Loveland is about to go Cup crazy.
Tonight at the Budweiser Events Center, the Colorado Eagles will try to become the state’s third pro hockey team to win a title in the past 11 seasons.
The Denver Grizzlies won the International Hockey League’s Turner Cup in 1995, and the Avalanche won the NHL’s Stanley Cup in 1996 and 2001. Now the Eagles take on the Laredo (Texas) Bucks in Game 1 of the best-of-seven Central Hockey League Finals for the Ray Miron President’s Cup.
“It’s a very good opportunity for us to showcase the Central Hockey League, (to) show the style of play that is not going to be stifled by a bunch of trapping,” Eagles coach Chris Stewart said. “We feel that this series is going to be the best series of hockey that’s been played at the Budweiser Events Center.”
The Ray Miron Cup would be quite a coup for a team in only its second year of operation. The Eagles will have to beat the defending champions, who rebounded from a slow start to get back to the Finals.
“It’s going to be a tight series, and it’s going to be a lot of fun,” said Eagles forward Greg Pankewicz, this season’s league MVP. “Special teams are going to play a big part in this series, and who wants it the most.”
The Bucks, who play in the Southeast Division, have not played in Colorado. The Eagles played once at Laredo this season, winning 2-0 on Jan. 15. Bucks coach Terry Ruskowski, who played 10 seasons in the NHL, thinks his team is peaking at the perfect time.
“Right at the very end (of the regular season), we sat down and had a heart-to-heart meeting and said we have to make the playoffs and we had a run of 12-0-1 at the end of the season to make (it),” Ruskowski said. “Our team has a lot of character, and I’m proud of what we have accomplished over the last month and a half. We’ve come here with one thing in mind, to win one hockey game. If we win two, all the better.”
The Bucks are led by center Jeff Bes, 31, who posted 71 points (26 goals) in the regular season and has 11 more points (six goals) in 10 playoff games. The Bucks are Bes’ 18th professional team.
“But they have the MVP of the league in Greg Pankewicz, and he is the key to their team,” Bes said. “Trying to shut him down would probably be a good idea.”
Adrian Dater can be reached at 303-820-5454 or adater@denverpost.com.
