also a finance student, is more vocal, firmer, more willing to snap guys into shape.
And there’s Buckberger, studying accounting, who sees himself in the middle: bringing positivity while setting a firm standard through his work ethic on and off the ice.
“Every kid has their own style in what they do,” Carle said. “They’re all really good kids, they lead by example, they build relationships with their teammates and members of their community.”
Anderson says he doesn’t have to look hard to see the parallels between the way he shows up in the classroom and the locker room.
“The biggest thing I think of when you’re comparing a case competition to hockey is taking that initiative,” he said. “If you have a plan and prepare the right way, that’s the best chance to success.”
Lorenz agreed: “School is very much like athletics. A business is like a locker room. Having good leaders is crucial.”
For example, Buckberger said, “making sure that you know how people operate with their emotions, how they work best, because not everyone is always going to respond to criticism in the exact same way. Communication is a huge thing I’ve learned from Daniels with projects, and even with teachers. It’s really important to know how to communicate properly with superiors and show respect.”
You could say the three Daniels captains spend a lot of time co-creating their leadership approach. Not only do they sometimes take the same classes, but Anderson, Lorenz and Buckberger also live together.
Their shared Daniels background is also an extra touchpoint with their head coach, who still knows the building—and some of their professors—well. Carle also has the big-picture perspective of how a business degree pays dividends beyond graduation day.
“We’ve seen captains and leaders and graduates from our program and our university go on to do great things in their lives, whether in the business world or not,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of practical life skills and leadership skills that sport teaches you that coincide to what is happening in life and certainly in the corporate and business world.”
It’s all about getting a group of individuals to buy into a common goal and a common good, Carle said.
With the college hockey playoffs set to begin, the objective is clear. The team’s bumpy January is well behind it; the slow-and-steady approach Buckberger learned from his former captain remains.
“When it’s down to single-elimination games, we’ll be best suited to do whatever it takes,” he said. “The way we play and our process can elevate us back to the Frozen Four and, hopefully, win another national championship.”