Denver Post: Denver has become Hockeytown USA

[razor ray]

Hard to argue right now:

Don’t look now, but Denver has become Hockeytown, USA

Colorado teams, from the youth level to high school to college and the pros, just keep winning.

www.denverpost.com

Also:

Youth Hockey Continues To See Growth In Colorado As Avalanche Head To Stanley Cup Final

Hockey has grown massively in Colorado since before the Avalanche arrived from Quebec City in 1990-91. In the mid 1980s Colorado had 3,854 players, in 2021-22 the number is 15,547.

denver.cbslocal.com

Click to read more...

 

[Bonzai12]

call me a pessimist but I don’t buy it

Denver is very fair weather fandom when it comes to anything other than the Broncos. Most people in this city haven’t even ever been to a DU hockey game. Hell I doubt they even know how to get to the arena.

 

[willy702]

DU got 8th highest average attendance this past season coming off of Covid. Seems like off the title they might get to closer to top 5 this year. It's not like people started showing up more once they were winning during the season, attendance was pretty much as expected with certain rivals getting a bigger crowd.

I attend DU games even though I and my family have never attended the university. Its good quality hockey and atmosphere for a great price in an excellent facility. I don't think such pessimism holds. And the point still remains they won out on a very difficult path to the title so why try to say otherwise that right now this is where the best teams are playing?

Men's Division I Hockey 2023-2024 Attendance | Statistics - College Hockey | USCHO.com

Statistics Mens and Womens College Hockey Scoring, Goals, Assists, Goaltending Leaders, Player Stats, Conferences Stats, Team Stats, Rosters, Statistics

www.uscho.com

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

Definitely nice to see. Building a winner goes a long way.

The Avs were 3rd in attendance% this season. Ahead of all the Canadian teams, except for Toronto.

 

[Bonzai12]

I attend DU games even though I and my family have never attended the university. Its good quality hockey and atmosphere for a great price in an excellent facility. I don't think such pessimism holds. And the point still remains they won out on a very difficult path to the title so why try to say otherwise that right now this is where the best teams are playing?

I think DU games are great. And I've been an Avs fan forever. I just don’t think of Denver as a true Hockeytown. I’m the only one of out of my social circle that really even appreciates hockey at all. It’s football first, and second is hockey when the Avs or Pioneers are playing well. When they’re not playing well, hockey is about 3rd or even 4th on the list of preferred sports in this city (to most people)

 

[katfude]

Labeling your city Hockeytown or your state the State of Hockey is just sad in the first place.

Let the losers wear their loser labels.

 

[willy702]

I think DU games are great. And I've been an Avs fan forever. I just don’t think of Denver as a true Hockeytown. I’m the only one of out of my social circle that really even appreciates hockey at all. It’s football first, and second is hockey when the Avs or Pioneers are playing well. When they’re not playing well, hockey is about 3rd or even 4th on the list of preferred sports in this city (to most people)

Do people really think the Twin Cities are any different? If the Twins or TWolves weren't worthless and the Wild were their usual mediocre selves the State of Hockey would see it 3rd fiddle in their biggest city. Yeah high school hockey is impressive there and they have a handful of great D-I teams contending, but it's still second fiddle to football every year. All I'm saying is the title is for one year and it's fitting. Probably not next year but so what, it's a Post article.

 

[MaKarter]

Hockey and beer go well together. Denver agrees

Edit: (good hockey and good beer)

 

[Hasbro]

I think DU games are great. And I've been an Avs fan forever. I just don’t think of Denver as a true Hockeytown. I’m the only one of out of my social circle that really even appreciates hockey at all. It’s football first, and second is hockey when the Avs or Pioneers are playing well. When they’re not playing well, hockey is about 3rd or even 4th on the list of preferred sports in this city (to most people)

Detroit has it easier being a hockey town when the NFL competition is the Lions.

 

[Colorado Avalanche]

Nice to hear. Hopefully this success makes new generation of hockey players.

 

[The Kingslayer]

lets see when the team isnt good anymore like during the dark days when the only fans that showed up wwere the other teams fans.

 

[S E P H]

The article has more to do with increased numbers and culture of winning than actual popularity. Like it was mentioned above, nobody touches the Broncos. I am pretty sure sports radio has a segment about pre-pre-pre-pre-training camp as we speak. However, that doesn't mean that Colorado doesn't have a hockey culture, I think it is one of the strongest of any western state easily. It is a weird state though because you can honestly do almost anything outdoorsie both during the summer and winter. Fishing, ice climbing, hiking, cycling in Boulder, baseball, swimming, throwball, roller hockey, futball, rafting (scary AF), hunting, sky diving, air balloon riding, horseback riding, tennis, rock climbing, camping, golfing, off-roading, kayaking, skiing, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, etc. There is a lot of competition for not just hockey, but everything else against everything else.

 

[razor ray]

Colorado has 1 NHL, 1 AHL and 3 D1 College hockey teams. I'm not sure if its possible but it would be good to see a USHL team, or two, bridge the gap.

With the popularity of the Avs and the growth of the game....perhaps more opportunities will come along.

 

[katfude]

We had multiple CHL teams too until Kroenke chased em off.

Miss going to the Rocky Mtn Rage games.

 

[willy702]

Maybe we should call it the town that owns all games in between the boards as the Mammoth won a title tonight too.

 

[S E P H]

Colorado has 1 NHL, 1 AHL and 3 D1 College hockey teams. I'm not sure if its possible but it would be good to see a USHL team, or two, bridge the gap.

With the popularity of the Avs and the growth of the game....perhaps more opportunities will come along.

Colorado has had a handful of junior hockey teams, but they have all folded. The last one was Boulder Bison playing from Superior rink in the WSHL, but that went away really quick. The state doesn't really have a huge population and there are many other things to do. It has the Thunderbirds, which is as good of any AAA programme in the Western USA, but I am not sure if a USHL or NAHL team would survive due to the lack of pop. and oversaturation of things to do in the state. USHL/NAHL team should be in areas where it's a mid-size city with no professional team taking away attendance on game day (like Waterloo/Youngstown/Sioux City/Lincoln/Des Moines/Etc.). If there is something that happens I could see more DI teams in the future like from CU or CSU, but even then those aren't coming any time soon.

We had multiple CHL teams too until Kroenke chased em off.

Miss going to the Rocky Mtn Rage games.

I pass their rink a couple of times each year and it is in such a great location on the turnpike. Shame that it stands vacant doing nothing.

 

[willy702]

Colorado has had a handful of junior hockey teams, but they have all folded. The last one was Boulder Bison playing from Superior rink in the WSHL, but that went away really quick. The state doesn't really have a huge population and there are many other things to do. It has the Thunderbirds, which is as good of any AAA programme in the Western USA, but I am not sure if a USHL or NAHL team would survive due to the lack of pop. and oversaturation of things to do in the state. USHL/NAHL team should be in areas where it's a mid-size city with no professional team taking away attendance on game day (like Waterloo/Youngstown/Sioux City/Lincoln/Des Moines/Etc.). If there is something that happens I could see more DI teams in the future like from CU or CSU, but even then those aren't coming any time soon.

I pass their rink a couple of times each year and it is in such a great location on the turnpike. Shame that it stands vacant doing nothing.

Agreed, that arena needs a team. I always thought another good location would be south suburbs, either near I-25 and Arapahoe or down off C-470. Tons of money around, including all the business of DTC, it could easily host an ECHL team, or if it came to it, the Eagles. Plus great spot to get concerts and maybe an Avs/Nuggets training facility if they can't make it work next to Ball Arena. And great to have a G-League team for the Nuggets at last. A no-brainer really.

I think CSU would be an ideal 4th D-I team. Can play in Loveland until they get their own arena around campus. Feels like there is a lot of movement for a western states conference with ASU already going, UNLV almost there, lots of rumblings about Utah or Utah St joining in, plus demand across California as San Jose St and San Diego St are rumored to be be interested, plus surely can get an LA-area school to join in. Boise and Spokane feel like solid potential markets so get Boise St and Gonzaga on board as well. Get some combination of 8 schools there and it would be a solid conference and take advantage of the total lack of higher end junior hockey in the region other than in Washington. The only thing making it difficult is Pac-12 supposedly doesn't want to be part of it because most of their schools have Title IX issues to work through.

 

[S E P H]

Agreed, that arena needs a team. I always thought another good location would be south suburbs, either near I-25 and Arapahoe or down off C-470. Tons of money around, including all the business of DTC, it could easily host an ECHL team, or if it came to it, the Eagles. Plus great spot to get concerts and maybe an Avs/Nuggets training facility if they can't make it work next to Ball Arena. And great to have a G-League team for the Nuggets at last. A no-brainer really.

Like Highlands Ranch and Castle Pines? They have ton of money, but personally I think a lot of that money is tied up in the Thunderbirds and the further you go South, you got the Rampage.

I think CSU would be an ideal 4th D-I team. Can play in Loveland until they get their own arena around campus. Feels like there is a lot of movement for a western states conference with ASU already going, UNLV almost there, lots of rumblings about Utah or Utah St joining in, plus demand across California as San Jose St and San Diego St are rumored to be be interested, plus surely can get an LA-area school to join in. Boise and Spokane feel like solid potential markets so get Boise St and Gonzaga on board as well. Get some combination of 8 schools there and it would be a solid conference and take advantage of the total lack of higher end junior hockey in the region other than in Washington. The only thing making it difficult is Pac-12 supposedly doesn't want to be part of it because most of their schools have Title IX issues to work through.

The biggest issue is that CSU and CU would have to build brand new arenas and I know that CU themselves are pretty dang broke. They had to drop their baseball programme due to funds and Title IX complicates things even more. I can't see them starting a hockey team before bringing the baseball team back because it's so cheap to run something like that than many scholarschips along with a brand new ice rink. Now with that said, I think I could see CU start a team before CSU. CSU is a cow town that doesn't really have much of a hockey culture and would have to compete against the Eagles for fan support. Boulder is in a unique location where there isn't really much of a rival around them.

I am really big into DI expansion and I haven't heard a good source for a lot of those (even if I want many of them to happen). From info I have gathered around both personally and through news outlets, UNLV really wants a team big time, but are looking at the same way that ASU started their team (aka from very rich private doners). I can't see them starting a team out of the funds from the school itself, Rutgers are in the same position. University of Illinois is a school in a state that is a current hockey hotbed, just dropped their pursuit for DI hockey due to a lack of funds for a downtown arena. For Utah, it was neither of those schools wanting a DI programme, it was Utah Valley University which is rumoured to want to go to DI, but you can say that for like 80% of schools out there (they just made their interest public). Navy should have a team within the next five years, but no word as of now. Oakland University was one of the teams surveyed that said hockey is feasible, but no mention since if they will ever join the big ranks.

A big problem is that all these teams want to join a conference because they saw what being an independent secondary school is like for Alaska and Alabama-Huntsville. The problem is a lack of long-term sustainability due to scheduling conflicts, schools like Michigan do not want to go to Alaska or play in Alabama. Utica University which is currently DIII will only join DI if they can join a conference, since they're on an island for DII. Stonehill College committed to DI for next season I believe, but won't have a conference. Long Island University still doesn't have a conference. St. Anselm, like Utica will only join DI if they have a conference. Lindenwood University committed to DI, but seems the rumours aren't exactly good in joining CCHA as the league just approved Augustana University, who's starting a programme in 23-24 if I remember correctly. The other problem is that a lot of the teams I mentioned are still on the east coast and they all want to join Atlantic Hockey. It's getting to the point that the conference might split in two or have two divisions like you see in the SEC for throwball. Hockey East ain't getting secondary programmes and I am not sure what the deal with ECAC is.

Another rumour is that some time down the road there might be the next major shift (biggest one since the creation of Big 10) and the formation of the Summit League from the NCHC. This would move Western Michigan along with Miami Ohio to CCHA and St. Thomas with Augustana University to the new Summit League, which would have the rest of the NCHC teams. If I remember correctly, the old NCHC commissioner is now the new commissioner of Summit and why that could be a real possibility in the future.

 

[Hasbro]

The biggest issue is that CSU and CU would have to build brand new arenas and I know that CU themselves are pretty dang broke. They had to drop their baseball programme due to funds and Title IX complicates things even more.

That was in 1980.

 

[S E P H]

That was in 1980.

And they still don't have one....

 

[littletonhockeycoach]

Hockeytown? That's a laugh....

Yes, the sport has grown but the attention the Avalanche are receiving State wide as a result of being in the Stanley Cup Finals is unique for this area.

This same level of attention.... live, breath, and passionately obsess about the sport, by the majority of the population happens every day in Canada and a few other US locales New England, Michigan and Minnesota.

It's getting better here with the sport now being in a much larger number of Front Range high schools. But hockey is as commonplace a sport in Canada and elsewhere, i.e.; that nearly everyone participates in or has a familiarity with, as baseball and basketball remains here.

I'm pretty sure the comparisons fall flat when one just considers the number of operating ice facilities in these different locals (just add up Toronto's for starters. Then add Vancouvers in.... etc., etc.)

I'm not even going to mention Northern Europe and Russia.

 

[willy702]

Like Highlands Ranch and Castle Pines? They have ton of money, but personally I think a lot of that money is tied up in the Thunderbirds and the further you go South, you got the Rampage.

The biggest issue is that CSU and CU would have to build brand new arenas and I know that CU themselves are pretty dang broke. They had to drop their baseball programme due to funds and Title IX complicates things even more. I can't see them starting a hockey team before bringing the baseball team back because it's so cheap to run something like that than many scholarschips along with a brand new ice rink. Now with that said, I think I could see CU start a team before CSU. CSU is a cow town that doesn't really have much of a hockey culture and would have to compete against the Eagles for fan support. Boulder is in a unique location where there isn't really much of a rival around them.

I am really big into DI expansion and I haven't heard a good source for a lot of those (even if I want many of them to happen). From info I have gathered around both personally and through news outlets, UNLV really wants a team big time, but are looking at the same way that ASU started their team (aka from very rich private doners). I can't see them starting a team out of the funds from the school itself, Rutgers are in the same position. University of Illinois is a school in a state that is a current hockey hotbed, just dropped their pursuit for DI hockey due to a lack of funds for a downtown arena. For Utah, it was neither of those schools wanting a DI programme, it was Utah Valley University which is rumoured to want to go to DI, but you can say that for like 80% of schools out there (they just made their interest public). Navy should have a team within the next five years, but no word as of now. Oakland University was one of the teams surveyed that said hockey is feasible, but no mention since if they will ever join the big ranks.

A big problem is that all these teams want to join a conference because they saw what being an independent secondary school is like for Alaska and Alabama-Huntsville. The problem is a lack of long-term sustainability due to scheduling conflicts, schools like Michigan do not want to go to Alaska or play in Alabama. Utica University which is currently DIII will only join DI if they can join a conference, since they're on an island for DII. Stonehill College committed to DI for next season I believe, but won't have a conference. Long Island University still doesn't have a conference. St. Anselm, like Utica will only join DI if they have a conference. Lindenwood University committed to DI, but seems the rumours aren't exactly good in joining CCHA as the league just approved Augustana University, who's starting a programme in 23-24 if I remember correctly. The other problem is that a lot of the teams I mentioned are still on the east coast and they all want to join Atlantic Hockey. It's getting to the point that the conference might split in two or have two divisions like you see in the SEC for throwball. Hockey East ain't getting secondary programmes and I am not sure what the deal with ECAC is.

Another rumour is that some time down the road there might be the next major shift (biggest one since the creation of Big 10) and the formation of the Summit League from the NCHC. This would move Western Michigan along with Miami Ohio to CCHA and St. Thomas with Augustana University to the new Summit League, which would have the rest of the NCHC teams. If I remember correctly, the old NCHC commissioner is now the new commissioner of Summit and why that could be a real possibility in the future.

I don't see the appeal of teams joining a league in the East. If this all works it has to be western schools getting behind it. CU isn't going to start it, CSU has a better chance of it but I'm not holding my breath on it.

You are right though, its all about some big donor to get these programs funded and off the ground in most cases. UNLV is pretty much there except for an appropriate arena, They hit me up with news and a "hey can you support us by doing this..." message all the time but its all very positive messaging about how close they are to going to full D-I. They don't have Title IX issues or a problem with funding other than the rink issue and its been speculated they could come up with a deal with VGK to use their main practice rink with a little more upgrading. The thought is if this comes through and with the ASU situation going forward, these non Pac-12 schools could find agreements with NHL teams that take advantage of many teams (except the Avs) building nice suburban facilities which could easily host lesser D-I squads. The idea is a bigger part of the whole grass roots development efforts that are no doubt working in most markets to get more kids to play hockey. Add in the level of you can play college hockey with a full scholarship and it adds an option lots of parents want before they spend 30k to have their kids in juniors. Lindenwood makes sense in this although they built their own arena, but I don't get the appeal of small town schools going this route, it really needs to tie in with an NHL city. Fort Collins is about as small a town that could work, but I'm thinking more of it being a bigger city western US thing.

 

[Hasbro]

Oh well. It just means DU will continue being the greatest program in college hockey history.

And seriously, **** gatekeepers in hockey! Our fandom is just as earned and deserved as any and they can choke on the Avalanch’s success again.