Saturday night, nearly three years after the University of Denver lost the original Gold Pan, a new traveling trophy that signifies the state’s NCAA hockey bragging rights will be unveiled at the World Arena in Colorado Springs.
At the conclusion of DU’s two-game, home-and-home series against Colorado College, the new Gold Pan’s manufacturer, Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mining Co., will deliver the trophy to the winning team.
The 20-pound bronze sculpture is significantly different from the original Gold Pan, simply an authentic silver mining utensil. The new trophy is supported by three hockey sticks and a puck, with inscriptions on the face of the pan that read “DU” and “CC” in school fonts and “Rivalry since 1949.”
CC coach Scott Owens oversaw the project. He was a CC assistant coach under Don Lucia when Lucia and former DU coach Frank Serratore unveiled the first Gold Pan in 1993.
“It’s a big deal,” Owens said.
No one has to convince DU seniors Adrian Veideman, Mike Handza and Glenn Fisher. The Pioneers took control of the Gold Pan in 2004 and have owned its rights since. But the senior class had only a brief time with the trophy as freshmen because it went missing after DU won the 2004 NCAA title.
“The senior class, especially, really wants it,” Handza said. “The freshmen don’t really know what it means until we either lose it or get it back.”
DU needs to win both games to control the new trophy. CC needs only to tie one of the games, because the Tigers swept the Pioneers – 5-1 and 3-2 – on Dec. 1-2. The Gold Pan goes to the winner of the four-game, regular-season series, but it must be won outright.
“Players on this team haven’t had success with the Gold Pan, and once you get it, it’s hard to get it away,” Owens said.
Fisher can’t imagine losing it as a senior.
“It’s a big deal, and there is a lot of other stuff riding on this weekend,” he said. “We win two games and we get the trophy and third place in our league.”
DU cannot finish worse than fifth in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association and is in good shape to qualify for the NCAA Tournament and begin at the West Regional at the Pepsi Center. CC could finish anywhere from third to seventh in the WCHA and is on the bubble to make the 16-team national field.
Both teams have struggled lately. DU is 1-3-1 in its past five games and has not swept a WCHA opponent in six consecutive weeks. CC is on a four-game losing streak and winless in its past six games.
“Everyone is upset with the splits we’ve been having, and the one point we got in Michigan Tech,” Fisher said. “It’s not good enough. We want a sweep.”
Owens says the Tigers’ struggles are “our inability to score at key times and offensive in general.”
Mike Chambers can be reached at 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com.
Rivals seek Gold Pan II
Word association time. We say: Best traveling trophy in college.
You say: Little Brown Jug or Paul Bunyan Axe or Apple Cup or Sweet Sioux Tomahawk or Bronze Boot or War Canoe or even one of the many Victory Bells. But who’s jumping in with the Gold Pan?
The rivalry between the Colorado College and Denver hockey teams grows this weekend, and on the line is a new, retooled Gold Pan, which, by the way, is actually bronze.
When the original mining pan, which was a mere 11 years old, went missing after DU’s 2004 national championship season, CC coach Scott Owens spearheaded a campaign to get a new one into circulation. The history of the pan isn’t nearly as great as the 262-game series between the Front Range rivals, but hoisting the new one, which includes three hockey sticks and a puck, could get interesting.
Colorado College vs. Denver
What: WCHA two-game series
When: 7:35 p.m. today, Magness Arena; 8 p.m. Saturday, Colorado Springs World Arena
Records: CC (16-15-3, 12-12-2 WCHA), No. 6 DU (21-12-3, 13-10-3 WCHA)
TV/radio: FSN (tonight), ESPNU (Saturday); KEPN 1600 AM (tonight), KKFN 950 AM (Saturday)
Notes: DU junior center Geoff Paukovich needed stitches Wednesday to close a gash on his wrist. He was slashed by a teammate during practice. Paukovich will play. … CC senior goalie Matt Zaba is scheduled to start both games. DU likely will go with senior Glenn Fisher tonight and junior Peter Mannino in Game 2. … DU senior wing Mike Handza said his classmates are taking heat from the coaching staff for the Pioneers’ failure to lead the talented young team past inconsistency. CC coach Scott Owens, whose team mirrors DU in many ways, isn’t ready to pin their six-game winless streak on his seniors. “It’s more simplistic than that. It’s youth,” he said. “Both teams, with exception in goal, are youthful. You’re going to get inconsistency.” … Nate Dewhurst, one of the few 16-year-olds playing in the United States Hockey League, committed to Denver this week for the 2008 class. The Iowa native, who plays for the Des Moines Buccaneers, also considered CC and Miami (Ohio).
MIKE CHAMBERS
