ST. LOUIS — There’s a big, glass trophy case outside the Denver hockey locker room that’s impossible to miss. Inside, there are 10 national championship trophies. More than anyone else in the country.

It’s a nice way to showcase the history to anyone who gets the chance to visit the team facility inside Magness Arena.

But for the Pioneers players who have to look at it every single day, it’s a reminder of what so many before them have been able to accomplish and squarely what is expected of them during their careers in the Mile High City.

“Not a lot of players get to come to a place where winning is the standard and you have to win a national championship because that’s the standard,” star sophomore defenseman Zeev Buium said.

Thursday, DU will officially make the program’s 20th Frozen Four appearance when it takes on Western Michigan (3 p.m., ESPN2) at Enterprise Center. They have a chance to extend their lead on the rest of the country by winning their 11th national championship.

If the back-to-back titles in 1968-69 was the peak of the first golden era of DU hockey, what coach David Carle has built across his seven seasons may be the peak of the 21st century era of dominance for the Pios, who are gunning for back-to-back titles for the first time in 20 years.

“I mean it’s just become more of an annual event for the program,” former DU player Adrian Veideman told The Denver Gazette. “We joke as alumni that it’s become an annual event now so we can kind of pick and choose which ones we go to. Getting to do it on such a consistent basis is a real testament to the staff, especially, Coach Carle and Tavis (MacMillan) and Dallas (Ferguson) and their efforts to recruit and maintain success.”

Even as college athletics has changed drastically, the Pios’ recipe for success hasn’t. Whether it’s George Gwozdecky or Jim Montgomery or now Carle, what makes DU a winning program has remained the same.

“I think people really underestimate when it comes to Denver is their ability to create teams and a lot of the individual success comes with that, but when you look at those other big time programs throughout the years, their concentration is just turning out individuals and at Denver, their concentration is turning out teams, and it’s really shown the last few years with their success,” said Veideman, a two-time national champ at DU and the 2006-07 team captain.

“They recruit character, they recruit quality individuals. Yes, they’re all fantastic hockey players, but for the most part, they’re complete package people and that’s where the success is driven when it comes to DU, for sure.”

There’s no bigger example than this year’s team.

Sure, there’s Buium, who is likely headed to the NHL as soon as this weekend is over. But that’s where it ends when it comes to high draft picks on the roster.

Top point getter Jack Devine was one of the last players selected in the 2022 NHL draft.

Senior captain Carter King, who centers the top line with Devine and Fort Collins native Aidan Thompson, was a barely recruited player who has become a point-per-game player in his final season.

Fellow senior Connor Caponi has played in more games than anyone in DU history and is a 25-year-old fourth liner whose job is to batter the opposing team’s top players every game.

Matt Davis is an undrafted goalie who became one of the biggest stars in the sport this time last year as he fueled the championship run in St. Paul, Minn.

For those four seniors in particular, they could join elite company if they’re able to cap their careers with a third championship and all of them are embodiments of what fuels this DU team and many others that came before them.

“It’s been a culmination of everything that’s happened the last four years,” King said. “It hasn’t been a smooth road. I came in halfway through a season that was a disappointing season. It kinda fuels the fire that you wanna win and you want it bad. Freshmen that come in now, they come in knowing that it’s a cool place and you’re gonna be a special part of culture that not every college team’s gonna be able to have. I think that’s part of our legacy is just the culture that we’re leaving behind.”

Even as a team, DU is far from the overwhelming favorite among the four teams in St. Louis. This season has had its ups and downs and the Pios are a team that lost four out of five games in late November and early December.

But you’d be hard pressed to find a hockey team with more confidence and belief than the one that will take the ice in crimson and gold this weekend.

“At the end of the day, everyone’s going through their own journey and everyone’s part of this legacy and this team for a reason,” King said. “For us, it’s just about continuing our momentum that we have and keep playing good hockey. We’re confident we’re going in with a good shot to win.”

Just getting here is the standard, after all.

The matchup

No. 3 Denver vs. No. 1 Western Michigan

When: 3 p.m. MT Thursday (ESPN2)

Broadcast crew: John Buccigross (play-by-play), Colby Cohen (color analyst), Quint Kessenich (rinkside analyst)

All-time series: Denver leads 27-15-2

This season: WMU leads 2-0-1

Last meeting: WMU won 4-3 in 2OT in NCHC Frozen Faceoff championship on March 22

NCAA Tournament history: DU beat WMU 3-2 in only NCAA Tournament meeting (2011 Midwest Regional semifinal in Green Bay, Wisc.)