Denver, CO
Denver now ‘Hockey Capital, USA’ after Avalanche of championships
Transfer over, each different city in America. Denver, Colorado is formally now Hockey Capital, USA.
How did they get right here? By profitable just about each hockey event put in entrance of them.
The Colorado Avalanche received the 2022 Stanley Cup. The College of Denver took house the 2022 NCAA Males’s ice hockey championship. Denver East received the USA Excessive Faculty hockey championship. And the PeeWee Jr. Avs received the Quebec Worldwide Pee-Wee Junior Hockey Match.
That is all very official. There was even an unveiling of a monument in Denver final week.
“With DU profitable after which with us profitable, after which I used to be conscious that there was some minor groups that received as nicely, in order that’s superior,” mentioned Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson. “It looks like once I was rising up, Colorado wasn’t actually a hockey hotbed, however it looks like increasingly there’s guys popping out of right here within the NHL now and school, so it is thrilling. I am enthusiastic about it simply because Denver is form of my house now. So it is good to see the up and coming guys make an affect.”
Avalanche ahead Logan O’Connor had the uncommon expertise of taking part in for College of Denver after which the Avalanche.
“Going to high school right here, I do know lots of people that grew up in Denver and received into hockey due to [Joe] Sakic, [Peter] Forsberg-those groups within the early 2000s and the success they’d as a staff. So hopefully what we’re doing now,” O’Connor mentioned. “Coming off a championship, we are able to type of instill a few of that success into future generations.”
Profitable all of it at each stage will try this.
“I feel you take a look at any market, conventional or non conventional, whenever you get an expert hockey staff in and so they’re in a position to have success, it builds a fan base,” mentioned Avalanche coach Jared Bednar. “It builds youth hockey applications. There’s a whole lot of actually good ones right here. I feel Denver produces a whole lot of high quality gamers. They received the school staff that is has had an amazing quantity of success… It is rising like loopy right here in Denver.”
-NHL.com Unbiased Correspondent Ryan Boulding contributed to this report.