Hockey Powerhouse Suffers Humiliating Defeat, Rivals Miracle On Ice

Denver's hockey team suffered a loss that might rival the Miracle on Ice.

The Pioneers are a college hockey powerhouse in every sense of the word. The team has six national titles since 2016, and that includes titles in 2022 and 2024.

Denver is a true blue blood in the college hockey world, and David Carle dominates year after year. That's why the team's recent game against UNLV left fans in a state of shock.

UNLV shocks the hockey world with game against Denver.

The Pioneers - currently ranked sixth in college hockey - played UNLV in the closing days of December in an exhibition game that won't officially count against the program's record.

That's good news…..because UNLV - a club team in the ACHA - beat the Pioneers in a shootout. Yes, you read that sentence correctly.

A historic college hockey powerhouse lost to a club team. In fact, the Skatin Rebels jumped out to a 5-1 lead before the Pioneers knew what hit them.

The Pioneers eventually stormed back to force a shootout, which ended with the UNLV Skatin Rebels winning.

Yet, Denver is trying to convince people the exhibition game was simply a tie, and not a loss. Below is a screenshot of the team's website.

No matter how Denver wants to record its loss, you can't erase what people watched with their own eyes. It's hard to even imagine a comparison to this when it comes to college football.

My best comparison would be if Georgia lost to a top DIII team. Imagine if UW-Whitewater went down to Athens and jumped out to a 35-7 lead. Does that break your brain? It should because it's almost impossible to imagine.

Herb Brooks would certainly be proud of the Skatin Rebels, and that's a great reason to smash play on the legendary speech from "Miracle" below.

Let me know what you think of the upset at David.Hookstead@outkick.com

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David Hookstead is a reporter for OutKick covering a variety of topics with a focus on football and culture. He also hosts of the podcast American Joyride that is accessible on Outkick where he interviews American heroes and outlines their unique stories. Before joining OutKick, Hookstead worked for the Daily Caller for seven years covering similar topics. Hookstead is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin.