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For Buium brothers and DU hockey, this season is all about becoming college hockey’s undisputed juggernaut

After last season’s promising 30-win campaign ended with a disappointing loss in the first round of the national tournament, DU is determined to get back to the mountaintop and stake its claim as college hockey’s undisputed juggernaut.

But for the Pioneers to break a tie with Michigan for all-time NCAA Division I championships by claiming their 10th this season, they’ll need the Buium brothers to play a pivotal role.

Shai Buium, a junior, is a linchpin on the back end for the Pioneers, while his younger brother, fellow defender and freshman Zeev Buium, is expected to make an impact in his draft-eligible season. Shai helped propel DU to the NCAA title two years ago, and Zeev is a notable rising talent who at 17 is the second-youngest college player in the country.

“Shai’s primed and ready to go to take a huge step for us,” DU captain McKade Webster said. “He’s going to be one of our best defensemen, a huge penalty-kill guy. He’s obviously a power-play guy. He’s going to have to take steps into playing 25 minutes a night at every single position (on defense) and taking pride in shutting down teams’ first lines and also scoring goals and making assists.

“And you can tell Zeev, even as just a freshman, he’s in the same mold — an unbelievable skater, tough, and very intelligent with the puck.”

In 38 games as a sophomore last year, Shai underscored his reputation as an offensive defenseman with four goals and 17 assists, including three power-play goals and one game-winner. Selected by the Red Wings in the second round of the 2021 NHL draft, Shai said he’s embracing the “good pressure” that comes with being a centerpiece on a team with national title-or-bust expectations.

“Players come here because of the rich tradition and to vie for a national championship, and what’s why Zeev and I are both here,” Shai said. “We want to be the only one up there atop (the all-time title list). That’s our focus as brothers and as a team.”

While Shai is established, Zeev will have to earn his keep among 10 freshmen on the roster — DU’s largest incoming class in five years. The fresh-faced Pioneers are tied with Harvard for the second-youngest team in the country with an average age of 20.9.

Will Zeev, coming off a two-year stint in the United States National Team Development Program that culminated with a gold medal at the 2023 U18 World Championship, be ready to live up to the expectations attached to his last name?

The youngest Buium says that if his driveway history with his older brothers in San Diego is any indication, he’ll be ready.

“We all grew up playing roller hockey in the long, flat driveway and cul-de-sac in front of our house, and we’d be out there at all hours, playing 1-on-1, playing 2-on-1,” Zeev recalled. “Shai and (oldest brother Ben) were really hard on me as a kid. I hate to lose, they hate to lose. They would team up on me every once in a while, just to give me a hard time, but that really shaped me into who I am today.

“It was a lot of me playing defense against them, me strapping on the pads and them ripping tennis balls at me, roller pucks. I was never a kid who cried about it. I enjoyed it, I liked it, and it sounds crazy but it was fun to me. That helps me a lot in my game now. When I get hit on the ice, when I get blown up, I just get back up on my feet. I feel like I have a really strong mental side of my game, and that inherent aggressiveness, and a lot of that comes from my brothers beating up on me, being hard on me as a kid.”

Shai and Zeev made their brotherly debut this weekend in the Pioneers’ opener at Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday and Sunday, the first time they’ve ever officially suited up together in their lifetimes intertwined in the sport.

“We’re cherishing this year,” Zeev said. “But yeah, we’ve already also started talking about how it’d be pretty cool to see each other in the NHL one day. We are living in the moment but (still looking ahead).”

The 6-foot-2, 180-pound Zeev doesn’t have the size of Shai (6-4, 210), but their style of play is similar. Like his older brother, Zeev is a heady player and has plenty of offense in his game. He led all defenseman on his U18 team with 40 points (five goals, 35 assists) last season.

“We both think the game really well and that’s something we pride ourselves on,” Zeev said. “As kids playing in that front driveway, that’s something we cultivated. You have to get creative, and that’s helped a lot now that we’re on the ice, because you see that little stuff we’ve always worked on (on the blacktop) come through, especially on offense.”

With the Buium brothers ready, and head coach David Carle having guided the Pios to four NCAA Tournament appearances in his first five years on the bench, the rest of college hockey is seeing the same championship potential in DU once again. The Pioneers opened the season ranked in the top five in both national preseason polls and were also voted the favorites to three-peat as champions of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference.

Forwards Massimo Rizzo, Aidan Thompson, Tristan Broz and Webster will be counted on to lead DU’s offense, but Webster emphasized that “depth is going to win us a championship.”

“We have 14 forwards that can play every single night and at pretty much any spot in the (offensive) lineup,” said Webster, who worked his way up from a fourth-line, penalty-kill reserve to starter and captain over the past several years. “Our third- or fourth-line guys, they can be slotted in (on the first couple lines) and we won’t miss a beat.”

DU’s schedule is stiff this year with a dozen nonconference games against eight opponents, with six of those on the road. That includes games at ranked opponents Providence and Boston College later this month before NCHC play begins with the Gold Pan rivalry series against Colorado College on Nov. 3 and 4.

All of which, Carle is not afraid to say, is just a precursor to what really matters at Magness Arena: raising banners.

“For a lot of places, 30 wins is a great season and it’s nothing to bat an eye at,” Carle said. “But we are evaluated on the national tournament and how we perform in that. To our standard, we didn’t live up to that last year. So there was certainly a bitter taste in our mouth throughout the summer, and throughout the spring and getting into camp.

“If you don’t begin with the end in mind, why start? It’s critical and it’s how we operate. We know the standard here and we don’t shy away from it.”

DU Hockey schedule 2023-24

* NCHC game