The Colorado Avalanche’s third Stanley Cup Championship was won in Tampa, Florida with a 2-1 victory in Game Six over the Tampa Bay Lightning, making Denver into the new “Hockeytown USA”, as the Avalanche joined the 2022 NCAA Champion University of Denver and USA’s Hockey High School Division II National Champion Denver East High School for a troika of Denver hockey titles in 2022. Continue reading Former DU Pioneers Help Power Avalanche to NHL’s Stanley Cup Championship
College hockey scheduling isn’t easy. There are now 63 teams playing Division I college hockey, and DU as a 72-year-old program has played most of them over the years. Non-conference scheduling is a particular kind of art form, requiring just enough potential home wins to keep the fans (and bean-counters) happy, but not too many cupcakes either, or it can hurt your national Pairwise ranking, especially if there is an upset. Continue reading Puck Swami: Non-conference Opponents That DU Hockey Should Schedule
As DU winds down the current athletic year and Denver Vice Chancellor for Athletics and Recreation Karlton Creech prepares to depart for the next chapter in his career, we die-hard fans at LetsGoDU have our wish list for the next athletic director, whomever it may be.
Here are our wishes, in rough order of priority: Continue reading A Five Point Fan Wish List for DU’s Next Athletic Director
As one of the “elders” in the extensive and inspiring LetsGoDU stable of writers, I thought I’d jot down some of my own musings after cheering on DU’s epic NCAA hockey championship weekend in Boston.
So much has already been written about how talented and clutch this Denver team was (and they were indeed that), but I think it’s important to state a few other things that don’t appear in the media as often as they should… Continue reading Puck Swami: Five Musings From a DU Fan in Boston
University of Denver ice hockey alumnus Juho ‘Jussi’ Olkinuora (attd. DU 2011-13) won a 2022 Olympic gold medal for his native Finland on Feb. 20. It took 70 years, but it was the first gold medal won by a DU athlete since Jerome Biffle’s gold medal for Team USA in the long jump in the 1952 Olympic Summer Games in Helsinki, Finland – ironically, Olkinoura’s home city. Continue reading Juho Olkinuora is first DU Olympic Gold Medal Athlete Since 1952
The University of Denver’s Marketing and Communications Division is deep into a year-long process of an overall University rebranding change and, according to our sources familiar with the process, DU’s upcoming decisions on this effort may directly and potentially adversely affect DU’s most visible part of athletic branding – the logos of DU’s Pioneer athletic programs. Continue reading DU’s Athletic Branding Threatened by University’s Branding Change
Following Denver’s decisive sweep of Colorado College in which they outscored the Tigers 9-0 this past weekend, Damien Goddard doubled down on his effort to bolster the lagging CC hockey program. “I put my flight suit on eBay for a reason – the Tigers need our help. Let’s bring adequate Division I men’s hockey back to the Springs!” Continue reading Damien Goddard Makes 11th Hour Plea For CC Hockey
At least eight athletes who wear (or who have worn) the Crimson and Gold of the University of Denver Pioneers have been named to participate in the 2022 Beijing Olympic Winter Games by their respective Olympic Teams, slated to begin in China in February. Part II of this two-part series, below, profiles four more DU alumni skiers headed to Beijing — three who have been named to the Canadian ski team (Amelia Smart, Trevor Philp and Erik Read) and DU skiing alumna Andrea Komšić, who will ski for Croatia in her third Olympic Games. Part I profiled the two DU athletes who are slated to represent Team USA – Current DU student and DU ski team athlete Katie Hansien and DU hockey alumnus Nick Shore, as well as DU hockey alumnus Juho Olkinoura and Pioneer alumna Nordic skier Jasmi Joensuu, who will both represent Team Finland. Continue reading Part 2: Eight Pioneers Headed to 2022 Beijing Olympic Games
At least eight current or past University of Denver athletes have been named to national teams participating in the 2022 Beijing Olympic Winter Games, scheduled to begin in February. Two DU athletes are slated to represent Team USA – current DU ski team member Katie Hensien and DU hockey alumnus Nick Shore. Additionally, DU hockey alumnus Juho Olkinoura and cross-country ski alumna Jasmi Joensuu will represent Team Finland; three DU skiing alumni have been named to the Canadian ski team (Amelia Smart, Trevor Philp and Erik Read); and skiing alumna Andrea Komšić will ski for Croatia. This group of eight athletes is the largest contingent of Pioneers to go the same Olympic Games since 10 Pioneers participated in the 1972 Winter Games in Sapporo, Japan.
This story (Part I) outlines the careers of the first four athletes (Hensien, Shore, Olkinoura and Joensuu) while Part II will follow soon and will highlight DU’s Canadian ski contingent of three athletes and Komšić. Continue reading Eight Pioneers Headed to 2022 Beijing Olympic Games – Part 1
The original Damien Goddard flight suit featured in LetsGoDU on December 31st, 2021 is up for auction on eBay along with a signed Certificate of Authenticity. The auction ends in eight days. The public auction comes with a twist – all auction proceeds will go to Colorado College Athletics for hockey player recruitment. Continue reading LetsGoDU Founder Damien Goddard Auctions Flight Suit to Benefit CC Hockey
