‘Sets the standard for us next year’

It’s been a week that Clarke Caswell won’t soon forget.

The Brandon product is still riding high after helping the University of Denver men’s hockey program to its record 11th national championship and third in the last five years with a 2-1 triumph over Wisconsin.

Caswell and his teammates have received the VIP treatment around Colorado in the days following, being honoured at the Avalanche’s regular-season finale, watching Shohei Ohtani and the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers pay a visit to the Rockies and, on Monday, wrapping up the local pro sports trifecta as the Nuggets begin the NBA Playoffs.

It doesn’t get much better for a college kid.

“It was an unreal week. Just the vibe around campus and stuff like that, and kind of just reflecting on the season,” Caswell said. “Guys are heading back to the rink (on Monday), kind of getting back into the gym, but it’s definitely been an awesome week, just enjoying it with the guys.”

It’s been a fitting bow on a freshman season that was filled with gifts for the 20-year-old, who jumped to the college ranks after three successful seasons in the Western Hockey League with the Swift Current Broncos.

A 2024 fifth-round pick of the Seattle Kraken, Caswell — the second-youngest player on Denver’s roster — finished third on the team in points after scoring eight times and leading the Pioneers with 26 assists for a total of 34 points in his first 42 college games.

The Manitoban proved he was capable of a big game when it mattered most, too, scoring two goals and five points in four national championship tournament contests, including a game-tying goal late in the third period of Denver’s semifinal against No. 1 Michigan at a nearly sold-out T-Mobile Arena in Vegas. Caswell called the goal “one of the coolest moments” of his career, as the Pioneers went on to win in double-OT.

“I think the first time you get to campus, you kind of see the standard and stuff like that. Obviously, they won in ’24 to get their 10th, and the most in college hockey history, so that was kind of the goal the whole year,” Caswell said. “Personally, I’ve never won a championship, and it’s something I’ve always pushed for, especially in the (WHL), the three years that I was there.”

Caswell, who is a natural winger, centred a strong second scoring line with Sam Harris and fellow freshman Kristian Epperson while playing on the top power-play and penalty-kill units.

That level of responsibility is not uncommon for a freshman to shoulder in a Denver program, and it’s also not unusual for them to find immediate success, but head coach David Carle said that doesn’t mean anyone can do it.

“For a player of his calibre, certainly. I mean, we’ve had a lot of freshmen come in and play marquee roles to start, (but) obviously not all of them do it or can do it. So you’ve got to be a pretty smart, competitive, skilled player to be able to play in a lot of those situations,” Carle said.

The 5-11, 181-pound Caswell isn’t known to out-physical anyone, but he will outsmart his opponents. That became evident to Carle early on.

“I think a lot of it is his hockey sense and his competitiveness. He’s a really cerebral player, understands the game and kind of what the game needs from him at a given moment,” Carle said.

“I remember we got up in that Western Michigan game — to go to the Frozen Four — and talking to Clarke after the game and the next week, you hear players maybe talk about or think about it, but he said, ‘No, I really enjoy those games, too, because you’re trying to defend the lead and you’ve got to play a little bit different. Yeah, you can get chances and be opportunistic, but you don’t want to give up anything for free.’ For me, it just gave a really good insight into how he thinks about the game and that he’s very aware of situations. I think that’s how he builds trust, not only with us as coaches, but with his teammates as well.”

Caswell scored 61 times and logged 204 points in 213 junior games, including playoffs.

He was set on going to college before going pro, regardless of whether it was this year or next, but the idea of getting a jump start on furthering his development as one of the youngest players at Denver rather than returning to Swift Current as one of the older players in the WHL was appealing.

Caswell said he wrestled with the decision for a while, but with Carle pursuing the Manitoban hard and Caswell being interested in the opportunity that Denver presented on the ice and academically, it was a fit he couldn’t let pass.

“Both off the ice and on the ice, I got a lot stronger. You’re playing half the games that you’d play in a WHL season, so I gained a lot of lean mass,” Caswell said.

“And then on the ice, it was just learning a lot of pro habits. Guys are bigger, stronger, faster, and then you got DC as your coach, so he teaches you everything from just controlling the game, protecting the puck — all things that NHL teams want and you kind of need when you go into any sort of playoffs, whatever league it is. Growing that experience was awesome.”

As the celebration of yet another Pioneers’ championship-winning season winds down, Caswell has already found himself looking toward next season. He hopes to have another week like this one, one year from now.

“Winning the natty just sets the standard for us next year,” said Caswell. “Obviously, knowing that feeling in your first year, now you want to do it every year after that. And we got a lot of returners, so lot of fuel in our room to just go and do it again and just prove our dynasty for another year.”

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