‘Brick wall’ Chrona streaks past three hours of shutout hockey
On Jan. 16, Denver Pioneers goalie Magnus Chrona turned aside 37 shots to blank Omaha.
The following weekend he posted back-to-back shutouts against rival Colorado College, but in a different manner, stopping 19 shots Jan. 21 and 16 shots a night later.
Getting peppered with shots can keep a goalie involved, but seeing shots infrequently in a game can result in a struggle to stay focused.
Chrona had no problem with either scenario in a goal-less stretch that has reached 183:16, the third longest in program history.
“It was a different type of performance for him,” Denver assistant coach Dallas Ferguson said about the Jan. 21 performance, “and that speaks to his growth as a player and person and how he has to prepare and be ready for all different sorts of situations, whether it’s within a game or from game to game.”
The No. 5 Pioneers are rolling. And Chrona is a big reason why.
The Pioneers are 12-1-1 in their last 14 games. In that stretch, the 6-foot-5 junior from Stockholm has held opponents to two goals or fewer 12 times.
He last gave up a goal with 3:16 left against Omaha on Jan. 15. He’s stopped the last 67 shots he’s seen, including those 35 combined from CC in the Gold Pan series last weekend.
“He’s a brick wall back there,” senior forward Ryan Barrow said recently.
Chrona is quickly climbing the DU record book. Chrona’s four shutouts this season give him eight in his DU career, tying him for sixth on the all-time list. One more shutout this season and Chrona would break into the top five for most shutouts by a Pioneers goalie in a single season.
As Chrona continues on with more than three hours of goal-free hockey, the streak could well continue when the Pioneers travel to take on Miami of Ohio Friday and Saturday. The Redhawks have just one win in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference and four overall.
Only once before in program history have the Pioneers pitched three consecutive shutouts, from Dec. 27, 2002, to Jan. 10, 2003.
While Chrona and the Tigers are streaking, the game seems to be the same for him. And he deflected to the work of the team.
“It felt like it’s normal,” Chrona said about seeing the puck. “It’s nice to see all the work that we put in pays off. I think we have a good thing rolling here, and it’s fun.”
Chrona was drafted by the Tampa Bay Lighting in the fifth round in the 2018 NHL draft. But it’s the San Jose Sharks who own his rights after a trade on April 12, 2021, that saw Fredrik Claesson go to the Lightning.
The NHL might be a ways off, but right now the Sharks are looking like they got a good deal.
And the Pioneers are going to keep benefiting.
“He gives us a lot of confidence, and it’s awesome to see,” Barrow said. “He’s getting results with shutouts right now, and he definitely also should’ve had more throughout the season if not for us having a couple lapses here and there.
“I’m glad he’s getting rewarded, he really deserves it.”
Denver Pioneers goaltender Magnus Chrona (30) makes a save on a Colorado College Tigers shot during the second period Friday, March 6, 2020, at the Broadmoor World Arena in Colorado Springs, Colo. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock)