Either local hockey fans are completely fickle or they’re concentrating on how to fix the Avalanche’s goalie problems. Or maybe they forgot that a hockey season is a marathon, not a sprint. How else to explain why the University of Denver hockey team – the two-time defending NCAA champion, mind you – moved to the back burner after a slow start to its season.
The Pioneers, who were ranked No. 1 in the nation to begin the season, dropped out of the rankings after a tough November in which they went winless in five games against Minnesota, Minnesota State and Boston University.
But the Pioneers have stormed back since 2006 arrived, with sweeps of Wisconsin (currently ranked No. 2), Alaska-Anchorage and Minnesota State.
Now back up to No. 7 nationally and atop the Western Collegiate Hockey Association standings with 32 points, DU travels to WCHA second-place and No. 1-ranked Minnesota for a crucial weekend series. The Gophers trail DU in the WCHA by one point.
“Both teams are in contention for the top spot in the league,” DU coach George Gwozdecky said, “but both teams are in different positions. The Gophers are a lock for the NCAA Tournament, and we’re not. The shoes are on different feet, so to speak.”
Gwozdecky should have reason for hope. Some background:
* DU has won eight consecutive road games, one shy of the program record.
* DU is on a seven-game win streak and is 6-0 in its past six games on Olympic-size ice sheets, which Minnesota’s Mariucci Arena has.
* DU could clinch home ice for the first round of the WCHA playoffs with a series sweep.
* DU is 14th in the PairWise Ranking, which mimics the method used by the NCAA Tournament selection committee to choose its 16-team field. The Gophers are No. 2, behind Wisconsin.
Watch the Pioneers take on Minnesota tonight and Saturday night at 6 p.m. on FSN.
WEAK IN REVIEW
The Portland Trail Blazers can’t seem to shake their “Jail Blazers” image. The Blazers fined 20-year-old guard Sebastian Telfair on Wednesday for boarding a plane in Boston with a loaded gun. Telfair claimed he grabbed the wrong bag at the start of the Blazers’ road trip, and said the gun found in a pillowcase belonged to his girlfriend. So the Massachusetts Port Authority said no charges would be filed. Telfair, though, is lucky he was on the Blazers’ private jet. If he had messed with a commercial airline, Telfair might have been sent to Guantanamo Bay and nobody would have heard from him again.
AROUND TOWN
With area Division I women’s basketball teams having down years – Wyoming is the highest-ranked Front Range team with an RPI of 63 – area Division II teams are picking up the slack. A season-defining Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference game, matching the Nos. 1 and 2 teams in their division, will be played tonight when Regis (22-4, 14-1) hosts Fort Hays State (19-4, 13-2). Regis is the highest-scoring team in the RMAC this season, averaging 75.5 points. Fort Hays State is the league’s best on defense, allowing just 54.3 points per game. Catch the game at the Regis Fieldhouse at 7:30 p.m.
In men’s basketball, No. 1-ranked Fort Hays State (22-1, 13-0) plays Saturday night at Metro State (16-7, 10-5) in a game televised by Altitude.
WHAT WE’D LIKE TO SEE
NBC show a little restraint in its prime-time coverage of figure skating. We realize figure skating is the marquee sport of the Winter Olympics and drama is sure to surface (see: Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding, inept judges, etc.). But please, we beg of you, remember that a few sequins go a long way.
THE COUCH
ON: The U.S. men’s soccer team, still largely dismissed on the national stage, on Wednesday moved higher among the world’s elite teams. The U.S. matched its highest world ranking when FIFA tabbed the team sixth, behind Brazil, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Argentina and France. The U.S. is tied with Mexico and Spain. This no longer is a “developing program” and even the most casual of American fans should now expect the U.S. to do well this summer in the World Cup tournament in Germany. Find out why soccer’s international governing body is so high on the U.S. team when the Americans, led by captain Landon Donovan, host Guatemala on Sunday at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas. The game is live on ESPN2 and Telemundo at noon.
OFF: In 1889, Butch Cassidy first made a name for himself when he robbed $20,000 from the San Miguel Valley Bank in Telluride. The law chased Cassidy out of Telluride to Wyoming. In commemoration, the Telluride Nordic Association will host its annual Butch Cassidy Chase – 15K freestyle, 5K novice and 3K kids cross country ski races – at 9 a.m. Saturday. The private Faraway Ranch, 15 miles from Telluride and usually off-limits to skiers, is the site of the event and will open its gates for participants to enjoy mostly untouched trails. Find more information at www.telluridetrails.org.
