The chance to roast freshman Dallas Ferguson was too good for Tavis MacMillan to pass up.
It was January 1993, and the DU hockey assistant coaches, then players at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, were flying home from a trip to Michigan State. In the first game that weekend, the Nanooks beat the ranked Spartans, a big win that came despite an own-goal by Ferguson.
The defenseman went to spike the puck out of the zone, but it glanced off Ferguson’s glove, went over his shoulder and past the goalie. MacMillan, a junior forward, wasn’t about to let Ferguson off the hook.
“We were landing in Fairbanks and the stewardess gets on the intercom, and usually that’s to congratulate the team,” Ferguson recalled. “But then all of a sudden I hear, ‘Congratulations to Dallas Ferguson on his first college goal.’ Everyone cracked up. … It was just assumed (MacMillan was behind that).”
“That was an easy one,” MacMillan added with a laugh.
The joke was an early footnote in what’s become a decades-long close friendship between the DU assistants — one rooted in humor, but also plenty of on-ice success.
As DU opens the season Friday at Air Force, MacMillan and Ferguson stand as the men behind the man driving the Pioneers’ sustained dominance. They’ve been with David Carle ever since he took over the program at 28 years old in 2018, and the Pioneers head coach says they’ve been a critical component of DU’s recent run of national titles and Frozen Four appearances.
“We joke a lot that they’re like an old married couple,” Carle said. “They get going on their old stories from their Fairbanks days, trying to embarrass each other. They know a lot of the same people (in college hockey), and when we go back to Alaska, they’re certainly celebrated in Fairbanks.
“They mean a lot to our program and we certainly wouldn’t have the success, or anywhere close to the success, that we do without the contributions that they make.”
MacMillan, in his 11th season at DU, was an assistant with Carle under Jim Montgomery before Carle ascended to head coach after Montgomery’s exit for the NHL. At the recommendation of MacMillan, Ferguson was hired in 2018 to fill Carle’s position.
Carle’s longest-tenured assistants — the other assistant, Ryan Massa, is in his fifth season with DU and works with the goalies — are both from Alberta, Canada, and had intertwined paths to DU. Beyond playing together for a couple of seasons at UAF, they also coached together in Fairbanks. Ferguson was an assistant on MacMillan’s staff, and then Ferguson took over the program after MacMillan left for a job in NHL scouting.
With the Pioneers, MacMillan, 55, is DU’s head recruiter who also works with forwards. Ferguson, 51, oversees the defense and power play in addition to being Carle’s right-hand man.
“I tell people, we don’t just have the best coach in the country (with Carle) — we have two of the best coaches in the country in D.C. and Ferg, because D.C. leans on Ferg a lot from a day-to-day hockey perspective,” MacMillan said.
Carle describes Ferguson as “unflappable in a lot of ways with a very calm demeanor that rubs off on people around him,” while MacMillan’s “ability to connect with players is what makes him special.”
Ahead of the showdown against the Falcons on Friday, Ferguson sent a photo to the DU group chat earlier this week of him playing Air Force during his time at UAF. In the photo, Ferguson is defending a three-on-one rush.
“That photo is what we call ‘Fergulized,’” DU captain and defenseman Kent Anderson quipped. “Good body positioning, good stick positioning. You can tell he had it back in the day, and that (technique) is what he harps on with us.”
MacMillan has played a central role in the development of DU’s top offensive threat. Junior forward Sam Harris broke out last year with a team-leading 23 goals, tied for ninth in the country, and he says his film sessions with MacMillan made him a more potent scorer.
“With driving the back post on the rush, I can do it well, but I can do it more often,” Harris explained. “I don’t think I have guys beat, but when Tavis and I watch plays back on video, he points out I do. He’ll go, ‘You can see this defenseman is reaching — he’s not in a stable position to get the puck off you.’ So he’s (emphasized) using my strength to create offense, and it’s really helped my growth.”
While the coaches are continuing to contribute to the Pioneers’ championship culture — MacMillan’s been on staff for three national titles, and Ferguson two — there are also non-stop hijinks between the two to keep things light amid the grind of the season.
Most notably, MacMillan has made a habit of army-crawling into Ferguson’s office to spook the latter by sneaking underneath Ferguson’s desk and shaking his chair.
“I get a little bit jumpy, maybe because I’m so focused on my work, and Tavis takes advantage of that,” Ferguson said with a smile. “To a point where I moved my desk in my office about two years ago, so now I hopefully try to see every time someone is coming in. Doesn’t always work.”
Hockey and laughs aren’t the only driving forces in an important relationship for DU hockey. The third key part is family.
As roommates at UAF in 1993-94, Ferguson was one of the first to find out that MacMillan and his girlfriend (now wife) Deon were expecting their first child. “His jaw hit the floor,” MacMillan cracked.
In the years since, both men have raised athletically elite daughters. MacMillan’s oldest, Taryn, played soccer at North Dakota and Concordia University St. Paul. And another daughter, Camryn, played soccer for five seasons at DU, where she was a captain.
Now, Ferguson is preparing to send his daughter into the world of college sports. Kendall Ferguson, a senior softball star at Valor Christian, led the nation in homers last year. The catcher is committed to play at Colorado State.
“We don’t get too serious very often, but as a young dad myself, and seeing Tavis be a few years ahead of me in that process — how he’s raised them and his commitment level to them, that’s something that I look up to,” Ferguson said. “That bond (of fatherhood) is another important aspect to our relationship.”
So, apart from each other, what’s kept the “old married couple” together for so long on Buchtel Boulevard?
Usually, when a program has had the success that DU has enjoyed under Carle, its assistant coaches get poached by other programs, often by those looking for a head coach.
For Ferguson, his dynamic with Carle is a significant anchor.
“He likes to hear what you have to say,” Ferguson said. “It’s a very rewarding position to be in.”
And for MacMillan, there is no greener grass to be had elsewhere.
“When a program has success, everybody has opportunities, but the flip side is, why would you leave here?” MacMillan said. “I’ve said to many people that this would be my last coaching job I’ll ever have. Plus, my wife and I bought a 40-acre ranch, my kids are building on it. I have no desire to leave (Colorado) and no desire to leave Denver.
“We still have so much more we can accomplish with me and Dallas on staff here.”
Five storylines to watch for 2025-26 Pioneers
1. Adding to history. DU’s won 30 or more games in four straight seasons, a program record, and is coming off consecutive trips to the Frozen Four. The Pioneers are ranked No. 5 in the country in both the latest USCHO.com and USA Hockey media polls.
2. Goalie job up for grabs. DU enters the season with three netminders: Junior Paxton Geisel, plus freshmen Reid Varkonyi and Quentin Mille. Carle said all three will get chances to prove themselves in an open competition during the initial stage of the season.
3. Life without Buium. With Zeev Buium now in the NHL, DU must fill a significant production void on defense. Eric Pohlkamp (35 points last year) and Boston Buckberger (30) are two men for the job to provide physicality in the D zone and offensive firepower.
4. Another youth movement. DU is the NCAA’s sixth-youngest team with an average age of 21.0. The Pioneers have 16 returners, including nine who were a part of the ’24 title team, but also 10 freshmen. DU had 11 freshmen when they won in ’24, and nine in ’22.
5. Road-tripping first month. After facing Air Force on Friday and then hosting Bentley University for the home opener on Saturday at Magness Arena, DU’s bags will stay packed. Ten of the Pioneers’ first 14 games are on the road, including five of the first six.
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