LOVELAND — Seven years after former Montreal Canadiens center and University of Denver coach Ralph Backstrom had the temerity to round up partners and land a Central Hockey League expansion franchise for Northern Colorado, the Colorado Eagles’ formula still works.
On and off the ice.
The 5,289-seat Budweiser Events Center still seems new, and there still officially hasn’t been an unsold seat for an Eagles game. The sellout streak reached 233 games over the franchise’s six seasons Friday night as Colorado got a power-play goal from Ed McGrane at 8:28 of overtime to beat the Texas Brahmas 5-4 and tie the CHL’s Ray Miron President’s Cup Finals at a game apiece.
The economy has hit bumps, even in the burgeoning Northern Colorado corridor, but tickets remain relatively cheap and the crowd en masse at times seems to be expressing a declaration of independence from the Denver sports scene.
“We’re 48 miles from the Pepsi Center, and within a 30-mile radius of this building we have 600,000 people,” Backstrom, who officially has retired as team president, said as he waited for overtime to begin Friday.
“It’s brought a lot of the communities together. I can tell you right now, we’re pretty sold-out for next year. So things are looking pretty good for next year as well.”
The hockey in the sport’s second-tier, cost-controlled minor league remains entertaining.
The Eagles, who won the league title in 2005 and 2007 and lost in the championship series to the Arizona Sundogs last year, have made judicious use of the four roster slots that can go to “veterans” who have played 280 professional games.
Most notably, right wing Greg Pankewicz, 38, managed to match his age in the goal-scoring column in the 2008-09 regular season. Pankewicz, center Riley Nelson and winger Ryan Tobler all are finishing up their fifth seasons with the Eagles.
“We’ve got a couple of them getting up in age, and we’ll have to see after the season,” Backstrom said.
If Colorado can knock off the Brahmas in the title series — Games 3, 4, and 5 are scheduled for North Richland Hills, Texas, near Fort Worth — it would give the Eagles and their core players three CHL titles in those five seasons.
Terry Frei: 303-954-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com
