Photo courtesy the Denver Post
Denver’s destruction of Colorado College this weekend was total and complete. The Pioneers skated on the large sheet in Colorado Springs Saturday night and got to every puck, extending their winning streak to 12 games, in yet anther trouncing of the Tigers. The Broadmoor World Arena was as quiet as a church on Sunday morning and the Pioneers delivered a workman-like result against a dispirited squad.
The one place to look to more fully understand the Tiger’s misery is Facebook.
One Facebook fan site, Colorado College Hockey, is the sanitized ‘Up With People’ version. Everything is fine in Tigerland -“Love the new jerseys – don’t you? Our announcers are the best! We played ’em tough tonight – but we’ll get ’em next time.” Criticism is not accepted or tolerated. Comments are screened so as to not offend. This is a fan site mind you – not the official Colorado College Tiger Hockey school sponsored site.
But, there is another site, Colorado College Hockey Discussion – where die hard Tiger Hockey fans go to vent their frustration with the Tiger’s plight. Their discussions are deep and well informed. It is not just a’ blame the coach site’ – although there is frustration with Coach Mike Haviland. There are discussions about recruiting, the CC block curriculum, liberal arts education, facilities and if CC admissions are so darned exclusive – how come Union, Harvard, and Yale can field competitive teams?
Here’s just one string of comments (spelling errors remain uncorrected because obviously) following Saturday night’s humbling 5-1 home defeat to the visiting Pioneers:
Jeremy Landis The academics argument is really tired, in my opinion. Yale and Union have won recent National Championships. BC has won 4 in recent years. BU has won recently. CC is certainly no tougher than those schools, among others who have also been successful. …See More
Ramoni Harris None of the other schools mentioned have the block plan. Those on the outside think the block plan is a wonderful thing. As someone who knows it well, from the inside, and also knows well how if affects D1 athletes and students, I can say it is a heavy burden not faced by student-athletes at other schools.
P.j. Schoch I’ve also heard that we are drawing from the bottom of the barrel when it comes to recruiting we get everyone else’s leftoversP.j. Schoch Looking at programs between a state school, Denver and us it’s got to be a circumstance of location. Again as in so many things Denver screws up on stealing people they have 100 major programs. We actually have a broader variety of subjects compared to…See More
Ben Peterson C’mon….CC isn’t THAT spectacular in the academics arena…it’s a liberal arts school. People can blather all they want about how spectacular it is, but let’s get honest, they’re not forcing the hockey players to study astrophysics or engineering. A…See MoreRamoni Harris “CC isn’t THAT spectacular in the academics arena”–that actually helps make the point, doesn’t it? There are better schools academically, schools with more options in terms of majors, schools that have better hockey programs….so why should a very good player/student want to come to CC?P.j. Schoch We are also the armpit of Denver no one thinks of the springs unless it’s hitting the fan
Joel BagleyI think we’ve ran through the gamete of reasons “excuses”. Refs, big ice, facilities, academics, coaches, players, fans. Did I miss something? lol. Some are more credible than others. I wish I knew the answer, but I’m sure I’m not the only one.
A number of Pioneer fans traveled to the World Arena Saturday night. After the game, a group of crimson and gold supporters agreed that it would be great for DU’s winning streak over CC to continue for the next 50 years – but they want to see Colorado College with a competitive hockey program again, too.
Great rivalries must have great rivals.
At The Golden Bee following the game, we shared our own opinions about the reasons for the decline of Colorado College hockey. But, we actually spent more time discussing how many fluid ounces were in a yard of beer. It’s not our problem, but we can all appreciate the frustration expressed on Colorado College Hockey Discussion Facebook page.
Let’s hope the athletic department and administration at CC are open to at least listening to different points of view on how to fix the Tigers. The fans that are the most critical, oftentimes, are the ones that may have the best ideas on how to make things better. These fans are the hockey programs most passionate supporters – ignore them at your own peril.
By the way, there are 48 fluid ounces in a glass yard of beer. We asked the bartender – he went to CC.
I think CC is making some strides. Certainly, beating and tying UMD and beating North Dakota this year shows that there is some talent and coaching there, but the roster depth issues that they face as the result of recruiting misfires by both late Scott Owens and early Mike Havilland have kept them from making real waves in the NCHC so far. The next step for CC will be to recruit an uber-talented game-breaker forward that CC used to attract and can be a lynchpin for the team to really build around – a Jaden Schwartz, Chad Rau, Brett Sterling, Marty Sertich, etc.
I think CC has some fantastic goaltending prospects with Leclerc and Tehama, who are proven NCHC quality goalies. But when it comes to skaters with NCHC level skills, the depth just isn’t there yet to be sustainable.
Havilland is forced to play a trap system because he just doesn’t have the horses to skate up and down and play puck possession with the NCHC’s elite teams. His best hope now is to trap, slow the game down and hope he can get PPGs or grinder goals and good goaltending to stay close. His style will adapt once he has the right players to do it.
I think CC is making some strides. Certainly, beating and tying UMD and beating North Dakota this year shows that there is some talent and coaching there, but the roster depth issues that they face as the result of recruiting misfires by both late Scott Owens and early Mike Havilland have kept them from making real waves in the NCHC so far. The next step for CC will be to recruit an uber-talented game-breaker forward that CC used to attract and can be a lynchpin for the team to really build around – a Jaden Schwartz, Chad Rau, Brett Sterling, Marty Sertich, etc.
I think CC has some fantastic goaltending prospects with Leclerc and Tehama, who are proven NCHC quality goalies. But when it comes to skaters with NCHC level skills, the depth just isn’t there yet to be sustainable.
Havilland is forced to play a trap system because he just doesn’t have the horses to skate up and down and play puck possession with the NCHC’s elite teams. His best hope now is to trap, slow the game down and hope he can get PPGs or grinder goals and good goaltending to stay close. His style will adapt once he has the right players to do it.
Well stated Swami.
Well stated Swami.