And away we go...

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

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

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!

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

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....

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!

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….

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.....

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

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

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

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

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

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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!

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

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

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

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!

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...

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.