DENVER — Winning a championship in your first year on a team is rare. For junior forward Jack Devine, that was the case in his freshman year at the University of Denver.
“I think every year I’ve been here we have had a special team, and I think our team this year is also a special group and that’s the goal every year is to win a national championship,” Devine said about winning the NCAA title in 2022. “So, for me, it was an extreme blessing to do that back in my freshman year. And I think it’s something that all of us are hungry for to do again.”
Devine was involved in both the 2022 and 2017 championships, as he was present in the stands for the Pioneer win over Minnesota-Duluth in 2017. It was at that moment he decided he wanted to attend the University of Denver and help defend their eight titles.
He desired to attend one of the best hockey schools in the nation for various reasons.
“You can tell from the first time I was here that there’s emphasis on winning,” Devine said. “There’s an emphasis on trying to win a championship every year. Another big thing for me was the coaching staff. The coaching staff when I was getting recruited, they were awesome, and even now, like the things they told me about how important development is, how important developing both as a hockey player and a person, that has really been important to me. And I think lastly, it’s both a great academic and athletic program and that was something that was very important to me.”
Devine has started the year out hot, stacking up four goals and two assists in just two games against Alaska-Fairbanks.
He shot an amazing 80% over the opening weekend and worked top-line minutes. At one point, Devine would have the first Pioneer hat trick of the season, but it was later changed to an assist after a tip from McKade Webster.
Jack Devine tallies his 2nd marker of the game as the Pioneers convert on a 5-on-3.
DU 4 | UAF 1 | 8:27 2nd#GoPios pic.twitter.com/au8L5sLTUr
— Denver Hockey (@DU_Hockey) October 9, 2023
“I think all the credit is to my teammates,” Devine said about the opening weekend. “I think for a weekend like that, you’re just going in and focusing on getting two wins. And I think for me, it was just trying to do anything I can to help our team win. So obviously it’s nice to be successful there. And I think my teammates helped contribute to that and put me in a good position.”
Devine participated in the Florida Panthers’ development camp for the first time in his young career. He could join all the Panthers’ prospects in drills and get tips from the NHL coaching staff.
“You’re just trying to take tidbits and take little things you can learn,” Devine said about the camp. “I think you try to take anything you can learn here to be successful in the season now.”
Everything that Devine has done in the last two years has been to the benefit of his teammates. But he insists that his success is because of them.
He is a hardworking young man who strives to be the best at everything he has done so far. You are going to want to monitor Jack Devine; this kid is going places.