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.

Another split weekend and a steamroller...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!