Hockey in Colorado

Mad, Mad World

2008-05-19T19:32:00.001-06:00

So it’s been about 3 months and I swear, I have a pretty good reason for not keeping on top of things here at Hockey In Colorado. I quit my job. That is a big life-changing event and I needed to focus on finding a new job and moving on…so I did and I quite honestly could not be happier. In my 4 years as an employee of the University of Denver, I learned a lot about what it means to be a professional as well as a whole lot about how to run a University successfully. I value everything I learned at DU, but it was time for me to start new. I moved to the private sector, specifically to Great-West Life and Annuity. It has been a great two months there and I am looking forward to many more years like it.

Enough about me already, right? Let’s talk hockey!! DU made it to the WCHA Final Five after sweeping the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs. I had the great pleasure of traveling to Saint Paul with two fellow DU fans. It was one of the greatest hockey experiences I’ve had thus far. The Twin Cities were inviting and friendly, as were the other fans. There are really no words to describe what it was like to see DU beat Minnesota for the Broadmoor Trophy in front of a Gopher crowd…

I also had the opportunity of attending the Frozen Four in Denver. Although DU was not playing, I couldn’t have asked for a better experience. Personally, I thought DU got the short draw (having to play Wisconsin on their home ice in first game of the regionals), but I was glad just to see them make it to the dance after two long years of the being the first team out. For the Frozen Four, I became an ND fan…that’s right, I cheered for North Dakota when they played BC, and Notre Dame when they played the much hated Michigan Wolverines. That being said, I was happy to see a BC/Notre Dame final. I’ve always been a fan of Notre Dame sports and so was thrilled to be there for their first trip to the Frozen Four.

Here are just a few (and yes, 133 is A FEW) of the pictures I took during my hockey adventures late in the season…

In retrospect, DU exceeded every expectation I had for their season. I think they are in great position to do even better next season. With all the best of luck, I’ll take a look at next year’s squad in the next couple of days.

On the flipside, I think the Avalanche only just met expectations for this year. They faced amazing odds throughout, however, as they faced a multitude of injuries to all the players. Joel Quennville will not be returning as coach next year, which I don’t think is a bad thing. I’ve felt that since the lockout the Avalanche have underachieved and been the victim of mediocre goaltending from better than average goaltenders. I’ve heard talk that Ron Wilson (formerly of the San Jose Sharks) is a candidate for the job and I think that he just might be what the Avs need. Wilson is not afraid to call out an underachieving player (of which the Avs have many), however he also might be too abrasive. Only time will tell…

Miscellanea

2008-02-27T17:33:00.004-07:00

Yes, indeed Miscellanea is a word!

So the trade deadline has come and gone (yesterday to be exact). Of note: the Avs signed Peter Forsberg; they received Adam Foote for a conditional first-round draft pick in 2008 or 2009 and a conditional fourth-round pick in 2009; and finally, traded Karlis Skrastins for Ruslan Salei of the Florida Panthers.

Admittedly, I'm not overly excited about any of these acquisitions. Peter Forsberg *could* (and that's a pretty big could) be a great asset to the Avalanche in the stretch run to the playoffs. However, $5 million for a *could* is a pretty big risk to take. I sincerely hope that in June I have to eat my words and bow down to the greatness of Forsberg, but I fear it's all just a publicity stunt to get butts in the seats at the Pepsi Center.

I think Foote is a great addition, but at 36 I think it's safe to say Foote may be past his prime and just looking to end his career with the franchise that started it all (same goes for Forsberg if his injury problems continue).

As for Salei, I'm not familiar with him at all. He looks to be a "defensive defenseman," which, lord knows, the Avalanche are in sore need of.

CC is doing disgustingly well, even though they finally lost at home to St. Cloud State earlier this month. I've heard talk of Bachman for Hobey. While he's certainly got the credentials on the ice, I think Kevin Porter from Michigan is a shoe-in for the win, followed closely by Nate Gerbe of BC. I think the sleeper candidate is Chad Rau from CC. He's quietly having a career year with 22 goals and 12 assists for 34 points, with only 3 penalties for 6 minutes!

There's a new site for Pioneer fans that is (quite conveniently) called PioneerFans.com. They have a great idea and it seems to be going well so far, so check it out!

Swept/Sweep same diff...

2008-02-27T08:44:00.002-07:00

February 15th and 16th, the Pioneers visited the Taj MaHockey (aka Ralph Englestad Arena). All I can say is what an embarrassment. There is really no good that came from that weekend of hockey. On Friday, the Pioneers were up 4-1 on the Sioux and blew that lead to lose 5-4. What happened, you may be wondering, the answer to which is the Pioneers just stopped playing. They grew too comfortable with their lead and started making mistakes. Absolutely embarrassing...

Saturday wasn't much better as the Sioux completed the sweep and kicked the Pioneers' collective (and individual) ass. It all started at the 6:38 mark of the second period when JP Testwuide and Kyle Radke literally dropped the gloves for a small skirmish. This was definitely not a full fledged fight, but in my opinion, both players should have been assessed game disqualifications for fighting rather than the 2 minutes for roughing they received (In case you're curious that mistake was rectified by the WCHA after the game). From there, all hell broke loose. I'll let you watch it rather than trying to explain it all...

It's been reported that the fight broke out when Joe Finley knocked into Rhett Rakhshani while the players were exiting the ice, this caused Peter Mannino to hit Finley. Long story short, both teams look ridiculous. The Pioneers were ganging up on the few Sioux players still on the ice, while Vossberg claims he didn't want to get suspended for fighting so he let Radke beat the $hit out of him...

Last weekend, the Pioneers (minus Testwuide and Vossberg on Friday due to Game DQs) swept (Friday 4-2, Saturday 3-1) the Seawolves of Alaska-Anchorage. No offense to UAA and its fine fans, but I just couldn't get excited about this series. I ended up skipping the Friday night game in favor of Happy Hour and was bored out of my mind on Saturday. I'm glad the Seawolves put up a fight (kinda) and I'm grateful that Denver was able to get 4 valuable league points.

The Pioneers traveled to Houghton, MI today to face the Huskies of Michigan Tech. Last year the Pioneers fared less than well against an always difficult Husky team. I hope they can pull out another sweep to keep themselves in 3rd place in the WCHA.

Ease on down the road...

2008-02-09T01:26:00.000-07:00

According to a press release from DenverPioneers.com, Redshirt Sophomore Brock Trotter has signed a professional contract with the Montreal Canadiens. He was then assigned to the team's AHL affiliate, the Hamilton Bulldogs. While he has been added to Hamilton's roster, he has yet to play a game. Best wishes to Trotter in his future hockey career.

This weekend, the much hated (and struggling) Golden Gophers of Minnesota visited Magness Arena. On Friday night, the Pioneers had a much better effort than in recent games and were able to end the evening with a 1-1 tie. Freshman phenom Tyler Bozak scored the lone goal for the Pioneers on a beautiful short-handed play.

Saturday night saw the Pioneers trounce the Gophers in a hard fought 4-1 win. The Pioneers got goals from 4 different players (Glasser, Bozak, Rakhshani, and Gifford).

Tyler Bozak has definitely solved the Gophers this year as he has 8 points (6 goals, three of which were shorthanded, and 2 assists) in the 4 games he's played against the Gophers.

Up next for the Pioneers is a visit to Ralph Englestad Arena. The Fighting Sioux stand just 2 points ahead of the Pioneers in the WCHA, with DU having 2 games in hand. This weekend will be a great test for DU that will show whether this young team has the mental and physical fortitude to make a splash come March and April.

What the French, Toast?!?

2008-02-07T01:53:00.000-07:00

I had hoped that by the time I was able to sit down and write a post there would be some good news. However, the hockey scene in Denver is as bleak as the weather's been as of late.

University of Denver
The Pioneers hosted the Badgers in the second weekend of January. I was unable to attend the Friday Night due to a prior work engagement, but I did DVR it so to watch it later. The Badgers battled back from a 3-0 deficit to seemly tie the game in the final 4 seconds of the game. However Referee Randy Schmidt ruled that it was a no goal. Turns out rather than looking at the entire replay (which showed the puck entering and exiting the net before the end of the period), he saw only a screen shot at the 0:00 mark of the 3rd period, granting the Pioneers a 3-2 win over the Badgers. Amid the outcry of fans and Mike Eaves, the WCHA issued an apology admitting that Schmidt made an error and the goal should have counted, however they are unable, due to NCAA rules, to change the outcome of the game. You may remember that Randy Schmidt is the same ref that allowed Jesse Martin's controversial goal in the favor of the Pioneers when they visited St. Cloud State. Much to the chagrin of all parties involved, Schmidt was allowed to officiate the Saturday night game of the series. In my opinion, this was a HUGE mistake by the league as, from my view, Schmidt spent the entire evening trying to make up for mistake the previous night, including allowing a Badger goal that changed the flow of the game, leading the Badgers to a 7-2 win over the Pioneers. After allowing 5 goals, Senior Goaltender Peter Mannino was replaced by Freshman Marc Cheverie.

The following weekend saw the Pioneers play at Air Force and host Bemidji State. As is to be expected, the Air Force Falcons worked hard the entire 60 minutes of the game, to a well deserved 5-2 win over the Pioneers. Once again, the Pioneer defense left goalie Peter Mannino out to dry, and he was pulled in favor of Marc Cheverie after allowing 4 goals. The Pioneers hosted the Bemidji State Beavers the next night. Marc Cheverie's play earned him the starting job for the Saturday night tilt. Four different Pioneers scored in the 4-2 win over the Beavers, included Matt Glasser who scored his first goal in his collegiate career.

After a long bye-week, the Pioneers traveled to Mankato, Minnesota for its first WCHA road series of the New Year. If you're any kind of DU fan, you'll remember the 8-7 loss to the Mavericks in the 2003-2004 season. It seems that DU can never play "their" game when visiting Mankato and this trip was no different. The Mavericks pounded the Pioneers in a 5-1 loss for DU. For the third consecutive game, Peter Mannino allowed 4 or more goals. The one bright spot was perhaps that Rhett Rakhshani scored in his second consecutive game and seems to be coming out of his WJC haze. The next night the Pioneers lost by a hair in a 3-2 loss as the Mavericks completed the sweep. It's a bit ironic that the same team DU swept at home for its first WCHA home sweep in a year and half, ended up sweeping them when they visited...

The biggest (and most likely most tragic, but nothing appears to be certain yet) news of late is that Brock Trotter did not make the trip to Mankato with the team. When it was first reported (see:Crucial Stretch starts with Trotter Missing), it appeared (at least in my reading of this quote: "I can't tell a lot about why he is not with us," Gwozdecky said. "All I can say is that each guy on our team has a private life and at this point in time, we have to respect his privacy. This was an internal decision to not have him on the trip.") that there was some sort of personal issue that Trotter was dealing with. However as days have passed and news has been deferred repeatedly (see: the mention of TrotterWatch in the USCHO Fan Forum All Things DU XVIII Thread), speculation has run rampant through the hockey community. Chris at the Western College Hockey blog has a great summary of the events of the last day or so. Check it out: Where in the World is Brock Trotter?

While I have several theories, I'm not going to commit them to writing as there is every chance that this is an extremely personal situation for Trotter and there's no reason to besmirch him based on rumor and innuendo. I can only say that I sincerely hope that when all the smoke has cleared the integrity of both player and program remain intact.

That's really all I have the energy for now...

Two Weeks in Colorado Hockey

2008-01-05T23:40:00.000-07:00

University of Denver
After the Christmas break, the Denver Pioneers hosted the Wells Fargo Denver Cup at Magness Arena. Peter Mannino recorded his 13th career shutout (tying him with Gerry Powers for first place on DU’s career shutout list) in Friday's game to lead the Pioneers in a 5-0 victory over the Sacred Heart Pioneers. , allowing DU to advance to the Championship game. On Saturday they faced the Big Green from Dartmouth, winning by a score of 5-3 to capture the Wells Fargo Denver Cup. Tyler Bozak and Brock Trotter were once again honored by the WCHA, earning back-to-back honors, Bozak as the Rookie of the Week, Trotter as the Offensive Player of the Week.

The Pioneers will face the Wisconsin Badgers this weekend at Magness. The Badgers are coming off a weekend of being swept at home by the Colorado College Tigers. Having watched the Saturday night match, I think it's safe to say this will not be an easy weekend for the Pioneers. The Badgers played a very solid 50 minutes, but allowed the Tigers to capitalize on some Badger mistakes. Not to mention, the Badgers will benefit from the return of Kyle Turris, Blake Geoffrion and Jamie McBain, who were participating in the World Junior Championships last weekend. DU will also regain WJC Team USA participants Rhett Rakhshani and Tyler Ruegsegger.

Colorado College
Our neighbors to the South have found themselves in a bit of trouble. Two players were recently suspended from school (one was suspended from playing) for varrying lengths (Cody Lampl, until January 2009; Derek Patrosso, until March 12, 2008; Chad Rau, one game) in an incident which CC's President, Richard Celeste, has declined to comment on. There's been some amazingly entertaining speculation going on regarding what exactly the players did to be suspended. Let's Go DU has offered a $50 bounty for the first person who correctly guesses what the players did to receive the suspensions. Trust me when I say that reading the comments section of that post is WELL WORTH IT.

On the ice, the Tigers have faired well. Beating RPI 3-2 in the opening round of the Lightning College Hockey Classic in Tampa, FL. However, in the Championship game on Sunday, the Tigers fell to UMass in overtime by a score of 5-4. Last weekend, the Tigers visited the Wisconsin Badgers. They earned two wins (2-0 on Friday, 3-1 on Saturday) in their first league play of the year. Chad Rau scored two shorthanded goals (one in each match), for a league leading total of 5 this year, 4 of which have come agains the Badgers...

Colorado Avalanche
The Avs received some terrible news when they heard Captain Joe Sakic is expected to miss 8-12 weeks after undergoing Hernia surgery. But the bad news didn't stop there, as the Avs will be missing Ryan Smyth for approximately 8 weeks due to a fractured ankle. In the last three weeks, the Avs have recalled Cody McLeod, David Jones (who was later reassigned), TJ Hensick, and Johnny Boychuk.

Through their last 9 games, the Avs are 4-3-2. Currently they are 8th in the Western Conference and 4th in the Northwest Division.

One bright spot in all this has been the play of Marek Svatos, who has finally stepped up his game and shown what he's truly capable of.

Too Little, Too Late...

2007-12-19T23:03:00.000-07:00

For the last month of my life, hockey has not been my top priority and for that I am truly sorry. This post is going to be pretty big as I try to hit all key points for the last month. And off we go!

It was rivalry weekend on the Front Range as the No. 3 Pioneers faced off against the No. 4 Tigers of Colorado College. In the first match-up of the home and home series, the Tigers walked all over the Pioneers with a 5-1 win at the Colorado Springs World Arena. Junior Chad Rau scored his first career hat trick to lead the Tigers to victory. On a personal note, I cannot say with enough fervor how much I HATE going to World Arena. I have yet to have a good experience in that venue. This time around it was a completely wasted CC “fan” that made my evening even worse by continually yelling obscenities towards my friends and me. Meanwhile, the true CC fans around us did nothing but laugh at the drunken man’s farce.

The tables turned when the Tigers visited the Pioneers at Magness Arena on Saturday night. Tyler Ruegsegger, Rhett Rakhshani, and Tom May each scored in a 3-2 win over the Tigers.

A word on this edition of the Colorado College Tigers, they have incredible speed, are excellent on capitalizing on opponent’s mistakes, and have one of the premiere goal tenders in the WCHA. Richard Bachman, the freshman from Highlands Ranch, CO was truly amazing both nights in net. I can only hope that Bachman, drafted in the 4th round by the Dallas Stars in 2006, will bolt early for the pros!

The following weekend saw our Pioneers host the North Dakota Fighting Sioux. Friday night saw Peter Mannino earning his 12th shutout as a Pioneer in a 1-0 victory for Denver. Mannino’s 27-save effort tied him with Adam Berkhoel for second place on DU’s career shutout list. He now sits one behind Gerry Powers (13) for first place.

Saturday night was a different story as the Pioneers lost by a score of 3-1. However, much like Friday night, Freshman Tyler Bozak scored the lone goal for DU. The Pioneers came out flat and showed little to no effort through the first two periods of the game, only coming to life in the third...too little, too late!

On December 4, standout sophomores Rhett Rakhshani and Tyler Ruegsegger were named to the 2008 U.S. Nationl Junior Team that will compete at the World Junior Championshops in the Czech Republic after Christmas. What an amazing honor and opportunity for these two amazing young men! While we'll miss them for the Denver Cup, we truly wish them all the best of luck in the Tournament!!

With the University of Denver campus emptied of students during our 6 week winter break, the Pioneer hockey team travelled to St. Cloud, Minnesota after their split with North Dakota. In the Friday night match, DU edged St. Cloud State 3-2. This win however did not come easily as the Huskies, who at the time were trying to snap a 4 game losing streak, fought hard throughout. Also, a questionable call really helped the Pioneers in this win. Jesse Martin's goal at 3:54 of the second period, the first of the night for the Pioneers, should not have been counted as a goal. See the YouTube video below. After the game, WCHA commisioner Bruce McLeod issued a formal apology to St. Cloud State.

On Saturday, the Huskies again came out hard. They outplayed DU throughout the first two periods, coming into the third the a 2-0 lead. With 6 minutes left on the game, the Huskies were looking forward to finally ending their long winning drought. Rhett Rakhshani had a different idea however and went on to score a hat trick in the final 5 minutes and 49 seconds of the game to lead Denver to another 3-2 win over St. Cloud. I let the play speak for itself, for surely there are not words to describe this truly amazing comeback...

Rakhshani was named as the INCH Player of the Week for his heroics in the game. I must thank him for reminding me why it is I love this sport so much. ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!

After a rather stunning sweep over St. Cloud, the boys headed up to Anchorage, Alaska for their final WCHA series before the Christmas break. The Pioneers beat the Seawolves 4-3 on Friday for their third win in a row, with goals from 4 different Pioneers (Testwuide, May, Martin, and Mullen).

Saturday night, again down by two goals, the Pioneers showed what they're made of, scoring 6 unanswered goals in a 6-2 win over the Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves, completing their second WCHA road sweep in a row.

The Pioneers concluded the first half of their season with a 14-4 record and 11-3 mark in the WCHA. They are now tied for 1st place in the WCHA with the Colorado College Tigers, both having 22 league points in 14 games played.

“Let everyone sweep in front of his own door, and the whole world will be clean.”

2007-11-20T20:59:00.000-07:00

Saturday, February 11, 2006 9:25 PM MST. That was the last time the Denver Pioneers swept a WCHA opponent in Magness Arena. That night, DU (oddly enough) earned a 5-1 win over the Minnesota State Mavericks. This weekend saw our Pioneers complete their first home sweep of a WCHA team since that night against the Minnesota State Mavericks. Here are some pertinent links to last weekend’s sweep:
-DU Tops Minnesota State, 2-1
-Pioneers Run Winning Streak to Four Games
-Mannino Named Co-Defensive Player of the Week

And the best of all, Tyler Ruegsegger's Short Handing Goal at the 13:07 mark of the 1st period from Saturday's game. Having been in attendance at the game, it was like all the air left the arena as 6,037 fans gasped at his amazing skill.

Last, please visit a new(ish) blog on the Denver scene. Coming from the Denver Post, Mike Chambers regularly writes about the DU hockey team.

There's Beauty in the Breakdown...

2007-11-07T15:52:00.000-07:00

As we head into the bye-week before facing Minnesota State, here’s a quick breakdown of what’s been going on in my neck of the woods.

- DU Skates Past Minnesota Duluth, 5-1
- DU Drops 3-0 Decision to Minnesota Duluth
- DU Gains 5-1 Road Win at Minnesota
- Pioneers Sweep Golden Gophers
- Mannino and Bozak Honored by WCHA

Enjoy the week off!

Addition to Previous Post

2007-11-07T14:24:00.000-07:00

The Bleacher Coach
This guy will spend the entire game coaching the team on what they are doing wrong and how they should improve (now I do tend to point at the puck and yell at the team but I am no Bleacher Coach....just to be clear).The Bleacher Coach will give criticism that makes no sense and would in no way help the team to the win. This moron always manages to sit behind letsgomavs but manages to annoy anyone who knows anything about hockey and always seems to be at the game alone....

thanks for the addition letsgomavs!

Hockey Fans!

2007-11-01T16:14:00.000-06:00

Here is a list of the kind of people you will find at a hockey gaem. Most of them I want to hit....if I missed a group feel free to let me know.

Confused Girl
She is usually blond, wears, some kind of Gap sweater, a trendy scarf and heels (but as much as you pray she eats shit, she never does). She asks multiple questions about rules and "why that guy is headed to time out" but is generally not in any way interested in the game. Her favorite part of the night is either when the cheerleaders came out with free shirts, or when the arena played "Sweet Caroline" and she sang along. Rarely seen without 'Mr. Loafers.'

Mr. Loafers
This guy would much rather be somewhere getting a manicure but attends hockey, or any sporting event only to look manly. He brings with him 'Confused Girl' and spends the majority of the game explaining his version of the rules of the game. Easily spotted because this guy is usually waring a visor with his hair spiked around it and loafers with no socks. When 'Confused Girl" asks questions he says things like "Oh he got a pushing penalty, or refers to the periods as quarters" A personal favorite of mine was when the goalie was pounding his stick on the ice to let his team know that someone was coming out of the penalty box, a girl asked her Mr. Loafers "why is he hitting the ice like that, he looks mean" to which he said, and I am not kidding you in the least, "Well Buffy (not really her name but its fits and makes me laugh) he is doing that to get his team the increase their intensity, he is getting them excited and pepped up." So in essence Mannino was a cheerleader in pads, try to get that picture out of your head....

Ms. My Children are "gifted"....aka special
This lady coddles her children stopping only short of having them on a 'kid leash'. They are rotten spoiled brats that will only hear the word no when they enter the real word and cut the cord. This lady pushes her kids to the front of everything and will actually cover her children's ears when the word "suck" is used. To which I say if your child is so special....stop eating the paste, put your helmet back on special...then don't bring them to a hockey game, take them to see ice dancing, surely there is no booing or yelling at something like that. My inspiration for this title actually sits directly in front of me...and rest assured that I fit the word 'suck' in to every sentence, and she covers her children (who look like they are nearing their teens by the way) ears for the majority of the game.

The Losers
Pretty self-explanatory....the other team. Seated on the bench, wearing helmets, easily spotted because they are crying in the corner and looking around dumbfounded while getting pummeled on the ice. This person has recently moved out of mom's house who is...you guessed it...Ms. My Children are "gifted"....aka special.

Desperate Girl
She attends sporting events looking for the future Mr. Desperate Girl, hoping a player will somehow look in to the stands and decide he is deeply in love with her. She spends an eternity on her hair and wardrobe which usually consists of little to no clothing and in most cases involves some kind of unfortunate use of spandex. Generally seems to be a nice person and spends a great deal of the game sipping on some kind of mixed drink. Unfortunately the only person she goes home with is the middle aged hockey addict that is too drunk to notice the spandex.

The Fun Group
This group of people is always fun, they laugh, joke and actually watch the game. In college this is the student section and at the Pepsi Center its the section I am in! This group is always pulling out fun cheers, which usually in some way involve the word suck, and they are always wearing some crazy clothing disaster. These people come to the game in a in a banana outfit or in a barrel (a la barrel man). These are my people!

Talk the Whole Time
This either two women out for a girls night or two men whose innermost desires are to wear Manolo Blahnik heels. Why they are even at the game is beyond me because they watch little to none of the game. Instead they discuss current events, the weather, work problems, or their children....and they do so loud enough that I can hear them over my co-conspirator yelling 'suck' just to piss off the Ms. My Children are "gifted"....aka special. Which in case you were wondering....is loud. You can give them the evil stare, which means "shut it" all night but they are completely oblivious and continue chatting, only stopping to rest during the pee wee team playing during intermission or "Saturday Night Sumo." Which is understandable..how funny is that shit...people flailing all over the ice in giant suits who can't get up when they fall....I digress.

The Boys Night Clan
This is a group of, often times recent alumni who just come to watch a game of hockey and drink copious amounts of ridiculously priced beer. During the first period they will yell things that will make their entire section laugh talk about the game and players with their friends and look for the 'desperate girl'. Towards the middle of the second period they are a little too intoxicated to come up with anything funny but still yell something that has 'suck' in it and are still generally pretty entertaining. The third period is when this group really shines! At this point they are too intoxicated to form complete sentences but still yell things and will stand up, link arms and sing and dance along to "Cotton-Eyed Joe." Mostly harmless, but I'm still waiting for the time that one of them falls forward in to the crowd taking two rows with them.

The Die-Hard Fan
No matter the elements this person is always in their seat ready for the game. It seems that this fan is often times more invested in the game than the majority of the players. They know all the stats and can recite them at the drop of a hat.....(I don't actually get this phrase....why are you dropping a hat....anywho) will recite them verbatim. I love these people, but sometimes they pull out info that I didn't know could even exist and is even more useless than Mr. Loafers, but they still know it for some reason.

Family Night
Its always fun to sit near a family that is at a game for the first time. The kids get hockey clothes, foam fingers and a bucket of popcorn while plastered to the glass. Dad explains the actual rules while mom hold the puck the kids caught and freezes.

Mr. I Will Stop at Nothing to Get on the Jumbo-Tron
Forget wearing a banana outfit or painting your face, this guy will stop at nothing to be seen. Whether its some terrible dancing, taking off articles of clothing or finding a cute kid to stand behind he will get on the big screen.

Live in South Bend (Trois)

2007-10-22T22:13:00.000-06:00

Notre Dame is a truly amazing place. The campus of the University of Notre Dame is enormous (when comparing it to the size of the University of Denver's campus that is). I had to opportunity to visit the bookstore on campus. It is mind boggling...Two floors full of Notre Dame apparrel, text books, and souvenirs. We spent two and half hours (and countless dollars) in that store. Afterwords we ate on campus at the Legends of Notre Dame restaurant. A marked difference I've noticed at Notre Dame is that there's an amazing sense of tradition and preserving those traditions. Everywhere you go, you're faced with something uniquely Irish. The Legends of Notre Dame restaurant is an example of the preservation of tradition. You are surrounded by the greatest moments in Notre Dame sports history, including a video that shows those great moments. The food was superb and service was good. I would HIGHLY recommend it to anyone visiting Notre Dame.

To cap off my weekend, I had the great pleasure of attending the Notre Dame/USC game. Although Notre Dame lost (38-0), I enjoyed the experience tremendously. I say experience because, when you're in Notre Dame stadium, it's not just about the game, it's about the whole package. We sat directly behind the Notre Dame band, close to the student section, 6 rows from the field. There just aren't words to explain what it was like to sit (or rather I should say stand, as we stood for most of the game, like all the rest of the fans) with 80,000 screaming fans. The student section alone was louder than all of Magness Arena on a good night. The best I can do to share this experience with you is to share my pictures. Please enjoy a slideshow of my trip to South Bend. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience that I will always remember fondly. I want to thank the people of South Bend, who were the most gracious, kind people I’ve ever met, and who made my trip truly remarkable.

Live in South Bend (Deux)

2007-10-19T22:31:00.000-06:00

Tonight the #5 Pioneers did what they should have done last night! They beat the #11 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 3-1 for a split of the weekend series. Overall, DU looked much better, especially in the second period. There appeared to be no lapse in focus tonight as the Pioneers put together a great game. Freshman defenseman Chris Nutini scored his first goal as a Pioneer with a wicked shot from the point at 15:55 of the first period. The Irish tied up the game at 10:55 of the second as Jesse Martin sat in the penalty box for instigating. It should be noted Tyler Ruegsegger was also in the box however; Notre Dame received a coincidental minor, as there was a scrum around the Notre Dame goal. Anthony Maiani scored the game winner at 12:24 of the second. Finally Tom May rounded out the scoring with an empty netter at 19:43, scoring his first of the season.

A change in tonight’s game atmosphere was the addition of the Notre Dame (or at least a small part of it) Band. Please enjoy the clips below!

Notre Dame Band and Student Section

Notre Dame Fight Song

Notre Dame Band Marches to the Football Pep Rally

On a completely personal side note, this post is the 100th post on Hockey in Colorado!! Thanks to MeganDU and PiosAvsFan for helping me reach this milestone. I look forward to the many posts come.

Live in South Bend

2007-10-18T22:24:00.000-06:00

That’s right folks, I’m in South Bend, Indiana, home of the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. Briefly, let’s talk about the Denver Pioneers 4-3 loss to the Fighting Irish. I thought DU came out very strong in the first period, as evidenced by the early goal (1:42 of the first period) from Freshman Kyle Ostrow. As the game wore on however, it seemed the Pioneers lost a little of that intensity. Notre Dame’s Garrett Regan evened up the score on the Power Play at 18:10. Then Tyler Bozak puts the Pios up again at 19:15, though from my vantage point that goal was deflected by an Irish defenseman.

What was a poor ending to the first period became an almost disastrous second period. Once again the Pioneers seemed to lose all focus on drive in the second period (something that I’m sure many of you will remember plagued the Pios last season). Notre Dame led the play almost entirely through the second scoring two goals, taking a 3-2 lead into the final period.

Directly after the end of the second, it was announced that all spectators needed to evacuate the arena as a Tornado warning had been issued for the South Bend area. After a short sojourn into a more protected area of the arena, the fans were allowed back to their seats with no delay in the game.

The final period saw Notre Dame score a final time, in what can best be described as a dirty manner. There was quite clearly goalie interference as Peter Mannino had a stick to his neck, but after replay, the refs sided with Notre Dame. Brock Trotter scored the final goal for DU, just 32 seconds after the questionable Notre Dame goal. Despite several late period Power Plays, the Pioneers were unable to even the score, leaving the ice after a scrum in the corner involving Captain Andrew Thomas.

Overall, I think a key issue is that the Pioneers need to work hard for a full 60 minutes. They possesses great strength and speed, but they have been unsuccessful at keeping up their intensity throughout a game. Also, the penalty kill MUST improve. Notre Dame converted on 3 of their 4 Power Plays. Not to mention this was seen last weekend briefly as the only goal Mannino allowed versus Maine came on a Power Play. I think Mannino has been making great first efforts but the support of his team has been lacking on clearing the rebounds and ensuring he doesn’t have to make second and third saves.

I think if DU can play a full 60 minutes the way they played the first 10 minutes of tonight’s game, Notre Dame is a beatable team. If they continue to struggle in the second period and become lazy, we could see a similar result as tonight.

It's Avalanche Season!

2007-10-14T14:15:00.000-06:00

These days I’m working nights Sunday through Thursday. Needless to say in the two weeks since the Avalanche season has started, I have watched ZERO games lives. I have however, been diligently taping them for my viewing pleasure and so have seen ALL five games the Avalanche have played. Here’s a short review of the beginning of their season.

Game One: vs. Dallas 10/3/2007
-Paul Stastny scored his first career Hat trick leading the Avalanche in a 4-3 win over the Stars.
-The Avs showed their rust, allowing 2 power play goals by the Stars in the third period. I’m still not convinced Peter Budaj should be the man in the net; however Jose Theodore was busy rehabbing his knee.
-Jaroslav Hlinka…welcome to the show. He finished the night with two assists while playing on a line with Stastny and Andrew Brunette.

Game Two: at Nashville 10/4/2007
-One word, Painful. As in, it was painful to watch this game.
-The Avalanche outshot the Predators 35 to 32 in the 0-4 loss.
-Tyler Weiman replaced Budaj at the 4:14 mark of the third period after the 4th Nashville goal. He saved all 10 shots he faced. Congratulations to Tyler for his first NHL game.

Game Three: vs. San Jose 10/7/2007
-The Avalanche scored 4 third period goals to beat the Sharks 6-2.
-Stastny scored 1 goal (the game winner) and tallied 4 assists.
-Joe Sakic, Milan Hejduk, Marek Svatos, and Ryan Smyth all scored their first goals of the season.

Game Four: at St. Louis 10/12/2007
-Jose Theodore made his first start of the season in the 1-4 loss to the Blues. He saved 19 of the 23 shots he faced. Overall I thought he looked solid, though he still seems to be having the problem of letting shots leak through him. While he’s excellent at making the first save, he needs work on his rebound control as he still cannot seem to make the second and third saves.
-Stastny scored the only goal for the Avalanche. Proving there’s no such thing as a Sophomore Slump as far as he’s concerned.
-Manny Legace’s insane record against the Avalanche continues as he is now 12-1 all time against the Avs. I think it’s safe to say (much to my chagrin), he pwns the Avs...

Game Five: vs. Columbus 10/13/2007
-“Super” Joe Sakic led the Avs with a Hat trick in the 5-1 win over the Blue Jackets.
-Scott Hannan garnered his first assist in an Avalanche uniform.
-Overall, the Avs played well, especially considering Pascal Leclaire, Columbus’ goalie was coming in with a two game shutout streak.

In conclusion, what the heck is going on with road games?!? The Avalanche have scored just one goal in 6 periods of road play. Meanwhile, they have scored 15 goals at home. There’s definitely a disconnect somewhere and I fervently hope they figure out what’s going on soon as they begin a four game road trip on 10/19 after they face Calgary at the Pepsi Center this Tuesday. Paul Stastny is leading the Avalanche with 10 points. He is tied for second in the league for points and goals (5), and tied for 10th in assists (5). According to the Hockey News, he’s on track for an 82 goal, 82 assist, 164 point season!! In comparison, Sidney Crosby is on track for a 41 goal, 41 assist, 82 point season…not that that really means anything, it just makes me feel good…Overall, I think the Avs have been looking pretty good. They seem to be gelling as a team and fitting into their systems well. The key is winning on the road and continuing to win at home, but I think they’re in good position to make a substantial playoff run.

Let the games begin…

2007-10-14T13:41:00.000-06:00

So I’ve been busy what with school starting, the fall calling cycle starting, my boss quitting, etc. Hopefully things will slow down a little bit soon, so needless to say, this will be quick.

DU swept Maine this weekend in a big way. Friday night Senior Goaltender Peter Mannino posted his 10th career shutout in a 2-0 win over the Black Bears. Admittedly, I thought the Pioneers should have been better on Friday. Even though the Black Bears’ flight arrived at DIA at midnight of game day and they players didn’t arrive at their hotel until 2am, Maine was able to keep the Pioneers to only 2 goals. Ben Bishop was a huge in goal for Maine both literally, as he stands at 6’7” 210 lbs, and figuratively. He faced 48 shots over the course of the game, which should have been enough to garner him at least 3rd star recognition but wasn’t. Tyler Ruegsegger scored the first goal of the 2007-2008 season 5:46 into the second period, assisted by Chris Butler. At 19:42, Kyle Ostrow scored his first goal as a Pioneer, assisted by Ruegsegger and Butler. Both goals came on the Power Play.

Speaking of penalties, let me take a second to comment on the new two refs/two linesmen system the WCHA is trying out this year. Overall, I think it’s a great move for college hockey as it prepares an increasing number of young men to play in the NHL. It didn’t seem to me that there were more penalties called, but there was definitely better coverage and fewer true penalties fell through the cracks. That being said, I did think Adam swallowed his whistle a bit in favor of Maine towards the end of the game on Saturday night in an effort to “even things out.” Friday night Maine was called for 9 penalties for 18 minutes, while Denver was called for 5 penalties for 10 minutes. Saturday night Maine was called for 5 penalties for 10 minutes, while Denver was called for 7 penalties for 14 minutes. Something is definitely fishy here.

Back to the games, Saturday night saw DU sweep the series in a much better matched 3-1 win over Maine. There was a marked difference in how Maine played Saturday night; they were faster and stronger, however I thought DU matched them in intensity and acquitted themselves very well. Brock Trotter scored just 6 seconds into the game. At 3:49, Maine scored their only goal of the weekend on a 5-on-3 Power Play as Senior Captain Andrew Thomas and Assistant Captain Chris Butler sat in the box. This seemed to be a trend of the evening, as they would visit the box two more times each, which brought up questions of leadership on the USCHO Board. Jesse Martin and Anthony Maiani scored the other two goals for the Pioneers, Martin’s assisted by Ruegsegger and Patrick Mullen, Maiani’s unassisted.

My star of the weekend would be Tyler Ruegsegger. He ended the weekend 1-2—3 and was not assessed any penalties. He worked hard throughout and showed a maturity beyond his years.

That’s all I’ve got for now. With any luck, a discussion of the Colorado Avalanche’s new season will follow…

Videos from Avalanche Training Camp

2007-09-18T14:01:00.000-06:00

Courtesy of PiosAvsFan, please see the videos to follow.

This video shows Paul Stastny (#26 in Gray) neatly tucking away a nice goal against Peter Budaj.

This clip shows a bit of one of the scrimmages. Enjoy!

I'm so excited and I just can't hide it!

2007-09-02T00:24:00.000-06:00

With a little of one month until the first game of the DU Pioneer 2007-2008 season, I thought I’d take some time on this beautiful Labor Day weekend to ponder the fast approaching season.

At the end of last season, there were some huge questions left by the 2006-2007 squad. Can the struggling defense learn some discipline over the summer? Will the ever more prominent ego issues resolve themselves? Can Mannino regain his Freshman year/National Championship winning form? Will Rakhshani spend more time on his feet next season (I kid, I kid….)? It seemed that the 07-08 edition of the Pioneers were poised to become a much stronger, more disciplined team, especially with the announcement of Andrew Thomas as its captain. Then Ryan Dingle left to pursue his pro career. He was given an Amateur Try Out with the Portland Pirates, where he played 4 games with only 1 assist overall and was released.

Then, on July 30, one of the worst things possible occurred. While it had been rumored for about week, it was finally announced that would be Sophomore Keith Seabrook was leaving DU to join the Calgary Hitmen of the WHL. As you might remember in the middle of the 06-07 season, Sophomore defenseman TJ Fast departed for the WHL. The announcement sent shockwaves through the DU fan community. From reserved resignations of the apparent downfall of the defensive corps to the downright icy comments from Coach Gwozdecky, it was certain the Pioneers had taken quite a hit. As it stood, DU had 4 WCHA caliber defensemen, however with the defection of Seabrook, it appeared almost impossible that the DU defense would be able to withstand the offensive onslaught of the coming season.

Shortly after the announcement of Seabrook’s departure, it was announced that Geoff Paukovich had come to terms with the Edmonton Oilers. The reaction by fans was completely different. It was widely acknowledged that this was the best move for Paukovich whose play had sadly been severely hampered since the Bina incident.

Meanwhile, on the USCHO board, rumors abounded of the last minute recruits being brought in by the Pioneer coaching staff until at long last an official announcement came from DU. The 2007-2008 recruiting class will be as follows:

Name, S/C, Pos., Ht., Wt., Yr., DOB, Hometown (Last Team, League)
Tyler Bozak, R, F, 6-0, 165, Fr., 03/19/86, Regina, Saskatchewan (Victoria, BCHL)
Joey Brehm, L, D, 6-2, 180, Fr., 08/05/88, Edina, Minn. (Edina H.S.)
Marc Cheverie, L, G, 6-2, 185, Fr., 02/22/87, Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia (Nanaimo, BCHL)
Jon Cook, R, D, 6-1, 195, Fr., 04/08/86, Denver, Colo. (Camrose, AJHL)
Stephen Cunningham, L, F, 6-1, 195, Fr., 03/28/86, Boulder, Colo. (Burnaby, BCHL)
Eddie Guinn, L, G, 6-1, 185, Fr., 07/11/87, South Burlington, Vt. (Cleveland, CSHL)
Dustin Jackson, R, F, 6-3, 200, Fr., 06/20/86, Omaha, Neb. (Southern Minnesota, NAHL)
Anthony Maiani, L, F, 5-8, 165, Fr., 02/24/89, Shelby Township, Mich. (Sioux City, USHL)
Jesse Martin, R, F, 6-0, 180 Fr., 09/07/88, Edmonton, Alberta (Tri-City, USHL)
Chris Nutini, R, D, 6-0, 185, Fr., 09/12/87, Centennial, Colo. (Wichita Falls, NAHL)
Kyle Ostrow, L, F, 5-10, 175, Fr., 09/05/87, Calgary, Alberta (Nanaimo, BCHL)
John Ryder, L, D, 6-1, 190, Fr., 03/06/89, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Ohio, USHL)

I am of the opinion that the 2007-2008 edition of the University of Denver Pioneers could go one of two ways, with no middle ground. This team will either knock everyone’s socks off or be so terrible we’ll want to wipe this season from our memories. As the ever-optimistic person I am, I firmly believe this team has the potential to be a major contender this year; they are led by a captain who knows what it takes to win, have a goalie who has proven his ability to be the man, and have a coach with the experience and expertise to mold them into a national title contender. There’s also the small fact that the Frozen Four is being held in their back yard. What more motivation do they need??

I’ll leave you now with a few pictures of the new ice in Magness Arena.

Memories...

2007-07-10T17:01:00.000-06:00

As I was driving around my beautiful city during my lunch break, I happened across W. Ellsworth Ave. There in my car I was reminded of my first season as a DU hockey fan. If you’re any kind of college hockey fan, I’m sure you’ll understand why I was thrown back into the days of drunken frat boys yelling obscenities, dirty chants that turn out to be hockey related, and the smell of freshly spilled beer. That’s right, every time I cross paths with W. Ellsworth Ave., I am reminded of former Michigan Tech goalie Cam Ellsworth.

It was a cold February day. I’d been invited to the game by several friends who were only casual hockey fans. As was usually the case in those years before DU’s back-to-back national championships, we bought tickets 5 minutes before the game started and raced to the student section for the best seats available. Those happened to be three rows up from the ice directly behind the opposing team’s goalie. As we settled in, the SAE’s (that’s Sigma Alpha Epsilon) were commenting on the easy pronunciation of this goalie’s last name (this in the time of goalies such as McElhinney, Dubielewicz, Reichmuth, and Bruckler).

About 7 minutes into the first period Jeff Drummond (later to be known as Mr. Saturday Night) scored the first goal of the game against Ellsworth, assisted by Kevin Ulanski, and Scott Drewicki. After we all cheered and danced (yes, there was dancing) in celebration, the SAE’s began the ritualistic goalie cheer, with all the students joining in. “Ellsworth, Ellsworth, Ellsworth, YOU SUCK!” 7 minutes later Kevin Doell scored. Once again the cheer began “Ellsworth, Ellsworth, Ellsworth, YOU SUCK!”

Seven times during that evening I heard the glorious cheer. Luckily for Cam Ellsworth, DU was unable to score during the second period, when he was on the opposite side of the rink. However, during the third he was scored on 5 times and in return he heard the gleeful cheer of the student section “Ellsworth, Ellsworth, Ellsworth, YOU SUCK!” Kevin Doell scored 4 times that night, earning the admiration (and hats) of the 5,000+ fans in attendance.

So as I drive across W. Ellsworth Ave. I think of that night and the cheers of the student section. I also wonder whatever happened to Cam Ellsworth. Courtesy of The Internet Hockey Database Cam spent his remaining two years at Michigan Tech, never winning more than 10 games in each of his four seasons. In the 2005-2006 season he signed with the Augusta Lynx of the ECHL only to be traded, after playing one game (a tie in which he allowed 4 goals), to the Greenville Grrrowl of the ECHL. He played 34 games with the Grrrowl winning 22, losing 10 and tying 1. He then moved on to the Stockton Thunder of the ECHL, playing 33 games last season (14-13-3).

I hope you enjoyed my sojourn in the past…but let me leave you with one last thought: “Ellsworth, Ellsworth, Ellsworth, YOU SUCK!”

Where there’s a Mullet, there’s a Way

2007-07-03T11:34:00.000-06:00

I am ecstatic, overjoyed, delighted, thrilled, elated, blissful, rapturous, euphoric, and any other word you can think of for really overly happy. After three long years of mediocrity, the Colorado Avalanche has taken a BIG step in the direction of greatness. On July 1st, Francois Giguere did the first really amazing thing since he’s been GM. The Avalanche has signed defenseman Scott Hannan and Captain Canada himself, the greatest of all mullets, Ryan Smyth.

Avs Sign Defenseman Scott Hannan

Avalanche Signs Ryan Smyth

I'd like to take a second to examine the Hair Choices of our new Avs.

I'll start with Hannan. It's kind of fluffy if you will, almost mullet like. Probably if he didn't tuck his man locks behind his ears it would look less mullet-ish. Also, does he dye it? It seems to be multi colored, a bit lustrous...Overall, I would give it a 8 out of 10 for sweet hair. Plus I dig the way it looks when he plays, it's all wet and stringy...so hot....

Next, let's tackle the uber mullet of Ryan Smyth...According to Mullets Galore the glorious Mullet of Destiny could be classified as a CamaroMullet. Whatever it is, it's awesomely awesome! As was previously mentioned (in fact too many times for me to link to the posts...oops!) I really heart this mullet. It's just so full and wavy, you really can't go wrong.

Seriously though, the Avs have filled some holes with these signings. Hannan is a physical defensive defenseman, which the Avs sorely need. Sure, he won't put up big numbers (in 508 regular season NHL games he has 25 goals) but that's what we have forwards for. Which brings me to Ryan "The Mullet of Destiny" Smyth. He's the kind of player that likes to get in the crease and use his size to pressure d-men and goalies alike until he scores.

More Fun Stuff:
-Smyth, Hannan Arrive in Denver. The Colorado Avalanche held a press conference yesterday evening to welcome Ryan and Scott to Colorado. There is a transcript as well as video.
-Adam Proteau of The Hockey News has a blog. His Wacky Weekend post deserves a read. In it, he briefly looks at the first two days of Free Agent open season. Here's what he had to say about the Avs:
Colorado Avalanche
Signed Up: Scott Hannan (SJ), Ryan Smyth (Edm)
Signed Out: Brett McLean (Fla), Ken Klee (Atl)
My 10 cents, in 10 words or less: Superior UFA signings, but Avs still have holes to fill.
Free Agent/Trade Grade: A+
-Other signings of note: Drury and Gomez to the Rangers; Briere, Jason Smith, and Joffrey Lupul to the Flyers; Jason Blake to Toronto; Brian Rafalski to Detroit; Paul Kariya to St. Louis; Handzus, Preissing, Nagy, and Calder to Los Angeles; Bertuzzi to Anaheim.
-Cory Schneider of BC has signed with the Vancouver Canucks. I find this a little odd. It's clear that Vancouver has chosen Luongo to be the man in the net for a while. This seems like a waste of time for Schneider. I don't see why he didn't choose to stay at BC for his senior season then see which team would pick him up after that. Sure, it would look like he had a bit of an ego, but seriously, while he may not be NHL ready this minute, his talent is wasted warming the bench...
-Also, Brian Lee has jumped the Fighting Sioux ship and signed with the Ottawa Senators. I hope he enjoys Binghamton, New York and wish him the best. Oh and tell his brother to hurry up and get to DU already!

Last I'd like to tackle the subject of site redesigns. Perhaps you have noticed, but all NHL sites are transitioning to new servers and new templates. The Colorado Avalanche can now be found at http://avalanche.nhl.com. Please check it out, I think they've done a great job adapting the former Avalanche site to fit the NHL's new template. There are pros and cons to this new formalized web design scheme. First, I think it makes it easier for casual fans to explore the NHL. Since all the sites are basically the same, once you're familiar with one site, you are familiar with them all. However, I will miss some of the really cool individualized sites like the Ottawa Senators and Anaheim Ducks.

Also, it appears that the University of Denver Pioneer's are redesigning their site. Personally, I'm all for it. I think the partnership with CSTV has not served DU well considering all of the features are NOT Mac compatible. All season long, I was unable to listen to road games or watch the live video from my home computer. Not to mention, I'll certainly not miss the annoying pop-ups that even though you clicked the close icon didn't close....good riddance denverpioneers.cstv.com! Welcome the new (well almost launched)DenverPioneers.com

Catching Up...

2007-06-12T10:52:00.000-06:00

So it's been awhile. I've been busy...For the first time in University of Denver history, a non-academic department has been moved off of the University of Denver campus. I am lucky enough to be part of that department, therefore, I had the extreme pleasure of packing up my office and being moved 2.7 miles away from campus. All the while, my team was readying itself for our biggest event of the year: Reunion Weekend. I'm talking 13 events in 3 days big. So I've been busy...

Here's what's going on in my neck of the woods (thanks Al Rocher!):
-Rakhshani and Ruegsegger Invited to 2007 U.S. National Junior Evaluation Camp
-DU Hockey Announces 2007-08 Schedule A side note here, there are some VERY interesting scheduling decisions here. First, DU will visit Notre Dame for their first away series. Interestingly, these games will take place on Thursday and Friday, undoubtedly due to the fact that Notre Dame will be hosting USC on the Football field that Saturday. Second, two weekends later, DU will visit Minnesota where they will play on Friday and Sunday. Once again, the hockey game appears to be bumped as the Gopher Football team will be playing Illinois at the Metrodome. Last, DU will play its first series against much hated rival CC the weekend after Thanks giving rather than the first week in December. My best guess for this change is that DU is hoping to fill more seats as most students will still be in town before the six week Winter Break begins.
-Thomas to Lead 07-08 DU Hockey Pioneers Another side note, I think it's safe to say that ALL DU fans saw this one coming a mile away. Andrew Thomas follows a long line of Defensemen to lead the Pioneers, but much more than that, he has proven that he has the ability to lead the team (hopefully to the Frozen Four right here in Denver!) throughout his college career. A hearty congratulations go out to an outstanding Pioneer.
-DU's Fisher Signs with Edmonton

And in the hockey world in general:
-The Anaheim (they'll always be Mighty to me!) Ducks won the Stanley Cup in case you've been under a rock...I would have preferred the Ottawa Senators would have won, but really I wasn't very invested in watching the finals.
-This Thursday June 14th, the NHL will hold it's annual Awards ceremony, recognizing those outstanding players in the League. The Colorado Avalanche's Paul Stastny is up for the Calder. He's been pitted against Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal, both of the Pittsburgh Penguins. I can only hope that Paul's amazing 20 game point streak will make him stand out against the Rookie leading 85 point-scoring Malkin. Also Joe Sakic was nominated for the Lady Byng, as was Pavel Datsyuk and Martin St. Louis. The Awards Show can be seen on Versus at 5:00pm MT
-Avalanche Signs Leopold, Sauer, Finger and Jones
-Stastny Shines At World Championship

Last I want to tell you about a new blog. The College Hockey (& Other Stuff) Blog is fairly new and has GREAT content. They've been kind enough to link to me and I have now added a link to them. I highly recommend this blog to anyone looking for a quick and easy fix on the world of College Hockey.

That'll do it for me today, so until next time...

Boone vs. Ruckus

2007-05-29T14:13:00.000-06:00

I received a most interesting e-mail today. It read as follows:

Dear DU Undergraduate,

Recently, we've felt a push to bring back our beloved mascot, Boone. To empower the voice of DU students, we are quantifying this sentiment by surveying the DU undergraduate population. Please take this survey seriously as these results will be tabulated and presented to DU administration. Click here to enter the survey (url of survey was here) Please respond by Friday, June 1.

Thanks for your participation --

(I've removed the names of the students who are leading the charge...)

AUSA Senate
Student Athlete Advisory Council

When you click on the link to the survey, this is what you see:

I think this is a very interesting idea. It's my understanding that the student body was not asked for their opinions when Boone was "retired" and Ruckus usurped his job. I think this is a major reason why school spirit at DU is non-existent. I mean really, who wants to rally behind a Red-Tailed Hawk when we are calling ourselves the Pioneers? It is my fervent hope that Ruckus is retired for good and some sort of Pioneer type mascot takes his place. I understand that Boone was created by Walt Disney, which is probably one of the reasons he was done away with seeing as how it can't be cheap to have a mascot created by a legend. I therefore think the best solution here is to start from scratch. Create a Pioneer Mascot that the DU population can be proud of!

Awards Night at DU

2007-05-05T19:09:00.000-06:00

Yesterday evening, the University of Denver Men’s Hockey team celebrated its 51st Annual Hockey Awards Evening tonight at The Cable Center on the DU campus.

Follows is a list of the Honorees…

Bill Masterton Memorial Award (MVP)-Glenn Fisher
Leading Scorer Award-Brock Trotter
Star of the Year Award-Brock Trotter
Barry Sharp Memorial Award (Rookie of the year)-Tyler Ruegsegger
Dr. Art Mason Award (Top Scholar-Athlete)-Tyler Ruegsegger and Danny King
Dr. Ken Bredesen Award (Sportsmanship)-J.D. Corbin
Bob Martin Memorial Award (Community Service)-J.D. Corbin and Brandon Vossberg
Murray Armstrong Award (Most Improved Player)-J.P. Testwuide
Dr. Ralph Verploeg Award (Most Inspirational Player)-Adrian Veideman
Keith Magnuson Memorial Award (Top Defensive Player)-Chris Butler

All-WCHA Academic Honorees (GPA of 3.0 or better) :
-Zach Blom
-Chris Butler
-Steven Cook
-J.D. Corbin
-Glenn Fisher
-Ryan Helgason
-Danny King
-Patrick Mullen
-J.P. Testwuide
-Andrew Thomas

WCHA Scholar-Athlete Award Winners (GPA of 3.5 or better) :
-Zach Blom
-Steven Cook
-J.D. Corbin
-Glenn Fisher
-Danny King

Read the official release here: Fisher Named MVP of 2006-07 Pioneers

Round Two, Games Two

2007-04-28T21:47:00.000-06:00

-I’m so happy that the NHL is getting time on a major network in the US. Thanks to NBC for that…
-Brett Hull is an asshole…he constantly makes references to his “prolific” (and yes I know he is 20th in all time points…) career while he belittles Ray Ferraro and his career. I’m sick of it…
-Detroit has got the SCORE! I highly doubt they will be able to win the best of seven second round series versus the San Jose Sharks.
-HASEK! Oh wow…that was quite the give away, he’s gonna be kicking the crap out of himself later for that one…
-Datsyuk, oh where oh where have you gone? Remember how you just singed a seven year, $46.9 million (that’s $6.7 million per year)? You did a great job in the first round of showing you deserved it, but have been invisible in these first two games of the second round.
-GO GO MATTY!! (Carle that is…)
-that’s what I’m talking about Datsyuk! Set up Zetterberg and show your value…GREAT play!
-Patrick Rissmiller out of Holy Cross…still makes me laugh that Minnesota sucks so bad….
-Mike Babcock looks really confused throughout this game…that’s probably not a good thing…
-lots of mention of college teams (Holy Cross, Michigan Tech, University of Denver) I love it!
-Pierre MacGuire is surprisingly not as annoying as usual…also he has a pretty big gash on his forehead…perhaps he took a puck to the head?
-seriously Ron Wilson? That is some saweet facial hair you got goin………
-wow Daniel Briere, that is some outfit…blue spandex shirt, taupe stripped jacket…I’m in awe of the terribleness….
-great interview by Danny, excellent job of highlighting the talent on the Sabres, especially classy that he said the Sabres are led by Chris Drury when Briere is in fact the co-captain.
-there are few things better in hockey than a shorthanded goal, especially when the home team is down in the playoffs…
-throwing octopi on the ice is easily one of the grossest things…I would have to be one of the people who has to clean those things off the ice, yuck!
-I really like the Versus/NBC Inside the Glass features. It’s pretty sweet that the teams allow a reporter to basically sit on their benches and listen in…
-ok, Hasek really frightens me (and obviously the fans in Detroit as well) every time he leaves the net to play the puck. Kinda like Marty Turco, he just shouldn’t leave his net, EVER!
-so for the last several weeks, NBC has been pushing a special on Barbaro. Seriously? It’s probably because I don’t really like horses in general but I’m really tired of hearing about this horse in particular. Yes, I understand he was an amazing horse, however, I wonder if the American public really gives a hoot about this horse…
-DATSYUK SCORES! Holy cow that was amazing…
-I <3 Patrick Marleau
-Jimmy Jimmy Dowd!! I miss him…
-I almost forgot how much I enjoyed watching Zach Parise and Travis Zajac…almost
-“There was a time when a two goal lead for New Jersey was money…” seriously?
-Alfredsson shows what being the leader of a team means…this playoff run he’s stepped up when his team has really needed him.
-lol at Martin Brodeur throwing away his glove after allowing 4 goals on his glove side in the first game of the Sens/Devils series
-HEATLY SCORES with 26.4 seconds left in regulation! That’s the best…
-Now in double overtime…John V talking about how hungry the players are since they haven’t eaten since 1pm. It’s about 11:40 in NJ right now….
-Jamie Langenbrunner on the breakaway scores 1:55 in the 2OT! I was pulling for Ottawa but since Langebrunner scored on an outlet pass from Travis Zajac, I guess it’s all good…

It's crappy outside...

2007-04-24T16:56:00.000-06:00

so naturally, it made me think of hockey season...and here are some funny hockey videos to brighten even the gloomiest day! ENJOY!!

Some more thoughts on the NHL Playoffs

2007-04-17T22:54:00.000-06:00

-Does Brian Engblom own a mirror? I somehow doubt it judging my his absolutely TERRIBLE hair….
-I’ve been less than impressed with Malkin’s play in the Senators/Penguins series. It’s hard to say if that comes from his apparent lack of visibility in the series or if Ottawa has just done a great job of eliminating his effectiveness. I’m not inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt, but I’m most definitely biased in my opinion of Malkin as I think Stastny deserves the Calder more than Malkin but that’s another story…
-this game has no fire…it’s really boring….i’m not even really paying attention to it anymore…that’s sad…
-Staal makes an impression. He makes some great decisions with the puck and is strong on defense as well as faceoffs.
-I love the CBC broadcasts…because of this, I’ve decided to move to Canada…
-That was some hit by Cleary on Phaneuf…
-Could Lombardi be any hotter? I don’t think it’s possible…
-Iginla=eewwweeee…..

Random thoughts from the second night of the NHL playoffs

2007-04-13T23:10:00.000-06:00

-Seriously Iginla? Now you think you fight? Oh please…stick to “goal scoring” I know you’re trying to get your team (currently down 4-1) motivated for the next game, but don’t break your hands and make yourself useless to your team…
-Kris Draper and Chris Chelios=Two of the ugliest hockey players around….yikes!
-Datsyuk was AMAZING…I guess when a team signs a guy for a 7 year contract, he better make good on that show of confidence…scoring your first goal in 27 playoff games will make an impression!
-I love Eddie Olczyk…he’s probably my favorite color commentary guy on Versus…
-I’ve had Phaneuf of Dion! He’s a goon…and not in a good way……
-I love that Bud Light commercial where the guys do Rock Paper Scissors for the last Bud Light…and the one guy throws a literal rock at the other guy! “Low Five” It’s funny EVERY time! Good thing I like it cuz it was on about a hundred times…
-Henrik Zettterberg=Hot!
-I love when Versus has bonus coverage and they tap into the Canadian broadcasts. Tonight it was the TSN broadcast of the Sabres/Islanders game. My one problem with the broadcast: Pierre MacGuire…he chimes in constantly from the bench, so annoying…plus can we talk about his pink shirt and multi-pastel colored tie? Sorry Pierre, but you’re no Coach Gwozdecky…Pink is NOT your color…….
-DUBIE, DUBIE, DUBIE!
-Speaking of, I REALLY love his all black pads…very classy, very different.
-Three Words: Mullet of Destiny! I’ve really missed seeing Ryan Smyth…
-The number of former College players in the Sabres/Islanders game is astonishing! Not to mention, Miller and Dubielewicz, two of the great College goaltenders in the last decade facing each other…it doesn’t get much better than that!
-HOLY RYAN MILLER POKE CHECK! He blanked the Mullet of Destiny and the crowd erupts!
-Speaking of the crowd, holy moly are they loud! Probably most noticeable when they are booing every time Satan touches the puck…
-I have to admit, the “Buffa-Slug” logo has really grown on me this season. However I REALLY miss the Sabres Third Jerseys from last, the red ones with the crossed sabers on the front.
-Way to go Drew Stafford with the getting kicked out of the game at the end in defense of your teammates. Great game for Drew in general.

Some Notes

2007-04-12T10:20:00.001-06:00

Last Saturday, Michigan State won the 2007 NCAA National Championship in St. Louis, MO. It was quite a weekend of hockey, with Michigan State beating out heavily favored Maine in the Semifinal, and Boston College (unfortunately) eliminated North Dakota, for the second year in a row, to advance to the title game. When it came down to it and I had to pick a team to root for on Saturday, I had to choose Michigan State, and here’s why: Jeff Lerg. He has such an inspiring story that I couldn’t help but hope he could win a national championship. In case you hadn’t heard, there’s really nothing about Jeff Lerg that screams Hockey Player. He’s 5’6”, 150 pounds, and has fairly severe asthma. Doesn’t exactly sound like a recipe for goalie success…However he beat all the odds and found himself in the National Championship game in his sophomore season. Overall, the game was quite boring, I’m not gonna lie. However things got interesting in the second period, when Boston College scored the first goal of the game. Brian Boyle, the overly hyped forward turned defenseman Captain of BC, scored on a power play. It only got better from there…Michigan State went on to score 3 unanswered goals, on an empty netter, to win the national championship, their first in 21 years. Congrats to the Spartans!

The NHL playoffs kicked off last night with a bang! I had the opportunity to see Ottawa host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Versus. As I expected, the Senators handled the Penguins with ease, winning 6-3 on goals from Andrey Meszaros, Chris Kelly, Tom Preissing, Dany Heatley, Chris Neil, and Mike Comrie. Penguin’s goalie Marc-Andre Fleury was chased with 8 minutes left in the third, which resulted in Pittsburgh scoring two goals to make the loss a little less embarrassing. Sid the Kid’s playoff debut didn’t go exactly as he planned, having scored only one goal on three shots and ending minus-1. There was however an apparent Crosby goal disallowed; as it was determined he pushed the puck into the net with his hand. The Senators played a solid game with great fore-check. Quite honestly, they manhandled the Penguins resulting in a very chippy end to the game. At 19:22, there was a small scuffle around the Ottawa bench as Jarkko Ruutu took exception to a check. He was assessed two minor penalties for Roughing. “Toilet Paper” Tom Preissing was also assessed a minor for roughing and, probably one of the best penalties I’ve ever seen on a boxscore, the Ottawa bench was assessed two minutes for Abusive language…seriously?

The second game on Versus last night was Vancouver hosting Dallas. It was a battle of two goalies I hate…Luongo with his greasy man mane and Fat Ass Turco with his, well, fat ass…This one was way to boring to watch the whole way through. I turned it off at 9:30 MST, which ended up being a very good thing as it went into 4 overtimes! By all accounts it was a great game for Vancouver fans, who spent nearly 5 and half hours watching their team. The astonishing stat of the game: Luongo faced 76 shots in the 138 minutes he played, while Turco faced a mere 56. Canucks won this one 5-4 on a (surprise surprise!) Sedin from Sedin goal, Henrik being the scorer.

There were two other games: San Jose at Nashville and Minnesota at Anaheim. In Nashville, Matt Carle scored the first goal of the game, which ended in a 5-4 2OT win for San Jose. Jonathan Cheechoo could be lost for a few games after a nasty knee-on-knee check from Scott Hartnell. The Sharks have said that Cheechoo is being evaluated and his return timeline is uncertain.

In Anaheim, easily the most boring playoff tilt, so boring in fact that only one of the games will be shown on national television in the US and that’s only because there aren’t any Eastern Conference match-ups to show before the Canucks/Stars game…But I digress…Anaheim beat Minnesota 2-1 on goals from Teemu Selanne and Dustin Penner.

Tonight’s Versus schedule will feature the Calgary Flames visiting Detroit. Other series playing tonight:
Islanders @ Sabres (Go DUBIE!!!!! GO DUBIE!!!!! But really I hope the Sabres win the series, just not beat Dubie!)
Lightening @ Devils (I have a soft spot for former UND players, so good luck Parise and Zajac!)
Rangers @ Thrashers (I could really care less what happens here…)

In Avalanche news, the Avs have signed TJ Hensick…I’m less than thrilled. Yes, I know Hensick is an amazing player, however I REALLY HATE his attitude…He’s immature and whiney. This was shown in the West Regional when he was given a 10 minute misconduct…He claims the ref was “chirping” at him the whole game, however I noticed he was approaching the ref after every play with some complaint. I’ve also heard that he had no interest in signing with the Avs because, having spent his entire life in Michigan, he really wants to play for the Red Wings…We’ll see how things pan out there…..

Lets take stock....

2007-04-10T14:58:00.000-06:00

So it is mid April and my hockey season is over....OVER. The Pioneers didn't make the playoffs so I put all of my hope in to the Avalanche, and there for a while there was a real shot that we could possibly over take the final spot from Calgary....then the team decided "hey its been a while since we really sucked so lets try that again." Picture this, I'm sitting on my new couch with the lucky hockey pj pants on and we are oh so close to winning the game when Budaj lets in like 800 goals and all of the sudden it hits me, I have like five months of no hockey. Yeah I could convert and root for another team, and by another team I mean San Jose...for obvious reasons, but it would just not be the same. So I am currently trying to find out what normal people do on the weekends. I vaguely remember a time when I regularly saw my family and every conversation with friends didn't begin with "Do you have hockey this weekend." The view from where I am sitting is currently dismal.....so now I am counting down the days until the Burgundy and White game. If you are feeling the bleakness and sadness that it the recent hockey situation in Colorado let me know we can wallow in out sadness together....

And away we go...

2007-03-27T15:32:00.000-06:00

DU's Dingle Signs with Anaheim.

The article says it all...Dingle's left DU. Let the bleeding begin...This is a minor surprise to me as he was undrafted. I think he could have been a legitimate Hobey contender next year, not to mention a leader of a young DU team. I wish him the very best in his future career!

This news was widely circulated last week when the Steamboat Pilot and Today reported last week that DU had already signed with the Ducks. However the Denver Post had a
different view of the situation. Leaving many fans feeling a bit confused...

Other rumoured departures for the Pioneers are Geoff Paukovich, Chris Butler, and even Senior (and really only) Goalie Peter Mannino...here's hoping that the boys don't put the team into too much of a bind for next season...

NCAA West Regional

2007-03-25T03:21:00.000-06:00

What a weekend! Today was the conclusion of the NCAA Regional Tournament. The Frozen Four competitors are set: Boston College, Maine, Michigan State, and North Dakota. I had the great opportunity to watch the NCAA West Regional held in Denver, CO at the Pepsi Center. The four teams that competed were Air Force, Michigan, Minnesota, and North Dakota.

Competition began yesterday afternoon when the Air Force Academy Falcons took on the #1 overall seed Minnesota Golden Gophers. With Air Force as the only team from Colorado to make the NCAA tournament, crowd support was squarely placed on them. Air Force got off to a great start, having Jeff Hajner scoring the only goal in the first period 9:55 into the contest. Jay Barriball evened up the score 9 minutes into the second, however Air Force answered back with a power play goal at the 19:23 mark of the second. The Falcons seemed to be in good shape headed in the third, especially after Brett Nylander scored about 5 minutes into the third, however the Gophers, perhaps remembering their embarrassing loss to Holy Cross in last years’ regional, finally showed up the play, scoring three unanswered goals in the third period to win the game 4-3, advancing to the final. From a Colorado Avalanche fan perspective, all of the Avs’ prospects that were involved in this game (Mike Carman, Ryan Stoa and Derek Peltier from Minnesota) all got on the boar with either goals or assists.

In the second game on Saturday, the Michigan Wolverines faced the Fighting Sioux of North Dakota. To say that this game was exciting doesn't really come close to what it was. These two pretty stacked with talent teams combined for 13 goals (which I believe ties a record for most goals in an NCAA tournament game). Luckily for us all, North Dakota came out on top beating the Wolverines 8-5. I've read many opinions on this game (lack of appreciable goal tending and/or defense, the refs let everything get out of hand, etc.) however I think it was all a hockey game should be. There was intensity, grit, a bit of chippiness, and lots of goals. Personally, I loved seeing 13 goals scored...a comment on the two Avs prospects that were seen in this match-up. Senior forward TJ Hensick and Sophomore Goalie Billy Sauer both put in pretty good performances. Hensick scored twice and had one assist while Sauer made 19 saves on 27 shots, some of which were pretty amazing. My biggest observation from these two is that Hensick is a whiner...it seemed after every play he was in the ref's face complaining about some perceived slight. He was penalized for this with a 10 minute misconduct at the 7:34 mark of the third period. I've heard many rumours that he has no intention of signing with the Avs as he would much rather play for the Detroit Red Wings, to which my comment would be, great...they can have him! Sauer has some great potential, it's good to have him in the pipeline.

The final game, showcasing (in my opinion) the two best teams to watch in the nation, Minnesota vs. North Dakota, lived up to its billing. It was a very tight game throughout. I thought North Dakota earned their win splendidly. Minnesota, though Avalanche prospect Mike Carman got them on the board first, seemed to be playing catch-up the entire game. The crowd was simply amazing...it was pretty evenly split between those rooting for North Dakota and those rooting for Minnesota. Chris Porter had one of the best weekends of his career, scoring the game winner in OT on Sunday, as well as scoring twice and assisting once on Saturday. He earned his tournament MVP title to be sure.

Overall, I think the city of Denver did a great job of hosting this event. I feel confident that next year's Frozen Four will be one of the best the NCAA has ever seen. It really says something about the state of hockey in Colorado that even though DU and CC didn't make the tournament, we were able to break the three game attendance record set by Ralph Englestad Arena last year with the reported 33,000+ attendees.

As usual, I took many (over 100!) pictures...

The More the Merrier

2007-03-22T19:39:00.000-06:00

I've posted this elsewhere, but seriously, the more the merrier right?

In regards to the West Regional at the Pepsi Center in Denver: we have three Club Level (Section 252 Row 4) seats for all three games. Prefer face value but price is negotiable. $30 for each Saturday game, $40 for Final on Sunday.

Contact Catie
csmith10@du.edu

Put a fork in me, I'm done!

2007-03-18T19:50:00.000-06:00

With DU’s season officially coming to an end today having not been selected for the NCAA Tournament, I’d like to say a few things about each of our wonderful players.

First and foremost, thanks to the Senior Class! It’s been quite an amazing four years and we appreciate your endless hard work.

Zach Blom-I enjoyed the times when he was on the ice. His work ethic is invaluable and I really hoped to see him play more often. Not to mention, he is definitely one of the nicest players.

Cody Brookwell-I was pleasantly surprised by his play this year. I’m looking forward to the next three years as Brookwell blossoms into the next Ryan Caldwell. Also his lack of undergarments is always amusing…

Chris Butler-Once again, a staple of our blue line, he never fails to do his part. I would be very disappointed should he decide not to return next year, however I think he might be a flight risk…

Steven Cook-Probably the hardest worker player on the team. He plays his heart out every game and does many of the little things right.

J.D. Corbin-We greatly missed him this season. It was such a waste of talent for him to have broken his leg. I wish him all the best in the future and look forward to the day when I get to see him in an Avalanche jersey.

Ryan Dingle-My choice for MVP for the 2006-2007 season. He worked hard and got the job done. His 37 points were second only to Trotter’s 40 points, however he led the team with 9 power play goals, 2 short handed goals, and was tied with Paukovich for game winning goals with 4. He was also selected for the All-WCHA Third Team. I look forward to his senior season as he should be an Alternate Captain.

Glenn Fisher-In my opinion, he was the best goalie DU had this season. His four seasons with DU have each been so different and I think he stepped up his game this year. I believe that he is an NHL caliber goalie and look forward to seeing him suit up for the Oilers in the future.

T.J. Fast-Though he didn’t complete the season with DU I’d like to say a little about him. His departure hurt the team more than anyone could have expected. I wish he would have stuck it out until the end of the year. His play over the last two years has been adequate. I have the feeling that should he have stayed, he would have had an expanded role next year. Best of luck to him.

Brian Gifford-One of five players who was seen in all the DU’s 40 games, Gifford’s work ethic is what makes him stand out. His next three years should be great to watch.

Matt Glasser-Hey, look who it is! I was pleased with his performance in the 12 games he saw ice time. I hope to see more of him next year.

Mike Handza-There’s not a whole lot more to say about Handza that hasn’t already been said. The Water Bottle incident of ’06 was classic Handza and I will miss his second period ritual of heckling the opposing team’s goalie.

Ryan Helgason-He had so many great opportunities on the breakaway due to his speed. Another team workhorse, he’ll definitely be missed.

Danny King-What would we do without King? Mannino would have to look for his own towels and water bottle during breaks…not to mention the other players wouldn’t have anything to aim at during warm-ups. But really, King brought a lot of character to the team and I wish him the best.

Peter Mannino-He’s all we have for next year. I hope he’s ready…

Julian Marcuzzi-The mystery continues…Marcuzzi is not a bad defenseman, but he never seems to play at home. I hope things work out for him and that he can see more quality minutes next year.

Tom May-I’m so very glad he cut his hair! His presence was missed in the first half of the year and I was happy with is play the remainder of the year. I hope he can step up his game next year.

Patrick Mullen-Interesting to see him as a defenseman later in the year, but his goals are some of my favorites. They are usually goals that have taken a lot of hard work to come to but have a certain flash to them. May he have to opportunity to shine next year.

Geoff Paukovich-After an early season slump, I was happy to see Paukovich come out of his shell with May back in the line-up. I hope to see the two of them back at next year as they are such a dynamic duo.

Rhett Rakhshani-One of my favorite freshman, he never fails to amuse. Whether he’s taking shots sitting on his butt or taking out opposing players with him, it’s obvious that he works very hard. While he’s been listed elsewhere as a possible flight risk, I hope to see him next year. He’s also one of the nicest players on the team.

Tyler Ruegsegger-My other favorite freshman, if I were giving out awards, he would get my Hardest Working player award. He gives his all every shift of every game. I’ve not seen him give up, ever. It’s great to see another Colorado kid getting it done at DU. Another stand out guy off the ice as well. Special thanks to him for putting up with our multitude of questions at his signing!

Keith Seabrook-He has all the tools to become a great offensive defenseman. I would like to see more effort from him. He will be a vital part of the d-corps next year, especially if Butler decides to leave early.

J.P. Testwuide-His foray into the Forward position has turned out well for him. While he’s not a scorer he does the little things right. Not to mention, his mom might be the coolest lady ever and the fact that his brother plays for CC makes that rivalry even better.

Andrew Thomas-By far the best defensive defenseman on the roster. He’s the kind of defenseman I wish DU had more of. He works hard every shift and I think is in great position to be Captain of the 2007-2008 team.

Brock Trotter-While I’m not a fan of Trotter, I see his value. His 40 points led the team this year. However, I think he needs a BIG attitude adjustment. Having overheard his feelings about the team and his role, I feel he could use a good kick in the ass. I sincerely hope that over the summer he can realize that there is no I in team for a good reason…

Adrian Veideman-His leadership was vital this year. I have greatly enjoyed watching him develop over the last four years and I wish him the very best in the future.

Brandon Vossberg-He performed to expectations this year. I wouldn’t mind seeing him in a few more games next year.

And now I’d like to present Our Season in Pictures (thanks for the inspiration LetsGoMavs!) courtesy of PiosAvsFan, MeganDU, and myself, csmith10du

Megan's Mourning Period Has Begun

2007-03-12T14:57:00.000-06:00

It's official, my hockey season is over....
This has been the time of year that I have been dreading for a long time....some of my all time favorite University of Denver hockey players are leaving us and going on to bigger and brighter futures (que inspirational music). With Corbin and Fisher headed to different NHL franchises, Cook off to Law School, Handza going wherever he goes to be awesome (cuz lets face it he is glorious) and Vieds, Helgason, and King off to life after college hockey the Pioneers will be lacking for more than just talent. This senior class brought class, leadership and enormous talent when they walked on to this Pioneers team, and the school has a lot to be grateful to them for. On a more upbeat note I have gotten together a few awards for the Pios that have really made this year special for me as an obsessive college hockey follower and die hard Denver University fan.

Welcome to the Golden Megs, as voted on by me and me alone! (which is fine because I am always right)

Lets start the night off by saying that Glenn Fisher officially deserves all of the awards but I will attempt to be fair and balanced...

The Golden Meg for Best Checking (whether it be someone else or yourself) in to the boards goes to... JD Corbin! This guy can be skating along and suddenly fly in to the boards for no apparent reason, good news is he usually takes at least two opponents down with him. Glorious!

The Golden Meg for Best Professional Badass on the team goes to ....Mike Handza. Not a game goes by that Handza is not in the middle of something starting up some shit. I love it. I literally wait the entire first period and first intermission until the team skates out for the beginning of the second. This is when Mike Handza really shines! He is always the last Pio player to skate out of the locker room and on to the ice. This is to make sure that the opposing goalie is in the crease which he promptly skates through and says something to the goalie that I cannot write on this blog! It is truly the best thing since sliced bread...He has also been seen drinking out of the opposing goalies water bottle and is always smiling. He will be greatly missed.

The Golden Meg for Nicest Player goes to ......Zach Blom, this guy is so nice its almost creepy. It is truly a breath of fresh air to meet a DU hockey player that is so nice outside of the freshmen class. Close Second is Glasser, also very nice. Lets face it he put up with my drunk friends yelling look who it is, on more that one occasion after hockey games...poor guy

The Golden Meg for Best First Goal goes to.....Gifford, in Wisco, I was there it was glorious that's all!

The Golden Meg for What the Hell Were you Thinking Leaving Us Dammit goes to..... Stastny, seriously man...what were you thinking we really could have used that 18 game point streak this season...Carle we also miss you..

The Golden Meg for Guy I Would not want to Get Stuck in the Corner and Be Flattened By goes to ....Pauko, seriously would you want to be on this guys shit list ...I think not!

The Golden Meg for Best Hockey Apparel goes to...Brookwell, From all I can tell this guy goes shirtless under his uni...This is the real reason I never miss a game...Close Second Reugsegger, that yellow mouth guard is awesome!

The Golden Meg for Most Likely to Overreact to this Post goes to Marcuzzi, there is a story behind this... its funny

The Golden Meg for Most Likely to Miss a Breakaway goes to ...its a tie! .... Helgason (you are still awesome) and Trotter....not so awesome. Want proof, watch the lemon video.

The Golden Meg for Best nacho Eating Ability goes to ....Tom May. Ok so when he didn't play the guy sat directly across from us and let me tell you this guy can pack away nachos faster than a starving family of ten.....

The Golden Meg for Best Goal Celebration goes to ....Reugsegger. He is so entertaining when he scores, which he usually does when he is on his knees. Wonderous!

The Golden Meg for Making me Yell the Most (not in excitement) goes to ...Dingle, for some reason even when he is not on the ice I find myself yelling Dammit Dingle when I am angry.

The Golden Meg for Hottest Player on and off the Ice goes to ....Glenn Fisher, I had to....tear. I'm gonna miss him and his skating backwards in to the net every game....

The Golden Meg for Most Likely to Score While Laying Flat on His Stomach goes to ...Rhett Rakhshani, this guy is beyond unbelievable when he is on the ice. I am not exaggerating when I say that he is always in the middle of every awesome play. He is highly entertaining and I am very excited to see him in the coming years. He is also my new Glenn Fisher, all good things will be because of him and he will be mentioned in every single one of my articles....

And last but certainly not least, the Golden Meg for Lifetime Achievement goes to our captain, Adrian Veideman for his all around awesomeness. I can't really narrow his awesomeness down to one particular part of his play but he was a great asset to the team.

This concludes this years Golden Megs, it was a great year, with many ups and downs, then some more downs but it was easy to see that they guys worked hard. They fought til the end and didn't quite come out the way they wanted to. Until next year I will be rooting for Bobby Goepfert, no not St. Cloud State, just Bobby G.

You've said it all....

2007-03-09T23:57:00.000-07:00

Overall, I thought DU's performance this evening was better than the last three games. I thought they worked a bit harder and kept pace with the Badgers. Several observations from tonight:
-Trotter (aka One Man Team) really needs to start passing...I know he thinks he's the best player ever, but he's not getting it done right now. I've seen so many lost scoring opportunities because Trotter has elected to make a selfish play...
-Where the hell was Mannino tonight? Yes he made 34 saves tonight, but he allowed 3 VERY soft goals...
-Seabrook was probably one of the best players on the ice for DU tonight. He had good defensive zone coverage and had several great hard shots and good checks.
-DU dressed 5 defensemen Thomas, Veideman, Butler, Seabrook, and Brookwell. Oddly enough, Vossberg was listed as a defensemen, but I don't recall seeing him on the ice at all...Meanwhile Marcuzzi and Blom did not dress and Mullen, who recently has been playing defense was out with Mono...it just doesn't get any easier on defense and I fear next year will be much worse with the departure of at least one, more like two, key defensemen.
-The crowd was AMAZING!
-Brian Elliott turned in another great performance...i'll be glad when he graduates...

Looking forward to game 2...hopefully the players wake up some more and realize it's do and die...win the rest of the series or miss the NCAA tourney.....

Drop the Puck!

2007-03-08T15:46:00.000-07:00

So after two utterly frustrating weekends of college hockey it’s come to this. The first round of the WCHA playoffs is looming in the very near future. The Denver Pioneers with host the University of Wisconsin Badgers for a best of three series March 9-11. It is shaping up to be quite dogfight with the Badgers fighting to defend their National Championship and Denver looking to secure an NCAA tournament berth. Predictions on this series have been all over the place, mostly Wisconsin taking the series in three games based on the fact that Brian Elliott has the ability to steal a game (or two). Personally, I’m not sure how much faith I have in the Pioneers after last weekend.

Last Friday was the single most boring, lackluster, LAZY performance I have seen from DU…EVER! The only thing keeping the score from being 8-0 was CC’s poor team play. Glenn Fisher’s performance, which was mediocre at best, didn’t help matters. The defense suffered with the suspension of Cody Brookwell (for a still unspecified offense) and the offense was non-existent…

Saturday was not much of an improvement for DU, who, behind the completely uninspired play of Peter Mannino, allowed 5 power play goals, three of which came in the 1st period. Of those three, two came on a 5 minute major penalty to Cody Brookwell who was ejected from the game for checking from behind, a very poor play by him to be sure. The one upside to that game was that DU was able to come from behind and tied the game to earn 1 point against CC for this season. I have to admit, I was in attendance at the World Arena on Saturday night but was so disappointed with DU’s play that I left with two minutes remaining in the game, thereby missing DU’s comeback…While CC won the Gold Pan Trophy for the first time in three years, it makes me feel better to know that the original Gold Pan is in safe hands….

I dearly hope that the disappointment of losing on Senior Night and coming away with only 1 point out of a total 8 from play with CC is motivation enough to fire up the Pioneers for this weekend.

Meanwhile the Colorado Avalanche are riding a season high 5 game win streak! The Avs have put in 5 solid efforts against the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Chicago Blackhawks, the Detroit Redwings, the Boston Bruins, and the Buffalo Sabres. To top if all off, Paul Stastny broke the franchise record for rookie point streak and has tied the NHL record held by Teemu Selanne with is 17 game point streak. The Avalanche will have a chance to win a 6th straight game when they visit the Minnesota Wild this coming Sunday.

On a side note, this scathing blog regarding Erik Johnson’s interview with John Buccigross is absolutely hilarious and true…ENJOY!

It’s an epidemic….

2007-02-11T20:00:00.000-07:00

That’s right folks; there is an epidemic in Denver. I know what you’re thinking. No, it’s not Bird Flu or Ebola….It is however much worse and possibly lethal. That’s right, I know it’s terrible, but is seems that both the Colorado Avalanche and the Denver Pioneers have contracted Inablitiytowinitis…symptoms include blowing multi-point leads, goalie carousels, flat and/or uninspired play, losses to “weak” teams, and ultimately an inability to win games.

Last Saturday was easily the most frustrating day of my life, here’s the scoop: I began the day by watching the Colorado Avalanche play the Edmonton Oilers. After heading in the second period with a 1-0 lead over the Oilers, the Avalanche come out flat allowing the Oilers to take control of the game by scoring 3 unanswered goals. In the second, Ales Hemsky scored to tie, then in the third Ryan “The Mullet” Smyth and Shawn “I don’t look old enough to have played 400 games in the NHL but this was my 400th” Horcoff scored 30 seconds apart. Joe Sakic scored with 30 seconds remaining after Peter Budaj was pulled but Super Joe can’t do it all and the Avs lost 3-2 on their home ice.

What made this loss so frustrating was that Budaj allowed two very soft goals and the team just didn’t play. They reminded me of the peewee teams that are often showcased during intermissions with the caliber of play. Here’s where I’m gonna pull out my soapbox, Budaj is not ready to be a starting goaltender. He often has poor positioning as well as his inability to properly read the play. The issue that I’ve seen throughout this season is that it seems the team plays better defensively in from of Budaj because he is a back-up caliber goalie, whereas in front of Theodore, the team takes defense for granted. I believe that a goalie is a last line of defense as well as a big play maker. The team must play well defensively to support the goalie, while the goalie must do his best to “come up big” on the shots that are impossible for the defense to stop. It’s clear the defense is not doing their job when Theodore faces 42 shots. Granted, Theodore is not doing his job when he allows 4 goals on those 42 shots but regardless I think Coach Quenneville should take a serious look at his strategy for goalie management. Admittedly last year was far worse, having seen 4 goalies play for the Avs. However, at the current rate, the Avs are on pace for 41 wins, 28 losses, and 7 OT losses.

The rest of the games this week were pretty dismal as well, but it didn’t start that way. The Avs hosted the Florida Panthers on Tuesday, pulling out an amazing come-from-behind 5-4 OT win. Thursday saw the Avs fall to the Atlanta Thrashers in a 6-3 tilt at the Pepsi Center. Today the Avs met the Dallas Stars, losing 5-7 in another frustratiting game. Oddly enough 4 goalies played in this game, Budaj having been relieved by Theodore and (Fat Ass) Turco being relieved by Mike Smith.

On the DU side, the Pioneers seem to be losing control of their season. Last Saturday saw the Pios lose to the basement dwelling Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs 6-4. The Pioneers allowed 3 PP goals and 2 shorthanded goals. Senior goalie Glenn Fisher made 21 saves in the loss, which, in my opinion, was a consequence of terrible defense. With Cody Brookwell out for the weekend with a sprained knee, DU only 4 viable defensemen to use, Adrian Veideman, Andrew Thomas, Chris Butler, and Keith Seabrook. While Julian Marcuzzi and Zach Blom both dressed, they can’t really be called viable d-men as they are some of DU’s greatest liabilities. While I hate to admit it, I think the loss of TJ Fast has hurt the D-corp in that DU no longer has 3 full lines to work with.

Besides the poor play of some of our defensemen, the forwards really need to step up and think better defensively. This can be seen in looking at who was on the ice during the two shorthanded goals. Trotter, Dingle, Ruegsegger, Rakhshani, and Butler are currently serving as DU’s first Power Play unit as the team has struggled with scoring on the man advantage. However, these 5 players were on the ice for both of UMD’s shorthanded goals. While it’s true that these 5 also happen to be the team’s leading scorers, it’s a matter for concern that only Rakhshani ended the evening not on the minus side.

This weekend things got a little worse. DU traveled to Houghton, MI to face the Michigan Tech Huskies. Friday night saw the Pioneers lose 2-1. Peter Mannino made 14 saves in the loss. The bright spot of the night was that Patrick Mullen, who has not scored a goal since December 9 against Minnesota State, scored the only goal for DU. Saturday was only slightly better as the game ended in a 4-4 tie. Peter Mannino once again got the nod as starting goalie. DU blew a 2 goal lead in the first, allowing a PP and even strength goal. They regained the lead in the second on the Power Play, only to lose it once again on a soft goal 20 seconds after Brock Trotter scored. Shortly thereafter, Peter Mannino was pulled in favor of Glenn Fisher. However, it looked like Tech was going to pull out the win when Malcolm Gwilliam’s (I really love his last name…) wrist shot “trickled past” Fisher 10 minutes in to the third period. Then Chris Butler blasted a puck from the neutral zone, surprising the Tech goalie to tie the game. The Pioneers were unable to capitalize on an OT power play, leading to the tie.

My theory for why both the Colorado Avalanche and the Denver Pioneers have contracted terrible cases of Inabilitytowinitis: they watch each other play too much! Having been to several Avalanche games this season, it never fails that there are at least 5 DU players at the Pepsi Center during any given home game. Concordantly, on several occasions Avalanche players (Wojtek Wolski, Brett McLean, Brad Richardson, John-Michael Liles, and former Pioneers Paul Stastny and Mark Rycroft) have been spotted in Magness Arena. Several months ago, the Denver Sports Guide featured a great article centered on the relationship between the Colorado Avalanche and the Denver Pioneers. It’s quick an interesting read that I highly recommend. My question is, are they too close? Do they share each others’ pitfalls and strengths because of their relationship? Maybe I’m making things up, but these teams seem almost identical to me…

Welcome....again.....

2007-01-30T14:36:00.000-07:00

Since she bitched and moaned so much (jk Poppet we love you!), I've added PiosAvsFan as a contributor to this blog. She brings immense knowledge of all things hockey...and she can kick your ass should you anger her....Everybody please welcome PiosAvsFan....

Hello

2007-01-29T18:29:00.000-07:00

Thank you, thank you... really, I would like to thank .... Just kidding! So I'm here to stay! Ha you are in for quite a treat. A little bit about me, I love hockey, I work at DU and went to school there, therefore I love DU hockey. All articles I write will talk about Glenn Fisher and his awesomeness! I love to give nicknames, get ready. Glenn Fisher is amazing. When he leaves my full love and admiration will turn to Rhett Rhakshani ... who is also amazing and will have an entire article devoted to his awesomeness and inability to stay on his skates in the near future.

DU vs. St. Cloud State

2007-01-29T18:22:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, the Denver Pioneers split with the St. Cloud State Huskies. After coming out flat in the first period of Friday night’s game and going into the second period down by 2 goals, DU came out strong and held the Huskies to just 1 goal for the next 4 and one-half periods. The scoring began when Andrew Gordon of SCSU buried a centering pass from freshman phenom Andreas Nodl, who went on to score two goals in the Friday game. DU finally got on the scoreboard at the 7:28 mark of the second period, when Tyler Ruegsegger followed up his own rebound past Bobby Goepfert. Ryan Helgason also scored for DU in the 3-2 loss. DU out shot SCSU 32-19. Glenn Fisher turned in a mediocre performance in the loss after starting 5 consecutive games due to the groin strain of Peter Mannino.

In the second game of the series, my friends and I decided to throw Bobby G (who by the way is the most underrated goalie in the WCHA and I love him) off his game. We waved and made lewd gestures in his general direction. Then for the third period, we made a sign that said “Bobby G wears Pink Panties!” It was a hit!! We had some hilarious reactions, including Bobby Goepfert’s. On first sight of the sign, he had to look at it twice to get the full meaning. Then he pointedly ignored us. Soon, his teammates began joking around with him and laughing. Soon it was obvious that the entire team had seen it and found it quite amusing. Needless to say, Bobby allowed 2 goals on 35 shots, while Peter Mannino allowed no goals on 24 SCSU shots. DU played with much more intensity and heart, pulling out the win over a very tough SCSU squad.

This week, DU faces the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs at Magness Arena. Considering the recent past of the DU/UMD series, these games should be amazing. UMD always seems to put their best foot forward when they play DU as evidenced by the split earlier in the season when DU visited Duluth.

Lastly, I'd like to welcome a new contributor to the blog. My best friend Megan has contributed several articles since I started Hockey in Colorado. Her posts have been received quite well and so I asked her to be a more permanent contributor. So WELCOME!

Special to Hockey in Colorado

2007-01-26T01:42:00.000-07:00

I'd like to continue the Special to Hockey in Colorado with a piece on the "goaltending controversy" of the Colorado Avalanche by my partner in crime, Megan.

His Hair is Full of Secrets.. No.. Talent by MeganDU 

Lets start this article with a bang, 5.5 million dollars. That’s how much money Jose Theodore (or as we fondly refer to him, Propecia Joe) makes for planting his ass on the bench game after game for the Colorado Avalanche. Fair, I THINK NOT! Lets just make a few comparisons. Luongo a 2007 ALL STAR, who actually has talent ...cringe..That was painful to say, makes a cool six million dollars, Fat Ass Marty Turco (seriously his ass is huge, it should have its own area code) makes the same 6 million dollars. Here is the real kicker Brodeur, a very talented goalie makes only 5.2 million dollars, and the best hockey player that the world has ever seen Glenn Fisher makes nothing.

All of these players come to work every game, have the talent and are not making what Propecia Joe (henceforth referred to as PJ) does FOR DOING NOTHING. Correction he does do a few invaluable things for the team. He graciously gives water to Budaj when he is feeling a little parched, operates as a very generous towel boy, participates in the 'between period festivities' including skating around the arena in his cheerleading uniform to hype up the crowd, and is the best damn beer guy this hockey fan has ever seen, but seriously 5.5 million dollars.

Take a moment to think about what you could do with 5.5 million dollars ... go ahead I'll wait. Done?? Lets continue ... Lets be honest, the trade for PJ that sent away the beautiful but bumbling Aebischer did not pan out the way the Colorado Avalanche had hoped, and the franchise is still reeling from that decision. In the beginning it seemed that we had a quality goal tending system in place, PJ running the show and Budaj backing him up, and looking hot doing it!

Towards the beginning of the season PJ was right in line with Brodeur and Luongo when it comes to stats and was looking pretty good, this is where it all fell apart ... PJ started letting everything past him and I found myself more than once yelling at the television screen "I could have stopped that, if I was blind, and only had one leg..." Not to mention he was spotted with Paris Hilton. On a side note.... seriously Pj, Paris Hilton ...I bet he got diseases from her that haven't even been named yet.  Then JQ, who I personally consider the worst coach for a goalie, took him out of net and began the 'era of Budaj.' Budaj has actually been playing pretty well in net. He is not as solid of a goaltender as I would hope, but not everyone is Glenn Fisher, and I think we as Coloradoans were a little spoiled with the stellar play of Patrick Roy. Budaj works hard and the team seems to just be playing better in front of him than they did PJ.

I have been hearing many different excuses as to why PJ is not performing to his top ability, lets address a few of them now. Eham .. let me get out my best whiney voice ..."Theodore was never really given a chance." Not true, he didn't cut in Montreal so he came here, he isn't cutting it here so he is not playing right now. Professional hockey is a cutthroat business and you have to work hard to play, right now Budaj is the man doing that. Another excuse I am hearing is that he has had a few good seasons and that goalies get better with age, in 2002 he won the MVP, and has taken his team to the finals more than once. That’s great but until he is playing better he needs to not be in the net making my Avs lose.

Here is my personal explanation as to why he is not performing at the same level that he was just a few months ago. His hair. That’s right his hair, it holds his talent, and lets face it lately his hair just has not been as pretty of a man mane as it was when he first came here. PJ let the hair grow out and give it another try next year, till then I am excited to see Budaj grow and lead the team. He seems to still be finding his groove and place but I don't doubt that he will do a good job for us, he is not consistent but the talent is there. My solution, do anything and everything we have to do to get Glenn Fisher to remain in Colorado and lead the team next year to a Stanley Cup!!! Too far?

For Your Enjoyment

2007-01-25T14:29:00.000-07:00

I found some videos on YouTube from last weekend. I enjoyed them and through you might too!

...

2007-01-21T19:16:00.000-07:00

Wow it’s been a while…I went on vacation for two weeks and started a new job at my favorite place, the University of Denver. I didn’t just start a new job, I got a BIG promotion and that last couple of days (weeks really) have been super busy…

*Warning, I started this post about two weeks ago, therefore the following anecdote took place about that long ago* While I was in a meeting this morning, I had a truly amazing experience. The specifics of my job don’t matter, just that I work with Alumni on giving to the University. This morning, in a meeting one of my colleagues excitedly pulled out a gift he had received earlier this week. Several years ago, when the Old DU arena was torn down, most of the things inside were sold at auction. My colleague had spoken with an alum who actually bought the 1961 Hockey National Championship Banner (complete with Boone!) signed by Murray Armstrong! He decided it was better to give the banner back to DU rather than keep it in storage. It was a beautiful sight to behold; the yellow banner looked resplendent with its crimson lettering and Denver Boone. My colleague said the athletics department was ecstatic about the donation. I now wonder what they plan on doing with it, hopefully something to do with a more public display of the 7 national championship trophies held by the University…

Here’s a wrap up of what’s been going on with the DU hockey team (All headlines and links courtesy of the DU athletics website):
-DU Hockey Signs Two Student-Athletes
-Pioneers Earn 4-2 Win at Alaska Anchorage
-Mannino Leads DU Sweep at Anchorage
-Mannino Named Red Baron WCHA Co-Defensive Player of the Week
-Trotter and Mannino Power DU Past Mercyhurst
-Pioneers Capture 12th Wells Fargo Denver Cup Championship
-Rakhshani Named Red Baron WCHA co-Rookie of the Week
-DU drops UW, 3-1, in WCHA action
-UW Blanks DU, 4-0, in WCHA action
-T.J. Fast Leaves Pioneer Hockey Program
-Ruegsegger's OT Heroics Push Pioneers Past Niagara
-No. 7 DU Completes Sweep of Niagara
-Ruegsegger Named Red Baron WCHA Rookie of the Week
-DU Ends No. 1 Minnesota's 21-Game Home Unbeaten Streak
-DU's Rally Falls Short in 5-4 Loss to No. 1 Minnesota

Wow, that was a lot of stuff that happened…some thoughts? The Denver Cup was a blast! At first glance, I did not enjoy seeing the team in the very plain Nike Swift jerseys, however, I have to say they have grown on me…Mercyhurst was a great team to watch, especially Cullen Eddy, who we haggled relentless soley based on the fact that his last name is Eddy…While I haven’t had a chance to watch the Minnesota series yet (I was in Las Vegas at a conference all week long…) I heard it was quite a series! I’m looking forward to watching it and seeing all the scuffles and Fisher’s theatrics…

I’m very much looking forward to this weekend as the St. Cloud State Huskies roll into town. This series has some fun implications and has all the makings of a playoff type as DU and St. Cloud are currently tied for second in the WCHA. Bobby Goepfert is such a fun goalie to watch…more to come on some notes on the upcoming series

Okay, on to the Avalanche. Considering that they play many more games than DU, I’m gonna make this short and sweet…

The Avs are 4th in the Northwestern division but are only 5 points behind the leader, Calgary. They stand at 9th in the Western Conference, 3 points out of a playoff spot behind the Minnesota Wild.

John-Michael Liles is out for 3-4 weeks with a broken foot, Ben Guite and Kyle Cumiskey were both recalled from Albany for stints with the Avs but have since been reassigned, Peter Budaj has started 11 straight games since December…goaltender controversy anyone??

Long story short, the All-Star Break has begun as All-Star Game Festivities are scheduled for next week…

And we're Back!

2006-12-12T12:29:00.001-07:00

It was a great weekend of hockey in Magness Arena this past weekend. The Minnesota State-Mankato Mavericks rolled into town with their epic purple unis for the two game WCHA series that began on Friday night. In a hard fought game, the Pioneers and Mavericks battled to a 3-3 tie. Glenn Fisher looked great in net despite interfered with time and again. Tom May was welcomed back onto the team this weekend, garnering an assist in his first game back. Senior Zach Blom also saw time for the first time this weekend, netting the goal that tied the game on Friday. Read the full game re-cap here: DU Ties Minnesota State, 3-3

After their three game winless streak, Saturday night saw the Pioneers re-energized. Junior Ryan Dingle recorded his second career hat trick in a 5-1 win over the Mavericks. Peter Mannino made 21 saves and allowed one softie in his 3rd win of the season. Geoff Paukovich scored his first goal of the season to put the Pioneers up 4-1, after Kurtis Kisio scored on Mannino 9 minutes into the third. Patrick Mullen put the icing on the cake scored with 5 minutes left. Read the full game re-cap here: DU Skates Past MSU, 5-1

Senior Captain Adrian Veideman did not play this weekend after sustaining a serious concussion during the Saturday game of the CC series. He was however present on the bench. Ryan Helgason was also held out of the game, having broken a bone in his hand in the same game.

The week preceding this series was made quite interesting by an avid female Maverick fan as she ranked the Pioneers’ looks and several avid female DU fans took exception. Special thanks to LetsGoMavs for taking the objections into consideration! Check it out here: LetsGoMavs

Pics from the Weekend! All courtesy of PiosAvsFan..THANKS!

Everybody Makes Mistakes

2006-12-03T12:37:00.000-07:00

Rivalry weekend in Colorado has come and gone...Now we DU fans are left with a sour taste in our mouths over opportunities squandered and heartbreaking injuries. DU faced its first sweep of the season at the hands of rival Colorado College. Prior to this weekend, CC had not beaten DU in their last 7 matches including several playoff games.

Friday night the Pioneers visited the Colorado Springs World Arena for the first game in the home and home series. Before the game, a small ceremony was held to celebrate the team USA’s win at the IIHF World Under-18 Championships in Sweden last April. DU freshman Rhett Rakhshani and CC freshman Billy Sweatt were both given their championship rings and exchanged a hug. Quite disturbingly the CC fans actually booed Rakhshani as he was accepting his ring. I found that entirely classless and felt bad for Rakhshani as they ruined a very special moment for him. Then the CC student section made themselves look ridiculous and rude as they yelled DU sucks during the singing of the National Anthem. There is no doubt that the Tigers outplayed DU during this game, as evidenced by the final score of 5-1. A big story line for this series was the meeting of the Testwuide brothers, older brother JP plays for DU while younger brother Mike plays for CC. It was reported in the Denver Post earlier this week that JP and Mike’s mom would be a sweater that was customized to support both her boys. True enough, we saw her as we entered World Arena and she was nice enough to take a picture with us! In an interesting twist to this story, Mike scored twice on Friday night for his second and third goals of the season.

Saturday night the Tigers visited Magness Arena for the second game of the home-and-home series. I saw the Pioneers play a much better game, taking better scoring chances, finishing their checks, and working hard. Then one of the scariest things I’ve seen at Magness propelled the Pioneers to a whole new level. In the opening minutes of the second period, CC’s senior co-captain Brandon Straub collided with DU’s Senior captain Adrian Veideman at the DU bench. Straub pushed Veideman nearly over the bench then threw him to the ice. In the process, Veideman’s helmet was thrown off, causing his head to hit the ice directly. After a small pile up Straub was pulled off of Veideman, who was not moving at all. After ten very tense minutes, Veideman was taken off the ice on a stretcher and taken to the hospital. I’ve read that he was diagnosed with a grade 2 concussion but has no other injuries. I wish him a full and very speedy recovery! After this incident the Pioneers seemed re-energized, coming back from a two-goal deficit, only to lose the game after Chad Rau scored late in the third. Also, senior Ryan Helgason’s hand was broken during the first period of the game.

My favorite part about this entire weekend was “the Water Bottle Incident of ’06.” During a stoppage of play towards the end of the second period, junior forward Mike Handza casually strolled over to the net tended by Zaba the Hut, who was doing his usual skate around the goal line. Handza waited until Zaba doubled back and nonchalantly opened Zaba’s water bottle, took two squirts then spit the water at Zaba. Several of Zaba’s “teammates” witnessed this incident and did…NOTHING! Handza skated away with a huge smile on his face and is now my hero. Undoubtedly, Handza got the idea from UND’s Mike Prpich who did something very similar to this to Peter Mannino in the 2005 National Championship game, and Handza took exception then and received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty along with Prpich.

Favorite Quote of the weekend (and this was tough cuz there were SO many!):
Guy behind us: That was a great game ladies, maybe next time DU will do better...
Me: It was nice to meet you, we always like talking to other DU alums during games.
Guy: Oh I'm a CC alum...
Megan: That's okay, everybody makes mistakes!

Please enjoy a short slide show of our adventures this weekend. Some pictures are courtesy of my friend Julia and her AWESOME new camera!

Fisher takes the Reins

2006-11-26T22:01:00.000-07:00

The DU hockey team swept their non-conference opponents this weekend in a convincing fashion. On Friday night, Ryan Dingle scored twice (once on the Power Play, once Shorthand) with the help of my favorite freshman, Rhett Rakhshani, to lead DU over the Air Force Falcons. Glenn Fisher put in another stellar performance allowing only one goal on 23 shots. That one goal should have been disallowed however as it appeared to have been deflected into the net using a high stick.

Saturday’s game saw the Pioneers with one of their most even efforts of the year. Ryan Helgason (1-0—1), Geoff Paukovich (0-1—1), Brandon Vossberg (0-1—1), Tyler Ruegsegger (1-0—1), Patrick Mullen 0-2—2), Adrian Veideman (1-1—2), Chris Butler (1-1—2), Rhett Rakhshani (0-2—2), Ryan Dingle (1-1—2), and Brock Trotter (1-2—3) all made their way onto the score sheet with goals and/or assists in the 6-2 win over the Robert Morris Colonials. Glenn Fisher, whose record improved to 7-2-0, got the start again and proved that he is capable of taking over the number one goalie spot on the team, allowing 2 goals on 27 shots.

Next week the Pioneers face their archrival, the Colorado College Tigers in a home and home series. The girls and I will of course be making the trip down there for the Friday night game. It should be a pretty even series. DU will be able to keep up with the Tigers on their Olympic sized ice and keep scoring to a minimum, as the Defensemen seem to be solidifying behind the expert upperclassman leadership of Adrian Veideman and Andrew Thomas.

Tidbits about the all time series numbers: DU leads all time series with CC 151-99-9 dating back to 1949-50 season. DU has outscored CC 29-12 during their 7 game unbeaten streak against CC. The Tigers have never beaten Peter Mannino in his career at DU.

Special to Hockey in Colorado

2006-11-21T09:54:00.001-07:00

In a new feature I like to call "Special to Hockey in Colorado," I present a thoughtfully written article by my best friend Megan. This week's edition discusses the Rail Camera debuted in the Colorado Avalanche/Dallas Stars game last night on VERSUS.

Rail Camera aka the Blair Witch Camera by MeganDU

Last night VERSUS, the national cable television home of the NHL, debuted their high-definition rail camera (Rail Cam) during the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars game. “The Rail Cam gives viewers a unique perspective, bringing them significantly closer to the action," said Marty Ehrlich, Vice President of Production and Executive Producer for VERSUS. “The camera gives viewers an appreciation for the speed and strategy of the game with the way it tracks the action on the ice. We’re excited to introduce this new technology and we could not have done it without the help of the NHL, the Dallas Stars and the dedicated operations staff at the American Airlines Center.” While the rail camera, or the Blair Witch Camera as I like to call it does give the viewers a good idea of the speed and intensity of the game it detracts more than it enhances the viewing experience.

Let me explain, the Blair Witch Camera runs along a long black rail that is attached to the top of the glass on the opposite side of the players bench. Its purpose is to run along this rail as the play goes from one end of the ice to the other and catch the action. What it actually does is race up and down the rail and attempt to keep up with play or in a few instances whizzes past the play and gets an awesome shot of an empty piece of ice. In fact I did not know this prior to the game but Dr. Pepper Sponsors the Dallas Stars, I discovered this due to the many times that the Blair Witch Camera was focused on the Dr. Pepper logo in the ice, while play was a good ten feet away.

I like to call this camera the Blair Witch Camera because while watching it you get that sick feeling in your stomach that you get when you watch the Blair Witch Project due to the camera shaking. I know what you’re thinking, that sick feeling comes from seeing Modano on the ice, and you would be correct, but it was intensified by the constant movement and shaking of the rail camera. When the camera is whizzing up and down the rail it shakes the glass and in turn makes the camera look like it is being held by a CC fan in 1957.

When the Rail camera does catch up to the play and gets a shot of players they are always in the corners fighting for the puck, inevitably on the opposite side of the ice. This makes it impossible to see what is going on and the puck looks like a piece of pepper. After a couple seconds of this VERSUS would switch to the regular camera at center ice and the audience would have a much better view. That is until they moved the rail camera across the blue line and in to the shot. It never failed during the entire time I was watching the Avalanche Stars game every single time the rail camera would come in to the shot I though it was a player doing a spread eagle on to the ice. I would then laugh followed by the quick realization that it was a camera and then proceed to feel stupid and hate the Blair Witch Camera even more.

All in all in my opinion the Rail Camera was a waste of time and money. The debate now is whether or not it should be used during the All Stars Game which will take place in Dallas. From just watching a single game with the Rail Cam I would say that it would not in any way enhance the viewing of the game, unless it is improved and does not detract from viewing when regular cameras are in use.

I'm Back!

2006-11-16T12:46:00.000-07:00

WOW…what a weekend! That was easily the best weekend of my life. Here’s what went down.
-After arriving in Chicago, the girls got our car (a very nice 2006 Chevy Impala) and immediately looked for some place to eat. We discovered that Chicago natives must love Subway as there was one of every corner. We searched for about 20 minutes before we just went to a Subway.
-We got back on the road ready to begin the 2 ½ hour drive to Madison and scarf down our subs. Then we received a call from the other car from our group telling us to NOT take I-90 as it was packed. So we headed to I-294 to Milwaukee. After stopping at no less then three gas stations, we finally found the on-ramp and were finally on our way.
-4 hours and about a foot of snow (no really it was only like 6 inches of slush) we arrived in Madison. We met a very nice young man who directed us to the Kohl Center and a parking lot. We’d missed about 15 minutes of the game, which actually meant we didn’t miss anything.
-After Fisher’s beautiful 2-0 shutout of the Badgers, the crew headed to a restaurant for post-game festivities. We ended up at Gino’s on State St. It was this great little hole-in-the-wall Italian place with amazing food. Fun was had by all! The boys headed to the bars, while the girls headed to our hotel. One of our number has yet to turn 21 (Poppit, I’m talking about you), so there was no beer for us. We had planned at stopping at a liquor store; however, we learned that they close at 9pm in Madison (how lame is that…).
-Saturday rolled around and the girls wanted to explore the beautiful city of Madison. We drove around campus, taking pictures of everything and stopped at Amy’s Café. They had some amazing food there! Our next adventure took us to the sound side of Lake Monona. I wanted to get a shot of Madison from the south side of the lake so I found this neat little park to walk through. On our hike, Rrrrob was viciously attached by a sticky bush! I have never laughed so hard in my entire laugh as we tried to pick all the stickies off of her! Needless to say, I got my perfect shot.
-For dinner we stopped in the Badgerland Bar and Grill located in our hotel. We met some of the nicest Badger fans while eating cheese curds and chugging beer (they don’t sell beer at the Kohl Center so we had to stock up before the game).
-During one of the most exciting games this season, Poppit was groped by an old female Badger fan who then told us that it was inappropriate for us to cheer for our team. We were also flipped off and called *insert expletive here*. This all made the 4-3 OT victory all that much sweeter!
-Also during the game we were approached by an older DU alum living in Madison. He said he could hear us cheering four sections away and that he was proud of our spirit! We met up with him after the game to celebrate the win. Once again, the crew headed to Gino’s for dinner. It was another excellent evening spent in great company with amazing food.
-We woke up at 5 in the morning on Sunday so that we had plenty of time to drive back to Chicago (it only took us three hours!). Our flight was delayed as something was wrong with the front wheel. After an hour and a half of waiting, they decided the plane was safe to fly in, so off we headed. Our pilot hauled ass, as we arrived only half an hour later than expected!

Enjoy a slide show of my favorite pics (We took over 300!)

Roundup...and i'm not talking weedkiller...

2006-11-09T11:43:00.000-07:00

So here I am scrabbling to put something together as I busily slave away at my favorite university before I head out on my mini-vacay to Wisconsin…

Here are the results for the Colorado Avalanche for the last two weeks:
10/29 vs. Minnesota Wild W, 4-1
11/1 @ Columbus Blue Jackets W, 5-3
11/2 @ St. Louis Blues L, 1-4
11/4 vs. Vancouver Canucks W, 3-2
11/7 vs. Los Angeles Kings L, 5-6

The Avs next face the Nashville Predators in Tennessee, on November 11. The standings in the Northwest Division are as follows:
Team Points
Minnesota 20
Vancouver 17
Colorado 16
Edmonton 15
Calgary 12

This weekend, the University of Denver Pioneers will travel to Madison, Wisconsin to face the defending National Champions at the Kohl Center. I and 6 other highly devoted (read fanatical) DU fans are traveling to catch the action first hand. I’ve been excited about this trip for about two months now and can barely stand sitting in my office right now. I’m ready to leave!!!!!

The Badgers traveled to Anchorage, Alaska last weekend to take on the Sea wolves. They split the weekend with a win on Friday night in OT and a loss on Saturday. This week the Badgers lost freshman defensemen (and Colorado’s 2nd round draft pick) Nigel Williams. He was apparently unhappy with the amount of ice time he was given, having played only one of the 10 games the Badgers have competed in. Best of luck to him as he moves to the OHL to play with Saginaw.

Another split weekend and a steamroller...

2006-10-31T12:27:00.000-07:00

The DU Pioneers, once again, split the weekend’s games. This time the opponent was the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs. Their first meeting since the Dogs bounced the Pioneers from the 2005-2006 playoffs ended in a 2-1 OT loss for the Pioneers. Glenn Fisher played another exceptional game, making 36 saves, once again giving the Pioneers a chance to win. Ryan Dingle started the scoring off on an even strength score from Brian Gifford and Rhett Rakhshani in the early minutes of the third period. About 7 minutes later, UMD got on the score board while on a power play. Finally, in OT, UMD sophomore Justin Garrison scored the game winner. In a fun (or maybe not so fun depending on who you are) fact, Justin Garrison has scored 4 goals in his career, all them against DU…

In the second game of the series, Junior goalie Peter Mannino garnered his first win of the 2006-2007 season in a 4-2 decision at the DECC. Nobody says it quite like Coach Gwozdecky so, “We played our best game of the season tonight, Our power play came to life and we had a dominant third period. It was good to see Peter get his first win and Rhett score his first goals as a Pioneer." Ryan Dingle started things off again with a tally in the second period. Rhett Rakhshani scored twice, Tyler Ruegsegger netted the game winner, and Geoff Paukovich got his first point of the season with an assist on one of Rakhshani’s goals.

The Pioneers now stand at 4-4-0 in over play, 2-2-0 in WCHA play. They are tied for third place in the WCHA with Michigan Tech, Minnesota, and St. Cloud State. DU gets a rest this week as they prepare to face the Wisconsin Badgers at the Kohl Center. I personally am looking forward to these games more than some of the others this season as I will be in attendance! The countdown is down to 10 days…

The Colorado College Tigers, as predicted by yours truly, have faltered in their play as of late, having been swept for the second weekend in a row. First, CC was swept by UNH while playing in World Arena (scores were 3-4, and 2-7 both in favor of UNH). Last weekend, the Tigers were humiliated by the Minnesota Golden Gophers in Mariucci Arena. Kellen Briggs (who I refuse to believe has only played for the Goofers for four years) earned a shut-out in the Friday night match, saving 20 shots while Matt Zaba (aka Zaba the Hut) earned his third loss of the season. It only got worse for CC in the Saturday night match when they only managed 12 shots on goal and allowed 2 shorthanded goals. The Tigers now sit at the very bottom of the WCHA standings having scored only 1 goal and allowed 10 goals in conference play. CC looks to bounce back next weekend as they face Michigan Tech (who swept Alaska Anchorage last weekend in 9-0 and 5-3 games) in World Arena.

Avs vs. Minnesota 4-1

2006-10-30T15:42:00.000-07:00

The Colorado Avalanche had a great showing last night in a 4-1 win over the division leading Minnesota Wild at the Pepsi Center. Milan Hejduk scored twice and Tyler Arnason added his 4th goal of the season. The real story was however, all about Lappy! Ian Laperriere finally scored his 100th career goal! It was quite a beauty. In fact, all four goals were nice, don’t believe me? Watch the highlights here (Click here…)The Avs next take a two game road trip, visiting Columbus (11/1) and St. Louis (11/2), before returning home to play the Vancouver Canucks (11/4)

Avs vs. Washinton 3-5

2006-10-27T11:41:00.000-06:00

The Avs lost 5-3 last Wednesday when Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals visited the Pepsi Center. Caps goalie Olaf Kolzig stopped 45 shots in the win, while Peter Budaj saved 26 shots in his second consecutive start. There were two highlights of the night that stood out the most for me.

First, Joe Sakic had an assist on a goal by Andrew Brunette at the 11:33 mark of the first period to become the 11th player to reach the 1,500 point mark and only the 6th player to reach the mark playing for only one franchise. Another highlight of the game was a penalty shot taken by Alexander Ovechkin. He was awarded a penalty shot at 11:58 of the third period, following a hold by Ken Klee on a breakaway, but Budaj swatted it away with his stick. It was very exciting seeing Ovechkin coming down the ice toward Budaj and watching Budaj swat that puck away. Overall, it was a great game to watch despite the Avs’ loss. Paul Stastny continued his point streak The Avs next face the Minnesota Wild on Sunday October 29 in the Pepsi Center.

Avs vs. Los Angeles 6-1

2006-10-24T15:10:00.000-06:00

The Colorado Avalanche played an absolutely stellar game last night in a 6-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings at the Pepsi Center. Former DU standout Paul Stastny scored his second NHL goal and tallied two assists to garner First star of the game honors as well as third star of the NHL honors on NHL.com. Paul is now tied, with 8 points in 9 games played, with 3 other players for 3rd highest scorer on the Avalanche. Only Joe Sakic and Milan Hejduk have more points. Also, Paul is tied with Joe Sakic for assists…

In a five goal second period, Milan Hejduk scored two goals and tallied one assist. In an almost comical scene, Hejduk was credited with his second goal, when Patrice Brisbois' shot deflected off Paul Stastny's stick and Hejduk's face past LA goalie Dan Cloutier. Thankfully it appears that Hejduk was not any worse for wear minus a bit of blood in his mouth.

Peter Budaj did a great job in net for the Avs, making 27 shots. He was helped greatly by the Avs’ ability to stay out of the penalty box, having only been assessed three minor penalties (one in each period).

DU splits the weekend with the greatest hair in college hockey, I mean RPI

2006-10-23T22:03:00.000-06:00

The University of Denver Pioneers began their first home series of the 2006-2007 season interestingly. In former assistant coach Seth Appert's return to DU on Friday October 20, the RPI Engineers garnered at 2-1 win in DU’s home opener. The DU team seemed sluggish and lazy. After scoring the first goal 13:21 into the first game, sophomore goalie Peter Mannino allowed RPI to score on a 5-on-3 power play to tie the game at the 12:04 mark of the second period after senior forward Steven Cook was called for interference and freshman defenseman Keith Seabrook 9who I like to call the decapitator because of his ultra-hard hits) was called for roughing. The final period showed the DU team putting forth very little effort to try to get back into the game, made worse when RPI scored at 5:10 of the third.

On Saturday October 21, DU put in one of their best performances of this young season, winning 5-1 over RPI. Junior forward Ryan Dingle started the scoring off with a power play goal from Keith Seabrook and captain Adrian Veideman in the first period. RPI tied the game up at 1 early in the second on a power play. At 19:16 of the second, junior defenseman Andrew Thomas scored what turned out to be the game winning goal while in 4-on-4 play. The final period was dominated by the Pioneers as they scored three goals one even strength from freshman phenom Tyler Ruegsegger, one power play from captain Adrian Veideman, and finally a short handed empty net goal from senior Steven Cook. Senior goalie Glenn Fisher looked great saving 21 of 22 shots on goal from RPI. Congratulations to Andrew Thomas on the first multi-point game of his career!

Avs at Montreal 5-8

2006-10-23T11:11:00.000-06:00

In a supremely embarrassing night, the Avs lost 8-5 in the final game of their Canadian road trip versus the Montreal Canadians. Jose Theodore was given the start after his stellar performance in Ottawa and looked pretty good in the first period allowing only 1 goal on 11 shots. It was slippery slope to failure from there. In the next two periods, Jose allowed 7 goals on 25 shots from six different Canadians players. After scoring three goals in the space of 1 minute and 15 seconds in the first period, the Avs seemed to be unable to stay out of the penalty box, having 4 penalties called on them in the second period alone. Things fell apart from there. The Habs scored an astonishing 5 goals in the final period.

A few notes about the game:
-In one of the classiest moves this season, John-Michael Liles gave his number (26) to Paul Stastny in favor of his college number (4), previously held by Rob Blake.
-Paul Stastny scored his first NHL goal at the 16:41 mark of the first period. Perhaps the number change spurred Stastny on? An interesting tidbit is that Paul’s brother Yan also scored his first NHL goal against the Canadians, a team their father, Hall of Famer Peter Stastny had great success against in his illustrious NHL career.
-the crowd in Montreal was loud…so loud that I could distinctly hear them chanting Theo, Theo, Theo every time the puck came near him. After one of these instances when play stopped, those witty French-Canadians who run the Bell Centre played “Stars go Blind” by none other than Paris Hilton. The crowd thought this was so funny that they could be heard laughing and cheering, much to the chagrin of Jose Theodore.
-Former Av David Aebischer garnered the start for the Canadians. He did well in his first game against his former team, allowing 5 goals on 36 shots.

On a final note, there was a great article on NHL.com about the Stastny brothers.
Click here to read the full story.

Avs at Ottawa 2-1

2006-10-20T16:35:00.000-06:00

The Avs had another great win last night when they visited the Ottawa Senators. In the 2-1 win, Jose Theodore stopped 26 of 27 shots while Brad Richardson scored a short handed goal to win the game for the Avs. Joe Sakic opened up the scoring 10 minutes into the third period, with the help of Andrew Brunette and Ian Laperriere. Richardson’s beautiful shorthanded goal, his second of the season, came a mere six minutes later to put the Avs up 2-0 on the struggling Senators. After a rough start, the Sens big line of Heatly, Spezza, and Alfredsson finally managed to get on the score sheet 10 minutes into the third period. Theodore did an excellent job of keeping the Avs in the game in the final period and had an all around great game. It’s been reported that he’ll be making the start when the Avs face the Montreal Canadians on Saturday.

In other interesting Avalanche news, John-Michael Liles will be returning to his college number (4), allowing former Pioneer Paul Stastny to have his college number (26), which was also his Hall of Fame father’s number. What a classy move by Liles!

Avs at Toronto 4-1

2006-10-19T09:45:00.000-06:00

The Colorado Avalanche had a very nice win over the Toronto Maple Leafs last night as they began a 3 game road trip. John-Michael Liles scored twice, while Brett McClean and Milan Hejduk scored one a piece in the 4-1 win. Former Av Bates Battaglia scored for the Leafs at 2:22 of the first period, but from there is was all about the Avs. Peter Budaj made 27 saves in the win.

In some interesting Statistics news, Avalanche Rookies Wojtek Wolski and Paul Stastny are tied for 4th place in Rookie Scoring. Both have played all 6 of the Avalanche’s games with Wolski getting 3 goals and 1 while Stastny got 4 assists. (On a side note, former DU standout and 2006 Hobey Baker Winner Matt Carle is second in the league in Rookie Scoring have scored 2 goals and 4 assists in 6 games with San Jose).

The Avs continue their road trip tonight facing the Ottawa Senators in Canada’s Capital. The Senators are 2-3-0 in 5 games, all their losses coming on their home ice. Look for a lot of break away scoring chances for the Avs as the Sens have struggled on the blue line this year after the loss of Zdeno Chara to Boston (who by the way are 1-3-1, further proof that Chara is not as good as his $7.5 million contract would leave you to believe, and that Phil Kessel is indeed a cancer to any team he plays on….).

Giddyap!

2006-10-18T17:19:00.000-06:00

So I’ve gotten behind…oops! That’s bound to happen with school starting and my massive amounts of devoirs francais as well as the reorganization of my department at work... Anyways, here’s all the news that’s fit to print…

DU won their exhibition game against the Dinos in a 6-3 contest on September 30. The Dinos tallied the first score of the game in the first, and then followed in the second with another goal. DU went on to score 6 unanswered goals in the space of 22 minutes. With 10 seconds left the Dinos scored one last time. Both Glenn Fisher and Peter Mannino had great showings, though it seemed the team played better in front of Mannino as all the DU goals were scored while he was in net. The most astonishing thing about this game was the amount of penalties called. DU had 15 penalties for 30 minutes while the Dinos had 21 penalties for 42 minutes.

Other college teams in Colorado also faced the Dinos. CC lost 4-2 on October 1. In one of the most embarrassing losses in recent history, CC put 53 shots on goal and allowed 4 power play goals. CC was down 3-0 before senior Brandon Polich scored with less than 15 seconds left in the second period. The Air Force Academy faced the Dinos on October 2, taking a win in a 4-2 game.

In other DU news, the Pioneers opened their 2006-2007 season in Oxford, Ohio at the Icebreaker Tournament. DU faced the Miami (Ohio) Redhawks in the evening game of the tournament. DU really had no chance, this being the first game the Redhawks played in their brand new ice arena. Miami scored 5 goals on 31 shots. Mannino’s play was mediocre at best. The next evening DU faced Colgate in third place game, winning 3-2 with three power play goals in the second period. Glenn Fisher took the win in net.

Last weekend, DU visited the St. Cloud State Huskies. In the first game of the series on Friday night, Glenn Fisher faced a career 50 shots, making a career high 47 saves to help the Pioneers win 4-3 in OT. Bobby Goepfert on the other end of the ice only faced 23 shots for the night. Admittedly, SCSU should have won this game. It was a nice steal for Glenn Fisher, who then started on Saturday night to disastrous results. Fisher allowed 4 goals on a mere 11 shots before he was pulled in favor of Peter Mannino, who then allowed 1 goal on 9 shots. Bobby Goepfert turned in an average performance, allowing 2 goals on 20 shots. Once again, Jon Campion’s personal vendetta against DU reared its ugly head in the 12 penalties called against DU (in contrast, only 7 were called against SCSU) during the weekend…

In other Colorado College news, CC played 4 non-conference (cupcake) games, taking 3 wins and on embarrassing tie. CC has faced Air Force (2-1 win for CC), Alabama-Huntsville (8-1 win for CC), Nebraska-Omaha (2-2 tie……), and Merrimack (5-0 win for CC). Now some people might be getting the mistaken impression that CC is actually going to do alright this year after losing their top 4 scorers, however taking a look at the teams CC has faced thus far doesn’t really who how they will match-up against Championship caliber teams…just give it time. I think this coming weekend’s match-up versus New Hampshire will be a much better measure of what to expect from the Tigers this season.

The Avs dropped their first two games of the season on October 4 and 5. Both were lost by the score of 3-2 in overtime though each game had a very different feel to it. In the home/season opener on October 4, the Avs were up 2-0 against the Dallas Stars going into the third period after Joe Sakic and Wojtek Wolski each scored 46 seconds apart in the first period. Former Stars captain Mike “prettiest hair in the NHL” Modano scored against Jose Theodore on a pass from Eric “where the hell am I” Lindros. 28 seconds later newcomer Loui “I’m too cool to have an S in my first name but I got two in my last name to over compensate” Eriksson scored to tie the game. It appeared the Avs were going to be able to win when Daryl “Mr. right place at the right time” Sydor was called for slashing at the 20 minute mark of the third period. However the Avs were only able to muster 3 shots on Marty “I’ve the fattest ass in the NHL and I love Modano” Turco in the OT period before he cleared the puck at the exact moment Sydor was exiting the penalty box, Sydor then went on the score the game winning goal. On a side note, would like to know who Eriksson was rewarded? He was sent to the AHL…gotta love the Stars…

In the second of the Avs overtime loses, the Wild scored the first two goals of the game. Both tallies came from quite possibly the scariest line in the NHL, Branko “I’ve got too many letters in my last name” Radivojevic, Marian “isn’t my Mohawk pretty?” Gaborik, and Pavol “I finally get to play with my lover in the NHL even though it’s for a team that sucks just as bad as the team I just came from” Demitra. This all-Slovak line moves like they were always meant to be a line and they score beautiful goals. Sophomore Brad Richardson was the best player for the Avs scoring twice for the Avs, once shorthand and unassisted, and again assisted by Ian Laperriere. He was such a rock star! Unfortunately, the Avs couldn’t pull the win out in the OT period as Todd “I look like an accountant” White scored in the first minute. Peter Budaj made a good showing, keeping the Avs in the game several times…

The Avs finally won a game on October 8 when the Vancouver Canucks came to visit. Marek Svatos scored two goals to help the Avalanche beat their Northwestern Division rivals in a 3-2 game. In our first look at Roberto Luongo, we saw glimpses of brilliance…Theodore played his best game yet.

After 6 days rest, the Avalanche faced the Edmonton Oilers on October 14. My favorite Mullet (aka Ryan Smyth) scored twice to lead the Oilers in a 4-3 victory at the Pepsi Center. Theodore let in a few softies on 25 shots on goal for a disappointing performance. Paul Stastny turned in another great performance for the Avs, assisting on 2 of the Avalanche’s three goals and garnering the third star of the game.

On October 16, the Chicago Blackhawks came to town. In another disappointing loss, the silver lining seems to be Tyler Arnason, who appears to have gotten his groove back as he tallied a goal and assist. There have been many questions regarding how Arnason will acquit himself this year and it looks as though he might be just fine.

The Avalanche go on their first road trip of the season this week, visiting Toronto (10/18), Ottawa (10/19), and Montreal (10/21). My best guess is that Propecia Joe (who, let me have an extremely girlie moment here, is way hotter in person than in his pictures….) will play the Toronto and Montreal games, while Budaj covers Ottawa. But it could be the other way or maybe Propecia Joe will play all the games, only time will tell.

On a final note, Senior Forward JD Corbin has broken his leg while in practice and it appears he will be out until March. This is a tough loss for the team, but definitely one that can be borne. This is even harder for JD who seems to have rotten luck with injuries (you may remember he broke his collar bone in the final practice before the CC game in the 2005 Frozen Four). I wish a very speedy recovery!

DU vs. University of Calgary

2006-09-27T14:41:00.000-06:00

This coming Saturday, September 30, the University of Denver Pioneers will play their first game of the 2006-2007 season in an exhibition game against the University of Calgary Dinos. The Dinos are celebrating their 40th Anniversary this season. In the four preseason games the Dinos have played this year they have won 1 and lost 3. Their roster offers a bevy of Albertans, a fair share of British Columbians, a smattering of players from other various Canadian provinces. In their 40 year history, it appears the Dinos have never won the University Cup, Canada's version of a National Champsionship title. However, they have won several Canada West Conference Championships (1974, 1976, 1980, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1995, 1996). For more information about the University of Calgary Dinos please visit their Official Site.

Whew...time goes by so fast!

2006-09-21T18:14:00.000-06:00

So here I am, it's almost Friday, I'm exhausted, and I'd like to share some pictures with you. This week has been extra crazy! It all started with Oktoberfest last Friday night (you might recall I went 3 weeks ago and yes I went last weekend too!). I was there until 1am (that's when they shut it down), hanging out with my stein and my friends. Then I got up at 7:30 Saturday morning to attend Avalanche Training Camp. It was awesome! I went the following day as well. Then on Monday, the Avalanche held their annual Burgundy and White Scrimmage in Magness Arena at DU. It was amazing! I had so much fun sitting at the glass (and it only cost me $20!). On Tuesday night I went the Avs first preseason game versus Dallas. It was so much fun and the Avs won. Julia got her DU jersey signed by Mark Rycroft and I heckled some little kids...Last night I drove 1 1/2 hours to Fort Collins to see The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Lorene Drive, and Monty are I. I didn't get home until 1am! Then i had to go to class and work today...It's been a long day! Anyway, here's some pictures from all of the hockey events I attended in the last week! Enjoy!!!! (ps...click on the little picture, which will take you to my album on Webshots)

by csmith10du

A couple things...

2006-09-14T10:38:00.000-06:00

First and foremost, I'd like to point your attention to my links section. I have done a little revamping and created a section for DU hockey sites. There you will find links to DU's official site, Let's Go DU blog, and a couple new additions. First is the Unofficial DU site put together by CO14ers. It has lots of information regarding the upcoming season, a countdown to the first game (September 30!), a DU fan Hall of Fame (which I was honored to be considered for!), and a page specifically for hating on CC. PLEASE check it out! Click Here to see the site for yourself!

My second new addition is the Denver Pioneers Message Board. It's a few hardcore DU fans talking about DU hockey without all the whinning of the CC Message Board. Check it out!

Second, I'd like to proclaim to the world that I GOT MY TICKETS!!!!!!!!!! That's right, folks, my 2006-2007 Season Tickets for DU came in the mail yesterday...it was a glorious moment opening that envelope and seeing that shining red booklet...16 days until the puck drops!

Third, in the very near future, I will post some pictures from the Avs Rookie Camp that took place last weekend. PiosAvsFan and I had a blast watching Wolski, Richardson and Stastny. So keep an eye out for those pictures...

Fourth, the Avs Burgandy and White scrimmage is coming up in 5 short days. I will be attending with 6 of my closest friends and family. We'll be sitting in Row 1 of Section 3 if any of my adoring fans want to come visit me. (That was a joke by the way, but seriously if you are there, come say HI! I swear I'm very nice and I don't bite...hard anyway...)

Fifth, the Avs are holding Training Camp this coming weekend. I'll be in attendance on both Saturday and Sunday and will post pictures and obersvations.

Sixth, the Avs Preseason starts next week. I'll be attending two of the three home preseason game (one versus Dallas and one versus Detroit). A big thanks to JB for helping PiosAvsFan and I out with the tickets!

Lastly, I'd like to talk about something that has absolutely nothing to do with hockey! Bear with me please...I'd like to promote a killer up-and-coming band called The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. I had the opportunity to see them live at the Bluebird about three weeks ago and they blew my socks off! It was the most amazing show I have EVER seen! They're music is absolutely amazing...it's hard rock mixed with catchy melodies and a little bit a screamo...I am going to see them again on September 20 when I drive up to Fort Collins. Please check them out! And thanks for bearing with me through that!

Here's what's going on in my neck of the woods...

2006-09-09T14:02:00.001-06:00

This is gonna be short and sweet as I head out the door to Oktoberfest…

Denver’s Red-shirted Freshman Forward Brock Trotter was profiled on Inside College Hockey’s A to Z click here for full story

Colorado College’s Sophomore Chad Rau was also profiled click here for the full story

Avalanche Marek Svatos finally re-signed click here for the full story

Burgundy and White game to be held at DU click here for the full story

Avalanche Rookie Camp taking place in the next couple days click here for the full story

Avalanche Training Camp next weekend click here for the full story

Former Captain Matt Laatsch is returning to DU to serve as a Volunteer Assistant Coach click here for the full story

Michelle Kwan will skip the 2006-2007 Figure Skating season to attend DU click here for the full story

Forward JP Brunkhorst has decided to forgo his senior season to pursue his studies so that he can attend Med School click here for the full story

The CC tigers have picked their captains for the 2006-2007 season click here for the full story

Former DU standout Connor James signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins click here for the full story

Blogger Eric McErlain has some interesting ideas about how bloggers could go about getting media credentials to cover sports teams click here for the full story

A Little Love

2006-08-20T12:29:00.000-06:00

At the conclusion of the 2006 National Junior Evaluation Camp in Lake Placid, New York, all the talk was about Phil Kessel’s 3 goals and 4 assists in 7 games, the fact that Jack Skille actually showed up for camp while the Johnsons (Eric and Jack to be specific) were just too busy and discussion of the fact that Skille’s team White went undefeated while Kessel’s team Blue went 3-1. However, almost no one mentioned that DU recruit Rhett Rakhshani was tied with Kessel for the most points in the camp with 7 assists. This is further proof that DU’s incoming class is very underrated. Finally, Rhett got some love with a really nice article by Simon Richard on Hockey’s Future (Rakhshani shares top scoring at USA WJC camp), full text following.

There are those whose face and eyes simply light up their environment -- their happiness is contagious. New York Islanders prospect Rhett Rakhshani (pronounced "Rock-Sha-Knee") is undoubtedly one of them.

After the final game of USA Team White against the Finns in Lake Placid at the recent USA Junior Team Evaluation Camp, he had a large smile.

"It’s fun here, it is always a pleasure to be with the best players in the country. You see where you stand with the top guys, said Rakhshani. "A lot of these guys know each other, we also meet new guys and we all have a good time hanging out with each other."

Rakhshani was one of the best players of the tournament held from August 8-12, in which teams from Finland and from Sweden also took part. He tallied seven assists and was the tournament leading scorer along with American Phil Kessel (BOS).

"The skill level was about the same than at the Under-18 level, but the speed, the decision making and the strength were a lot higher here," said the 5’10, 170-pound right winger.

Rakhshani said that he felt good out on the ice. "I could hang with the pace, but definitively needed a little adjustment. You’ve got to make sure that you always move on the ice and always avoid getting hit. It was fun though.”

Rakhshani is not big, but he is a very good skater, quick with very good hands. His main quality is probably his capacity to read the play very well and send the puck right on the tape of his teammates in motion.

Asked what is his best quality, he immediately replied, "My decision-making and my quickness too."

He knows his strengths and what he has to do to compensate for his relative small body. "I’m not the biggest guy, I can move. If you always move on your feet and are fast on the ice, they can’t catch you."

California kids can love hockey too

Rakhshani’s grandfather left the Persian region to take roots in California. A native of Huntington Beach in southern California, Rhett grew up at a stone’s throw away from the warm Pacific waters, a place where frozen ponds don’t exist. Rakhshani could have been a surfer or a scuba diver, or picked a popular sport like baseball.
He preferred instead to glide on roller blades. "I started playing at roller hockey when I was 5 years old. When I was 8 or 9, I began to play on ice," explained Rakhshani.

"I never wanted to do any other sports when I started in hockey. I love it so much.

"Even a kid from Huntington Beach, you know, can fall in love with hockey. I’m not the only one either. My buddy Cameron Cepek, who was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens this year too, is also a native of Huntington," said Rakhshani with a large smile.

It is said that the passage of Wayne Gretzky with the L.A. Kings from 1988 to 1996 had a great impact on the popularity on hockey in California. Luc Robitaille, who spent close to 20 years with the Kings also contributed a lot in the development of hockey.

According to the most recent USA Hockey statistics, there are about 17,000 registered youth ice hockey players in California compared to only 2,200 in 1985-86.

Rakhshani played seven years for the California Wave. This team was formed in the mid-1990’s by former CHLers Jack Bowkus and Jeff Turcotte, the younger brother of Alfie who played 112 games in the NHL.

The Wave’s hockey development program had a tremendous success. Since 2003, five of its alumni, including Rakhshani, have been drafted by NHL teams – Robbie Earl (TOR), Brett Sterling (ATL), Cameron Cepek (MON) and T.J. Miller (NJ). Several players from the Wave have received scholarship from NCAA division teams and more than 10 have been selected by WHL teams.

Southern California teams had also a great success at the national level. In April 2006, the California Midget AAA Wave won the 2006 USA Hockey 16-and-Under Tier 1 National Championships in Rochester, NY. The California bantam AAA Wave team also won the national title in the 14-and-Under Tier 1 category in 2004.

At this year’s USA National Championships, a team from southern California, the L.A. Selects, also won the National Championships in the 14-and-Under Tier 1 category in Rochester, NY.

The future looks also bright as the L.A. Selects 12-and-Under Tier 1 team were the runner up in the 2005 USA Championships.

"Hockey is getting a lot better in California. There are a lot of talented kids and good coaches," said Rakhshani.

"I definitely think that the skill level is really high there. There are good hockey players everywhere, all over the country. [California born players] can be good hockey players too, we are competitive," observed Rakhshani.

From southern California to Michigan

In 2003-04, Rakhshani recorded 121 points in 56 games with the Midget AAA California Wave.
He was then invited to join the Under-17 team in the U.S. National Development Team Program. So he traveled 2,000 miles away from home in the direction of Ann Arbor, Mich.

"At first, it was hard in Ann Arbor, just adjusting to a different area which I was not familiar with, adjusting to play with the top kids of the country on the National Team. But hockey, you’ve got to adjust to and that was not that bad," said Rakhshani.

"The biggest thing for me to adjust to was the weather. ’m so used to this wonderful weather everyday in California. Suddenly, during the winter in Ann Arbor, I was freezing my butt off every morning when I woke up and when I went to bed. That was really hard."

The 16-year-old at that time had an atypical education as well as he had been home-schooled by his mother.

But Rakhshani had success in the NTDP program. He was an assistant captain with the USA Under-17 team. He had 49 points in 59 games that year and was his team’s second best scorer, just behind the 2007-eligible Pat Kane.

Last season, Rakhshani accumulated 43 points in 63 games with the U.S. U-18 Team. He scored a key goal in the final game of the IIHF U-18 World Championship in Sweden, tying the game 1-1 en route to U.S. gold medal win over Finland.

After two successful years in the NTDP program, Rakhshani was ranked 56th among the North American skaters by the Central Scouting Services. He was the only Californian invited to the NHL’s annual combine in Toronto a few weeks prior to the 2006 Entry Draft. He was then drafted by the Islanders in the fourth round, 100th overall.

"I was just excited to go anywhere,” he said. “Just so much excited to be part of that (the Entry Draft), just to be able to pursue my dream and get the opportunity to do that.

"Getting drafted is a first step in that process."

The next step will be to join the University of Denver for the next season and hopefully fly again to Sweden at the end of December, this time to participate in the 2007 IIHF World Junior Championship.

In other Colorado connections to the camp, CC's Chad Rau and Billy Sweatt were also in attendance, as well as Colorado Avalanche prospects Mike Carman, Kevin Montgomery and Ryan Stoa. Rau tallied 2 goals and 2 assists in 4 games with team White. Sweatt tallied 1 goal and 2 assists with team Blue. Carman tallied 1 goal and 2 assits with team Blue. Montgomery tallied 1 assist with team Blue. Stoa tallied 1 goal with team White.

Hockey Humor

2006-08-03T11:20:00.000-06:00

During this trying time in hockey as the mass exodus of college players continues and the Avalanche organization continues to sit and do nothing…I thought we could all use some hockey related humor…please enjoy the following pictures and note that some of the images may not be suitable for the very young, elderly, or prudes….you have been warned!

Some news...

2006-08-02T14:06:00.000-06:00

#24 Brian Salcido demonstrates a skating technique only for the very advanced

In a not so suprising move, junior Brian Salcido of Colorado College decided to forego his last year of eligiability and signed with the Anaheim Ducks. This hurts the Tigers as he was the top returning scorer and a member of their first power play unit. With the graduation of Brett Sterling, Marty Sertich and Joey Crabb, sophomore phenom Chad Rau is now the top returning scorer for CC, followed by junior Jimmy Kilpatrick, senior Lee Sweatt and junior Derek Patrosso. Read more about this signing here.

Wisconsin here I come!!

2006-07-29T10:31:00.000-06:00

I am very pleased to announce that I will (along with my two best friends, Megan and PiosAvsFan) will be visiting the great state of Wisconsin from November 10-12!! We booked our flight yesterday (thanks JB!!!) and now we are looking for a good hotel to stay in...we've been told that the Doubletree is a good place as it's very close to the Kohl Center...Any help from my Wisconsin readers would be most appreciated!!

I honestly don't think I've ever been more excited about a trip...it's going to be amazing what with spending time with my two favorite people and some good hockey...oh is it November yet??

A Very Sad Day at DU

2006-07-25T15:58:00.000-06:00

Yesterday afternoon, we here on the beautiful campus of the University of Denver received the news that Paul Stastny has signed with the Colorado Avalanche and will forgo his remaining two years at DU. Many of my colleagues feel pained and could barely work today. I’ve seen grown men tear up at the thought of the loss. It’s been a very sad day indeed.

The feeling around the nets represents two very different ends of the feelings spectrum…naturally; Avs fans are thrilled to see a signing at long last. They feel hopeful that Stastny will knock everyone’s socks off at training camp and assume his rightful place with the team. There are a few nay-sayers who believe he doesn’t stand a snowflake’s chance in hell of making the team and will spend the next year in Albany with the AHL’s River Rats, but only time will tell…

The DU fans feel quite differently about the situation. They express their best wishes to Paul in the future, but also feel disappointed and shocked, some even betrayed, by his very sudden departure.

Personally, I am always happy for players when they get one step closer to their dreams of playing in the NHL. I only feel saddened for the team to have lost a teammate. I hope that Paul is able to play with the Avalanche in the coming season and that he finds success very soon.

Now we all must look to future of both teams and see the light at the end of this tunnel. The Avalanche was able to save some cap space as Stastny signed an entry level contract that will pay $450,000 should he make the team. They also add greatly to the offensive depth they can pull from throughout the season.

The Pioneers will be able to afford opportunities to other, very talented players throughout this year that will enhance the team for the years to come and make them stronger competitors as a group.

Ask and Ye Shall Receive

2006-07-21T11:41:00.000-06:00

One of my most loyal readers (PiosAvsFan I’m talking about you!) asked that Mike Modano’s head be replaced by someone more attractive. So I pulled together a few rather comical looking renditions of that unfortunate picture…

I like to call this Wade Modano. I have yet to extol on my great love for the Senator’s number one d-man on this blog, but I’m sure when the Avs play Ottawa October 19th, I will bore you all with tales of his daring deeds and rakishly good looks…

As I know how PiosAvsFan feels about the one, the only, Marek Svatos, I made Mike Svatos or Marek Modano, whichever you prefer…

Lastly, because he has such great hair, I thought Propecia Joe deserved a good looking body too, rather than that rail thin and non-muscular frame he calls a body…

It's the middle of summer, I'm hot and not motivated...

2006-07-19T16:04:00.000-06:00

So, I am obsessed with Hockey Player Hair…mullets, shaved, Mohawks, I love it all. Hockey Player Hair falls into two categories, Good and Evil. It’s a black and white issue really…Let’s start with Evil…

Joe Thornton…what can I say? The bleached blonde might be the issue, or the general shagginess. Hard to say really, but this is evil.

Michael Handzus. Did something die on your head? Is that a wig? I’m not really sure. Definitely evil, however, it looks pretty stellar blowing around while he skates.

Jaromir Jagr. I like to call this do the Jagrlet. It’s part mullet, part Jaromir Jagr genius. He just hasn’t been the same with out. I think he may have lost some of his ability when he cut the Jagrlet. Bring it back!!! Still evil though…

Chris Simon. We actually let this guy suit up in an Avalanche sweater? I’m completely grossed out…

Radek Bonk. As if his name wasn’t bad enough, he has evil hair…this guy just can’t win.

Barry Melrose. This is post hockey playing days, but I couldn’t resist. Not only is he rocking the baby mullet, but I love the obscene facial hair. Just say no…

Mike Modano. The mother of all evil hair. No man should have hair as pretty as Mike Modano. It’s just not right…nice body though… (Ps, I’m not entirely sure that this is actually his body. In fact, I’m pretty certain that his head and the beautiful hair that goes with it, was super-imposed on a hot body…that’s the only plausible explanation)

And moving on to the Good...

Joe Thornton. The previously evil haired Thornton not only got a new start in San Jose, but a new totally hot hair do. All around a great trade for him.

Ryan Smyth. Generally, mullets would go in the evil category (see the Jagrlet) but I just can’t get enough of this one…

Jose Theodore. By far, THE BEST hockey hair around. It’s not pretty like Mike Modano’s but it does add to the general splendor. The propecia is obviously doing him some good. Look at that hair. It’s hot.

I love this model picture of when he played for Djurgardens in Sweden last year. Great looking hair.

Insert Witty Title here...

2006-06-21T09:46:00.000-06:00

Well, hockey season is over. No more games...however, there is still the Awards Banquet and the Draft. Not to mention various moves a Free Agents and more college defections. So here are a few words...

NHL:
-the Carolina Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup. I was very disappointed with the play of Edmonton in game 7. I was really pulling for them to win it. Out of the whole Carolina squad, there are only three players that are decent: Cam Ward, Mike Commodore, and Bret Hedican. So congrats to those three! Also, way to go Cam Ward with winning the Conn Smythe. He's like 4 months older than me and he is just amazing....
-Joe Sakic signed a one year contract with the Avalanche worth $5.75 Million. A steal if you ask me. He could definitley get more somewhere else, but he is good enough to stay with the only franchise he has ever played for in the NHL. Thanks Joe!
-The NHL Draft takes place this Saturday June 24th in Vancouver. The Avalanche are set to pick 18th in round one. I think they will be looking for the best available Defensemen as the system is deep with fowards.
-The Awards for the 2005-2006 season will be given out tomorrow June 22nd (which just happens to be my 22nd birthday. sorry, i had to put it out there) and can be seen on OLN at 6pm MST.

DU:
-DU released it 2006-2007 schedule. It looks mostly good for DU, however, the Non-conference teams are weak so the team can't afford to lose to them. As you can see, I have added a countdown to the new season...can't wait...
-DU has added a training camp special from CSTV to its website. I highly suggest checking it out. My good friend PiosAvsFan was kind enough to let me watch it at her house as she subcribes to CSTV so I know it's really great.

Various:
-Avalanche goalie and all around hottie Jose Theodore was seen "canoodling" with Paris Hilton at a club in Toronto after the Much Music Awards last weekend. Now, I'm a little confused. Last I heard, he and girlfriend Stephanie Cloutier were basking in the glow of parenthood and love...Now, while my beloved Propecia Joe and that Hitlon girl were seen going in to her hotel at the end of the evening, I don't think he slept with her...My best friend's response to that was priceless "Yeah Catie, cuz hot guys hang out with Paris Hitlon for her intellect..." I'll throw in a picture so you can decide for yourself...

The Evolution of Chris Pronger

2006-06-16T16:04:00.000-06:00

In honor of the Oiler's amazing OT win over the Carolina hurricanes Wednesday night, rather than write a boring piece on how amazing Chris Pronger and Fernando Pisani are, I thought I would instead focus on one of my favorite topics...Hair. As a few of my loyal readers (and friends) know, I am rather obsessed with hair...Today, I'd like to talk about Chris Pronger and his hair...

Probably his first NHL team picture. It is just okay...not great not terrible. 6 out of 10.

This pic was from way back in the day when Chris played for the Hartford Whalers (who ps are now the Carolina Hurricanes, small world). This is the evil child of the 50's buzz cut...2 out of 10.

I'm not sure where this pic comes from, most likely a team pic. But the point is, this is the absolute WORST do Prongs has ever sported! Whoever told him this look good, should be shot immediately....Absolutely heinous, 1 out of 10...

This is a picture of Chris, his brother Sean (who is definitely not as talented as his famous brother) and a fan while Chris was playing for St. Louis. I'm going to have to give this do (which is pretty close to his present day coif)a 9 out of 10 as this is probably his best look...

The lighting takes away from this pic. It looks like Angels are lighting Chris' way though doesn't it? I give this a 5 out of 10 as it's not terribly flattering...

I love this coif. Probably the best he has ever had! It's the perfect length for him...totally hot. 10 out of 10!

This is a picture from one of his many All-Star game appearances. I give it a 8 out of 10. I like the general style, but it's a bit too long.

Chris' current team picture. 8 out of 10 go to this one, but only because the picture reminds me of Beaker from the Muppets...I think they may have been separated at birth!

All the news that's fit to print (and some that's probably not...)

2006-06-13T12:36:00.000-06:00

I’m afraid I have been neglecting my blogging duties as of late and for that I am sorry….

College Hockey News:
-DU has named their new Assistant Coach as former Ferris State assistant coach Derek Lalonde. He will have many of the same responsiblilites that Seth Appert had. Read about it here
-Incoming DU recruit Rhett Rakhshani was invited to the 2006 National Junior Evaluation Camp for the USA. He spent last year with the NTDP Under-18 team that won the gold medal at the IIHF under-18 Championships. Read about it here
-Colorado College Sophmore Chad Rau and incoming recruit Bill Sweatt were also selected for the Evaluation Camp. To see the full list of those invited click here
-Matt Carle was named the USA Hockey College Player of the Year. I thought he had won every award possible, but I was wrong. Read about it here

Pro Hockey News:
-The Colorado Avalanche named their new GM, Francois Giguere, former assistant GM for the Dallas Stars, will follow in the footsteps of Pierre Lacroix. Read about it here
-The Avs have acquired the rights to Michael Vernance, a former teammate of Wojtek Wolski. I think he will be a good fit with the other prospects the Avs have coming through the pipeline, like Paul Stastny and TJ Hensick. Read about it here
-The Carolina Hurricanes lead the Stanley Cup Finals 3 games to 1 against the Edmonton Oilers. The series heads back to Raleigh on Wednesday June 14, for game 5 where the Canes will have the opportunity to win the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history.

Other News:
-I am just too excited that I can’t not write about this…today, I secured my 2006-2007 season tickets to the DU Pioneers!! I will have the same seats as last year, but I might upgrade if possible through the select-a-seat process. I am so happy that I was able to get season tickets for next season as I was worried I might not be able to afford them. I am looking for ward to the 23 home games.
-A very good friend of mine, known throughout the internet hockey world as PiosAvsFan, and I are thinking about traveling to a couple of away games. We would really like to go to (in order): North Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Any helpful hints in making these trips as fun and cost effective as possible would be greatly appreciated!

A blown Lead, a heartbreaking end, and they can’t catch a break …

2006-06-09T11:52:00.000-06:00

-The Edmonton Oilers dominated the first two periods of the Stanley Cup finals. They had a 3-1 lead on goals from Pisani, Pronger (one of the sweetest penalty shots I have EVER seen!), and Moreau going in to the third period of game one and completely blew it! In the third period, Roloson allowed an even strength, a power play and a short handed goal to give the Hurricanes a 4-3 lead. Ales Hemsky tied it up with about 8 minutes left in the game, but then disaster struck.
-Carolina's Andrew Ladd carried the puck into the Edmonton zone, cut across in the front of the net and was met there by Bergeron, who unloaded a big hit from behind that drove Ladd into Roloson and knocked the net off its moorings. The goalie remained on the ice for several minutes, then skated slowly to the locker room with an injured right knee.
-Ty Conklin, who played on 18 games during the regular season, took over for the injured Roloson. The extent of Roloson’s injury was at that time unknown.
-The back breaker for Edmonton came on a goalie miscue with 37 seconds left in the game. Conklin went behind the net to play the puck, Captain Jason Smith came up behind him to take a pass and Rod Brind’Amour came from the front to apply pressure. However, Conklin held the puck too long, Smith was too close behind Conklin to accept the pass, and Brind’Amour was in perfect position to grab the puck that Smith missed and bury it in the essentially empty net as Conklin was still behind the net. Conklin got a lot of bad press for this play, but everything would have worked out okay if Smith hadn’t been right on top of him and if the defensemen had done their job and kept Brind’Amour from getting behind the net like that.
-Carolina won 5-4 to take the series lead at 1-0.
-After the game, Coach Craig MacTavish straight up said Roloson was done for the rest of the series. I think this is a truly heartbreaking end to what had turned out to be a great trade for Roloson, he had finally found a team that believed in him and he, along with the Oilers had a great chance of winning the Stanley Cup.
-In game two of the series, Edmonton couldn’t catch a break. They put puck after puck on net and couldn’t get past Cam Ward, who is admittedly playing absolutely amazingly! The Hurricanes and Ward earned a shutout victory of 5-0 over Edmonton to take the series lead at 2-0.
-Jussi Markkanen was the man in net for Edmonton. He played an okay game, but obviously wasn’t able to steal the game for the Oilers.
-What really killed the Oilers in game two was the amount of penalties they took. Three of the five goals allowed occurred on Carolina Power Plays. Edmonton took 11 penalties, 1 in the first period, 4 in the second and 6 in the third. There is no way they are going to generate the offense they need if they are busy trying to kill penalties.
-Edmonton also needs to convert on their power play chances. They had 7 chances on the man advantage and couldn’t capitalize on one.
-An interesting twist to the series is the accusations that Rod Brind’Amour, Carolina’s Captain and the league's top face-off man this season, is cheating on face-offs. TSN’s Bob McKensie has a wonderful recap of the situation: Oilers centre Shawn Horcoff wasn't shy about saying that at all. Brind'Amour fared better than 80 percent on the draw, compared to about 30 percent for Horcoff. The Oilers argue this was made worse by the fact that Brind'Amour's a veteran who gets benefits from the linesmen. Horcoff, who had a running battle all night with the linesmen and referees, said that Brind'Amour did get tossed out of the circle on a few occasions. But it was only because they complained so much that the referees started making the calls instead of the linesmen. Horcoff had a real nasty exchange with one of the linesmen in Game 1, and some video will be put together for the NHL and its officials on what they believe to be Brind'Amour's 'cheating.' The Oilers' argument will be that he does not line up straight at the circle and comes in on an angle. They'll also point out that he benefits from putting his stick down and lifting it up again.

Dora Strikes again...

2006-06-05T14:47:00.000-06:00

After mentioning that the Dora the Explorer show could interfere with the Stanley Cup Finals, I found the Instigator by Charlie Teljuer on CBC Sports. Every week he pens a cartoon that usually pokes fun at an NHL happening. Click here to see Charlie's amazing work...

Carolina wins the East...

2006-06-02T09:45:00.000-06:00

Buffalo/Carolina
-Despite a strong game by the depleted (and mostly rookie) d-corps, Buffalo lost game 7 of the Western Conference Finals.
-After leading 1-0 after the first period on a fluky goal by the fro-sporting, robe wearing, North Dakota product Mike Commodore, the Canes allowed two goals in the second period; The first, another fluky goal by Doug Janik, the second a beautifully screened shot by Jochen Hecht.
-The go-ahead goal for Carolina came from none other than captain Rod Brind’Amour. After a delay-of-game penalty taken by one of the two healthy veteran defensemen for Buffalo, Brian Campbell, when he cleared the puck and accidentally hit it over the glass, Brind’Amour jumped on a loose puck that seemed to sit in front of Ryan Miller for an eternity and took it top shelf to score the game winner.
-Buffalo should be proud of how far they got considering how desperate their situation on defense had become. They fought hard throughout the series and pushed Carolina to the brink.
-Carolina now faces the much rested Edmonton Oilers.

Stanley Cup Final Schedule (all times are EST)

Edmonton (41-28-13, 95 pts) vs.
Carolina (52-22-8, 112 pts)

Monday, June 5, 8:00 p.m. Edmonton at Carolina, OLN, CBC, RDS
Wednesday, June 7, 8:00 p.m. Edmonton at Carolina, OLN, CBC, RDS
Saturday, June 10, 8:00 p.m. Carolina at Edmonton, NBC, CBC, RDS
Monday, June 12, 8:00 p.m. Carolina at Edmonton, NBC, CBC, RDS
Wednesday, June 14, 8:00 p.m. Edmonton at Carolina, NBC, CBC, RDS
Saturday, June 17, 8:00 p.m. Carolina at Edmonton, NBC, CBC, RDS
Monday, June 19, 8:00 p.m. Edmonton at Carolina, NBC, CBC, RDS

A thriller, an Exodus, and Dora the Explorer?

2006-06-01T11:06:00.000-06:00

Buffalo/Carolina
-The Buffalo Sabres staved off elimination on Tuesday night with an inspiring 2-1 OT win over the Carolina Hurricanes, forcing a game 7 which takes place tonight in Raleigh. JP Dumont tallied for the Sabres 4:56 into the first period, beating Rookie Cam Ward on a rebound from Daniel Briere.
-Ryan Miller, Buffalo’s phenomenal rookie goal tender looked solid all night, keeping the score at 1-0 for Buffalo until the 16:07 mark of the third period when he was beat from the left circle by Carolina Defenseman (and husband to Kristy Yamaguchi) Bret Hedican.
-Cam Ward turned in another solid performance and to his credit, the game winning goal was fluky. The goal came on a Buffalo power play after Doug Weight got 2 minutes for Boarding. From NHL.com: After failing to generate much in the first 1:40 of the power play, the Sabres had one final rush and got a break when Carolina's Justin Williams stumbled inside his own blue line. Buffalo's Derek Roy got to the loose puck and fed Rory Fitzpatrick at the right point, who quickly passed across to Briere at the top of the left circle. Briere patiently waited for an opening before snapping a shot that fluttered in. "It went off my glove and shoulder and kind of popped in the air," Ward said. "I had no idea where it went after it hit me. Unfortunately, it was too late when I looked back."
-It was the complete opposite to what happened in the previous game when JP Dumont was in the box when Cory Stillman scored the game winning goal in OT.
-This series has been anything but boring. Even though there were only 3 goals scored in the game, it was end-to-end action throughout and both goalies played spectacularly!
-The series ends tonight in the RBC Center at 5:30 MST and can be seen on OLN.

In Edmonton news:
-The Oilers have left Edmonton to both acclimate themselves to the east coast (time zone change and warmer weather) and to escape the distractions of Alberta’s capital city.
-They have taken refuge in Greenburgh, NY which houses the practice facility for the New York Rangers.
-The Stanley Cup Finals begin Monday June 5, 2006. In an interesting scheduling conflict reported by CBC Sports: The Oilers' quest of a sixth Stanley Cup title could put them in direct conflict with the Dora the Explorer stage show set for Rexall Place June 17. The NHL, however, has scheduled Game 6 of the final that night should the series go that far. Northlands Park was aware of the potential problem when the NHL released its schedule Tuesday. Northlands Park runs Rexall Place, the arena the Oilers play in. Spokeswoman Bonni Clark said the NHL, Rexall Place and organizers for the Dora show are working to find a solution for all parties involved. This is the second time the Dora stage show has affected the NHL's playoff scheduling. During the second round, the Ottawa Senators were forced delay Game 2 against the Buffalo Sabres because the popular show was scheduled for Scotiabank Place on May 6 and 7. I knew Dora was popular, but honestly, letting it interfere with the Stanley Cup playoffs? I never knew Dora had that much power!

Edmonton Wins the West! Now they just have to wait...

2006-05-29T16:43:00.000-06:00

Edmonton/Anaheim
-The Western Conference Final was one of the most boring series’ of hockey I have ever seen. In game 5 it got a little more interesting. On the brink of elimination for the second time in the series, the Anaheim Mighty Ducks put up a fight and scored first, their only tally in the game on a shot from the point by rookie (and I use the term loosely) Francoise Beauchemin with assists from Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne at 7:30 in the first period on the power play. Ethan Moreau of the Oilers scored next at 3:42 in the second period to tie it up. Raffi Torres, who had spent several games out with the flu, scored about 5 minutes later for the game winner. The third period may have been the most exciting period of the whole series.
-The Oilers racked up four penalties in the third period; including a delay of game penalty to veteran Defenseman and penalty killer extraordinaire Chris Pronger at 17:42 of the third after his clearing attempt ricocheted off the glass and into the crowd. It was a very intense end of the period for all fans watching.
-In the end, Edmonton prevailed and is now headed to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1990. But first, they get some much-needed rest while they await the winner of the Carolina/Buffalo series.
-Teemu Selanne’s ego never ceases to amaze me…after losing he had this to say: “I don't think the better team beat us. We beat ourselves.” Oh really? I would say that is pretty hard to comprehend considering the Ducks out shot the Oilers in EVERY game of the series. If the better team didn’t win, I’ll shave my head and move under one of the bridges over the Platte River…

Buffalo/Carolina
-After Peter Laviolette decided Martin Gerber was the go-to guy for the Hurricanes, he changed his mind 1:55 into the second period after Buffalo scored its second goal. The gamble paid off however as the Canes beat the Sabres 4-3 in OT to lead the series 3-2 going back to Buffalo.
-In the press conference Canes captain Rod Brind’Amour said that he felt the game “was one of our worst games of the series.” Amazing considering you won! I realize they need to be hard on themselves, but that comment is completely demeaning to the Sabres, who played amazingly and lost on a freak deflection while Carolina was on a power play in the first OT.
-Fun fact for the day: Carolina’s Eric Staal has seven goals and 13 assists during his 15 game point streak, the NHL's longest in the postseason since Pavel Bure went 16 straight games for Vancouver in 1994. Staal is four short of the record set by New York Islanders forward Bryan Trottier in 1981.
-The series returns to Buffalo Tuesday night at 5:30 MST.

And the Captaincy goes to...

2006-05-27T15:57:00.000-06:00

Last Thursday, May 25, Coach George Gwozdecky announced the Captian for the 2006-2007 season. Senior Defensemen Adrian Veideman of Sicamous, British Columbia, will lead the Pioneers in the 2006-2007 campaign. The alternate captains were also announced, Senior JD Corbin, Junior Paul Stastny, and Junior Andrew Thomas were all named as alternate captains. This is the 7th year in a row that a defensemen has been named as Captain. Veideman is the most versatile player on the Pioneer roster as he is capable of playing both defense and forward. Coach Gwozdecky spoke about all the captains in the release.

"Adrian has earned the respect of his teammates on-and-off the ice," Gwozdecky said. "He has played on two NCAA National Championship teams and knows what kind of leadership is necessary for our team to be successful. His selfless play, toughness and willingness to play both offense and defense have been immeasurable."

"J.D. is another in a long line of Colorado natives who have played important leadership roles within the Pioneer hockey program," Gwozdecky said. "He is one of the fastest players in the WCHA and throughout his career has proven to be one of the top penalty killers in college hockey. J.D. is a hard worker who leads by example and we anticipate a strong senior season from him."

"Paul is one of the top forwards in college hockey and one of the most-liked players on the team," Gwozdecky said. "His confidence and personality are contagious and his teammates are ready to follow his lead."

"Andy brings a strong physical presence to our blueline," Gwozdecky said. "He learned a lot from playing alongside Matt Carle for two seasons and we expect him to continue mentoring our young blueliners."

Read the full release here: Veideman to Lead Pioneers as Captain of 2006-07 Hockey Team

Time to play catch-up

2006-05-27T15:54:00.000-06:00

Edmonton/Anaheim Game 3
-This game was so boring until the third period. After the last two games ended in 3-1 wins for Edmonton, this game looked to be a similar kind of game. Rookie Toby Petersen, formerly of Colorado College, scored in the first for his first career playoff goal and that stood until the third. Each team scored four goals…not kidding. You should check out the highlights and read the recap (http://www.nhl.com/scores/recaps/323_3_recap.html). It was totally killer. The Oilers now lead the series 3-0 and can put the Ducks away in Edmonton on Thursday.
-I love the way Craig MacTavish says the word Calgary. No seriously, it sounds something like cal-GARY…absolutely hilarious…great coach though.
-Hometown boy Fernando Pisani scored the game-winning goal in this one.
-What I thought were just facial ticks from Dwayne Roloson, turned out to be him talking to himself and the posts…not kidding…he talks to the goal posts, almost constantly. I absolutely love the quirky things that goalies do…
-Randy Carlyle, Anaheim’s Head Coach, might just have the best hair of any NHL coach. I like to call his coif “the Peacock.”

Buffalo/Carolina Game 3
-This series could not be more different from the Edmonton/Anaheim series. It is so fast paced and exciting throughout 60 minutes.
-Daniel Briere has become one of my favorite players. He has style and is a great leader. Though he struggled throughout the season with and abdominal injury, he has definitely found his stride.
-Chris Drury, the other Buffalo captain and former Av, continues to show his worth and the Avalanche fan base just exactly what we lost.
-Rookie goal tender Cam Ward was pulled from the game in favor of veteran Martin Gerber after allowing 4 goals. Gerber played an amazing game for the Hurricanes and didn’t allow any goals.
-Buffalo was able to win this one 4-3 and now leads the series 2-1.

Edmonton/Anaheim Game 4
-Another obnoxiously boring game, with a few surprises.
-Randy “the Peacock” Carlyle decided to start John-Sebastian Giguere in goal rather than rookie phenom Ilya Bryzgalov. This might be the most genius idea of the playoffs and it paid off for the Ducks.
-The Ducks won this one 5-3 with very little trouble from the Oilers, who are suffering from the Flu, or so they say.
-The series moves back to Anaheim, where again the Oilers have the chance to eliminate the Ducks.
-Brett Skinner was a healthy scratch for the third night. Since being called up from the Manitoba Moose on May 19, he has not seen any ice time which is not really surprising at all. But it makes me hopeful that he will see time with the Ducks next season. Why else would they call him up unless they wanted him to get acquainted with the team? I have full faith in Randy Carlyle that he will do well for Skinner.

Buffalo/Carolina Game 4
-In a semi-surprising move, Peter Laviolette started Martin Gerber in goal rather than Cam Ward. Gerber hasn’t played in nearly a month since losing the job to Ward.
-Something I noticed about Gerber is he is so large he just seems to fill the entire net…
-Buffalo had a terribly lackluster performance and didn’t deserve to win this game. They lost 4-0 and the series is now tied at 2 games a piece. They return to Carolina for game 5 tomorrow night.

Presenting the Amazing Roli the Goalie...

2006-05-21T19:02:00.000-06:00

It’s Sunday which means homework day. So while I am procrastinating on writing a 25 page research paper (that the minimum by the way) I thought I should post something….

-The Western conference finals kicked off last Friday when Edmonton faced Anaheim at the Arrowhead Pond in California. After nearly being bored to tears for 18 longs minutes in the first period, there was an absolutely amazing goal by Mike Peca. It’s so amazing, you have to see it for yourself…
-This video shows a long bit where the Anaheim coach discusses the short handed goal, then the best part, where Dwayne Roloson celebrates… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BT61SrBmNfQ&search=edmonton%20goal
-Edmonton won the game 3-1 with one shorthanded, one powerplay and one empty net goal. Overall, it seemed that both teams were playing too tentatively. Hopefully tonight’s game will be more exciting.
-The Buffalo Sabres/Carolina Hurricanes game was a complete opposite to the Edmonton Anaheim game, it was exciting end-to-end hockey. The Sabres won 3-2, but towards the end, the Canes played the best hockey of the game. I think this series will definitely go to 7 games and will remain as exciting as the first game.
-Former DU All-America and would be Captain, Brett Skinner was called up to Anaheim from the Manitoba Moose. After being traded at the dealine from Vancouver to Anaheim, Skinner spent the remainder of his season with the Moose who were recently eliminated from the Calder Cup Playoffs of the AHL. Skinner had four goals and 21 assists in 65 games with the Moose in the regular season and four assists in 13 playoff games before they were eliminated. It’s assumed that he will only practice with the team, but it will be interesting to see if he suits up tonight.

Ryan “the Mullet” Smyth Picture of the Day

One step closer to the Edge...

2006-05-19T17:21:00.000-06:00

Been terribly busy at work…some quick thoughts for today…

-Unfortunately San Jose is out of the playoffs. They lost on Wednesday 2-0 on Edmonton’s home ice. Great win for Edmonton though and their “Cinderella” story continues. I always found it interesting that the term Cinderella story was applied to sports teams...
-Edmonton faces Anaheim tonight at 7pm MST. I will be rooting for Edmonton. It’s Ryan Smyth’s mullet really that swayed my allegiance. It’s just so beautiful…but also my utter disdain for Teemu Selanne had a big part too. It’s heartening to know that he lost his team while playing the US in the Olympics…
-The Buffalo Sabres and the Carolina Hurricanes meet tomorrow at 12pm MST in the Eastern Conference Finals. I’m gonna have to go with Buffalo on this one. I have already expounded greatly on all the attributes of Ryan Miller. Not to mention former Av Chris Drury is just plain getting it done for Buffalo. I also love Daniel Briere…
-In other news, Matt Carle was named the Male Student-Athlete of the Year at DU. Another nice award for him to wrap up his college career.

Ryan “the Mullet” Smyth Picture of the Day

It's like the Oscars for DU...

2006-05-15T15:57:00.000-06:00

At the 50th Annual Hockey Awards Banquet last Saturday, the following awards were presented:

Bill Masterton Memorial Award (MVP): Matt Carle
Keith Magnuson Memorial Award (Best Defensive Player): Matt Carle
Player's Bench "Star of the Year" Award: Gabe Gauthier
Dr. Ralph Verploeg Award as Most Inspirational Player: Gabe Gauthier
Bob Martin Award for Community Service: Gabe Gauthier
Barry Sharp Memorial Award (Rookie of the Year): Chris Butler
Murray Armstrong Award (Most Improved Player): Ryan Dingle
Dr. Ken Bredesen Award for Sportsmanship: J.D. Corbin
Dr. Art Mason Award as Denver's Top Student-Athletes: J.D. Corbin and Danny King
Leading Scorer Award: Paul Stastny

Also, Dr. Nancy Sampson recognized DU's 12 All-WCHA Academic honorees, as all earned a 3.0 GPA or better this season.
Zach Blom
Matt Carle
Steven Cook
J.D. Corbin
Glenn Fisher
Ryan Helgason
Jon James
Danny King
Brock McMorris,
Ted O'Leary
Paul Stastny
Andrew Thomas

In addition, Blom, Cook, Corbin, King, McMorris and O'Leary were recognized for winning WCHA Scholar-Athlete Awards for GPA's above 3.5.

Another one bites the dust...

2006-05-12T13:36:00.000-06:00

Uugghh…I am almost too depressed to write. Yet here I sit in my office, listening to Anna Nalick and the sound of my boss droning on and on about meaningless nothings. Thoughts for today…

-I still can’t get over the sweetest mullet on the planet, way to go Ryan Smyth. It haunts my dreams. I almost want to root for it, but my allegiance to Matt Carle, one of my all-time favorite former DU stars, wins out. I really hope that San Jose can pull out the win over Edmonton tonight. A scary thought that, as the Oilers seem to be doing so well on home ice.
-In other Ryan Smyth news, he took a nasty hit to the mouth in the second period on a clearing attempt from Chris Pronger. His teammate said it best: "Not that he was pretty before, but he is not going to look good come game-time," said Oilers left-winger Ethan Moreau, who believes Smyth will be stitched up and ready for Game 4 Friday. Smyth lost 3 teeth and made a trip to the dentist yesterday. It’s really gotta suck when your own teammate tries to take you out…I think Pronger was mesmerized by the epic mullet and got distracted. Smyth came back into the game and assisted on the 3rdOT game winning goal. Now that’s what hockey is all about!
-What is going on with Martin Brodeur and the Devils? After their epic 15 game win streak ended, they haven’t put together a decent game. I almost feel sorry for them…almost…
-I think I may have taken for granted that my loyal readers follow the Avalanche, but it is possible that not everyone has heard about the Massacre of ’06. I nearly cried when the Ducks scored that empty net goal last night in their 4-1 win over the Avs. We can’t blame Pierre Turgeon for this one, since he didn’t even play. However, we can blame Patrice Brisebois. But I should be charitable and blame the whole team, as that would probably be closer to the truth. It should be interesting this summer as the Avs have 13 players who will be free agents this summer, most notably, Joe Sakic, Rob Blake, Dan Hinote, Alex Tanguay, Karlis Skrastins, and Marek Svatos.
-How cool would it be if the Western Conference Finals came down to San Jose and Anaheim? It would be amazing! I also think it would be great for hockey in California. In the recent past, some stellar players have come from California, Gabe Gauthier of DU, Brett Sterling of CC (I really didn’t want to, but I have to respect that he is amazing player, just not against DU), Brian Salcido (see previous statement), Robbie Earl (not stellar but well known for his amazing accomplishment of All-American Diving team).
-In the Eastern Conference, I think I am going to have to go with Buffalo. Former Av Chris Drury is having an amazing post season, not to mention Ryan Miller is the future of USA hockey goaltending.

Attack of the hair...

2006-05-10T15:14:00.000-06:00

Thoughts on some recent games

-Ryan Smyth of the Edmonton Oilers has the coolest Mullet I have EVER seen!! Watching him during the warm-up was amazing, he’s like a mullet god…His little bangs wisp around in the wind as he skates while his manly mane waves like a flag for white trash around the world! It is truly amazing…props also go to OLN commentator Brian Engblom for his epic mullet; second only to Ryan Smyth’s of course.
-Ryan Miller of the Buffalo Sabres definitely redeemed himself in a 43 save night in Ottawa. Including an amazing save sprawled on his stomach where only his calves’ kept the puck from going into the net…
-After a stellar performance in round 1, Ray Emery of the Ottawa Senators seems to be finally feeling the pressure of the playoffs. While his game was much improved in the last game, he still couldn’t steal the game for the Sens. It doesn’t help that Ryan Miller seems to have found his stride.
-Patrick Marleau might just be the most underrated player in the NHL. As Jonathan Cheechoo and Joe Thornton struggle to find a way to score while being defended by Chris Pronger, the best the Oilers’ have to offer, Marleau is stealing the show and proving why he remains the Sharks’ captain.
-Tom Preissing, former Colorado College standout defenseman, got his first playoff goal on a sweet shot through traffic.
-Mick McGeough should really wear a helmet. I think all the hits to his head from loose pucks have seriously affected his ability to make calls. Either that, or he went to Bob’s Basement Referee College and majored in BS Calls (props to Megan for coming up with that one…) or he is actually the WCHA’s most hated ref, Todd Anderson, in disguise.
-Dwayne Roloson has some amazing facial ticks. It never fails, whenever play is stopped, he just ticks away. He also might be one of the funniest looking goalies around, excepting Manny Legacy of course and the way his hair sticks out of the back of his helmet…
-Jose Theodore played so amazingly well last night, but the Avs’ loss overshadowed it. He robbed Teemu Selanne not once, but three times.
-Pierre Turgeon should really just retire. He needs to face the fact that he is too slow for the new NHL. He took three selfish penalties last night and allowed some costly turnovers.
-Patrice Brisebois is the biggest liability on the team. Yes, he makes some great outlet passes, but he allowed the turnover that led to the game-winning goal for Anaheim. I think JQ should put Bob Boughner in his place and bench Breeze-by for the next game. But what do I know?
-Where’s Joey? I see someone skating around who looks like Joe Sakic, but he sure doesn’t play like Joe Sakic…
-The playoff beards just keep getting better and better. By far Scott Niedermayer of Anaheim has the very best. Not only is it full and mountainmanish, but also graying a bit. The funniest might be Dan Hinote’s. It’s patchy and uneven but totally killer….

Parting is such sweet sorrow...

2006-05-08T16:08:00.000-06:00

Time for some round 2 updates….it was quite a depressing weekend for Avalanche fans. Read on and learn of our sorrow…

Western Conference
4 San Jose vs. 8 Edmonton, series at 1-0: in a 2-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers at the Shark Tank, the San Jose Sharks took the first game of the best of seven series. The lone Edmonton goal came on the power play after former DU standout Matt Carle took a careless hooking penalty 55 seconds into the game. San Jose tied it up just 5 minutes later on a goal by Sharks’ captain Patrick Marleau. Christian Ehrhoff scored the game winner 3:14 into the second stanza. The Sharks managed to catch up to the speedy Oilers and only allowed them 2 shots on goal in the second period and only 16 during the entire game. Dwayne Roloson turned in another great performance for the Oilers making 28 saves on 30 shots. The series continues tonight at 8:30 MST and can be seen on OLN.

5 Anaheim vs. 7 Colorado, series at 2-0: yes that’s right; the Avs lost the first two games in the series while playing at the Pond. That’s not even the worst part about it. Both losses were shutouts. 25 year old Ilya Bryzgalov, former back-up for J.S. Giguere on the Ducks’ squad, actually set an NHL rookie record set in 1945 for the longest amount of shutout time for the post season. He hasn’t allowed a goal in 229 minutes and 42 seconds, which happens to be not only first among rookies, but 4th overall for any goalie, and he set a franchise record recently held by Giguere (217:54 set in 2003). The only thing that can be said about the play of the Avalanche is that it was atrocious. Absolutely terrible…the first game was lost by a score of 5-0, the second by a score of 3-0. The only possible explanation is that they had too much time off (5 days, while Anaheim had only 2 days). This could be to the Avs’ advantage is the Ducks tire as the series goes. But one thing is for sure, they CANNOT afford to lose a game in Colorado. The series moves to Colorado for game 3 on Tuesday at 6pm MST and can be seen on OLN, TSN, and RDS.

Eastern Conference
1 Ottawa vs. 4 Buffalo, series at 0-1: In the only game where the home team lost, the Buffalo Sabres beat the Ottawa Senators by a score of 7-6 in OT. Former Av Chris Drury netted the game winning goal 18 seconds into 1 OT on a sloppy attempt to clear the puck by Ottawa. At 5 different times of the game, Buffalo was down and 5 times they came back. Here’s the kicker though, Buffalo’s Ryan Miller allowed 6 goals on 33 shots, while Ottawa’s Ray Emery allowed 7 on just 23 shots. I think that definitely points to the sloppiness of both teams in this first game. The series continues tonight in Ottawa at 5pm MST.

2 Carolina vs. 3 New Jersey, series at 1-0: If there is one team that actually played worse than the Avs, it’s New Jersey. This team hadn’t lost since March 26, that’s 15 games, 11 in the regular season and 4 in the post season. On what turned out to be a terrible 34th birthday for Martin Brodeur, the Devils lost 6-0. Brodeur was pulled late the third after allowing 6 goals on 35 shots. Carolina counterpart rookie Cam Ward, on the other hand made 21 saves on 21 shots for his first career playoff shutout. This series continues tonight at 5:30pm MST and can be seen on OLN.

Interesting fact:
Let’s take a look at the ages of the goaltenders and how they have done in the 2nd round:
Western Conference
5 San Jose-Vesa Toskala, 29 won
6 Anaheim-Ilya Bryzgalov, 25 won, won
7 Colorado-Jose Theodore, 29 lost, lost
8 Edmonton-Dwayne Roloson, 37 lost

Easter Conference
1 Ottawa-Ray Emery, 24 lost
2 Carolina-Cam Ward, 22 won

4 Buffalo- Ryan Miller, 25 won

Winning Goaltenders
2 Carolina-Cam Ward, 22 won
4 Buffalo- Ryan Miller, 25 won
5 San Jose-Vesa Toskala, 29 won
6 Anaheim-Ilya Bryzgalov, 25 won, won

Losing Goaltenders
1 Ottawa-Ray Emery, 24 lost
3 New Jersey-Martin Brodeur, 34 lost
7 Colorado-Jose Theodore, 29 lost, lost
8 Edmonton-Dwayne Roloson, 37 lost

It appears that age and experience are not on the side of goaltenders in the new NHL.

Round 2

2006-05-05T15:52:00.000-06:00

Round 2 of the playoffs start tonight. Here’s a preview of the Anaheim/Colorado series.

This is a highly evenly matched series. In the 4 games these two teams played during the regular season, all were decided by one goal. Colorado holds the advantage having one three games during the season. Also, this game sees the return of Steve Konowalchuk, who has missed most of the season with a wrist injury. We are glad to see him back! Go Avs!

What Anaheim has:
-Teemu Selanne. The former Av is in the middle of a renaissance. He has had one of the best seasons in recent memory and seems to be on a roll. In the series versus Calgary, Selanne had a team-high 3 points and 6 points.
-Scott Niedermayer. Undoubtedly the Ducks’ best defensemen. He will key in shutting down Joe Sakic and his line. Too bad for Anaheim that Niedermayer can’t play the whole game as there are many other scorers to look out for.
-Francoise Beuchemin. To coin a phrase from my best friend, “Who? He plays what?” This guy came to Anaheim in the Sergei Fedorov trade to Columbus, an after thought really. But since coming to Anaheim and getting back into peak physical shape, he has been having a career year. He plays alongside Scott Niedermayer and has been instrumental in shutting down other teams’ top lines.
-Ilya Bryzgalov. This guy has been huge for the Ducks in net since taking over for J.S. Giguere. After shutting out Calgary, I think this guy is positioned to steal a few games for the Ducks.

What Colorado has:
-Joe Sakic. I said he would come up big and he did. He’ll do the same for the Avs in this series.
-Rob Blake. He had 2 goals and 1 assist in the 1st round. Look for him do to more of the same. Also, he blocked 21 shots and is still healthy.
-Jose Theodore. He has shown us flashes of pure brilliance. I think he should continue to play well, getting better each game. Not to mention, he is communicating well with his d-corps and things seem to be moving more smoothly.
-Brett Clark. Surprise, surprise. He had 2 goals and 1 assist in the 1st round and logged nearly as much ice time as Rob Blake. Not to mention him beautiful (and completely legal) check of Mike Modano that stunned the Stars in game 5.
-Wojtek Wolski. I really can’t say enough about this kid. He was named the OHL MVP this week and had 1 goal and 3 assists in his first 5 NHL playoff games. I think he is going to become more and more comfortable as the playoffs go on.

Why Anaheim wins:
If the Ducks can keep their defense strong and keep up with the speedy Avs they should have a good chance. The key is to keep the Avs from scoring. Anaheim is not a high scoring team per game (in the 7 games of the first series, the Ducks scored a total of 17 goals giving them a goals per game average of 2.42. The Avs scored 18 but scored at least 3 or more in all but one game where they only scored 1 giving them a goals per game average of 3.6) so they have to keep the Avs off the board.

Why Colorado wins:
Jose Theodore needs to play better in the early part of this series than he did in the Dallas series. While he never allowed more than 4 goals against, he allowed at least 2 in each of the 5 games. Also, the defense has to be as good as it was in the last series. Not to mention, the forwards need to do their job on the fore check and in the scoring department. The key will be for the Avs to score as much as they can as early as they can and support Jose.

The series begins tonight in Anaheim.
Gm 1: Fri, May 5 8:00 p.m. Colorado at Anaheim Altitude,
OLN, TSN
Gm 2: Sun, May 7 1:00 p.m. Colorado at Anaheim NBC, TSN
Gm 3: Tue, May 9 6:00 p.m. Anaheim at Colorado OLN, TSN
Gm 4: Thu, May 11 8:00 p.m. Anaheim at Colorado OLN, TSN
Gm 5: Sun, May 14 1:00 p.m. * Colorado at Anaheim NBC, TSN
Gm 6: Tues, May 16 TBA * Anaheim at Colorado Altitude,
OLN, TSN
Gm 7: Thur, May 18 TBA * Colorado at Anaheim Altitude,
OLN, TSN
* if necessary
All times mountain

The end is only the beginning...

2006-05-04T16:18:00.000-06:00

There was only one game last night as every other series had ended in 6 games or less.

3 Calgary vs. 6 Anaheim, Anaheim won series 3-4: Amidst a lackluster performance by the Calgary Flames, the Anaheim Mighty Ducks won the seventh game of the series last night in a 3-0 shut-out of the Flames. Rookie goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov made 22 saves in his first playoff shutout in just his fourth playoff game. Miikka Kiprusoff at the other end made 29 saves on 31 shots for 2 goals, the third coming at an empty net shot from Jeff Friesen. Teemu Selanne scored first in the second period on a 30-foot wrist shot while Calgary’s Jordan Leopold was screening Miika Kiprusoff. The Ducks scored again after a Calgary turnover in their end. Ruslan Salei was fed the puck by Vitali Vishnevski who intercepted a clearing attempt. It was a nice win for Anaheim but a superbly disappointing loss for Calgary.

Now, the final four teams standing in the Western Conference are 5 San Jose, 6 Anaheim, 7 Colorado, and 8 Edmonton. I think that the fact that the bottom four seeds all beat the top four seeds shows a definite weakness in the Western Conference and the way the NHL schedules games within divisions. If you look at how the divisions are set up, you will find the following:
Central Division- Chicago, Columbus, Detroit, Nashville, and Saint Louis.
Northwest Division- Calgary, Colorado, Edmonton, Minnesota, and Vancouver.
Pacific Division- Anaheim, Dallas, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and San Jose.

Sure, Detroit won the President’s Trophy, but they played a majority of their games against teams who were in the bottom of the league. St. Louis finished dead last, Chicago finished at 28, Columbus finished at 25. Not to mention, they spent most April playing games that didn’t have any meaning to them. Whereas teams like Colorado and Edmonton spent most of April fighting for their playoff lives and thus were much more prepared mentally for the playoffs than the Red Wings. I am a strong proponent of changing the way the NHL schedules teams to include more games between conferences. I think this will not only make the teams work harder for playoff positioning but personally, I would love to see the Avs play more Eastern Conference teams throughout the year. I definitely think that the Eastern Conference has more talent spread through the divisions and that makes them stronger competitors. Honestly I think they have an advantage over Western Conference teams and that a team from the Eastern Conference will win the Stanley Cup (yes I am picking them over the Avs…heinous I know).

An upset, a draw, and a blowout!

2006-05-03T16:03:00.000-06:00

From The Hockey News:

“I feel like going home and hanging myself, that's what I feel like."

Red Wings goaltender Manny Legace on what he feels like, after getting ousted from the playoffs by the eight-seeded Oilers. Legace gave up 18 goals in the series.

I just couldn’t resist. Sure, Manny Legace might be the nicest guy in hockey but he’s kind of a sieve…don’t believe me? Read on…

Western Conference
1 Detroit vs. 8 Edmonton, Edmonton WON!!!: Sorry, I know, I should be less partial but who am I kidding? The final period in the Detroit/Edmonton game may be one of the greatest periods in hockey! Due to my terrible schedule (I work from 8am-6pm so I can take a class during the day) I was only able to watch the final period of the game on Monday night. When the third period began the score was Detroit 2, Edmonton 0. So I didn’t see much hope of Edmonton pulling out the win in this one, but I was (thankfully) wrong. It all started with Fernando Pisani. He scored two goals roughly 4 minutes apart to tie the game at 2-2. Then Detroit’s Johan Franzen scored 4 minutes after that to give the Red Wings a 3-2 win. Exactly 6 minutes following that goal, Alex Hemsky was making a play on net after a pass from Shawn Horcoff when he was pushed into the net by Nicklas Lidstrom and consequently, the puck went into the net. After a lengthy review of the play in order to ensure that Hemsky hadn’t used a kicking motion to deflect the puck in, the officials ruled that the goal stood, tying the game 3-3. With less than a minute and a half left in the game, Alex Hemsky scored again to win the game for the Edmonton Oilers. After the buzzer sounded, the crowd was shown cheering and hugging and I swear I saw some grown men crying. It was a beautiful thing! Congratulations Edmonton!

3 Calgary vs. 6 Anaheim, series tied 3-3: On Monday night the Calgary Flames had a chance to eliminate the Anaheim Mighty Ducks from the playoffs, but unable to rise to the occasion. Calgary scored first at the 10 minute mark of the first period on a goal by former Av Stephane Yelle. Shortly after, an Anaheim goal was waved off by the officials as they ruled that the Calgary goaltender, Miikka Kiprusoff, had been interfered with. I didn’t agree with the call, but whatever. Another former Av, Teemu Selanne scored the game tying goal in the second period. Then with less than 6 minutes remaining in the third Scott Niedermayer scored on the power play to lift the Ducks to a 2-1 win over the Flames. I think the Ducks made the right decision in playing Ilya Bryzgalov rather than J.S. Giguere who has played terribly throughout the playoffs. The series will finish tonight in Calgary and will be shown on OLN.

Eastern Conference
2 Carolina vs. 7 Montreal, Carolina won 4-2: In a hard fought game last night, Carolina completed their come-back and eliminated the Montreal Canadiens from the playoffs. After Montreal won the first two games, Carolina went on to win 4 games in a row to win the series. Both team scored in the first, Souray at 6:31 for Montreal and Recchi at 7:01 for Carolina, however the next two periods proved to be a goaltending battle between Cristobal Huet and Cam Ward, who replaced the struggling Martin Gerber. Both goalies played excellent games, but ultimately it was Huet who broke first. Cory Stillman scored 1:19 into the 1st OT to win the game for the Hurricanes. The winning goal came on a shot from the point, 53 feet away from the goal.

4 Buffalo vs. 5 Philadelphia, Buffalo won 4-2: In a blowout at the Wachovia center in Philadelphia, the Buffalo Sabres eliminated the Philadelphia Flyers from the playoffs. Six different players scored and Chris Drury scored twice for the Sabres to give them a 7-1 win over the flyers. Branko Radivojevic scored the lone goal for the Flyers with a little over a minute left in the second period. Robert Esche was pulled 7:19 into the second after allowing 5 goals on 17 shots, Antero Niittymaki (whose name I LOVE saying) allowed 2 goals on 11 shots. Sabres tender Ryan Miller, who was overlooked for the US Olympic team for Robert Esche, made 21 saves on 22 shots.

Second Round Match ups:
In the Western Conference, these match ups have not been decided, as they hinge on who wins in tonight’s game of Calgary and Anaheim. Personally, I am hoping that Calgary wins tonight as they seem to be an easier team to play than San Jose. However, possible match ups include:
Calgary vs. Edmonton
San Jose vs. Edmonton
San Jose vs. Colorado
Anaheim vs. Colorado

In the Eastern Conference, the match ups are all set. They are:
Ottawa vs. Buffalo
New Jersey vs. Carolina

In other news....

2006-05-01T15:43:00.000-06:00

The Colorado Eagles bid to repeat as President’s Cup Champions fells short as they were defeated in 4 games by the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs in the Northern Conference Finals of the Central Hockey League.

In other CHL news, Colorado will be getting a new CHL team for the 2006-2007 season. They will be the called the Rocky Mountain Rage. For those of you who don’t know much about Colorado, Broomfield is roughly 30 minutes north of Denver. I had no idea that they were that interested in hockey up there in, as my grandparents fondly call the area, the boonies….I’m not sure if Colorado will continue to have the Eagles but it appears that we will. These teams will be roughly 45 minutes apart from each other so that should make for some interesting hockey.

University of Denver Assistant Coach Seth Appert has accepted the Head Coaching job at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Located in Troy, New York, RPI has an enrollment of 4,500 and it academically very similar to the University of Denver. It is a member of the ECAC so DU won’t get to see the Engineers very often. RPI has won two national championships, one in 1954 and the other in 1985. I wish all the best the Coach Appert. He did an amazing job of cultivating the goaltenders of DU during his tenure and I hope he can continue his coaching success at RPI.

This is the time of year when many bright shining stars of College Hockey decide to make the big leap to the NHL (or AHL). Thus far 14 college stars have signed with NHL teams. Some have reported straight to their NHL teams while others have been assigned to their teams’ AHL affiliates. Some of the major losses thus far are as follows (in order of most recent, not most important):
-Kris Chucko (Minnesota) signed with the Calgary Flames and will try out for their big club this summer. Personally I don’t think he is ready but he really only went for the money. Good luck!
-Robbie Earl (Wisconsin) signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs and was sent straight to their AHL affiliate the Toronto Marlies. He played in 3 games with no assists, goals; well basically he didn’t do anything. Now the Marlies season is over. This one was kind of funny because about a week before, he promised 3,000 screaming Badger fans that he would not be signing with Toronto…
-Travis Zajac (North Dakota) signed with the New Jersey Devils and reported straight to their AHL affiliate the Albany River Rats. He played in 2 games, had 1 assist, was a minus-3, and had 2 penalty minutes. I think he could be ready for big show, but he definitely could have used some more time at UND.
-Matt Smaby (North Dakota) signed with the Tampa Bay Lightening and will join the team this summer for their training camp. I think he will spend the next year with Tampa Bay’s affiliate.
-Danny Irmen (Minnesota) signed with the Minnesota Wild. First of all, how funny is it that a kid from North Dakota has played most of his hockey career in Minnesota? Maybe the irony is lost to you but my friends from North Dakota assure me it’s pretty funny! Anyway, I think Danny left because his good buddy Ryan Potulny left. But I think Danny will spend the next year with the Houston Aeros, the Wild’s AHL affiliate.
-Matt Stefanishion (Ferris State) signed with the Washington Capitals. I think he has a pretty good chance of breaking into the line-up next year considering Washington is such a young team as it is.
-Jamie Hunt (Mercyhurst) signed with the Washington Capitals. If the Caps wanted this kid that bad, I’m pretty sure he will break into the line-up next year.
-David McKee (Cornell) signed with Anaheim. Well, Anaheim is having some major problems with goaltending recently, and I think this Hobey Baker Finalist will be just what the doctor ordered in a few years time after he has had time to elevate his game. If only Giguere could hold on for that long…
-Daniel Winnik (New Hampshire) signed with Phoenix. This is a team badly in need of some talent, and though I have never seen Winnik play, if the Great One wants to sign him, he must be worth something…
-Ryan Potulny (Minnesota) signed with Philadelphia. Bandwagon much? He just wanted to be cool like Matt Carle and leave early. Everything that Matt Carle did, Ryan Potulny wanted to do to only he couldn’t quite cut it. Since signing on April 7, he has played 2 games and had 1 assist. He has been a healthy scratch ever since.
-Bill Thomas (Nebraska-Omaha) signed with Phoenix. Ditto what was said for Winnik.
-Matt Carle (Denver) signed with San Jose. I know I have extolled on the greatness of the greatest Denver Defensemen in a long while, but here I go again. In Carle’s 17 games with Sharks, he has 3 goals, 6 assists, is a minus-1 and has 14 penalty minutes. Not to shabby….
-David Backes (Minnesota State Mankato) signed with St. Louis. He will report to the team in the summer. St. Louis definitely needs this guy. He will be great asset to the team that finished last in the NHL. Good Luck!
-Alex Foster (Bowling Green) signed with Toronto and was assigned to their AHL affiliate the Toronto Marlies. In 8 games with the Marlies he had 1 goal, was a minus-2 and had 6 penalty minutes.

Good Luck to all these fine young men. And with any luck we won’t loose too many more!

Playoffs Baby!!

2006-05-01T14:12:00.000-06:00

Sorry for getting so behind…it’s a crazy thing when work gets uber-busy then I lose the internet connection at home…damn technology! Just kidding…

Western Conference
1 Detroit vs. 8 Edmonton, series at 2-3: GO Edmonton! After winning two in a row, Edmonton lost at home last Thursday in a 4-2 game. In a game that saw 5 of the 6 goals come on the power play, and livid Craig MacTavish, the Red Wings evened the series at 2-2. Sure, the Oilers took some silly penalties (Rookie Matt Greene had 3 penalties all on his own) but this game came down to determination and the Oilers simply didn’t have any. However, on Saturday the tables were turned. Playing in Detroit, Edmonton was able to score 3 goals in the second period as was able to hold off Detroit’s final flurry for a 3-2 win over the Red Wings. The Oilers have a chance to close out the series tonight, as they head back to Edmonton. Of the three wins the Oilers have posted in this series, two have come at Detroit while the third came in Edmonton, after the Oilers has won in Detroit. Hopefully that bodes well!

2 Dallas vs. 7 Colorado, Colorado won the series at 1-4: Last Friday night the Colorado Avalanche had a chance to end the Dallas Stars’ season as game 4 was played in Denver. However, Colorado was not able to close the deal in a 4-1 loss to Dallas. A desperate Dallas team was able to pull out the win on the brink of elimination. Rookie Brad Richardson scored the only goal for Colorado in the first period on a pass from behind the net from Antti Laaksonen less than 5 minutes into the game. However the desperation felt by Dallas was enough to propel them to the win. Dallas iced the game with an empty net goal in the third to force a fifth game. On Sunday, the series headed back to Dallas. In an absolutely stunning win, the Avalanche eliminated the Dallas Stars from the playoffs. Jose Theodore, who allowed only 1 goal in five third periods, made 50 saves. Though it is cliché, he really gave the Avs a chance to win. He looked the most solid I have seen him and made some truly spectacular saves, while making very few “mistakes.” In the 3-2 OT game, Dallas scored first on a power play breakaway by Jussi Jokinen, the shootout God of the NHL. Colorado scored next on a nifty tip by Jimmy Dowd, who was able to find a hole between the post and Mary Turco’s leg to net his seventh career playoff goal. Joe Sakic scored next with less than a minute left in the first period to give the Avs a 2-1 lead. Bill Guerin scored Dallas’ second tally when he poked the puck away from Kurt Sauer in the offensive end. In the OT, Dallas out shot Colorado 11-4, including seven shots in the OT’s only power play. Andrew Brunette scored the winning goal on a rebound from a Joe Sakic shot. CONGRATULATIONS to the Avs!!!

3 Calgary vs. 6 Anaheim, series at 3-2: In a 3-2 OT win, Anaheim tied the series at 2-2 last Thursday. After a quite first period with no scoring and only one penalty, Anaheim scored twice in the second period less than 4 minutes apart to take the lead in the game. However, Jerome Iginla scored twice in less than 3 minutes in the beginning of the third to tie the game. Much to the chagrin of Calgary, Sean O’Donnell scored 1:36 into the first OT to win the game for Anaheim. In game 5 last night, Tony Amonte scored 5 minutes into the game to start off scoring. Once again Jerome Iginla scored twice, once a little over 10 minutes after Amonte scored and then again 1:03 into the second period. J.S. Giguere was pulled after Iginla’s second goal after giving up 3 goals on 8 shots. Anaheim’s back-up Ilya Bryzgalov made 11 saves in the second and 8 saves in the third to shut out the Flames, but his efforts were not enough. Any McDonald of Anaheim spoiled Miikka Kiprusoff’s chance at a shutout when he scored a power play goal in the third. Then Anaheim pulled within one on Rob Niedermayer’s power play goal with 33 seconds left in the game. The series continues tonight in Anaheim as the Flames have a chance to close out the best of seven series.

4 Nashville vs. 5 San Jose, San Jose won the series at 1-4: In another Western Conference upset, the San Jose Sharks beat the Nashville Predators 2-1 last night in Nashville. After winning the first game in the series, Nashville lost 4 in a row. Their third loss came on Thursday in the Shark Tank after putting up a great fight in the 4-5 game. San Jose’s captain, Patrick Marleau scored a hat trick, while University of Denver product Matt Carle had two assists for his first multi-point playoff game. On Sunday, in a 2-1 victory in Nashville, the Sharks eliminated the Predators from the playoffs. The first period went quietly until a flukey goal with .3 left in the first period gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead over the Predators. Scott Hannan passed the puck to Milan Michalek, who shot it from the left circle and Steve Bernier bumped it past Preds goalie Chris Mason. After a review, the officials (not only on the ice, but in the NHL’s war room in Toronto) ruled that it crossed the line before the time expired. Patrick Marleau Scored on the power play in the second for the game-winner. Then Paul Kariya of Nashville scored in the third on the power play to end Vesa Toskala’s shut-out.

Eastern Conference
1 Ottawa vs. 8 Tampa Bay, Ottawa won the series 4-1: After an embarrassing 8-4 loss, Tampa Bay seemed to lose any momentum they had. In game 4 of the series last Thursday, Tampa Bay lost 5-2 to a very strong Ottawa team. 4 of their 5 goals came at even strength. Not to mention John Grahame’s performance in goal for the Lightening was less than stellar, allowing 4 goals in 17 shots is simply not good enough. He was pulled in the third for back-up Burke, who allowed 1 goal on 8 shots in 20 minutes of play. In the final game of series, Tampa Bay struggled to make ends meet again, allowing 2 even strength and 1 power play goal while only managing to score 2 even strength goals in the second. A change in goal did not help. Struggling goalie John Grahame played backup Saturday to veteran Sean Burke who made 35 saves in the loss. It was his first playoff start since he and the Phoenix Coyotes were eliminated from the playoffs by San Jose in 2002. While they applied pressure to the Senators, the Lightening just couldn’t seem to muster the strength to win.

2 Carolina vs. 7 Montreal, series at 3-2: In a tough 2-1 OT loss to the Hurricanes, Montreal surrendered their first game on home ice. Carolina caught some breaks for their first win in the series after losing two at home. The game winner was scored on the power play 3:38 into the first overtime when Huet lost sight of the puck and Eric Staal was able to slide it past him. In perhaps an even more tough loss, the Canadiens surrendered the lead in the series in a 3-2 game that saw more than just the loss of the game. In a scary moment, Saku Koivu received a high-stick to his face that caused an eye injury. Justin Williams, the Hurricanes player who perpetrated the hit was not penalized. Koivu was rushed to the hospital and it is still unclear how much damage was done to his eye. Though he was wearing a half shield, it still did not protect him from the stick that slid under the shield. The Hurricanes took the lead in the series on Sunday with a 2-1 win on their home ice, the first for either team. Cam Ward had a stellar game saving 30 shots in his third straight start after taking the job from Gerber. He seems to be carrying this team. Eric Staal and Matt Cullen scored power play goals for the Canes while Alex Kovalev scored the only goal for the Canadiens. Cristobal Huet had 26 saves on 28 shots.

3 New Jersey vs. 6 New York R, New Jersey won 4-0: In a maybe not so surprising sweep of the New York Rangers, New Jersey advanced the second round of the playoffs as the only team to completely sweep another team. Even the return of Jaromir Jagr could save the Rangers. In a shutout last Wednesday night in Madison Square Gardens, Martin Brodeur made 25 saves. Langenbrunner scored and had an assist to garner the games’ first star, while Patrick Elias also scored and had an assist to earn the games’ second star. Not surprisingly Brodeur came in at the third star (honestly what does a goalie have to do?) In a surprisingly quiet and ironic game (only 5 penalties, 2 in the first and 3 in the second) New Jersey took the third game of the series by a score of 3-0, the last tally coming from former University of North Dakota star Zach Parise. In the final game of the series, the Rangers scored both first and last and again lost the services of Jaromir Jagr. Patrick Elias upped the ante again by have an assist and scoring two goals in the win while Brian Gionta scored the game winner unassisted. The Devils have now won an amazing 15 games in a row. Can anyone stop them?

4 Buffalo vs. 5 Philadelphia, series at 3-2: After losing two on the road, Philadelphia pulled out two home wins to tie the series. Peter Forsberg chose a great time to show the Flyers why they pay him so much. He scored two goals and tallied one assist in a 4-2 win over Buffalo. I should mention however, that the assist came on an empty net…In the second home win, the Sabres didn’t go so quietly, in a 5-4 win, Forsberg again scored twice and added an assist to earn the first star of the game. But let’s not overlook Daniel Briere, the heart and soul of the Sabres franchise who scored two goals himself. On Sunday, rookie Ryan Miller, the Sabres’ goaltender single-handedly took control of the game as he posted a shutout for the lead in the series. Miller made 24 saves, two of which were deflections off of his teammates. He became the third rookie in franchise history to post a shutout in the playoffs. Robert Esche on the other end of the ice also deserves praise as he made 30 saves on 33 shots. The Sabres look to finish this series off tomorrow in Philadelphia.

Wow….that was a lot of writing….

Playoff Update

2006-04-26T17:19:00.000-06:00

It’s been another couple of days chock full of great games. Here’s the skinny…

Western Conference
1 Detroit vs. 8 Edmonton, series at 1-2: So a lot of people said that the first two games were a fluke…Edmonton had pushed to 2nd OT by sheer luck and won game two by even more luck. Well, eat that critics! Edmonton won last night at home in another 2 overtime game by a score of 4-3. It was a good win for them, although I don’t think they played as hard as they could have. I wonder what is going through the minds of the Detroit players…I mean they have to be in complete shock. With any luck, they will continue their stupor and lose the series…not that I’m biased or anything….

2 Dallas vs. 7 Colorado, series at 0-2: In a 5-4 OT nail biter, the Colorado Avalanche won game two of the best of seven series versus the Dallas Stars. After scoring 3 goals in the first period, the Avalanche and Jose Theodore allowed 4 goals by the Stars in the second period. In the third period, Brett Clark scored his second goal in his second career playoff game with 2:04 left in the period. In the first overtime, Jason Arnott of the Stars hit the post seconds before Joe Sakic scored the game winning goal on a shot from point by John-Michael Liles at 4:36. The series moves to Denver tonight for game three at 7:30 MST and can be seen on Altitude, OLN, and TSN.

3 Calgary vs. 6 Anaheim, series at 2-1: In a 5-2 contest last night, Calgary took the lead in the series as it moved to Anaheim. Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 27 shots while J.S. Giguere saved 19. In a game where 22 total penalties were called (12 for 27 minutes for the Flames and 10 for 23 minutes for the Ducks) special teams played an important role. Of the seven total goals scored, 5 (including both Anaheim goals) were scored on the power play. The series continues tomorrow in Anaheim.

4 Nashville vs. 5 San Jose, series at 1-2: San Jose took the lead in the series last night in a 4-1 win over the Predators at the HP Pavilion. Captain Patrick Marleau scored twice and goalie Vesa Toskala made 16 saves. Rookie Steve Bernier scored his first playoff goal late in the second which turned out to be the game winning goal. The series continues tomorrow in San Jose.

Eastern Conference
1 Ottawa vs. 8 Tampa Bay, series at 2-1: In a highly unimpressive game by the Tampa Bay Lightening, Ottawa took the lead in the series last night with an 8-4 win in Tampa Bay. The highlight of this game however came with 2:17 left in the final period. NHL.com described the brawl best when they wrote “Heatley squared off in a fight with Nolan Pratt, and Chara locked up with Vincent Lecavalier. Ottawa's 6-foot-9 defenseman cocked his right arm and held it menacingly over Lecavalier, who was down on the ice, but restrained from throwing the big punch. The melee, sparked by Vaclav Varada's boarding penalty against Tampa Bay's Ruslan Fedotenko, capped a physical game that featured 139 penalty minutes - 79 for Tampa Bay - five fighting majors, and seven misconducts.” It was an interesting end to a rather boring end as it appeared that there were half a dozen players on each bench as the final minutes of the game ran through.

2 Carolina vs. 7 Montreal, series at 0-2: First of all, I find it interesting that one of the biggest trades this year, David Aebischer for Jose Theodore, left each team in the same place in their respective conferences with the same records in the playoffs. Moving on. In a 6-5 two overtime win over Carolina, Montreal heads home with the lead in the series. Huet made an astounding 41 saves while Gerber made 10 saves on 13 shots before being pulled and replaced by Ward who then made 20 saves on 23 shots. The series continues tonight in Montreal.

3 New Jersey vs. 6 New York Rangers, series at 0-2: Without Jaromir Jagr, who was out with an upper arm injury, the Rangers seemed to flounder in a 4-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils. But defense may be the Rangers biggest problem. Of the 4 goals scored by New Jersey, two were short handed, one came on the power play and the last came at even strength. Those numbers are truly unacceptable for a team that wants to win the Stanley Cup. This series continues tonight and Rangers face the Devils at home in Madison Square Gardens.

4 Buffalo vs. 5 Philadelphia, series at 2-0: In a very convincing 8-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers, the Buffalo Sabres took the game 2 of the series. I guess I can’t say this enough, for a team with so little playoff experience, the Sabres are playing some amazing hockey, while the Flyers are barely putting up a fight. This series continues tonight as the Sabres meet the Flyers in Philadelphia.

Playoff time!!

2006-04-24T13:18:00.000-06:00

Well it was an amazing weekend of playoff hockey in the NHL. Four series (Detroit/Edmonton, Calgary/Anaheim, Nashville/San Jose, and Ottawa/Tampa Bay) started Friday night while the remaining four series (Dallas/Colorado, Carolina/Montreal, New Jersey/New York R, and Buffalo/Philadelphia) started on Saturday. Here’s the scoop incase you missed anything…

Western Conference
1 Detroit vs. 8 Edmonton, series tied 1-1: This series began on Friday with a 3-2 2 overtime win for Detroit. I have to admit I was so surprised to hear that a) Edmonton scored, b) the game went into two overtimes, and c) Edmonton scored. I thought Edmonton didn’t stand a snowflake’s chance in hell of at least making this series interesting, but they did it! The plot thickened on Sunday when Edmonton beat (yeah I said BEAT!) Detroit 4-2. Edmonton did an amazing job of clogging up the neutral zone and keeping the Red Wings from having too much puck possession time in the offensive end. Way to go Edmonton! They head to the third and fourth games in Edmonton, followed by games five and six (if necessary, hopefully!) in Detroit.

2 Dallas vs. 7 Colorado, series at 0-1: This series began on Saturday with a 5-2 win for Colorado. Five Avalanche players (Wolski, Hejduk, Blake, Clark, and Liles) scored five unanswered goals on 31 shots to win the first game. The Stars had 18 shots for their 2 goals. Jose Theodore let in 2 goals on 5 shots in the first period but looked solid throughout. Rookie Wojtek Wolski scored a goal and notched two assists in his first NHL playoff game giving him the most points out of any player on Saturday. The series continues in Dallas tonight at 7pm MST and can be seen on Altitude (for those of you in Denver), OLN, and TSN.

3 Calgary vs. 6 Anaheim, series tied 1-1: This series began on Friday with a 2-1 overtime win for Calgary. Miika Kiprusoff stayed true to form and allowed 1 goal on 34 shots. Anaheim came in at a disadvantage as their number one goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere sat out the game with a lower body injury. However, with the return of Giguere on Sunday, the Anaheim Mighty Ducks were able to pull out a 4-3 win over Calgary. They now head to Anaheim for games three and four, followed by a return to Calgary for games five and six (if necessary)

4 Nashville vs. 5 San Jose, series tied 1-1: This series began on Friday with a 4-3 win for Nashville. Despite the loss of their number one goalie, Tomas Vokoun, to a blood condition, the Predators were able to secure a convincing win with their 4 power play goals. Fill in goalie Chris Mason was able to keep super scorers Jonathan Cheechoo and Joe Thornton from netting any goals. In relevant Hockey in Colorado News, former DU Pioneer standout Matt Carle had an assist on the Sharks’ first goal of the game, also former CC rearguard Tom Preissing assisted on the Sharks’ second goal. The series continued on Sunday with a 3-0 Shark shutout. Vesa Toskala made 25 saves and Jonathan Cheechoo scored the game winning goal as well as assisted on the two other goals for the Sharks. The series continues in San Jose on Tuesday and Wednesday then returns to Nashville for games five and six (if necessary) Friday and Sunday.

Eastern Conference
1 Ottawa vs. 8 Tampa Bay, series tied 1-1: The defending Stanley Cup Champions Tampa Bay Lightening put in a disappointing performance in the first game of the series on Friday by allowing 4 goals, two power play, one short handed, and one empty net, in the third period to lose the game 1-4 to the Ottawa Senators. Despite the loss of their number goalie, Dominik Hasek to an injury sustained during the Olympics, Ottawa’s goalie, Ray Emery stood strong in net, only allowing a goal while the Senators were down 3 players to 5. On Sunday the Lightening looked like a new team. John Grahame, a Denver native, made 22 saves to keep the high scoring Senators to only one goal per period and the earn his first win in four playoff games. Tampa Bay’s strength was shown in their ability to score even strength goals; all four of their goals came at even strength.

2 Carolina vs. 7 Montreal, series at 0-1: In a surprising move by Montreal, Cristobal Huet received the nod to backstop the Canadiens in the first game of the playoffs. Why is this surprising considering Huet had a great season and put Jose Theodore to shame? Huet lost his last two starts for Montreal while David Aebischer had looked solid in net recently. At first, it looked like a bad move. At the 50 second mark of the game, Carolina scored. It would be their only goal of the game. Apparently, the move was not so surprising after all….Huet made 43 saves in the 6-1 Canadiens win over Carolina. The series continues tonight in Carolina, and then moves to Montreal for games three and four.

3 New Jersey vs. 6 New York Rangers, series at 1-0: In a 6-1 whipping of the New York Rangers, New Jersey scored an amazing and playoff-record, 5 power play goals. An amazing 16 penalties, for 43 minutes, were taken by the Rangers. Martin Brodeur made 29 saves on 30 shots while rookie Henrik Lundqvist made 24 saves on 30 shots. Some of the biggest news from this game comes from Jaromir Jagr, who might miss the second game of the series due to an arm injury. While fore checking Scott Gomez, Jagr somehow hurt his arm and was helped to the dressing room. Still no word on whether he will play or not. The series continues tonight in New Jersey and can be viewed on OLN at 5pm EST.

4 Buffalo vs. 5 Philadelphia, series at 1-0: The big story here was that the Buffalo Sabres feature a young team with little to no playoff experience. Just to put it in perspective, the entire Sabres’ roster had a combined 295 playoff games, in comparison, the same amount that Philadelphia’s Peter Forsberg and Eric Desjardins had between them. However, after taking the Flyers into the second overtime, Daniel Briere tipped in Jochen Hecht’s centering pass for a 3-2 Sabres’ victory over the Flyers. This series continues tonight in Buffalo, and then moves for games three and four in Philadelphia on Wednesday and Friday.

Let's get ready to rumble...

2006-04-21T10:15:00.000-06:00

Let’s take a look at the upcoming first round playoff match-up of the Colorado Avalanche and the Dallas Stars.

What Dallas has:
-Mike Modano. He is like a Stars playoff God…
-Jason Arnott. Second only to Mike Modano on the teams’ scoring list his year. He is only one point behind.
-Jere Lehtinen. He led the Stars in goals scored with 33. He’s a defenseman! What makes him even trickier is that he is solid in his own end as well.
-Sergei Zubov. He has decent seasons, but always kicks it up a notch (where would the world be without Emeril?) during the second season. In 142 playoff games, he has 101 points and a plus-30 rating. Did I mention he’s already won two Stanley Cups?

What Colorado has:
-Joe Sakic. Where Mike Modano is a Dallas’ playoff God, Joe Sakic is Colorado’s God. He’s Mr. Clutch for Colorado. He always comes through.
-Rob Blake. Hands down one of the best defensemen in the game. He can routinely shut down the top lines of every team. Plus, he is the top scoring defensemen for the Avs with 51 points.
-Jose Theodore. I don’t think I stand alone when I say that this guy could be the deal breaker here. He has looked solid in his last 5 games. Yes, he has only won one of those games, but much of that comes down to the rest of the team not supporting him as they should. I think he is highly motivated to make a comeback (but let’s be honest here, I’m probably pretty biased!).
-Alex Tanguay. Since his knee injury that had him out for 10 games, he has looked pretty good. This week off will have given him a chance to heal up some more and return to his game.
-Wojtek Wolski. I’m sure you’re saying to yourself, “Who?” I can’t wait to see this kid get some action. He spent the season in the OHL playing for the Brampton Battalion. However, he spent 9 games early in the season with the Avs. In those games, he scored 2 goals (both on the power play) had 4 assists, was a minus-5 and had 4 penalty minutes. Now you are really wondering why I (and really EVERY Avs fan is excited about this kid), so here goes. In 56 games with Brampton this season, he had 47 goals, and 81 assists for 128 points. The closest teammate had 72 points. He was plus-21, had 46 penalty minutes and 30 power play goals. Amazing…

Why Dallas Wins:
Dallas can win if they can get 3 or more goals in the game. In the four meetings between these teams this season, Dallas won three of those by scoring more than 3 goals. Their loss came in a 3-2 overtime loss. Also, Marty Turco has to stay strong in net. Of the 16 teams in the playoffs, only 3 teams have scored more goals this season than Colorado.

Why Colorado Wins:
Score, Score, Score. If the Avs can score, they can win. The one win that Jose Theodore has came from a 6-4 win over the Phoenix Coyotes. In the three losses and one overtime loss, the Avs scored 3 or less goals. So the same holds true for the Avs, if they can score 3 or more goals they can win.

What these games come down to:
Goaltending and defense. Bottomline. Theodore and Turco have to be strong but they are going to need help from their defensive corp.

Series starts tomorrow at 1pm MST. The first game will air on NBC. The following is the complete schedule:
April 22 - Sat - 1:00 Dallas Away American Airlines Center 950 AM NBC
April 24 - Mon - 7:00 Dallas Away American Airlines Center 710 AM Altitude
April 26 - Wed - 7:30 Dallas Home Pepsi Center 950 AM Altitude
April 28 - Fri - 8:00 Dallas Home Pepsi Center 950 AM Altitude
April 30 - Sun - 12:00 Dallas Away American Airlines Center 950 AM NBC
May 2 - Tue - TBD Dallas Home Pepsi Center 950 AM Altitude
May 4 - Thu - TBD Dallas Away American Airlines Center 950 AM Altitude

Avs at Oilers 2-4, Kings at Sharks 4-0

2006-04-18T09:27:00.000-06:00

Avs lost 4-2 last night to the Edmonton Oilers. This game was so incredibly boring I stopped watching it before the third period started and guess what? I didn’t miss much…The Avs play was lackluster and not up to par, but understandable. This game was a chance for the Avs to take their fate into their own hands. If they won, they would most likely play the Calgary Flames in the first round of the playoffs. I say most likely because Anaheim would have had to lose to Calgary for that scenario to work. If they lost, they would play the Dallas Stars. So which team would the Avs want to play? Definitely Dallas. With the way that the Flames kicked their butts earlier this week, you can bet that the Avs didn’t want to face that (and Miika Kiprusoff) anytime soon. Let’s not forget also, that Dallas’ strength this season came in the shootouts and sorry to burst their bubble, but there aren’t going to be any shootouts in the playoffs. I saw a graphic last night about how the points have changed since the addition of the shootout. Dallas would have 99 points rather than the 111 they actually have. The Avs would have 92 rather than the 95 that they actually have. That’s a pretty big difference for Dallas. I’ll come back to the playoff matches another day though.

Since the Avs game was so boring, I decided to watch the Kings/Sharks game. Again, I was highly disappointed in the play of the team I was rooting for, the Sharks that is. But again, I can understand that since this game didn’t matter in the scheme of the playoffs, there was no point in wasting energy. Also, last night was Luc Robitaille’s last game as an NHL player. I think a big part of the Shark’s loss was in deference to one of the games’ greatest scorers.

I can’t describe how excited I am that they playoffs are just around the corner. There is some very good hockey in the horizon and though I’m not quite sure how far the Avs will go, I know I will be watching hockey until the Stanley Cup is awarded!

Ps…Ryan Caldwell, former captain of the 2004 National Champions DU Pioneers played his first NHL game on April 15 for the New York Islanders. Congratulations! More on this later.

Time to play a little catch-up

2006-04-16T20:24:00.000-06:00

Well, as sometimes happens, I got a little behind on my blogging…it was the weekend, so sue me. But really, let’s talk hockey.

The Avs lost a nail biter on Thursday to Calgary by a score of 2 to nothing. The biggest problem the Avs had was that they couldn’t score! Miika Kiprusoff was (yes I am going to say it, at the risk of sounding like Peter McNab…) amazing. He was just too good! The Avs had some quality scoring chances but just couldn’t finish the job with Kiprusoff throwing off their game. It was a really a hard fought game by both teams. Congrats to Calgary for winning their first divisional title since 1992. Jose was amazing in his own right though. Considering he let in one goal on 26 shots, I think we should all be happy with his performance. This one just came down to how amazingly Kiprusoff played and how the Avs were unable to capitalize on good scoring chances.

The Avs lost in OT to Vancouver on Saturday by a score of 3-4. While I didn’t get to see the game (yet, I taped it while I went to church), I did see the goal that won the game in overtime for the Canucks. It seems that Jose has a problem with stopping goals on the glove side. I think that he always tends to just move his shoulder up in the hopes of blocking the shots rather than trying to catch them. But maybe this has worked for him in the past. Plus what do I know about being a goalie anyway?

In other Colorado hockey news, the Colorado Eagles of the CHL won in game 7 of the Northern Conference Semi-finals against the Oklahoma City Blazers by a score of 6-2. The Eagles play in Loveland, CO at the Budweiser Events Center. They won the CHL championship last season and looked to be in a good position to do the same this year. This is their third year in Colorado. I have had the pleasure of attending an Eagles game and it was so much fun. I recommend it for anyone looking for a relatively inexpensive way to experience great hockey. Good luck to the Eagles!

Avs vs. Phoenix 6-4

2006-04-12T17:07:00.000-06:00

Wow, that was a crazy game…by the numbers:
-6 Avalanche goals in 29 minutes by 6 different Avalanche players
-6 penalties on the Avs in the first period, 9 total for the game
-5 penalties on the Coyotes in the first period, 10 total for the game
-21 saves in Jose’s first start and win with the Avalanche
-26 saves in the 29 minutes that Sauve played before he was pulled in the second period
-8 saves in the 31 minutes that Leneveu played
-2 5-on-3 opportunities for each team in the first period
-3 goals allowed by Jose in the final 8 minutes of the game

All in all, a good game by the Avs. The third period was almost painful to watch though…it just seemed like the team lost some steam. They looked tired. Jose looked unfocused. But a win is a win…now the Avs head off to Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver to finish off the regular season. Good luck to them!

Caps at Bruins 2-1

2006-04-11T16:38:00.000-06:00

The Avs had yesterday off, so I decided to catch a game on OLN. I am so happy that OLN has been covering games all season because it has allowed me to see teams and players that the Avs don’t generally play. Last night, I watched the Washington Capitals beat the Boston Bruins in overtime 2-1. Here are my thoughts on the game and it’s milestones:

-Mark Stuart, slated to be the captain of the Colorado College tigers for the 2005-2006 season but opted to leave early, scored his first NHL goal which turned out to be the only Bruins goal. He played his first NHL game about a month ago on March 11. In the 14 games he has played for the Bruins, he has assisted on one goal, giving him 2 career points, he is -1, has 10 penalty minutes, and is 12.5% on the percentage of shots that have resulted in goals.

-This was the first time I have had the opportunity to see Alexander Ovechkin play. I have to say…I was completely amazed! He works so hard on the ice, he makes BIG hits and he is able to puck handle like you wouldn’t believe! Don’t believe me? Watch this: Alexander the Great!

-Speaking of Alexander the Great, he became the sixth rookie to score 100 points in a season. He has scored 49 goals, and had 51 assists. If he can score another goal in the final four games of the season, he will become only the second rookie to score 50 goals in a season. The only rookie to achieve this feat thus far? Teemu Selanne, he had 76 goals and 132 points for Winnipeg in the 1992-1993

-It was obvious to me from watching this game, why these two teams have been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. They made soooooooo many mistakes that I am used to seeing in College hockey. They whole game felt like I was watching a college game. There was no spark, no fighting, it was just kind of dead. I hope that the Capitals are able to turn around this off-season and find ways to be successful because I would love to see Alex Ovechkin do well.

-After the game, during the post-game interviews, Alex was discussing what the Capitals are playing for and was given a shaving cream pie to the face by team captain Jeff Halpern. Alex laughed for a couple seconds, then just kept on going like nothing was going on. Someone gave him a towel and he wiped most of it from his face, but the poor interviewer was trying to keep it together but couldn’t. It was absolutely hilarious! See the incident for yourself here: Talk about a pie in the Face!

-for more great stuff on Alex Ovechkin, go here: Ovechkin Fans

~Catie

Avs vs. Minnesota Wild 2-5

2006-04-10T00:04:00.000-06:00

This one hurt...a lot! But I think that the Avs lost not because of a lack of effort or bad goaltending (which I will get to later) but because Manny Fernandez was on fire! Marion Gaborik didn't do too bad either as he got his eighth career hat trick. Here's what went down:

-the Avs came out with a lot of energy and played really well.
-about 4 1/2 minutes in, Gaborik scored the first goal of evening. 42 seconds later, Dupuis scored the second goal. Peter Budaj who started his 13th consecutive game for the Avs was pulled. Jose Theodore, who hadn't played since January 31st, had dressed as the backup goalie for the evening and at this point was put in net in Budaj's place.
-The Avs were able to kill a 4 minute double minor to Karlis Skrastins and kept the Wild from scoring again in the first.
-At this point, it was completely possible for the Avs to make a comeback. Fernandez had made 17 saves in the first period and seemed to be solid, but there was still the chance that the Avs could get some kind of offense going.
-The period saw a solid period for both teams. Fernandez made 14 saves to deny the Avs a goal, while Theodore made 7, allowing one goal in the second on a power play.
-The third period was perhaps the best period for the Avs. They finally managed to solve Fernandez and scored twice, once on the power play, once at even strength. However, the Wild made some opportunistic plays and were able to score twice as well.

All in all, it was a great game. The Avs played pretty well, but were denied by a hot goaltender focused on earning the $13 million he just resigned for and a 30th win in this season. Jose Theodore look pretty solid in net for a guy who hasn't seen any action since January 31st. In the beginning, it was obvious he was still a little shaky but as the game went on, he gained some confidence and played well. I think this was a great step in his recovery and hope he will play amazingly on Tuesday against the Coyotes. I am fairly sure he will start on Tuesday as it was announced he would start then before this evenings' game.

Avs vs. St. Louis 4-2

2006-04-08T22:53:00.000-06:00

A much better game for the Avs! Still a little penalty problem (6 penalties for 12 minutes) but much better than lately. Things I was impressed with:

-the team didn't leave Budaj out to dry...One of St. Louis goals was on a power play, the other at even strength. They helped a lot more than they have been lately. I think that contributed a lot to the win.

-scoring came from three of the four lines! Super Joe got the first goal for the Avs in the second period (assisted by Brisebois of all people!), Ian Laperriere scored early in the third (Sauer [WHAT!?!?!] and McLean assisted), Dan Hinote and his new line of Cody McCormick and Brad Richardson scored, and last but by no means least, Milan Hejduk just touch the puck that went in for the empty net goal with Joe and Skrastins getting assists. AMAZING!!!! This is the way the team should ALWAYS(!!!!) play.

-it seemed like they team didn't work as hard as they could have in the first and they saw St. Louis score on the PP. The second period was a little better, then in the third, the whole team just exploded. It was great!

-the game was broadcast on NBC. I really don't like the way NBC broadcasts games. I know, they paid an exorbitant amount of money for the rights to show the NHL on NBC but still...It just bugs me...

In other Avs news...If all goes well, Propecia Joe will be starting on Tuesday against the Phoenix Coyotes. Coach Q said Jose would dress Tomorrow vs. Minnesota as the backup, and as long as Jose keeps going in the right direction, he will be the starting goaltender!!!! So excited to finally see him play! I know I make fun of him a lot but I really like him and hope that he will be able to do well for the Avs.

~Catie

Frozen Four (last one I promise)

2006-04-08T22:25:00.000-06:00

The national championship game was tonight...Wisconsin won by a score of 2-1 against Boston College. Not a lot to say about this game. Here are my thoughts:
-Robbie Earl should really look into the Diving team at Wisconsin. He is such an excellent diver that I feel quite confident in his abilities to rank high amongst college divers. But seriously, I have never seen a player dive as much as the Spawn of Satan does...He is my very most despised college hockey player, which is really saying something because that list also includes (in no particular order) Brett Sterling, Brian Salcido, Chris Porter, Ryan Potulny, Danny Irmen, Phil Kessel, etc, etc.

-Cory Schnieder was amazing in goal! This was to be expected. He made 37 saves on 39 shots! He is so completely underrated.

-Wisconsin became the first team in NCAA history to have both its Men's and Women's hockey teams win the national championship in division I in the same year. What's even cookier than that is that Adam and Nicki Burish (siblings) were on both those teams...That's probably a first too, siblings winning a national championship in the same year for different teams.

-Wisconsin also became the first team to ever win a national championship without leaving their home state throughout the NCAA tournament. I wonder how the Athletic director paid to have that...

-Chris Collins (and several other members of the BC team) cried on camera after they lost. They were completely classy though, they actually sat there through all of Wisconsin's celebrating (not surprising that they made BC wait so long as they are completely devoid of class or sportsmanship) so that they could shake hands with Wisconsin and salute the 250 BC Fans (out of 17,000 fans at the game, so much for a neutral site. Out of those 250 fans, 50 of them were members of the BC pep band).

-Mike Eaves (a native of DENVER, CO!!!), coach for Wisconsin became the 4th person to win a national championship as both a player and as a coach. Let's not forget that Coach Gwozdecky did that only better. He was the 1st person to EVER win a national championship title as a player, assistant coach, and as a head coach, then he did a second year in a row. Fun facts: Coach Gwozdecky and Mike Eaves played for Wisconsin in the 1976-1977 season when they won the national championship together. The next season, Coach Eaves played with Mark Johnson at Wisconsin, Mark (a native of Minneapolis, MN) stayed for two seasons, then went on to play in the 1980 Olympic games winning a gold medal with the Miracle on Ice team. Mark is now the coach for the Women's hockey team, at you guessed it, Wisconsin!

-Two of Mike Eaves' sons, Ben (currently playing for the Ottawa Senators) and Patrick (an assistant video manager for BC) played hockey for Boston College.

~Catie