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Hawkinson Out For Year Leaving Pios Thin at Forward

A slew of injuries to an already thin group leaves Denver searching for answers at forward.

By Chris Dilks

Denver freshman forward Brad Hawkinson suffered a shoulder injury during preseason training with the Pioneers this fall. Hawkinson was able to get healthy by Denver's season opener against Merrimack two weekends ago, but reaggravated the injury last week, and now, Mike Chambers of the Denver Post is reporting that Hawkinson will require a season-ending surgery on his shoulder.

Hawkinson's injury leaves a Pioneer team that came into the season already perilously thin at forward even more so. Denver started the season with just 14 forwards on their roster, thanks in part to their coaching transition, and new head coach Jim Montgomery choosing to cut ties with some players that committed to DU under the previous regime(including Ray Pigozzi, who has three points through his first four collegiate games at UMass). Of those 14 forwards, freshman Emil Romig was ineligible the first eight games of this year due to an NCAA suspension because he played with a professional player while growing up in Europe. Junior Zac Larraza is also out with a shoulder injury that required surgery, though will allow him to return sometime this season.

To combat the thin numbers, the Pioneers moved sophomore defenseman Nolan Zajac up to forward, and added forward Sean Toriumi, who was president of the DU club hockey team, to the roster.