Hockey. Made in America. Nobody does it better than Denver.
We are the real Hockeytown, USA. I defy anyone to tell us we’re wrong.
The best hockey in the country is played along a six-mile stretch of road between the barns the Colorado Avalanche and DU Pioneers call home, in rinks where the vibe, like the lamp, is constantly lit.
Here in Denver, we are on the verge of witnessing hockey history not seen anywhere in America since 1972. Get this: For the first time in 50 years, two hockey teams that call the same U.S. city home could win both the NHL and NCAA championships during the same season.
“50 years? It has been that long?” Sakic told me Tuesday. He measured the enormity of the feat by adding: “I would’ve been almost 3 (years old) in 1972.”
The Avs and Pios are trying to achieve what’s only been done once previously in the glorious United States, where a loonie will get grumpy Wayne Gretzky a wee 77-cent sip of coffee at Starbucks.
Fifty long years ago, the Boston University Terriers and legendary coach Jack Kelley captured the NCAA title with a 4-0 victory against Cornell in March, only to be one-upped by a brash 24-year-old defenseman named Bobby Orr in May, when the Bruins held off the New York Rangers to claim the NHL championship.
As the Stanley Cup finals begin, the Avs are four victories away from matching the success of DU and achieving one of the rarest feats in U.S. hockey.
“It would be unbelievable. DU has got the most college championships, right? That’s hard to do,” Sakic said. “A pro team and a college team like that in the same city? It just goes to show you what a great hockey market there is in Colorado.”
The short stretch of highway between Magness Arena on the DU campus and Ball Arena can be a real pain to drive. From dawn to dusk, it’s often gridlock, stacked bumper-to-bumper.
Andy Cross, The Denver Post
Colorado Avalanche right wing Logan O’Connor (25) answers questions during the Stanley Cup Media Day practice at Ball Arena June 14, 2022.
Avs winger Logan O’Connor, who won a national championship with the Pios in 2017, said the common thread between the two hockey programs are “guys that genuinely care about each other, want to win for each other and sacrifice for each other.”
A tradition of excellence was established decades ago at the University of Denver, the gold standard in college hockey.
“You come here to win championships. It’s not easy to play at Denver. It’s a big responsibility,” Pioneers coach David Carle said in April, after DU beat Minnesota State 5-1 to win the ninth championship in school history.
Following some lean years when goalie Patrick Roy left the building, the Avs have re-emerged as the flashiest show on ice this side of the Pioneers, the highest-scoring team in college hockey.
“We’re here. And we have one expectation: Try to win the Cup,” said Sakic, who believes Colorado is built to be a legit contender for years to come.
Denver is all grown up, the new U.S. capital of winning hockey.
Nanny nanny, Minneapolis. And poo poo, St. Paul.
Deal with it, Detroit. You’ve forfeited any legit claim to being called Hockeytown, USA.
OK, I can hear the bellyaching in the Midwest from 1,200 miles away. Yes, the Michigan Wolverines and Detroit Red Wings have both won championships in the same calendar year three times, most recently in 1998.
The Wolverines, as Sakic duly noted, are “in Ann Arbor (40 miles from Detroit)! We’re 10 minutes right down the road from DU.”
And please remind me: Do the Red Wings still play hockey?
Hockey is louder at altitude. At 5,280 feet above sea level, it’s noisy enough to take your breath away. While recovering from knee surgery in the latter part of this season, Avs captain Gabe Landeskog watched teammate Nathan MacKinnon play from a perch high atop Ball Arena.
“He is that top 0.1% in the league,” said Landeskog, marveling how MacKinnon can change a game’s momentum any time he touches the puck. “You can even hear it in the arena… It’s very obvious when you’re watching the game from up top. When (MacKinnon) touches the puck, all 18,000 people start tensing up.”
From Toronto Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe to Edmonton players being run out of town, visitors to our dusty old cowtown insist the hardest place in the NHL to hear yourself think is the rink where we all hail Avalanche defenseman Cale (rhymes with Orr) Makar.
Yes, there is heavy lifting to be done before the Avalanche can drink from the Cup for the first time since 2001. The Lightning ain’t slouches, with rings to prove it. Andrei Vasileskiy is the best goalie in the world; Darcy Keumper is not.
Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos, however, has lauded Colorado as “probably the best team in the league,” while Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois lauds the Avalanche locker room for being populated with “all-time great, great players.”
There’s no happier place to be a puckhead than Denver, Colorado.
We live in Hockeytown, USA.
Let a golden era of hoisting shiny championship trophies begin.
Andy Cross, The Denver Post
Denver Pioneers forward Cole Guttman (19) presents the 2022 NCAA Frozen Four Championship trophy to the team after defeating the Minnesota State Mavericks 5-1 at TD Garden April 09, 2022.
