Falcon Faux-pas

Being an advertising person I tend to analyze design material a little more than most and I love to catch bad typos in copy (and no I'm not immune to gaffes!). For example; the recent Images Magazine says that Old Colorado City is located just west of Colorado Springs. To the casual reader that's a "yup". To most locals it's an "ummm, OCC is PART of Colorado Springs". Small, but WRONG.

Why is that remotely interesting? The Air Force Falcons football/hockey schedule was stuck in the Gayzette today and I noticed a fun little error that seems insignificant but is thoroughly embarrassing to whomever designed it. While looking at the date CC plays at the Academy (I was planning on going but it's the day after Thanksgiving and I'll be happily sitting in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln yelling profanities at the visiting team from Boulder) and I noticed the asterisks at the bottom on the hockey side
" *Mountain West Conference Game ". Catch it? AFA plays hockey in the AHA, other sports are Mountain West, as the opposite football page indicates. Obviously the designers (who should know everything about their client) missed an elementary part of their besig and probably used the same template.
AND something I just noticed as I was posting this; the Mountain West 10 year anniversary logo is placed in the photo, whoops!!
Considering there is no such thing as the Mountain West in college hockey and how much the agency gets paid this is pretty embarrasing.

CC-AFA Regional Battle Likely?

Milo Bryant takes a look at the possibilities of the Tigers playing the Falcons at the World Arena and some of the fears that Coach Owens has playing them. I would have to agree, I don't want the Tigers to play AFA simply because I think they have the best chance of knocking us out of the tournament.

CC vs. AFA in hockey tourney would be great for almost everyone
By MILO BRYANT

The West Regional in the NCAA hockey tournament begins at the World Arena in nine days.

The arena is home to the Colorado College Tigers, and they will be playing in the arena. The 16-team field will be announced Sunday, including the three other teams playing at World Arena.

CC could be quite familiar with one, possibly two, of those teams.

As soon as the Air Force Falcons won the Atlantic Hockey Association Tournament title - in double overtime, Tigers coach Scott Owens, listening on the radio said, "I think Air Force could be here."

For a few reasons, the Falcons are one of the last teams the Tigers would want to see.

"I have mixed feelings," Owens said, smiling. "This is supposed to be our backyard. Nobody else's backyard. ... It would be great for Colorado Springs. It would be great for the Front Range. It would be great theater.

"I'm not so sure it would be great for the head coach."

Laughter ensued.

Owens does his share of worrying - even though he has one of the country's best teams, even though the Falcons have yet to beat the Tigers under Owens' watch.

"One of the reasons is they come in as one of the hottest teams in the country. I think they're 8-0-1," Owens said. "So you're dealing with that. They've found a way to skin the cat, so to speak, or found another way to get it done without Eric Ehn. So, that's a concern.

"They beat Denver. It's been 2-1 with us the last two times we've played. And they're a good team. And they've got a little postseason swagger to them. Then watch Ehn sneak out at the last second to play."

More laughter.

There's a lot of truth said in jest. An Air Force-CC matchup would not only be a good matchup for the Springs. But it would be a good game, too. The Falcons do not fear the Tigers. The Tigers have a lot of respect for the Falcons.

The Tigers have had the better team, but the gap between the two has narrowed considerably. And it's not just because of the drubbing the Falcons gave the University of Denver. One tournament appearance, which the Falcons made last year, might be fluky, two - uhh, uhh.

Remember, the Falcons finished 3-2-1 against ranked teams this season. Few schools can boast a nonconference schedule as good as Air Force's. Fewer can boast a winning record against that schedule.

Then there's the Ehn factor. Falcons coach Frank Serratore said there is a 50/50 chance that Ehn could play the tournament's opening round.

"Oh, what an emotional scene it would be to see Ehn skate back on the same ice that he was carried off on a stretcher," Serratore said. "To have it all come around, I think that would be very special and emotional for everybody in that building."

Owens' emotions would be mixed - again. Still, it's all a long shot that any of it will happen.

If the Tigers are seeded No.4 overall, Air Force will surely be sent elsewhere for the sake of bracket integrity. It would be unusual for the No. 1 seed to play any team but the No. 15 or No. 16 seed.

If CC is beaten Friday and/or Saturday in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs and other top teams win this week, the Tigers could be seeded fifth through eighth overall, and therefore seeded second at the West Regional. In that hypothetical situation, a team such as Michigan could come to the Springs as the top seed.

If that happened, Air Force could be in the region as the fourth-seeded team.

Were that to happen, don't think that Owens would fail to see a bit of poetic justice playing out. In the 2003 NCAA Tournament, the Tigers were the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Regional. Michigan was the No. 3 seed, but at home in Yost Ice Arena, where it knocked off second-seeded Maine and then the Tigers.

Maybe crazier than that would be to see the three Front Range teams playing in the West Regional. Serratore, a former tournament committee member, sees it happening only if CC is the No. 1 overall seed and DU is the No. 8 overall seed.

"It would be wild," Owens said. "It would be absolutely wild if we played Air Force in the first game and Denver played Michigan State in the other game, all here. It would be unbelievable.

"It would be stressful as hell."

Nope, it would be great.

Contact Bryant at 636-0252 or milo.bryant@gazette.com. See his blog at milobryant.blogspot.com or catch him on KOAA's Comcast Channel 9 most Wednesdays at 4 p.m.

New Rankings

Even though we are now fully into the post-season, the rankings are still out there and the Tigers are on the move again. CC is now numero uno in the INCH power rankings, up to second in both the national polls (below) and has dropped to #4 in the latest power rankings, probably due to the results of the teams that jumped over them. No worries though, the actual selection will be different and the letters WCHA will have a big effect on the Tigers final landing spot.
Another interesting development is Air Force winning the AHA tournament and clinching their spot in the NCAA Tournament. This means that both Colorado Springs teams, and all three Colorado teams will make the NCAA Tournament-a pretty awesome feat. It is also possible that the Falcons could open up at the World Arena, although having two teams playing in their home city might not sit well with the powers that be. Although, if you put all three teams in different regionals, there is the possibility of them all making the Frozen Four...in Denver. How crazy would that be?!

USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll
March 17, 2008

No.	Team (First-place votes)	Points	Last Poll
1.	Michigan (28)	500	1
2.	Colorado College (4)	466	3
3.	Miami (2)	420	5
4.	New Hampshire	418	4
5.	North Dakota	404	2
6.	Denver	331	8
7.	Boston College	285	9
8.	St. Cloud State	262	10
9.	Michigan State	244	6
10.	Clarkson	196	7
11.	Notre Dame	173	12
12.	Minnesota	107	15
13.	Boston University	93	13
14.	Minnesota State	90	11
15.	Princeton	33	NR

Also receiving votes: Harvard 23, Wisconsin 20, Ferris State 4, Air Force 4, Niagara 4, Northern Michigan 2, Vermont 1.

USCHO.com/CSTV Poll

March 17, 2008

No.	Team (First-place votes)	Points	Last Poll
1.	Michigan (41)	989	1
2.	Colorado College (5)	922	3
3.	Miami (1)	869	4
4.	North Dakota (3)	866	2
5.	New Hampshire	837	5
6.	Denver	740	8
7.	St. Cloud State	653	9
8.	Boston College	649	T10
9.	Michigan State	600	6
10.	Clarkson	529	7
11.	Notre Dame	483	12
12.	Minnesota	408	15
13.	Boston University	376	14
14.	Minnesota State	363	T10
15.	Princeton	287	16
16.	Harvard	261	17
17.	Wisconsin	176	13
18.	Vermont	170	19
19.	Niagara	94	NR
20.	Cornell	53	NR

Also receiving votes: Minnesota Duluth 42, Air Force 35, Northern Michigan 34, Ferris State 30, Michigan Tech 12, Colgate 10, Masachusetts 6, Bemidji State 3, Quinnipiac 2, Army 1.

Details about the injured Falcon

College Hockey News Staff Report

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Air Force forward Eric Ehn, a finalist for last year's Hobey Baker Award, broke his left fibula Saturday when he collided feet first into the boards in the loss to Colorado College.

Ehn is expected to undergo further evaluation this week to determine the extent of the ligament damage, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette.

The fibula is the smaller of the two bones connecting the knee to the ankle. Nonetheless, Ehn is likely out for the remainder of the regular season.

Ehn is the Falcons' leading scorer, and had an assist in Friday's 5-2 upset win over Denver. For the season, Ehn has six goals and 25 points. Last season, in 40 games, Ehn collected 24 goals and 64 points in leading Air Force to its first-ever NCAA tournament appearance after winning the Atlantic Hockey tournament.

Tigers Dominate for 45 minutes, survive frantic finish to win 2-1

CC came out flying full speed tonight, determined to get the early momentum and take Air Force off their high from last night's stomping of DU. CC looked faster and more skilled through the first 2 periods, swarming pucks and peppering AFA goalie Andrew Volkening and his white helmet with quality shots. Anytime there was a loose puck, two bright yellow streaks were right behind it.
The Tigers got a first period goal from Bill Sweatt and led in shots 16-4. Second period was more of the same, Air Force playing well but CC was a step ahead. The Tigers registered only five shots to AFA's 8 in an up and down battle. The Tigers notched their second goal when former Lincoln Star Steve Shultz smacked a loose puck into the back of the net. The third period was a battle from the start but the Tigers held the advantage until Falcon star player Eric Ehn was taken down by Sweatt and slammed into the board hard. We were sitting on the opposite end of the arena and you could just feel the crunch. His left left was crunched awkwardly and after about 10 minutes of being examined and stabilized by trainers, was taken off the ice on a stretcher. More on that when I find out, hopefully nothing too seriously. When play resumed, the World Arena crowd was so silent you could hear the coaches yelling from the benches, eerie. The Falcons finally got something going as you could see the Tigers begin to let up. AFA got their first and only goal by Scott Kozlak at 8:22. The two teams battled back and forth with the Falcons now a step faster. With 37 seconds on the clock (after another loooong delay in which the timekeeper forgot to start that clock on the play before) the Falcons swarmed the net, only to be denied by the nation's #1 goaltender Richard Bachman. The Tigers survived and kept the streak alive against the northside rivals with their 25th consecutive win and a record of 29-0 with one tie over the past 23 years.

Notes from the stands:
The officials made 2 painfully obvious errors in game management tonight. The first came with CC in the offensive zone and Steve Shultz passes the puck to the center of the zone, where not Tiger resided, and the puck flew down to the other side of the ice. The Tigers went to retrieve it but it was blown for icing. Last time I checked, you can't ice it in your own zone so, unless they made another call that we didn't hear, the blew it (in the Tigers favor).

With under 1 minute to play, the Tigers took a shot at the empty net. The puck was deflected by a Falcon defender's stick at the blue line(almost into the net) and it hit the wall and was blown dead for icing. Problem was, it was touched at the blue line by a Falcon, which should have just kept the play going.

The last error tails on the previous one. After the poor icing call, the clock was reset to 50 seconds remaining...the exact amount of time that was there on the previous face-off. So we sat through a long delay and the ref vanished into the replay booth and came out to report 37 seconds remaining. Usually fans argue that home ice advantage will tick a few clocks off. In this case, the Falcons almost gained back 20 seconds. The ensuing flurry proved that extra time could have been costly.

Fun note: there were two U18 teams sitting our section tonight. The Chicago Fury was all around us and was mostly CC or neutral fans. At least until Air Force scored and the kid right behind me decided to go 5-year-old and started yelling "CC sux! Colorado sux!" for about 5 minutes. As the final minutes wore on, any chant from the students to my left was followed by a yell in my ear. "Let's go Tigers!" "Tigers suck!". The kid was just looking for a fight and the kid sitting next to kept warning him "dude you need to watch yourself" and looked at me. I really didn't feel like spending the cold night in jail for smashing a little kid's nose in so I kept my eyes on the ice, wondering if the kid behind me wasn't hugged enough as a child.

Tiger Better be Ready Saturday Night, AFA is no Joke

Falcons Stun Pioneers
Fairchild's Hat Trick Sparks Air Force
by Candace Horgan/Contributing Editor USCHO

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Jan. 18) — Before a crowd of 2,657 at the Cadet Ice Arena, the Air Force Falcons took a huge step forward, stunning the No. 4 Denver Pioneers 5-2. Matt Fairchild got his first career hat trick and Andrew Volkening made 29 saves, including shutting down the Pioneers on a two-minute five-on-three, to seal the win.

“I expected us to get one of these; as I told the boys, ‘There’s one off the bucket list for me,’” laughed Falcons’ coach Frank Serratore afterwards. “We haven’t been afraid of these teams for a long time.”

Air Force got the better of the play in the first period. Denver looked tentative with the puck, as if they thought perhaps that all they had to do was show up and they would win. Instead, the Falcons’ forecheck tied the Pioneers up in their own end frequently. and the Pioneers gave up several two-on-one opportunities that tested Mannino early.

“The team’s been pumped up all week to play these guys,” said Fairchild. “Everybody was energized for the game.”


The Falcons top line of Josh Frider, Eric Ehn and Derrick Burnett buzzed all over the offensive end of the ice, getting numerous scoring chances. They finally capitalized on a two-on-one at 8:03 when Ehn carried the puck down the left side of the slot and passed it over to Burnett, who fired a perfect shot top corner past Mannino’s glove.

“Getting that lead was huge,” said Serratore. “These teams are tough to beat, and they’re even tougher to beat when you have to come from behind.”

The Falcons continued to generate numerous chances. Fairchild had a good shot from the slot that Mannino just got his right pad on, and Fairchild hit the near side post on a shot from the right side circle on a power play.

With under two minutes in the period, Michael Mayra was whistled for interference and the Pioneers looked to have a good chance to score. They moved the puck around the perimeter well and had some good shots, but Falcons’ goalie Andrew Volkening stood tall.

With time ticking down, the Falcons cleared the puck into the Pioneers’ zone, and Fairchild went in on the forecheck. Rhett Rakhshani emerged from the left side boards with the puck, took a few strides, and tried to poke the puck one-handed to Jesse Martin. Fairchild intercepted the puck and skated in alone on Mannino and shot. Mannino made a save with his left pad, but the puck lay just to the right of his pad, and Fairchild grabbed the rebound and slid it behind Mannino at the 19:55 mark of the period, sending electricity racing through the crowd.

“Well, Brent Olson went in; he was doing all the hard work,” said Fairchild. “He knocked it loose, so it was right in the middle. I just swatted at it and got the breakaway. Anytime you score a big goal, especially shorthanded, it’s a big confidence booster.”

If anybody thought that perhaps the late goal would wake the Pioneers up, they were mistaken. The Falcons continued to dominate all aspects of the game. The Pioneers looked slow, and the Falcons continued to out-hustle them to loose pucks, whether in their defensive zone to clear it or in the offensive zone to get more chances on Mannino.

The Pioneers started to press and get some chances, the Falcons counterattacked well, and at 11:03 made it 3-0 when Josh Schaffer, Josh Print and Mike Phillipich broke in three-on-two. Schaffer ended up pouncing on a rebound in the slot, lifting it past Mannino.

Fairchild continued to be a strong presence on the ice, and at 15:09 Brent Olson grabbed the puck in the left corner and fed it to Fairchild right on the doorstep. Fairchild quickly lifted it top corner stick side to make it 4-0.

“You’ve never prepared to have a 4-0 lead over the number four team in the country,” said Serratore. “All of a sudden, the players, subconsciously, start playing defensively, start playing to protect the lead, and only bad things can happen when you do that.”

Pioneers coach George Gwozdecky pulled Mannino at that point and replaced him with Marc Cheverie. It was the second game in a row that Mannino was pulled.

The Pioneers finally got a hard-working goal late in the period. Kyle Ostrow picked up the puck behind the net, fought off a man and threw it out front to Patrick Mullen. Mullen tried to shoot it, but the back ended up getting knocked back to Tom May,and wristed it past Volkening at 19:07.

“I went into the locker room after the second period when Denver had just scored and they were all talking about the things they needed to do in the defensive zone,” said Serratore. “I said ‘Guys, screw that, we know what to do in the defensive zone, but I got a better idea; let’s play in the offensive zone and we won’t have to worry about it.’”

Unlike the Falcons, the Pioneers were unable to carry any momentum from their late goal over to build on in the third period. However, at 7:37 of the period, the Pioneers had a golden chance when they were awarded a two minute five-on-three when Brett Nylander was called for tripping and Scott Kozlak was called for hooking.

“That was just something I knew we needed to get through without them getting on the board,” said Volkening.

The Falcons knuckled down however, content to let the Pioneers move the puck around the perimeter, wasting time instead of firing shots on Volkening.

“You have to just stay calm,” said Fairchild. “You got into that situation, and you just have to kill it off.”

Gwozdecky pulled Cheverie with a little over five minutes left, trying desperately to spark his squad. The Pioneers got several shots on, but at 15:08, Fairchild got the puck along the left side boards and fired a sharply-angled shot into the empty net.

“I’m very surprised, shocked, disappointed,” said Gwozdecky. “Something’s not right with our team. Something’s right because the effort for a number of guys isn’t there. I can handle losing, but it’s unacceptable when you have too many guys not competing at the level they need to compete at. Something has happened over the last couple of weeks that has us in a rut.”

The win was the first for Air Force against the Pioneers in 19 years, and the highest-ranked opponent they’ve beaten since they beat Colorado College in 1975, a team the Falcons will play Saturday night. It was also Serratore’s first win against a WCHA opponent since he took over as the Falcons’ coach.

“I could be politically correct and say it didn’t matter, but I would be lying through my teeth and I’m not a very good liar,” said Serratore, of getting the win over his former team. “--

Tigers survive

The Tigers gave up 3 straight goals to Bemidji in the second period and rallied for 3 of their own in the third to put away the Beavers 5-4 on a snowy night at World Arena. Drew O'Connell got a rare start and was pelted with 32 shots, stopping 28 of them. The offense continued it's scoring frenzy putting up at least 5 goals once again for the third game in a row at home. Box Score here

The Tigers continue their non-conference weekend against Northside rival Air Force tomorrow night. It's looking to be a sell out, which is sweet (only the second time this season) except that I don't have my tickets yet!

Can the Falcons actually beat the Tigers?

The Falcons haven't beat CC since 1985, a span of 29 games. The last time I personally attended one of these cross-city rivalries, the Tigers scored 5 PP goals on a major penalty en route to an 11-1 win. Granted AF is much better this season and took Minnesota down to the end in the NCAA tournament last season BUT CC is one of the top 3 teams in the country and on a scoring frenzy since the break. Regardless, David Ramsey lays down the facts that could get the Falcons over the hump. Personally, I hope it's total domination by the Tigers :) Prediction: CC 6, AFA 2

AFA aims to make rivalry less lopsided
By DAVID RAMSEY The Gazette Sports columnist

The Colorado College-Air Force hockey series is a rivalry along the lines of Batman vs. Joker. Sure, there’s a dose of drama here and there, along with snatches of entertaining violence, but in the end everyone knows who will win.

Air Force has failed to defeat CC in 29 straight games, dating to 1985. The Tigers have outscored the Falcons 164-49 during this excruciating streak, which calculates to an average score of 5.65 to 1.68.

CC leads the overall series 55-6-2.

All this misery only aids the current Falcons, who have the motivation and, just maybe, the talent to end 23 humiliating years when the teams meet Saturday night at World Arena.

If Air Force coach Frank Serratore fails to send a seething team on the ice, he should consider a new profession. This is one easy pregame speech.

“To be honest with you,” Serratore said, “what do you have to lose? But, my oh my, if you knock them off, you’ve accomplished something.”

You can bet Serratore is dangling the chance for revenge and redemption, always a nice combination, to his players.

Yet in public, Serratore preaches only love for his crosstown opponent. He talks about his close friendship with CC coach Scott Owens, and he speaks the truth. The men are buddies, and so are their wives.

As Serratore prepared for last season’s Atlantic Hockey Association Tournament final and the chance for a trip to the NCAA Tournament, his cell phone rang.

It was Owens, whom Serratore calls “Scotty,” wishing the Falcons the best of luck.

This helps explain Serratore’s fervor as he talks about his great respect for the Tigers’ program, for their fine, upstanding players and wonderfully enthusiastic fans.

“People don’t want to hear this, but we have a good relationship,” Serratore said. “. . . I don’t hate Colorado College.”

The Falcons will face a CC team on a serious tear. The Tigers have won four straight, outscoring opponents, 16-4. CC is ranked No. 3 in the nation and might have the players to climb even higher.

And yet . . .

The Falcons have a chance. They tested the Tigers a year ago before surrendering a 2-1 loss at Cadet Ice Arena. They traveled to last season’s NCAA Tournament and nearly upset Minnesota. The Tigers, remember, stayed home from last season’s tourney.

The Falcons also boast forward Eric Ehn, who might be the best player on the ice Saturday night. Ehn was one of three finalists for last season’s Hobey Baker Award, given to college hockey’s best men’s player.

Ehn knows all about CC’s hockey blessings. The Tigers play in spacious World Arena, which will be dominated by CC fans Saturday. The Tigers’ stars were recruited by all the glamourous programs.

But Ehn sees one advantage, a major one, for his Falcons.

He believes CC players will attend classes in a relaxed atmosphere this week. CC students will not be ignited by the prospect of playing the Falcons, who have failed to defeat the Tigers since Ronald Reagan resided in the White House.

“You know,” Ehn said, “it’s kind of like why would the campus get excited to play us when they haven’t lost to us.”

Ehn is wise enough to realize this series is not yet a rivalry.

But it is a tantalizing opportunity for The Other Team in Town.

Could Colorado teams dominate the Tourney?!

Mike Chambers of the DenverPost wrote an awesome article about the 3 thriving Colorado teams this season and the possibilities that lay ahead. Can you imagine having the 3 major hockey programs in Colorado all playing at the World Arena and/or Pepsi Center this post season?!!
Here is the full story:

Nation's best feel Front Range power

DU, Tigers and Falcons could forge a Colorado connection in the NCAA postseason fields

By Mike Chambers The Denver Post

Article Last Updated: 12/24/2007 11:52:26 PM MST

The NCAA Tournament West Regional will return to Colorado Springs in March, and two weeks later Denver (Pepsi Center) will host the Frozen Four for the first time since 1976.

So naturally, this season began as a big one for Front Range college hockey.

At the midway point, however, it has grown bigger — given that all three of Colorado's Division I teams appear to be NCAA Tournament contenders.

Air Force, the University of Denver and Colorado College are a combined 34-13-3 and each sits atop its league standings. Never before have the Falcons, Pioneers and Tigers made the NCAA Tournament field in the same year. But this could be that year.

Air Force (9-4-3), the defending Atlantic Hockey Association tournament champion, leads the AHA with 17 points, and DU (14-4) and CC (11-5) are tied for first in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association with 22 points — nine ahead of third-place Minnesota-Duluth.

The Falcons, because of a weaker schedule, likely would have to win the AHA tournament — same as last season — to get into the 16-team national field.

The Pioneers and Tigers have thrived while playing two of the country's three most difficult schedules, and both likely will be among the top five in the all-important Pairwise Rankings when that poll — which mimics the formula of the NCAA selection committee — makes its annual debut in a few weeks.

Each Front Range team returns from the Christmas break with holiday tournaments this weekend. Air Force goes to Minneapolis, CC to Tampa, Fla., and DU hosts the Denver Cup.

Heading into the season's second half, The Post offers its all-Front Range first team for the first half:

F Brock Trotter, DU, So. — Leads the Pioneers in goals (10), assists (11) points (21) and game-winning goals (three). He has 66 points in 63 career games and will only get better.

F Eric Ehn, AFA, Sr. — Has amassed a modest team-leading 21 points (six goals) despite playing without injured linemate Mike Phillipich for all but four games.

F Chad Rau, CC, Jr. — Has team-highs in goals (10), points (19), game-winning goals (four) and short-handed goals (two). He had a hat trick in a win over DU on Nov. 23.

D Chris Butler, DU, Jr. — He surprisingly hasn't scored a goal this season after producing a combined 17 in his first two seasons, but has otherwise been the best two-way defenseman in the WCHA.

D Nate Prosser, CC, So. — Has two power-play goals and leads the team with a plus-10. He's been the best among the Tigers' four underclassmen on the back line.

G Peter Mannino, DU, Sr. — CC freshman Richard Bachman has slightly better numbers, but Mannino (14-4, 1.80 GAA, 93.2 saves percentage) has a huge edge in experience and size.

Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com

No warmup games next season

The Gazette announced (parts of) the Tiger's schedule today and it's front-loaded with some tough teams. While the D-1 football teams are pounding D-II opponets, the Tigers will be opening against WCHA regular and post-season champ Minnesota, followed by trips to New Hampshire and North Dakota. It looks like we will find out really fast just how good next year's team will be. Some other highlights include a Thanksgiving home-and-home with DU and a Jan. 19th meeting with North side rival Air Force.

ND's Duncan wins Hobey

At least one thing went right for North Dakota and the WCHA. Ryan Duncan walked away with the Hobey Baker award for the best college hockey player in the country. By the way ESPN was talking about BC's team, one would have thought their entire team would have won it! As of Thurday night, it seemed that Notre Dame's goaltender David Brown would have had it because of their steller season, sitting at #1 for the last half of the season. Notre Dame is another team that I can't stand because of their unjustified media attention that seems to follow them everywhere (in football, when was the last time they won a bowl game?!) Air Force's Eric Ehn was also one of the final three. This suprised me because, being a Coloradan, one would think I would know who he was. Nope, never had heard of his Hobey qualities. Just a hunch but maybe the voters suffered from a similar lack of knowledge like me. The National Championship is tonight, pitting evil BC against Michigan State. I'm hoping the Spartans can pull it out because I don't think I could tolerate hearing about BC being national champs all summer long!

Gophers come back to spoil Falcons upset bid

Air Force came out in full force in their first ever NCAA Tournament appearence and almost got away with a win against the Minnesota Gophers at the Pepsi Center Saturday. It looked like it may happen when AF took a 3-1 lead 5 minutes into the 3rd period until the Gophers woke up and scored three goals to finish off the Falcons and avoid a 2nd straight 1st round loss in the NCAA Tournament, nonetheless to another AHA team. This was an interesting game for a fan of CO hockey simply because it pitted a home town team against the WCHA powerhouse from the north. Personally, I would have liked to see AF win since it was their first time ever in the tourney, but I really like to see the WCHA do well, even if Minnesota has dominated almost everyone this year. At least it's not DU right?!

In other conference news, St. Cloud State was eliminated in the first round, falling 4-1 to the Maine Black Bears on Friday night, leaving the WCHA with 2 surviving teams. When I wrote this entry, North Dakota was up on evil Michigan 7-5 early in the 3rd period.

Air Force Rollin' with the big dogs

The Post takes a look at AF taking on the WCHA powerhouses

It's kind of a big deal

Air Force coach Frank Serratore is enjoying his team's historic season.

AF gets a taste of the WCHA

In a little twist of fate, Air Force has won their conference and will be heading to the NCAA Tournament up the road at Pepsi Center. The "crappy" team of the area has beaten out the two powerhouses and gets the pleasure of playing against none other than Minnesota in the first round (a team that won the Broadmoor Trophy and was knocked out in the first round last year.) AF will get a taste of our conference and it will be interesting to see what they are made of. I'm all for the power of the WCHA, but it would be fun to the the team from N. Colorado Springs take out one of the best teams in the country.

World Arena Followup

Last week I wrote a little bit about the old Broadmoor World Arena. This week I found out just a little bit about the current World Arena. Most of us will remember the bumper stickers that were prevalent in the area in the years leading up to construction. They had the artist rendition of the structure and read "Just Build it". Finally all the plans went through and in 1997 the arena was completed. The Tigers played host to the Wisconsin Badgers for the first game. For the actual arena and the ajacent to the Ice Hall, it cost $58.8 million. For the Tigers' home games, the capacity is 7,343 fans. One thing that is somewhat unique for this arena and the Tigers is that the ice sheet is Olympic size. This means the playing surface measures 200x100ft, compare this with the "regular" NHL size ice sheet that measures 200ft long but only 85 feet wide. AFA and DU use the NHL size ice.




Special thanks to this World Arena Page for the pic of the ticket

Monday work

As you can see I've given the site a bit of a cosmetic makeover. I was hoping that the left justified links would help with readibility since my entries are ragged on the right. I went hunting for CC videos on both google video and youtube and didn't find a thing. Even the cstv site didn't have anything CC, their college hockey highlight video had Air Force but no CC, what the heck?! As you know, I'm on a mission to find video of the Tigers so I'm still hunting. I did find a cool video about Marty Sertich from a few years ago hidden in the video highlights from USCHO, but the highlights are all over the place, no real nightly recaps. I did, however, find a fun video of a cheap goal by ND against the Gophers. Granted, it's not CC in the video, but hey, maybe it could happen this weekend!