When Celley assumed the reins he was the youngest head coach in the history of college ice hockey at 24[3] and had won a national title with Michigan the year before, as a player.

[6] Denver struggled to fill out its schedule and though DU finished with the best record of any western team (22–5–1) their competition was so paltry that the Pioneers were passed over in favor of North Dakota (who had taken three of four matches between them) for the NCAA tournament with Big Ten champion Michigan State receiving the other bid.

Because the matter of recruitment was left unchanged, Denver was able to take full advantage and build their program into the dominant power for the duration of the decade.

The Fighting Sioux scored three times before 8 minutes had elapsed and, while Denver responded with two quick goals, North Dakota tacked on two more in the first to finish with a 5–2 lead.

When they added another 5 minutes into the second it looked as if they were going to walk to a national title but the Pioneers did npt quit and scored twice to cut the lead in half entering the third.

North Dakota closed ranks and set up a wall in front of Rudy Unis in the final frame but still could not stop Denver from scoring, however, the Pioneers could only notch one goal and lost their first NCAA tournament game, 5–6.

In the NCAA tournament DU produced a very similar result to the year before by dropping their semifinal opponent easily, then allowing the team they defeated in the WCHA championship to score the first three goals.

Denver was given a regional matchup against the dismal Colorado College Tigers and took the game easily to give them a shot against arch-nemesis North Dakota for an entry to the NCAA tournament.

Despite being the lower seed the game was played in Denver's home stadium due in part to a terrible blizzard that dropped more than two feet around Grand Forks.

Once there Denver faced Clarkson for the third time in the semifinal but the Golden Knights were able to avenge their earlier losses and send DU to its first consolation game.

The following season Denver rose to 2nd in the conference but because the WCHA tournament was still arranged for regional matchups the Pioneers had to play top seed North Dakota in the second round and the Fighting Sioux were able to redeem themselves with a win.

Denver finished the season atop the WCHA and with the regional restrictions abolished they were able to take full advantage of their top seed and demolish their competition 27–7 in the three games.

[3] The next season was much the same; after a slow start the Pioneers ran through most of their competition, finishing second in the WCHA and taking down much weaker opponents in the conference tournament to return to the NCAA playoff.

The Pioneers did not have any problems scoring against the seemingly impregnable Big Red defense, building leads three times while the final one stuck and Denver won its fifth NCAA national title, 4–3.

[3] As if their recent tournament collapses needed a concrete symbol, the DU Arena roof failed in 1972 and forced the team to play most of their remaining home games at the Denver Coliseum.

1974–75 saw Denver post its first losing season since Armstrong's first year and while the team was slowly recovering, DU would not make another tournament appearance until long after his retirement in 1977.

The following season brought only marginal improvements but when the team rose above .500 in 1992–93 it looked like Serratore's job may be saved, but after slipping back to 9th in the conference the year after he was out as coach and replaced by Wisconsin alumnus George Gwozdecky.

In 1999 the Pioneers were able to defeat a dominant North Dakota to take their first conference championship in thirteen years, but lost their first NCAA tournament game to Michigan in the first meeting between the two since the Wolverines left the WCHA.

[19] DU was able to defeat Gwozdecky's previous team, Miami, in a close game before advancing to face North Dakota in the West Regional Final.

The top team in the nation held Denver off the scoresheet and out shot the Pioneers 23–13 in the opening two periods but the Fighting Sioux could not get the puck past Adam Berkhoel.

[21] With Maine as the only obstacle left in their path, Denver put up in front of Adam Berkhoel and allowed only 24 shots to reach their goalie, including none during a 6-on-3 power play advantage in the last minute and a half of the game.

In the Final Denver met North Dakota for the fourth time, matching the record for championship meetings with Michigan and Colorado College.

[23] The next season brought Denver its first Hobey Baker winner in Matt Carle but the team floundered in the first round of the WCHA tournament and this time their record was not good enough to get them into the championship.

Despite the regular season success the early playoff exits, coupled with a contract structure dispute, these results led Denver to fire their head coach in 2013, only 17 wins away from tying Murray Armstrong's program record.

[24] Gwozdecky's firing coincided with the founding of the NCHC, a power conference that was created due to Wisconsin and Minnesota leaving to restart the Big Ten hockey division.

Despite their lackluster start the Pioneers were provided with an opportunity by facing weaker-than-expected opposition in the final two games and were able to win the inaugural championship, as they had done with the WCHA 54 years earlier.

The Pioneer's NCAA run was predictably short-lived but the team seemed to have found new life under Montgomery's watch which they demonstrated by increasing their win total in each of the next three years.

In addition they won progressively more tournament games, reaching the Frozen Four in 2016 before winning their 8th National Championship in the 2017 season along with getting their second Hobey Baker Award, this one going to Will Butcher.

In 2022, following wins against UMass Lowell and Minnesota Duluth, David Carle and the Denver Pioneers entered the Frozen Four for the 18th time in school history.

Originally a U.S. Navy drill hall in northern Idaho, the structure was built in the early 1940s at Farragut Naval Training Station at Lake Pend Oreille.