Long before John Elway, long before Coors Field and way before the Colorado Avalanche won two Stanley Cups, the top sports attraction in the Mile High City was University of Denver hockey.
In a city without major-league baseball, the NFL, NBA, NHL or college football, the Pioneers were the UCLA of NCAA hockey. Denver won national championships in 1958, 1960, 1961, 1968 and in 1969, when I was a freshman there.
Future Blackhawks defenseman Keith Magnuson was an All-American and captain of the ’69 Pioneers, a huge figure on campus along with fellow All-American sophomore George Morrison, who scored 40 goals in 32 games.
Craig Patrick, Herb Brooks’ assistant for the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” U.S. hockey team, was a reserve.
In 1969, major-league baseball and the NHL were years off in Denver’s future, the Rockets were a so-so ABA franchise and the lowly Broncos, despite colorful coach Lou (“They’re killing me, Whitey”) Saban, were one of the worst teams in the old AFL.
Yes, the university had a basketball team, but after going 2-24 under future NBA coach Stan Albeck in ’69, no one wanted to talk about that.
Hockey was different. The Pioneers would sell out the old arena with more than 5,000 fans per game. When they qualified for the NCAA semifinals in Colorado Springs–it wasn’t called the Frozen Four back then–many of us made the one-hour ride down Interstate Highway 25 for the action.
After Denver clobbered Harvard 9-2 in the semifinals, a showdown with Cornell and All-American goaltender Ken Dryden awaited in the championship game at the Broadmoor Arena, where Peggy Fleming once graced the ice.
It was the best hockey game I ever attended: 1-1 after one period and 2-2 after two. Goals from Bob Trembecky and Tom Miller gave Denver a 4-2 lead, but Cornell cut it to one. The Big Red pulled its big goalie in the final minute and barely missed tying the game.
Denver won 4-3, and 36 years later the thrill remains.
As the city became more of a professional sports town, Pioneers hockey faded.
The ’90s were huge for Denver, and the Broncos’ success was only the tip of one of those snow-capped mountains that dominate the city’s western view. The 1990 Final Four was played at McNichols Arena, the Avalanche won the ’96 Stanley Cup, and major-league baseball arrived with the Colorado Rockies, first at massive Mile High Stadium and then at handsome Coors Field.
The Avalanche won the Stanley Cup again in 2002.
Meanwhile, University of Denver hockey faded into memory. Schools such as Boston University, Wisconsin, Minnesota and even little Lake Superior State began picking off multiple NCAA titles.
Pioneers hockey resembled an athletic relic.
But the Pioneer spirit is back.
Saturday night in Columbus, Ohio, Denver won its second straight NCAA hockey title and seventh overall, dominating North Dakota 4-1. Instead of Morrison firing away at the net, it was freshman Paul Stastny, son of NHL great Peter Stastny, scoring two goals.
Rather than goalie Gerry Powers making big saves, it was Peter Mannino. Like Powers in 1968, Mannino was the tourney’s outstanding player.
Although I’m sure most Denver residents take pride in the Pioneers’ achievement, it can’t be like the old days when Pioneers’ hockey dominated.
Within a week, talk will turn to the Nuggets’ playoff chances, the Rockies’ and the Broncos’ draft plans. That’s the way it is in a multi-sport market.
But in a spring where there will be no Stanley Cup competition, Denver and its distinguished coach George Gwozdecky have added to their own stellar hockey tradition.
Maybe it’s not like 1969, but it’s still a good story.
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rrothschild@tribune.com
