Special section: How Colorado became a hotbed for hockey

Fourteeners, powder & hockey: In Colorado, these are a few of our favorite things

March 26, 2008 10:48 PM

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By KATE CRANDALL

THE GAZETTE

Colorado isn't a traditional hockey hotbed, but the arrival of college hockey's hottest teams for the NCAA West Regional on Friday and Saturday at World Arena and the NCAA Frozen Four on April 10 and 12 in Denver could spark a surge in the sport's popularity not unlike when the Colorado Avalanche arrived in 1995.

Fanning the flame is the fact that, for the first time in Colorado history, all three of its Division I hockey teams - Colorado College, Denver and Air Force - will play in the NCAA Tournament, which was played for the first 10 years of existence (1948-1957) at the old Broadmoor Ice Palace. Minnesota, Michigan and New York are next with two colleges each in the tournament.

"We're deserving of that spotlight," CC coach Scott Owens said. "We've had great programs the past 10 years and we oftentimes get forgotten for the upper Midwest."

CC, the regular-season Western Collegiate Hockey Association champion led by Highlands Ranch native goaltender Richard Bachman, is a No. 2 seed at the West Regional at World Arena.

Denver, which captured the WCHA playoff title, will challenge for its third national title in five seasons, starting in the Midwest Regional as the No. 2 seed.

Air Force, which won its second consecutive Atlantic Hockey Association Tournament, will travel to the Northeast Regional as a No. 4 seed.

Of the 23 Division I hockey players who claim the Centennial State as home, 12 play for Colorado-based colleges: two for CC, seven for Denver and three for Air Force.

All of those players hope to be a part of the first Coloradobased college team to win an instate Frozen Four since the Pioneers did it in Colorado Springs in 1969.

Bachman, who proudly sports the Colorado flag on the back of his helmet, is proof that Colorado is just heating up in terms of talent. Owens first noticed Bachman - who attended prep school in the Northeast and played a year in the U.S. Hockey League before returning to CC - when he was in net for the then Air Force-based Colorado Thunderbirds midget hockey team.

"You're starting to see it how there are kids coming from the nontraditional areas and especially the Southwest," said Owens, whose recruiting map has expanded to include Colorado, Arizona, Texas and California. "I think he is a little symbolic of that. He is one of the guys from Colorado that's going to start to step forward.. . . It's not a hotbed, but it's headed in the right direction."

Like Bachman, who grew up idolizing Colorado Avalanche goaltender Patrick Roy, many of Colorado's current college hockey players got serious about the sport when the franchise arrived in 1995.

It's a phenomenon coach George Gwozdecky, who took over at DU in 1994, has observed firsthand.

"When we first arrived in 1994, hockey wasn't competitive enough at the youth hockey levels to be serious about looking at individuals to add to our roster," he said. "But in 1995, the arrival of the Avalanche started an explosion of interest in hockey. . . . There are many, many more indoor rinks and outdoor roller hockey rinks and many more kids playing the game. Ourselves, CC and, in some regards, Air Force are direct beneficiaries of that interest."

Denver defenseman Chris Nutini, as does teammate J.P. Testwuide, remembers facing off against youth teams from the upper Midwest and Northeast, who scoffed at the idea of Colorado hockey.

"There's always the Minnesota guys," said Testwuide, a Vail native whose brother, Mike, plays for CC. "They've had hockey for a long time. Colorado's just now getting into the swing of things."

Nutini believes the Frozen Four could motivate area kids to pick up the sport.

"Seeing the Frozen Four is going to open a lot of kids' eyes to college because they're going to see what college hockey is all about - they'll have the best of the best here in Denver," he said.