Post's Mark Kiszla Says DU-CC Defines Colorado

(above) It was bedlam in the DU Student Section on Saturday night

photo credit: Lauryn Sprung

LetsGoDU Intro: This may be one of the best articles ever written about the DU-CC Series.

From: Denver Post
by Mark Kiszla

At a time when we all seem to be counting every penny, the best bang for the buck in Colorado sports is the sound of a DU hockey player crunching a CC Tiger against the boards.

It hurts so good. The agony of overtime is delicious. The hitting is relentless.

And, in the end, with voices in the stands screamed hoarse and college athletes with barely enough energy remaining to shake hands at center ice, Denver had tied Colorado College 1-1 on Saturday night.

"I wouldn't expect anything less," Pioneers senior J.P. Testwuide said. "The way this rivalry is, it seems to come down to the last minute, I think, every game we play them."

DU-CC hockey is why we live here.

No matter how long you have called this state home, you have not truly lived in Colorado until you have savored the sweetness of a fresh peach from the Western Slope, gazed at Parry Peak awash in alpenglow or felt bones rattle when the Pioneers collide with the Tigers in hockey.

It could be the middle of July, Pioneers coach George Gwozdecky said, and his blood would still run hot about beating Colorado College.

Broncomaniacs hate Duh Raiders. Buffs talk trash with Rams. But what's the richest, proudest, loudest sports rivalry in Colorado?

Without a doubt, it has to be Tigers-Pioneers hockey.

Magness Arena is where a thousand college students wearing white T-shirts with "Denver" written across the heart will peer over the shoulder of Colorado College goalie Richard Bachman and playfully chant: "DU reject!"

This is the series where brothers Mike and J.P. Testwuide of Vail take the ice and represent by wearing the clashing colors of DU and CC on their sweaters in a game where passion runs deeper than family ties.

If you watched closely enough, you could spy the brothers exchanging winks as they skated past each other on the ice.

"I don't think I'll forget a minute of playing against those guys for as long as I live," said J.P. Testwuide, who promises to still be arguing about every glorious detail at the Thanksgiving table when he's 78 years old. "It's a story I'll carry with me forever. My brother and I talk about it all the time. We know how special it is."

When DU plays CC in hockey, a tie is like kissing your brother.

While the stumbling, bumbling Avalanche cannot give away overpriced NHL tickets to home games, there were 6,128 spectators on the nervous edge of seats when a goal by Colorado College center Chad Rau with 97 seconds remaining in the third period forced the game into overtime.

In a part of the country where college basketball doesn't matter, DU has Tyler Ruegsegger from Lakewood, Luke Salazar from Thornton and John Ryder from Colorado Springs to make the Pioneers our true winter sports heroes from next door.

As we all cover ears to let Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler mope about how new Denver coach Josh McDaniels doesn't like him, there is no whining in college hockey, where egos are small and hearts are huge.

And just when you think it's impossible for anything new in a series with 271 games of history, Colorado College coach Scott Owens pulled his goalie with the score tied.

"It's not the way the game is supposed to be played," Owens graciously admitted. But this was truly desperate hockey, because unlike fifth-ranked Denver, the Tigers must scratch and claw for every point if they are to land a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Never seen a DU-CC hockey game?

Heck, then maybe you also have not yet enjoyed the simple pleasure of washing down a cheeseburger with a blueberry milkshake at the Dairy King in Empire, or experienced the adrenaline rush of standing atop your skis while staring into that gaping canyon of moguls of the Palli run at A-Basin.

Better start a bucket list, Bubba.

In a city where our neighbors all seem to have been born someplace else, nothing in local sports shouts Colorado like the beautiful groan of the crowd when a shot clangs off the post during the heat of a CC-DU game. It is why we live here.

The Good Olde Daze

(left) You'd think that one DU student would be able to figure out how to throw a rubber chicken on the ice without getting caught this weekend for old times sake

From: Colorado Springs Gazette
by David Ramsey

Once, not so long ago, players who battled in the Colorado College-University of Denver hockey series dodged animals, dead and alive.

These were good times, at least in the view of Cal Sandbeck.

He was blessed with a great view of the insane era of the CC-DU hockey series. He served as a tough defenseman for DU from 1974 to 1978.

On one visit to The Broadmoor Arena, Sandbeck swears he saw a black swan, greased pigs and rats tossed on the ice. All were alive. Three fights broke out, and a referee was knocked groggy trying to restore peace.

All in one night. And, yes, CC and DU somehow managed to play a hockey game amid the anarchy.

The Tigers and Pioneers tangle Friday night at DU and travel to World Arena for Saturday’s regular-season finale. Friday marks the 266th meeting in a wild, wonderful series that stretches back to 1950.

The ridiculous, borderline criminal flavor of the series is gone. Fans still shout mean, at times obscene, words, but decline to toss beasts on the ice.

“I don’t think the rivalry is quite the same,” Sandbeck said, regret in his voice.

He now enjoys a peaceful life as owner of the Dog Bar and Grill in Cuchara, nestled two hours south of Colorado Springs in the Spanish Peaks.

Yet he enjoys returning to the nights when students didn’t travel to the arena to watch a game. They came to party.

“It wasn’t so much about the hockey, but the atmosphere,” Sandbeck said. “But, oh, I loved it. The more fans were involved, the more fun it was as a player. It was just part of having fun.”

CC coach Scott Owens isn’t quite as nostalgic as Sandbeck, which makes sense. Getting hit in the shoulder by a frozen chicken can leave a mental tattoo on any man.

During the 1978-79 season, CC goaltender Owens stood in front of the net at the old DU Arena, which closely resembled a barn.

He was minding his own business, when some bright light in the DU student section tossed a chicken that crashed into Owens’ shoulder.

Owens looked around, saw a chicken with its head, another without its head and a fish with a beady eye that kept staring at him. He wasn’t even surprised by the carnage.

Just another mad night in the CC-DU series.

“It wasn’t a deal that you would throw your stick in the air and start howling,” Owens said. “There was a lot of that stuff going on.”

Owens wants to make one thing clear. He doesn’t want to see animals, dead or alive, on the ice this weekend. Still, he’s not sure he would change the past.

“Sure, it was borderline idiotic,” he said from his office at World Arena, “but, ah, I don’t know. It’s a fine line between borderline idiotic and humorous.”

Owens insists he no longer seethes with hatred for all things DU. He takes care to mention his “respect” for the Pioneers.

This word inspires laughter from Dave Delich, CC’s all-time leading scorer. Delich roomed with Owens at CC and remains a close friend. They eat lunch several times a month.

“Respect?” Delich said, chuckling. “Oh, sure. I’m sure Scott has a distant respect for them.” He placed heavy emphasis on the word “distant.”

He clearly remembers a moment from the 1975-76 season. CC goaltender Eddie Mio was briefly knocked silly at DU by — what else? — a frozen chicken tossed from the student bleachers.

Delich helped carry a mumbling Mio to the CC bench. He skated along, dodging dead animals, listening to jeers from the crowd that supported his enemy.

He hasn’t forgotten. He never will.

“It’s that one special place,” Delich said. “I will never feel comfortable on that campus.”

Delich looks forward to watching Saturday’s game at World Arena.

Friday night at DU?

For some reason, he can’t quite bring himself to make the trip.