One year ago, Vancouver Canucks defenceman Zeev Buium was playing in the NCAA for the University of Denver. The now 20-year-old helped Denver capture a National Championship the year prior, and had his eye set on ending his NCAA career as a back-to-back champion. Unfortunately for Buium and Denver, they fell to the eventual champions, Western Michigan, in the semifinals of the 2025 Frozen Four. Buium played two seasons with the University of Denver before making the jump to the NHL. Over that time, he skated in 83 games and recorded 98 points. In speaking with The Hockey News, Buium was asked about his time with the Pioneers and the memories he made over the two seasons. "Man, it's the best," said Buium. "I love Denver. I love everything about it. The guys, coaches, staff. Just so fun to play there. And, I mean, that's what you play the whole year for, is those four games. I think the way we looked at it was like, might not play great all season, you might have a bad stretch, but the end of the day, all that matters is getting those four games and putting your best four games together. Lucky enough to do it my freshman year and win. And last year, I think we wanted even more. It was just like the hunger and that feeling of going to regionals and you're in kind of a greasy building and probably not the best place to play. But that's to me kind of makes it an experience, in a way, where I think the first year in Springfield, and last year we were, like, Manchester or something, it was just like not a very good rink. Beat down, and just a lot of fun. I just remember being like this tiny locker room, and it felt like a sauna in there, and everyone's just battling for their life every shift, and just really fun and really glad I got to experience it two years in a row." On March 27, the University of Denver will kick off its quest for a spot in the 2026 Frozen Four with a game against Cornell. While the team has changed since last season, there are still a few players, like Kent Anderson and Boston Buckberger, who Buium played with in the past. According to Buium, he still keeps in touch with some of his old teammates and was excited to watch them claim the NCHC Championship this past season. "Oh, yeah, always. Yeah, they just won their conference championship, which was huge, and first time it was not neutral ice. So it was pretty cool to see them winning at home. Just made it that much better. You know, hearing their stories, how awesome it was to be at school and win. So yeah, I talked to those guys all the time, and hopefully they can, they can pull through this weekend and move on to the Frozen Four." Just like at the NHL level, the NCAA has passionate fans in every rink. Student sections go all out to support the team, which creates a loud atmosphere every night. As Buium explained, playing at the Magness Arena was a special experience, largely due to the support he and his teammates received. "It's amazing. You would think it's just almost as loud as an NHL rink, if not louder, sometimes, just because of how condensed the rink is. And you know, you got seven, eight thousand fans, and you got the whole student section and just rioting the whole game and yelling and chanting and just so fun to play in front of. I remember every time we played at home is best feeling ever, and there's no better feeling than playing a Friday and Saturday at home in college. So it's definitely an unbelievable experience." Passionate fans also mean some interesting situations on the road. Regardless of sport, student sections across the NCAA [http://thn.com/ncaa] will pull off odd shenanigans in order to throw off the opposition. For Buium, one that stood out was when Denver played Western Michigan, which is the alma mater of current teammate Max Sasson. "Even playing on the road. Some of the teams you play on the road, you know, college hockey, it's almost more exciting playing in their barns. Like Western Michigan, where Sass (Max Sasson) played, they'd put pictures of your girlfriend, or, you know, they make crazy signs of you and your teammates, your family, on the glass while you're playing the game. So it's a pretty unique experience." This year, four Canucks players have alma maters in the tournament. The other three are Sasson (Western Michigan), Brock Boeser (North Dakota) and Drew O'Connor (Dartmouth). According to Buium, there has already been some trash talk with his teammates and a bet that he is waiting for Sasson to pay up on. "Me and Sass recently, because Western was playing Denver, so he still needs to wear a Denver jersey one of these days. But, yeah, I mean, I hate North Dakota, so me and Boes (Brock Boeser) talk about that, but I guess we share the fact that they had an unbelievable team, obviously, because everybody kind of knew that, and knowing that he won, and we kind of shared that experience of what it felt like. So that was pretty cool." Apr 10, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, UNITED STATES; Denver Pioneers defenseman Zeev Buium (28) controls the puck against the Western Michigan Broncos during the first period of the Frozen Four college ice hockey national semifinals at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/9d99baec-485a-444e-9162-daf325c0b093.jpeg] Apr 10, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, UNITED STATES; Denver Pioneers defenseman Zeev Buium (28) controls the puck against the Western Michigan Broncos during the first period of the Frozen Four college ice hockey national semifinals at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images Buium will be keeping tabs on Denver as they make their way through the tournament [https://www.ncaa.com/brackets/icehockey-men/d1/2026]. All Denver has to do now is go on a four-game winning streak in order to be crowned champions. This year's Frozen Four will take place in Vegas, with the championship game scheduled for April 11, 2026. Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News [https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMK-q0gsw7sXpAw/sections/CAQqEAgAKgcICjCvqtILMO7F6QMwr-DfCA?hl=en-CA&gl=CA&ceid=CA%3Aen] for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum. This article originally appeared on The Hockey News [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/vancouver-canucks]. 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