David Carle at Home at Denver

David Carle wanted to make something clear: Denver is home for him and his family, and he isn’t planning on leaving his position as the University of Denver Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach any time soon.
 
“At the end of the day, this is I think the best job outside the NHL, potentially a better job, and some guys in the NHL would trade with me if they had that opportunity,” Carle said. “I love working with our players. I love working in this environment.”
 
Carle is staying with the Pioneers after signing a multi-year contract extension on May 5, keeping him at the helm of a program that might be going through one of its best periods in its 75-year-plus history.
 
Since taking over as the then-youngest head coach in Division-I college hockey on May 25, 2018, Carle has guided the Pioneers to 179 wins—the third-most among all NCAA bench bosses in that time—two NCHC Penrose Cups as regular-season champions, the 2024 NCHC Frozen Faceoff conference tournament title, four trips to the NCAA Frozen Four and two national championships. He was the fourth-youngest coach to win his first NCAA title in 2022 (32 years, 5 months, 0 days) and is the youngest ever to win two championships following the Pioneers’ record 10th victory in 2024 (34 years, 5 months, 4 days).
 
After seven years, the now 35-year-old already has a resume that rivals some of the best coaches ever at this level, and that doesn’t include the back-to-back gold medals he won as the head coach with Team USA at the 2024 and 2025 IIHF World Junior Championships.
 
So it’s not surprising that the Anchorage, Alaska, native has drawn interest from National Hockey League squads in recent years for their own head coach vacancies. Carle has interviewed with clubs previously, but it became even more clear that DU was the place for him after going through the process this spring.
 
“I think you’re always open minded to things that come your way and wanting to have those conversations, and I think it only helps me learn and grow more,” Carle said of the NHL opportunities. “It only helps our program in many ways.”
 
The Pioneer bench boss is well-aware of the current lifespan of NHL head coaches, which is approximately two seasons. That played a factor in his decision to stay at the collegiate level.
 
“There’s no issue in being patient—27-of-32 jobs have turned over in the last three years. Some of those jobs have turned over multiple times, so the number’s even higher than 27,” Carle said. “It’s a reality that I’d be foolish to put my head in the sand and not think that that’s a real thing.”
 
Carle noted that “Denver is home for me and my family,” and he has spent almost all of the past 17 years living within a mile of the DU campus—the only exception being one and a half seasons when he took his first job out of college as an assistant on the USHL Green Bay Gamblers. He now has three young children and stability at his alma mater, which began when the school honored his scholarship after his playing career was cut short following a diagnosis of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in 2008.
 
“We got three kids, we love living in Denver, think it’s a wonderful place to raise our kids,” Carle said. “We live real close to here… I feel very fortunate to continue to stay and to work here and serve here in the role that I’m in.”
 
The Pioneers program also continues to be invested in at a high level to stay at the forefront of the college hockey landscape. What began with a still state-of-the-art locker room renovation has led to new boards, glass, lighting and seats in Magness Arena to improve the fan experience, enhanced team travel with privately-funded charter flights to select road games, Alston Award benefits for the student-athletes and the addition of a third full-time assistant coach on staff.
 
“I feel really grateful for the support that they (DU) have done for a number of years but certainly stepping up in different ways… The investment that the school continues to put into our hockey program to ensure that it’s at an elite level is always much appreciated,” Carle noted. “As we got into the season, more conversations occurred (with administration on a new contract), and felt it was all in a great spot. I love being here, and really have no reason to leave.”
 
Carle has made his own investment into the hockey program as well. He pledged a multi-year gift to support current and new initiatives with the Pioneers and was the first Denver Athletics head coach to join the department’s Gold Standard Society.
 
His gift will go directly to Murray Armstrong Hockey Student-Athlete Enhancement Fund and the Athletics Excellence Fund, with the former being created in 2020 by David Paderski in honor of the former Pioneers coach that won five national titles and owns 460 victories while at the helm of the program from 1956 to 1977.
 
“The Carle family commitment, along with the support of our university leadership, students, alumni, donors, season-ticket holders and fans, empowers the program to continue to chase competitive and academic excellence year in and year out,” said Josh Berlo, DU’s Athletic Director and Vice Chancellor.
 
“There is not a more necessary time that we need that fund to grow,” Carle said. “To honor Murray, there’s no better person to honor in Denver hockey than what he did for us. Then the university and the athletic department, the Gold Standard Society is an opportunity to support all of our student-athletes. That initiative began last year and really proud and honored to be a part of it.”
 
Those investments aim to help the Pioneers build upon their six Frozen Four appearances and three national championships since 2016.
 
The program has been on a great run the past decade, but Carle isn’t satisfied with where the team is at. Yes, DU made its 20th Frozen Four in 2024-25, but it came short of its ultimate goal of adding an 11th title to the trophy cabinet.
 
Winning championships is what drives Carle and his players.
 
“The standards and the expectations never change,” Carle said. “That’s one of the great parts of working here, and something that obviously we as a program have created long before I got here.”