Max Myers went all the way to New York for collarbone surgery when three Denver-area doctors said it was too risky. Injuries, a huge financial commitment and scarce recognition never could keep him off the ice.
A.J. Hau was living the teenage hockey dream. He played junior league in Alaska, then at a small college school in Minnesota. When he learned his mother, Sandra, a pioneering youth hockey organizer, was battling terminal cancer, Hau rushed back home to Fort Collins.
Tonight, Myers and Hau collide at the Pepsi Center at 7 p.m. for Colorado-Colorado State: The Club Hockey Rivalry.
“The CSU games are some of the funnest hockey games of my career,” said Myers, a Buffs forward. “They are the most intense games of the year. Every time is hard, fast-paced hockey. There are usually more injuries, more penalties and more after-the-whistle shoving.”
Hau, a CSU wing, said: “The hockey world (in Colorado) is a small world, so everyone grew up playing with and against everyone else. It’s even bigger for us (to play at the Pepsi Center) than for football to play at Invesco. (The football teams) already have phenomenal facilities.”
The game is the top fundraiser for the American Collegiate Hockey Association Division II West rivals. CSU (8-3) is in third place. CU (6-2) is ninth in the 35-school division.
Each team gets a cut of every $20 ticket, which includes a choice of Nov. 11 or March 6 upper-level seats to an Avalanche game.The rivals play four times a season, with one neutral-site fundraiser. Last year’s benefit at the Budweiser Center in Loveland drew 4,200.
CU players pay about $1,800 a season in dues. CSU skaters contribute $2,500 each because the team rents off-campus ice time. Additionally, players spend hundreds on sticks, skates and pads.
“We had 80 guys try out and could only keep 26,” said CSU coach Kelly Newton, who commutes four times a week between Fort Collins and his home in Monument. He said the dedication is in his Canadian blood.
All parties involved place the rivalry as the club version of the Avs and Red Wings, or the University of Denver and Colorado College. Fundraisers and sponsorships help defray the cost of the games.
“It’s a love, at this point,” Hau said. “It’s coming out of our pockets because we love the sport.”
Myers broke the part of his collarbone closest to his throat in a game before his junior year at Niwot High School.
“It ended the dream of making the NHL that most hockey players have. I’m still having fun,” Myers said. “It’s the passion for the sport. The thought of leaving hockey is a sad thing, and I’m not looking forward to hanging up the skates.”
He hopes to parlay his selection to an ACHA all-star touring team into a European pro contract.
Hau is almost ready to move on, having had the 2 4/7 thrill of playing junior league hockey. Then before his third year in Alaska, he had an epiphany. Never a serious student at Fort Collins High School, he decided it was time to go to college. He didn’t hesitate to come home from Minneapolis a year ago. Sandy Hau passed away July 4, and the Rams dedicated their season to her.
Her spirit will be at the Pepsi Center tonight.
“Every night, I begged my parents to let me stay up and finish listening to the Avs game,” Hau said.
Natalie Meisler: 303-954-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com
