DENVER — It was an eventful sophomore season for former Brainerd Warrior Eric Pohlkamp.
The defenseman in his first year at the University of Denver helped the Pioneers reach the NCAA Frozen Four National Semifinals, where they lost in double overtime to eventual national champion Western Michigan 3-2 Thursday, April 10, in St. Louis.
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Denver found themselves trailing 2-0 after two periods, but tied the score with two goals in the third. Pohlkamp assisted on the game-tying goal with less than three minutes left.
Twenty-six seconds into the second overtime, Western Michigan’s Owen Michaels ended the Pioneers' and Pohlkamp’s season with heartbreak.
“It was an incredible year,” Pohlkamp said. “One of the main reasons I came here is just to have that winning culture and to be able to make it as far as we did. I loved every second of it. We get treated so well here and I have no complaints. The Frozen Four was really incredible. Just walking on the red carpet and seeing your family was really cool.
“We played Western Michigan a bunch of times this year and lost in overtime in a game earlier in the season. They are a really good team. We had our chances in the first overtime. We got looks and just couldn’t find the back of the net. It was a tough game.”
Pohlkamp said he didn’t realize how big of an event the Frozen Four was until he got there.
“We had our own recovery room at the hotel, we had our own lobby and St. Louis did a nice job hosting,” he said. “It was a lot bigger than I thought. The NHL rink was sold out for the semifinal game.”
Pohlkamp transferred to Denver from Bemidji State University, where he played as a freshman and was named All-Central Collegiate Hockey Association and All-CCHA Rookie Team while being named a finalist for CCHA Defenseman and Rookie of the Year honors.
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He was selected by the San Jose Sharks in the fifth round with the 132nd overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft. He attended the San Jose Sharks development camp in July before the season.
Pohlkamp finished his first season in Denver with 35 points (11 goals, 24 assists), including three power-play goals and one empty-net goal. He was named All-National Collegiate Hockey Conference and finished in the top five in the nation for defensemen in points.
“I really wanted to learn how to play good defense and play the two-way role and learn from the other guys too,” Pohlkamp said. “Being able to compete with these guys in practice was incredible. I’m going against our top line and each guy almost had 50 points on the year, which is really crazy to think about. I went to Denver to mostly polish my two-way game because if I do that, it will hopefully be more of my role at the next level.”
Pohlkamp scored a goal in Denver’s 3-1 win over Boston College in the NCAA Northeast Regional Final to reach the Frozen Four.
“That was really cool because my parents came out last minute,” Pohlkamp said. “The stands were full of BC fans, and to score against them was really cool. That was probably one of the funniest games I played. To punch our ticket to the Final Four, that was a cool experience.”
Four of Pohlkamp’s Denver teammates have signed with NHL teams since the season ended, including All-Americans Zeev Buium and Jack Devine. Buium, a defenseman, signed with the Minnesota Wild and was the NCHC Player of the Year.
“Seeing what he does and how he handles himself and learning from them every day is incredible,” Pohlkamp said. “The biggest adjustment coming to Denver was the first couple of weeks. I just felt really unathletic during the workouts and it was just muscles I’ve never used.”
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Pohlkamp plans to return to Denver for his junior season.
“I’m going to talk to my agent and talk to San Jose probably this week and go from there,” Pohlkamp said. “I plan on coming back. There are a couple of areas in my game where I need to polish up.”
CONRAD ENGSTROM may be reached at 218-855-5861 or [email protected]. Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/the_rad34.
