DENVER - Behind every championship hockey player is a series of sacrifices that led them to achieve their ultimate dream i­n the sport. Rising before ­­­the sun for morning skates, traveling hours to the nearest rink to practice and play, missing class time while keeping up with assignments, and leaving home as a teenager to play in junior leagues across the country. For brothers Shai and Zeev Buium, both defensemen for the No. 6-ranked Denver Pioneers, that sacrifice comes with the territory given their background.

Calling Shai and Zeev’s rapid ascent up the hockey ranks untraditional would be a colossal understatement. A family trip to an ice rink to support their cousin as kids provided a spark that grew into an obsession for the first-generation American blue-liners.

“My cousin played club hockey in San Diego and we wanted to catch a few games,” Shai said. “I loved watching him play, then started watching the NHL and fell in love with the game. There were conversations at the dinner table and asking my mom ‘Can I play hockey? Can I play hockey? Can I play hockey?’ and she finally gave in. It’s a huge commitment. Hockey is not cheap in California and there is a lot of time spent at the rink.”

Born to Israeli nationals Sorin and Miriam Buium, sports success is nothing new to the household. Their mother, Miriam, played professional basketball in Israel before an injury cut short her playing career and moved her off the court and into the general manager’s seat. The unique part, however, is exactly what sport the pair are excelling at. As Israel only has about 1,000 hockey players across the entire country, the game was something of a foreign concept to their parents. 

“For my husband and I, we didn’t know what (hockey) was and we didn’t see it around in Israel,” Miriam said. “When I came to the U.S., all I watched was basketball. Once they got involved in hockey, that became all we watched. They all love the game so much and turned us into one big hockey family.”

How did this unlikely duo find a way to not only play the sport, but thrive every step of the way? For Shai and Zeev, they displayed the will, and in turn, their family found a way.

Shai served as the early catalyst for the Buium family becoming a hockey household. He fell in love immediately with the sport following the group’s trip to see their cousin play. Despite his enthusiasm, it took a while for his parents to come around on him lacing up the skates.

“Shai was around six he went to see his cousin at Christmas break and they asked us to come have fun with the family,” Miriam said. “That was the first time I was introduced to hockey. Afterwards, we came home and Shai said he wanted to play hockey and I said ‘Over my dead body.’ It took him a couple months and my husband said ‘Let him go, it will help him lose some weight and get some muscle.’ So I took him just for fun and since that moment, hockey is what they wanted to do.

“Every day I took Shai to public skates. His balance was bad at first, but he never gave up and said this is what I want to do. That’s how we were introduced to hockey and we had an amazing director at the San Diego Oilers in Craig Sterling who was amazing with the boys and made them fall in love with the game. Nobody is thinking about competition at that age, you just see your kids have so much fun with a smile on their face and it means everything.”

Their older brother, Ben, took a shine to the sport shortly after Shai. Zeev, however, took a while to warm up to the game.

“I put on the roller skates first and that was more fun for me outside initially,” Zeev said. “A few months later, I wanted to try it again and had a lot of fun with it. They say the third time is the charm, but for me, I guess the second time was.”

With the house boasting three hockey players, the hard work began not only for the brothers, but their parents. Shai’s dedication to the sport and blossoming play eventually caught the attention of the Jr. Kings program in Los Angeles. Continuing to play hockey now meant more than just getting up early for public skates at the local rink. It meant regularly making the two-hour commute from San Diego to L.A. (and back) to play competitively. Given the commitment he showed to get to that point, it was an easy decision for the family to make, but one that they never took for granted.

“I had to make a decision if I was willing to drive as (Sorin) has his own company and had to stay and work so we could afford hockey,” Miriam said. “I knew how dedicated he was to it and how he woke up early at 5 a.m. for a 6 a.m. skating lesson at the local rink. Every time there was hockey, he never said no, and he asked for more. He did fantastic in school as well, so I had no reason to turn him down. I did it for him while Sorin took care of Ben and Zeev. It’s a lot of commitment and dedication from both sides. If you stick with it and are willing to work hard and put in the effort, I believe you can make it.”

“My mom would drive us sometimes 2-and-a-half hours with traffic, picking us up from school in the middle of the day and we’d get there at 3 or 3:30 and be there until midnight some nights,” Zeev said. “We just did that drive the other day from LAX and I said to her ‘This is the longest drive ever. I don’t know how you did it, Mom.’ My brothers and I are super grateful for what our parents have sacrificed for us. We thank them every day and a lot of this is to give back to them.”

Meanwhile, their older brother Ben landed on the powerhouse Shattuck St. Mary’s hockey team in Faribault, Minn., creating a more stable environment to balance hockey and school without missing so much time in class. Still, it led to a difficult decision for the household to send a child across the country, while simultaneously opening another world and dream destination for the remaining Buium brothers.

“Going from San Diego to L.A. 3-4 times a week for two years was hard. They missed so many days of school, 45-50 days due to travel,” Miriam recalled. “They would do homework in the car, get home at 10:30-11 p.m., go to bed, and do the same thing the very next day starting at 6:30 a.m. I didn’t want school to be impacted by it and I knew they didn’t want to give up on hockey. Ben was struggling with school due to hockey and he got an opportunity and made Shattuck St. Mary’s on a tryout. Then Shai said ‘Mom, that’s my dream, I want to go play there.’ It was the best thing I ever did for them.”

While Ben eventually stopped playing and left Shattuck St. Mary’s, Shai got off to a rough start with the program after he dealt with the first serious injury of his career. Still, he stuck with it to get back on the ice and eventually posted 116 points in 146 games with the program before posting a strong season with the USHL’s Sioux City Musketeers in 2020-21.

The 2020-21 season saw the culmination of several of Shai’s dreams. He signed his National Letter of Intent with the Pioneers and was selected in the second round (36th overall) by the Detroit Red Wings, his childhood favorite team, that summer.

“It was special. I’ve always been a Detroit Red Wings fan,” Shai said. “Getting picked by such a fantastic organization was unbelievably special for me.”

The collegiate level seemed to come naturally for Shai, who skated in 39 of Denver’s 41 games as a freshman blue-liner in 2021-22 to help the program capture its ninth national championship (tying the most in NCAA hockey history). He found the scoresheet in the championship game as well, earning a primary assist on the eventual game-winner.

Winning a national title in year one did little to quell Shai’s desire to continue improving his game. He was already considered a strong puck-moving defenseman when he set foot on Denver’s campus, which his career-best scoring pace of 15 points (4 goals, 11 assists) in his first 19 games this year highlights. However, his improvement on the defensive side along with his professionalism in preparing for practice and game day is noticed by his teammates and coaches alike.

“Everyone knows about his offensive abilities, but I think defensively, playing on the PK and blocking shots he’s been great,” said Denver captain and senior forward McKade Webster. “It’s great to see one of your top defensemen doing everything he can and sacrificing to win. What’s impressed me the most are his habits, his work ethic, and the details to his game doing everything he can to help the team succeed.”

“Freshman year, I looked at myself as an offensive defenseman,” Shai said. “I needed to work on my defensive game, which I have. As a junior, I keep working on that aspect and it’s become a big part of my game this season.”

While Shai was helping Denver capture a national title and winning 61 games in his first two college seasons, Zeev donned the Red, White, and Blue of the USA National Team Development Program. He earned a full-time spot with the U-18 defense as a 16-year-old for the 2022-23 campaign and turned heads by leading the blue line with 40 points in 63 games on the NTDP circuit (along with 12 points in 23 USHL contests). He also excelled at the U-18 World Junior Championship with six points in seven games to help USA win gold. That season, he also officially signed his NLI with DU to join his brother and try to secure the Pioneers’ record 10th national title.

This season has perhaps been Zeev’s most impressive yet on the ice. He is the nation’s second-youngest player, starting the season as a 17-year-old, an age typically reserved for a high school senior year in a sport where most freshmen are 20 years old. Like his time with the USANTDP, Zeev continues to play with poise beyond his years. His 25 points (5 goals, 20 assists) are tied for the most among all NCAA defensemen and 10th among all skaters.

“His confidence that he can make an impact on games is impressive,” Denver head coach David Carle said. “You sometimes have to remind yourself of his age because he doesn’t play like it. It’s been a lot of fun to coach him and try to help him get better. It’s a two-way street though as he’s done a great job adjusting, wanting to learn and get better.”

Zeev’s strong play at the collegiate level allowed him another opportunity -- to suit up for the U.S. National Junior Team at the U-20 World Junior Championship in Sweden around the turn of the New Year. Overseas, he once again rose to the occasion with five points (3 goals, 2 assists) to help the U.S. capture its sixth World Junior Championship gold medal, with Carle as the head coach of Team USA. Zeev led all players at the 2024 World Junior Championship in Sweden with a +11 plus/minus.

“Getting that opportunity (with the USANTDP) was super special,” Zeev said. “Everyone wants to play at World Juniors. As a kid, you wake up on Christmas and think about watching the World Juniors the next day and get up early just to watch it. Getting there is something special, but winning takes a lot. It’s something I won’t forget the rest of my life and it’s probably my greatest hockey memory so far.” 

With the second half of the hockey season underway, Zeev’s stock is rising ahead of the 2024 NHL Draft as a potential first-round pick. Given that many of the experiences he’s having already happened for Shai, his brotherly advice is particularly valuable for both Denver’s stretch run and the draft festivities in the summer ahead.

“(Shai)’s been through it all, the draft, his freshman year, and winning a national championship,” Zeev said. “For me, it’s listening to anything he has to say because any advice he has is usually good. He’s hard on me, but he’s my older brother and wants what is best for me. He teaches me anything he wishes he knew as a freshman. Sometimes, I ask ‘What would you change going into your freshman year or draft year’ and he helps me with that.”

Despite all the accomplishments from an individual (Zeev was named national co-Player of the Month in November) and team standpoint, neither Shai nor Zeev are content to rest on their laurels. The desire to keep learning and finding ways to improve their game has set them apart among the coaching staff and drives the upside that DU has shown in their 14-5-1 start.

“It’s been really amazing to watch the two of them be brothers and play here together,” Carle said. “They want to have a good time with a smile on their faces, but when it’s time to work, they know it’s time to work. The very good players have the balance of having fun while working and getting better at their craft. Both of them do exactly that at a high level.”

In addition to being highly driven internally, Shai and Zeev’s close proximity brings out the best in both of them. What may have been a sibling rivalry as kids has blossomed into a mutually motivating presence. As the duo helps Denver gear up for a run at a national championship in the second half, their success to this point and drive to reach the sport’s highest level embodies the values their background instilled in them on this unique hockey journey.

“My mom playing basketball taught us that competing and working hard is the biggest thing,” Shai said. “You can have all the skill in the world, but if you aren’t working hard, you aren’t going to make it. My dad turned his business into something after they moved to the U.S. Both of their experiences taught me a lot.”

The Buium brothers continue their quest for Denver’s third straight Penrose Cup and a national championship with a top-15 match-up against St. Cloud State this weekend at Magness Arena.

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