Denver announced Monday that men’s hockey coach David Carle has signed a multi-year contract extension.
At the helm of the program for the past seven seasons, Carle has led the Pioneers to 179-74-17 overall record and his career .694 winning percentage is presently the highest all-time among DU hockey coaches. He guided Denver to national championships in 2022 and 2024 and four Frozen Four appearances (2019, 2022, 2024, 2025), joining Murray Armstrong as the only Denver coaches to reach the national semifinal four times in a six-year stretch (no tournament in 2020).
“I am honored to have the university’s support for our hockey program over the last seven years and into the future,” said Carle in a statement. “Without their support and the support of our fans, alumni and donors, nothing that we have accomplished would have been possible. The resources we have established have had a direct impact on the daily lives of current and future Pioneer hockey student-athletes, and we continue to raise the bar for success with these commitments.
“I am grateful for chancellor Jeremy Haefner, chairman John Miller as well as the entire board of trustees and vice chancellor of athletics Josh Berlo for their continued support of and investment in Denver hockey to ensure we maintain our position as the best college program in the country. I’m looking forward to continuing to work with our student-athletes, coaches, administration, alumni, supporters and fans over the coming seasons. Denver is home for me and my family.”
The Denver hockey program continues to be resourced at a high level with support from athletic and university administration and in large part due to record philanthropy and increased revenues. Over the last several years, elevated support for the program included enhanced team travel, full Alston Award benefits for student-athletes, expansion of and investment in the coaching staff, as well as new lighting, seats, boards and glass at Magness Arena to improve the fan experience.
“We are thrilled to have David continue to lead the exceptional legacy that is Denver hockey,” said Berlo. “His dedication and passion are second to none, and we look forward to furthering our partnership and building upon our NCAA-record 10 national championships as the most accomplished college hockey program all-time. The Carle family commitment, along with the support of our university leadership, students, alumni, donors, season-ticket holders and fans, empowers the program to continue to chase competitive and academic excellence year in and year out.”
Along with the extension, Carle is also committing to a multi-year major gift pledge to support current and new initiatives within the hockey program. Carle will be the first Denver athletics head coach to join the department’s Gold Standard Society. His gift will directly support the Murray Armstrong Hockey Student-Athlete Enhancement Fund and the Athletics Excellence Fund.
“Our program is tremendously grateful for the support we have received from our fans, alumni and donors. In today’s changing college athletic landscape, we are grateful for philanthropy and season-ticket holder support more than ever to help our program stay at the highest level,” said Carle. “The legacy of Denver hockey wouldn’t be where it is without the foundation laid by coach Murray Armstrong. My family and I are honored to support the Murray Armstrong Fund and become members of the Gold Standard Society with the signing of this agreement. I would invite others to honor Murray’s legacy and support current and future initiatives of Pioneer hockey at a time when it is as crucial as ever.”
The support by the university, fans, alumni, and donors has led to an unrivalled level of success since the turn of the century. With their 10 national championships being the most all-time, the Pioneers have won five titles, reached eight Frozen Fours, have 19 NCAA tournament appearances and 623 total victories since 1999-2000.
Denver has won at least 20 games in each of the last 23 full seasons, the longest active streak in the NCAA and extending their school-record “Tenzer Streak.” Over the last four years, Denver has won 30 or more games — the longest such stretch in program history and the longest since Michigan in the 1990s (1990-98) — to go along with their three Frozen Four berths and two national championships in that time.
Carle’s 179 wins rank fourth in Denver hockey history, and he is three away from tying Ralph Backstrom for third place on the program’s all-time list. The Pioneers have reached the NCAA tournament in each of the five full seasons with Carle leading the bench, with DU posting a 12-3 record in national tournament outings and making it to four Frozen Fours. Carle owns an 83-49-11 mark in NCHC play and helped DU capture the 2022 and 2023 Penrose Cup as regular-season champions and the 2024 Frozen Faceoff Trophy as conference tournament champions.
Since 2018-19, Carle and the Pioneers own a perfect 7-0-0 record against Big Ten programs and have an 18-7-1 mark against opponents from Hockey East. Against NCAA “Power Four” schools, Denver has a 21-6-1 record in those matchups.
The Anchorage, Alaska, native became the fourth-youngest coach in history to win a D-I national title in 2022 (32 years, five months) and is the youngest ever to win two national championships following the Pioneers’ NCAA-record 10th victory in 2024 (34 years, five months, four days). He is the 20th coach in NCAA history to win multiple national championships and was the first to do so since Scott Sandelin of Minnesota Duluth (2011, 2018, 2019).
This past season in 2024-25, Carle and the Pioneers went 31-12-1 and reached the Frozen Four for the second straight year after opening the campaign with wins in each of its first 12 games—the best start in program history. The season-opening stretch was part of an overall 21-game winning streak that dated back to March 9, 2024 and went through Nov. 16, 2024—the longest across multiple seasons in school history and one shy of tying the longest overall winning streak at Denver (22, Jan. 5-March 16, 1968).
In addition to his responsibilities at DU, Carle has guided the United States National Junior Team in each of the past two years and helped the Americans win consecutive gold medals at the 2024 and 2025 IIHF World Junior Championships. It was the first time that Team USA had won consecutive World Junior Championships and marked the sixth and seventh titles in the country’s history. Carle is the only U.S. coach to win multiple World Juniors, and he and Marshall Johnston in 1977 are the only Denver bench bosses to lead Team USA at the World Junior Championship.
Named the ninth Denver hockey head coach in program history on May 25, 2018, Carle was 28 years old at the time of his hire and was youngest head coach in NCAA Division I men’s hockey. He first joined DU as a student assistant coach from 2008-12 and later served four and a half seasons as a full-time assistant coach under Jim Montgomery (2014-18), reaching two Frozen Fours and winning the 2017 national championship.
The University of Denver men’s ice hockey head coach is an endowed position by Richard and Kitzia Goodman. It was the first of five head coaching positions at Denver to be endowed (others include men’s lacrosse, men’s soccer, women’s gymnastics and alpine skiing).
