Courtesy: Dartmouth http://www.dartmouthsports.com/ Opening Lineups at Denver Cup (photo by Ryan McKee)

On Dec. 29 and 30 the Dartmouth men’s hockey team traveled to Denver, Colo. to participate in the Wells Fargo Denver Cup hosted by Denver University. The trip was the first time the men’s hockey team has flown to a holiday tournament since head coach Bob Gaudet took over the reins of his alma mater in 1997.

The team landed in Denver on Dec. 26, flying in from where ever they had spent the holidays. After waiting for the last guy to land, the team loaded the bus and headed to DU to get in a practice before checking into the hotel. Despite not having Mike Devine for practice, the senior goalie was delayed flying from his home in Buffalo, the team was able to get a full practice in on unfamiliar ice.

The Big Green checked into the Tech Center Marriott later that night, ready for a good night’s sleep in a luxurious hotel. The next day a breakfast buffet woke everyone up before heading to DU’s Magness Arena for another practice. That night a treat was planned as the team had been given an opportunity to watch the Colorado Avalanche play at the Pepsi Center. Despite not being able to see former teammate David Jones play for the Avalanche, the team was able to hear his name announced and put on the scoreboard.

Thanks to Harrison Taylor’s father most of the team was able to watch the game from a luxury box while everyone else had great seats just a few rows off the ice. The Avalanche was not able to pull out the victory but it was an experience to see an NHL game in such a great setting.

The next day Dartmouth had its first game taking on CCHA rival, Northern Michigan. It was the first time the two teams had ever met and thanks to goals by Joe Gaudet, J.T. Wyman, Matt Reber and Nick Johnson the Big Green came away with a 4-1 victory.

The next night Dartmouth met up with Denver in the championship game that was broadcast on Fox Sports Rocky Mountain. Wyman helped his team tie the game at two early in the third period after Rob Pritchard got the team on the board in the second. A final goal by Pritchard gave the Big Green three goals on the night but it wasn’t enough as the No. 3 team in country won, 5-3.

The team then headed back to the hotel ready for a good night’s sleep as their flight was scheduled for 8:55 a.m. the next morning. After another excellent breakfast the news came that the flight to Boston that morning had been canceled. A decision was made to have the team head to the airport and hope to get another flight. After much negotiating by Coach Gaudet and the United Airlines ticket counter the Big Green was booked on the next flight at 6:00 p.m. While 12 1/2 hours in an airport may not sound like much fun the team seemed to find ways to amuse themselves as several games were invented with the Denver Broncos nerf football bought in the gift shop.

After an uneventful flight to Boston the team landed to rain at 1:00 a.m. at Logan Airport. With news of a snow storm approaching no one knew how much or how bad it was going to be. As the bus crossed the state line into New Hampshire blizzard conditions ensued and a relatively short trip turned into a few hours as the bus pulled into Thompson Arena around 5:00 a.m. Peter Boldt’s movie selection of Apocalypto held most everyone’s attention but subtitles on a small screen is not always the wisest choice and everyone seemed happy to get off the bus.

Overall it was an experience that consisted of great food, a great hotel and even better competition as the Big Green was thankful for its trip to Denver. Freshman defenseman Dan Markowitz puts his own spin on the trip.

“Our time in Denver was a great learning experience for our team. Before the tournament officially began we were fortunate enough to watch the Colorado Avalanche play against the Detroit Red Wings at the Pepsi Center. It was a lot of fun to see an NHL game in such a great arena. The luxury box was fun and everyone seemed to have a great time.

The tournament showed us that after eleven days without practicing as a team and nearly a month since our last game, we were going to be faced with a great challenge. Our first game was against Northern Michigan, an aggressive team within the CCHA. I must say we started out a little rusty but as the game progressed we quickly took control and earned the win. Just twenty-four hours later we faced off against Denver (ranked the third best team in the country). It was an extremely hard fought battle but to our disappointment Denver came out on top. Dartmouth took second place in the 2007-08 Denver Cup. But after a great few days filled with victory and defeat we know we will continue to work hard and improve each and every day and we’re ready for the rest of the season.”
- Danny Markowitz ’11