The St. Cloud State University Huskies (5-4, 0-3 WCHA)

National Hockey Center, St. Cloud, Minn.,
November 14-15, 2008

(above) The National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minnesota

The #4 Denver Pioneers (6-2-1, 4-1-1 WCHA) leave Colorado for the first time this season with a two-game WCHA series at unranked St. Cloud State (5-4, 0-3 WCHA) on Nov. 14-15.

Denver owns a 35-27-4 advantage over St. Cloud State in the series that dates back to 1988. The Pioneers are 18-10-2 all-time against the Huskies in St. Cloud. DU is 3-2 in its last five meetings against the Huskies and 7-3 in its last 10. The winning team has netted two or more goals in the last 17 meetings.

Huskies to Watch
The Huskies have had solid start in non-league play, but have yet to win a conference game. They return some of the nation’s finest offensive players, sophomore Garrett Roe (left) and junior Ryan Lasch. Roe leads the team with 4-11--15, while Lasch recently tallied his 100th career point and has added 1-7—8. SCSU is solid in goal with Jase Weslosky at 3-3 record, 2.52 GAA and .921 saves percentage.

About St. Cloud State University (SCSU)
St. Cloud State University (SCSU) is part of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) system, located in St. Cloud, Minnesota on the banks of the Mississippi River. Currently, there are nearly 17,000 students enrolled, making it the second largest university in Minnesota. Over 13,000 of the students are Minnesota residents, and about 1,000 students are international, representing 80 countries.

The university was created in 1869 as St. Cloud State Normal School, a teacher training institution, and in 1921, it became St. Cloud State Teachers College. By 1957, it had added more programs and became St. Cloud State College and was elevated to full university status in 1975, when it became St. Cloud State University. It has since grown into a comprehensive university and now awards bachelor’s degrees in over 60 programs and Masters Degrees in over 40 programs. With the school growing larger in tune with the metro area, there are plans to offer PhD degrees in the future.

The 100-acre campus is between downtown St. Cloud and the Beaver Islands, a group of more than 30 islands that form a natural maze for a two-mile stretch of the Mississippi river.

The current president is Earl Potter, III.

About the SCSU Program:
The SCSU program is another Minnesota-based program that has benefitted from the growth of hockey culture in the state, established itself with solid to excellent regular season performances, but has struggled at the NCAA tournament level, where multiple appearances have yet to yield a tournament victory. If the Huskies ever do get that monkey off their proverbial back, SCSU may become a dominant power.

While SCSU’s history since the mid 1980s elevation NCAA Division I is well known, far fewer hockey fans know about the early days of SCSU hockey in the 1930s, which played a formative role in the development of our sport.

"No institution did more for collegiate hockey in the '30's and '40's than St. Cloud," said Minnesota hockey great John Mariucci.

The St. Cloud program started poorly in 1931 with a 1-7 season, but for the next 10 years, St. Cloud never had a losing season. The pinnacle was the 1934 season, when the school went 25 -2, but in those days, there was no national tournament.

St. Cloud’s 1930s successes were sparked by two well known hockey goalies, Frank Brimsek (left) and Sam LoPresti. Brimsek was the goalie on the 1934 Saint Cloud squad and only played 11 college games, but would later become one of the most famous American hockey players of his era. Brimsek made the rare jump from collegiate to the pro level with NHL's Boston Bruins. He earned the nickname 'Mr. Zero' as a rookie for the Bruins when he led the NHL in victories, goals-against average and shutouts, won the Calder Trophy and led the Bruins to victory in the Stanley Cup playoffs. He played nine seasons with the Bruins and one with Chicago before retiring in 1950, and holds the distinction of being the only St. Cloud alumnus to be inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame and the International Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.

LoPresti played for the Huskies in 1935 and later spent two years at Duluth State Teacher’s College (now the University of Minnesota Duluth). After LoPresti graduated from UMD, he played for the Chicago Black Hawks where he flourished as a goaltender. His NHL career culminated with induction into the United States Hall of Fame. If the name sounds familiar to Pioneer fans, it’s because Sam’s son, Pete Lo Presti, would become a goalie at Denver in the 1970s, and went on the NHL career with the Minnesota North Stars and Edmonton Oilers

St. Cloud had no indoor rink in the early days, and during WWII, the program was dropped. After the war, the program was revived on a Division II level in the Municipal arena, where St. Cloud would play until the late 1980s.

Enter Minnesota (and American) hockey legend Herb Brooks, who had won a gold medal coaching the “Miracle on Ice” 1980 US Olympic Team and had gone on to coach the NHL’s New York Rangers after the 1980 Olympics. Brooks was looking for a new challenge, and creating the 1980s groundwork for St. Cloud State to become a Division I hockey school became Brooks’ passion.

In Brooks' first and only season as head coach in 1986-87, St. Cloud State broke or tied 45 school records on the way to a 25-10-1 record and a third place finish at the Div. II national championships. As the season progressed, so did the excitement of Husky fans, who filled the Municipal Ice Arena. During the 1987 session of the Minnesota Legislature, St. Cloud State University (prodded by Brooks) proposed an $8.6 million multi-purpose sports facility that would include a hockey arena and football field, with the goal of admission into the prestigious Western Collegiate Hockey Association. The arena proposal was ultimately approved in May, 1987 and the doors opened for the first game on Dec. 16, 1989. At the time, the 6,000 seat National Hockey Center was a one-of-a-kind - the only facility that featured two Olympic sheets under one roof. The NHC is still home of the Huskies, and recently-approved multi-million renovation plans should elevate the building into the upper half of WCHA arenas.

SCSU made the Division I commitment during the 1986-87 season and the Huskies joined as an Independent in '87-88. SCSU then played an Independent schedule for three seasons, under coach Craig Dahl, highlighted by an NCAA tourney appearance in 1989 when SCSU took the independents’ slot and lost to Lake Superior State in a two-game, total goals series, 10-5.

After some strong teams in the 1990s but no league hardware to show for it, the 1999-2000 season was the breakthrough year for SCSU, and opened up a strong run of NCAA appearances in the early years of the decade. The Huskies made the 2000 NCAA tournament, losing 5-3 to BU the East Regional in Albany, NY. Successes followed SCSU in 2000-01, as the Huskies stormed to a school-record 31-9-1 overall record and were second in the WCHA at 20-8-0. SCSU also claimed its first-ever Broadmoor Trophy, defeating North Dakota 6-5 (ot) in the Final Five title game, SCSU also gained its second consecutive bid to the NCAAs, receiving a first-round bye as the No. 2 West seed, but the Huskies lost to Michigan, 4-3 at Grand Rapids.

In 2001-02, the Huskies continued their pattern of success with a strong 29-11-2 overall record and another second place finish in the WCHA at 19-7-2. SCSU gained it’s first-ever No. 1 ranking in the Div. 1 polls during the season and held that position for much of the winter. Forward Mark Hartigan firmly established himself as a Husky legend with a school-record 37 goals, 38 assists and 75 points. He went on to become the first player in SCSU history to gain WCHA MVP honors, first team All-American status and a spot among the top three finalists for the Hobey Baker award, but in what has become something of a disturbing pattern for Husky fans, SCSU fell again in the NCAA tournament, this time by a 4-2 count at Yost Arena in Ann Arbor.

In 2003, the Huskies had a 17-16-3 season and squeaked into the NCAA tourney, only to be crushed by New Hampshire, 5-2 in the NCAA East Regional. One again, the NCAA well was empty.

Craig Dahl retired in 2005, and former Denver assistant Bob Motzko became coach of the Huskies. Motzko took the Huskies to a 22-11-7 record in 2007, but once again, NCAA tourney success was not to be, as the Huskies fell 4-1 to Maine in Rochester, NY.

In 2008, the Huskies went 19-16-5 and again found themselves in the NCAA tournament, and this time, Clarkson ended the quest for the Huskies’ first NCAA win with a 2-1 victory.

Nickname and Mascot
St. Cloud State's nickname has gone through several changes over the years. Early nicknames included "Normals," "Teachers," "Bear Cats," "Peds," and "Flying Clouds."

There are several theories about how the nickname "Huskies" began to be used. One says that it is a result of a student contest. Another suggests that the name originated with the football team. There was a story in the February 4, 1938, edition of the College Chronicle (school newspaper) which referred to the "football huskies." Since Huskies was not capitalized in the story, the author could have been referring to the team's size and this possibly led to the nickname.

Another theory is that the nickname originated within the football team. "I think it occurred during Coach Kasch's days as football coach (1935-42)," said John Weisman, former SCSU Dean of Men and former coach. "The team just started calling themselves the "Huskies."

Why the name was chosen or who exactly selected it remains unclear. The name could have been intended to mean "burly, robust or large," "one that is husky," or "a heavily coated working dog of the arctic region."

Perhaps the nickname was meant to encompass all three meanings. Regardless of its origin, the Husky nickname continues to represent SCSU as a symbol and image of strength. The current Husky Mascot is named “Blizzard”.

Fight Song

The SCSU Rouser
Oh, here we are, the gang and all,
to cheer our team to victory.
SCSU has heard the call,
We're here to show our loyalty, RAH! RAH!
Come on team fight, We'll win this game,
and to our colors we'll be true.
We'll sing our song, both loud and long,
to victory -- S.C.S.U.

Famous SCSU Alumni
Richard Dean Anderson - Actor, star of MacGyver television series.
John Stumpf - Chief Executive Officer of Wells Fargo
David Swanson - Chief Executive Officer of R.H. Donnelley Publishing
Tyler Arnason – NHL Hockey player
Todd Bouman - NFL Quarterback 1997-present
Dick Bremer - Minnesota Twins Television play-by-play
Matt Cullen - NHL Hockey player, Stanley Cup winner
Jim Eisenreich - Former MLB outfielder/first baseman with Tourette syndrome
Bret Hedican - NHL Hockey player, Stanley Cup winner
Bonnie Henrickson - University of Kansas Women's Basketball Head Coach
Leo Kottke - Musician
Nicole Linkletter - Winner of America's Next Top Model, Cycle 5
Ryan Malone – NHL Hockey Player.
Andreas Nödl - NHL Hockey Player
Mark Parrish – NHL Hockey Player

About St. Cloud, Minnesota
St. Cloud is the largest population center in the Minnesota’s central region about an hour drive north of the Twin Cities, and the country seat of Stearns County. The city population was 59,107 at the 2000 census, making it the third largest city in the state outside the Twin Cities metropolitan area, with 167,392 residents in the metro area. The city sits on the Mississippi River.

St. Cloud was named after Saint-Cloud, the Paris suburb, by John Wilson, a Maine native with French Huguenot ancestry. Wilson later said that his decision came from his interest in Napoleon, whose favorite palace was located in Saint-Cloud, France.

Historically, St. Cloud was a waystation on the Middle and Woods branches of the Red River Trails between the Canadian border at Pembina and St. Paul. The St. Cloud area had been opened to legal ownership by non-Native Americans following treaty negotiations with the Winnebago tribe in 1851 and 1852, and the City of St. Cloud was incorporated in 1856.

St. Cloud Normal School opened in 1869, and since then, St. Cloud has always been a college town as well as the country seat.

Steamboats once docked at St. Cloud, although river levels were not reliable. Granite quarries have operated in the area since the 1880s, giving St. Cloud its nickname, "The Granite City."

Today, St. Cloud has enjoyed some brief moments in pop culture. Courtroom scenes in the Disney Film The Mighty Ducks were filmed in St. Cloud, and in-game hockey scenes were filmed at the National Hockey Center at St. Cloud State University.

The acclaimed 2007 film Juno was partially set in St. Cloud, however, none of the shooting actually took place in the city. The song "On A Bus To St. Cloud", by Gretchen Peters, is on Trisha Yearwood's 1995 album "Thinkin' About You".

The Series
DU loves to play in St. Cloud, as the Pioneers are 7-1 in the last eight meetings against the Huskies at National Hockey Center, including a pair of 3-2 wins last season. With DU tied for second in the WCHA and St. Cloud State winless after three league games, the pressure is clearly on the Huskies to get into the league win column, while the Pioneers look to establish some road credentials this season.

DU and St. Cloud both have plenty of offense and solid goaltending, but question marks remain on the defensive side of both teams. On paper, SCSU has the third best offense in the country at 4.00 GPG, however, the Huskies have not played a very difficult schedule to date, while the Pioneers are fourth ranked at 3.89 GPG have played tougher opponents. With the big ice and defensive question marks on both teams, we can expect a fairly high scoring series. SCSU’s Garrett Roe is one of the most dynamic offensive players in all of college hockey, and the Pioneers counter with Tyler Bozak, who will be looking to elevate his game on the big ice at the usually buzzing National Hockey Center.

SCSU has the better power play at 20.6% but with DU coming out of their own power-play blues with a solid 4-for-13 (30.7%) effort in the two-game series against Minnesota Duluth, Denver will be looking to exploit the struggling penalty kill of SCSU (78.9%).

If you are a Pioneer fan, you need to be aware that Pioneer freshmen and sophomores have accounted for 77% of the team’s goal scoring and 70% of the team’s total points. Freshman and sophomores have accounted for five of six game-winning goals. Sophomore Anthony Maiani (4-7--11) has 0-4--4 during his current two-game point streak and Joe Colborne (2-2--4) netted 1-1--2 in the 2-1 win over Minnesota Duluth, and how the young players respond on the road is likely the key to success.

Prediction
DU is top to bottom, a better team than SCSU is right now, and on talent alone, a DU sweep is very possible. That said, this is the WCHA, SCSU is hungry and at playing home, and the Pioneers are not a proven road team as yet. I am going to predict a split. 5-3 SCSU on Friday, 6-2 Denver on Saturday.

The University of Minnesota -Duluth Bulldogs (4-1-2, 1-1-1)

(above) Duluth Entertainment & Convention Center

Magness Arena, Denver
November 7-8, 2008

The #20 University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs (4-1-2 Overall, 1-1-1 WCHA) come to Denver to take on the #6 Pioneers and close out a long Pioneer Colorado-based “homestand” to start the 2008-2009 season.

Denver owns a 101-69-9 advantage in the series that dates back to 1961. The Pioneers are 66-32-4 against the Bulldogs in Denver, including a 4-2 mark in the last six meetings at Magness Arena. DU is 3-2 in its last five games against UMD and 6-4 in its last 10.

The Bulldogs are off to a good start at 4-1-2 overall and 1-1-1 in the WCHA. Minnesota Duluth started the 2008-09 season 3-0-1 and snapped a two-game winless streak with a 5-1 win over St. Cloud State in the inaugural State of Minnesota Hockey Showcase last weekend.

Bulldogs to Watch
The Bulldogs are led by junior goalie Alex Stalock, who is 4-1-2 with a 2.09 GAA and .914 Svs %. Justin Fontaine (5-6--11) shares the WCHA overall scoring lead with DU’s Tyler Bozak, while veteran MacGregor Sharp has added 5-5--10 and freshman Mike Connolly 3-6--9. Head coach Scott Sandelin, who guided the Bulldogs to the 2004 NCAA Frozen Four, has posted a 126-161-39 mark in nine seasons at Duluth.

About the University of Minnesota-Duluth (UMD)
The University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) is a regional branch of the University of Minnesota with about 11,000 students on campus. As Duluth's public research university, UMD offers 12 bachelor's degrees in 75 majors, graduate programs in 20 fields, a two-year program at the School of Medicine, a four-year College of Pharmacy program, and a Doctor of Education program. The chief executive officer of UMD is Chancellor Kathryn A. Martin. She has been Chancellor since November 1995.

Although the University of Minnesota Duluth didn’t officially make its appearance until 1947, its roots date to the Duluth Normal School, founded in 1896 to train women as teachers. In 1921, the Duluth Normal School was renamed to the Duluth State Teachers College, also known as DSTC. Shortly after the renaming, bachelor’s degrees and four-year degree programs were added to the school. In 1929 men began to come to the DSTC, and along with them, the first sports teams including hockey, football, and basketball. By 1937, the locals were fighting to make DSTC a University of Minnesota branch to increase funding and the overall reputation of the school. It was not until 1947 the DSTC became part of the University of Minnesota system and was again renamed, this time to the University of Minnesota Duluth, or UMD.

Today, the UMD campus consists of more than 50 buildings on 244 acres overlooking Lake Superior. Most UMD buildings are connected by concourses or hallways due to the climate. UMD is also home to the Tweed Museum of Art, the Marshall W. Alworth Planetarium, Weber Music Hall, and the Marshall Performing Arts Center. Other UMD facilities include the Research and Field Studies Center, Glensheen Historic Estate, the Lower Campus, Minnesota Sea Grant, the Large Lakes Observatory, and the Natural Resources Research Institute.

UMD has experienced a revamping of student amenities and subsidized research facilities over the past seven years, beginning in 2000 with the completion of a new library. Additional buildings built since 2000 include the Weber Music Hall, Swenson Science Building, Sports and Health Center addition, and the new Labovitz School of Business.

About the UMD Program:
(left) Brett Hull

The Bulldogs are the classic underdog program –with the more glamorous Big 10 University of Minnesota a few hours away in the Twin Cities with a huge statewide following for the Gophers, the Bulldogs, based in the working-class port city of Duluth, have always had to scratch, claw and work for every advantage they could get.

The varsity hockey program dates to December of 1930, when Duluth State Teacher's College announced that intercollegiate ice hockey will be added to the institution's varsity sports program. Things got off to a really rough start when DTSC lost its first game to Duluth Central High School by a 3-0 score at the old Duluth Amphitheater, enroute to a winless 0-3 inaugural campaign under Coach Frank Kovach. The next year, DSTC did manage to beat Two Harbors High School by a goal 3-2 for a first victory, but the sport vanished for 14 years until reinstated in 1949, when the school, now known as the University of Minnesota-Duluth, beat Carleton College of Duluth to close out a 7-0 undefeated season against lower division schools as an independent.

By 1949 the program had joined the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (small schools) and scored the first win over a D-I opponent in 1957 when the Bulldogs beat Michigan Tech. UMD had become a dominant power in the MIAC in the 50s, with six consecutive titles, setting the stage for elevation to full Division I status in 1961 under coach Ralph Romano, helped in part by Denver’s Murray Armstrong, who helped recruit UMD first D-I teams. The Bulldogs took their lumps at first; including a still-NCAA record of 77 saves performance in a loss against Michigan in 1964. Romano later became the school’s athletic director, and died tragically of heart failure while watching a UMD-DU game in Duluth in the mid 1980s.

UMD continued to make progress in the mid 1960s, when the city built a new $6 million Duluth Arena-Auditorium complex with 5,600 seats, know known as the DECC (Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center) in downtown Duluth, which still serves as the home of the Bulldogs, but will soon be replaced by a new arena in 2010.

With the new arena, was admitted to the WCHA in 1965, but did not win the first 14 WCHA games until an overtime victory over North Dakota in 1966. The tough games also stretched into eras, as the Bulldogs had only three winning seasons between 1965 and 1982.

By 1971, UMD got perhaps its biggest program win (at the time) with a 15-3 win over rival Minnesota in Minneapolis, a game which set 12 school records, paced by all-American centers Walt Ledingham and Pat Boutette.

Mike Sertich took over as UMD coach for Gus Hendrickson in 1982, and produced some of the best WCHA teams of the mid 1980s. In 1983, the Dawgs went to the NCAAs for the first time, but lost to Providence at Schneider Arena in Providence, 10-5 in a two game total goals series. The next year, the Bulldogs won their first WCHA regular season title on Bob Lakso’s hat trick against Wisconsin in February, and were then forced to play a “home” WCHA playoff series in Minneapolis, as the Duluth Arena was already pre-booked with a boat show. The Bulldogs drew 7,000+ fans in Minneapolis and ran North Dakota out the building with an 8-1 victory in game 1, and later beat the same North Dakota team in overtime the NCAA semi-finals in Lake Placid 12 days later. UMD then faced Bowling Green in the NCAA title game, which went four overtimes before BGSU edged UMD for the title. Defenseman Tom Kurvers won the Hobey Baker Award that year as the first Bulldog to do so.

In 1985, the Bulldogs repeated as WCHA Champions, but fell to eventual NCAA Champion RPI, 5-4 in triple overtime at the Frozen Four, but the loss was sweetened with a victory over Boston College in the third place game the next day. Leading scorer Bill Watson became UMD’s second Hobey Baker Award Winner, and Mike Sertich was named WCHA Coach of the Year for the third year in a row.

In 1986, the Bulldogs were in a tooth and nail battle with Denver and Minnesota for WCHA supremacy, but when forward Matt Christenson had a stroke during a boot hockey game in the stretch run, the shocked Bulldogs faded. Sophomore Brett Hull had a 50 goal season, but the Pioneers aced out the Bulldogs in the WCHA semi finals.

After a couple of good years in the early 1990s with 1994 Hobey Baker winner Chris Marinucci scoring the goals including a WCHA title in 1993, the Dawgs did not reach the NCAA tournament again until 2004 in Boston, when the Pioneers bounced the Bulldogs and their talented 2004 Hobey Baker winner Junior Lessard from the Frozen Four.

Nickname and Mascot
The University of Minnesota Duluth mascot is the bulldog, named Champ. When UMD was the Duluth State Teachers College, the traditional designation was "peds" for pedagogues or teachers, but this did not suffice as an appropriate image for UMD's athletic teams. In the spring of 1933 the athletes themselves picked the bulldog as the school's mascot. Originally named "Killer," the mascot's name was changed to "Champ" in 1997 to present a less violent image.

School Colors
Because the University's colors varied during the early years, William Watts Folwell, first president of the University, appointed English instructor Augusta Norwood Smith to choose permanent school colors. Smith, "a woman of excellent taste," according to Folwell, chose maroon and gold. First used sometime between 1876 and 1880, the colors weren't officially approved by the regents until March 1940. The original school colors of UMD were green and gold, when UMD was the Duluth State Teachers College. The colors were changed to maroon and gold after the campus became part of the University of Minnesota System in 1947.

School Songs
"Hail! Minnesota" was written by Truman Rickard, class of 1904, for use in a class play. University student Arthur Upson wrote a second verse in 1905. In 1945, the song became the official state anthem. The "Minnesota Rouser," sung at most University athletic events, was written by Floyd M. Hutsell in 1909 in response to a contest sponsored by the Minneapolis Tribune. The spirited "UMD Rouser" is a variation of the "Minnesota Rouser."

The words to the UMD Rouser were submitted by Mike Dean, 2007-08 Alumni Board President:

"UMD Rouser"

Now let us praise UMD

Ever strong, and true we will be

And to the Bulldogs name

Maroon and Gold's our fame

We hail University, Rah, Rah, Rah

"U"-"M"-"D", Always with our loyalty

Sing and cheer to be victorious UMD!

B-U-L-L-D-O-G-S. Hey, BULLDOGS.

Famous UMD Alumni
Politics
* Michael S. Berman - Longtime Washington lawyer and lobbyist, deputy chief of staff for Walter Mondale
* Mike Hatch - former Minnesota Attorney General and 2006 candidate for Governor
* Donny Ness - current mayor of Duluth

Business
* David Oreck - Founder of the Oreck Corporation
* Robert Senkler - President and CEO of Securian Financial Group, Inc.

Sports
* Mark Pavelich and John Harrington were members of 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey gold-medal team that beat the USSR in the Miracle on Ice game.
* Dan Devine - head Football coach for the Missouri Tigers, Green Bay Packers and Notre Dame Fighting Irish
* Jay Guidinger - former center for the Cleveland Cavaliers
* Brett Hull - former NHL Player
* Tom Kurvers - Hobey Baker Award winner and long-time NHL player
* Junior Lessard - Hobey Baker Award winner, right wing for Tampa Bay Lightning
* Chris Marinucci - Hobey Baker Award winner
* Jeff Monson - Grappling and MMA fighter
* Derek Plante - former NHL Player
* Bill Watson - Hobey Baker Award winner and former NHL player

Other
* Jim Brandenburg - renowned National Geographic nature photographer
* Lorenzo Music - the voice of Garfield and Carlton the Doorman on Rhoda


Duluth, Minnesota
Duluth is a port city on the north shore of Lake Superior, which is linked to the Atlantic Ocean 2,300 miles (3,700 km) away via the Great Lakes and Erie Canal/New York State Barge Canal or Saint Lawrence Seaway passages.

Duluth forms a metropolitan area with Superior, Wisconsin. Called the Twin Ports, these two cities share the Duluth-Superior Harbor and together are one of the most important ports on the Great Lakes, shipping coal, iron ore (taconite), and grain.

As the county seat of St. Louis County, Duluth is the fourth largest city in Minnesota had a total population of 86,918 in the 2000 census. The metropolitan census including outer suburbs and villages was estimated to be roughly 184,000.

As a tourist destination for the Midwest, Duluth features America's only all-freshwater aquarium, the Great Lakes Aquarium, the Aerial Lift Bridge which spans the short canal into Duluth's harbor, "Park Point", the world's second longest freshwater sandbar, spanning 6 miles, and is a launching point for the North Shore.[5]

The city is named for Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut, the first known European explorer of the area. Native American tribes had occupied the Duluth area for thousands of years, trading and cultivating wild rice. In 1659, Pierre Esprit Radisson and Médard Chouart des Groseilliers went searching for furs in the Lake Superior region, and visited the area that became today’s Duluth. Sieur du Lhut, the city's namesake, arrived in 1679 to settle rivalries between two Indian nations, the Dakota and the Ojibwa, and to advance fur trading missions in the area.

Interest in the area was piqued in the 1850s as rumors of copper mining began to circulate. A government land survey in 1852, followed by a treaty with local tribes in 1854, secured wilderness for gold-seeking explorers, sparked a "land rush," and led to the development of iron ore mining in the area.

Around the same time, newly-constructed channels and locks in the East permitted large ships to access the area. A road connecting Duluth to the Twin Cities was also constructed. Eleven small towns on both sides of the St. Louis River were formed, establishing Duluth's roots as a city.

By 1857, copper resources became scarce, and the area's economic focus shifted to timber harvesting. A nation-wide financial crisis led to nearly three quarters of the city's early pioneers leaving but the Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad extension from St. Paul to Duluth opened areas due north and west of Lake Superior to iron ore mining. Duluth's population on New Year's Day, 1869 consisted of fourteen families; by the Fourth of July, 3,500 people were present to celebrate.

In the 1900s, the city's port passed New York City in gross tonnage handled, elevating it to being the leading port in the United States. Meanwhile, there were ten newspapers, six banks, and an eleven-story skyscraper, the Torrey Building, already present in the town. In 1907, U.S. Steel announced that a $5 – $6 million plant would be constructed in the area. Although steel production only began eight years later, predictions held that Duluth's population would rise to 200,000 to 300,000. With the Duluth Works steel plant came Morgan Park, a once-independent company town that now stands as a city neighborhood.

In the early twentieth century, Duluth was home to one of the largest Finnish communities in the world outside of Finland. The area was also settled by Immigrants from Ireland, Poland, Serbia, Italy, Ukraine, Romania, Norway, Hungary, Denmark, Sweden, Bulgaria, Austria, Croatia, England, and Russia.

During much of the twentieth century, the city was an industrial port town, with a cement plant, nail mill, wire mills, and the Duluth Works plant. In 1916, during World War I, a shipbuilding plant on St. Louis River produced eight vessels simultaneously. A neighborhood was formed around this operation, today known as Riverside. Similar industrial operations were heightened during the Second World War. Population growth continued after the war, with a peak of 106,884 reached in 1960.

Due to foreign competition, the U.S. Steel plant of the Duluth Works closed in 1981, presenting a major blow to the city. Duluth is often cited as "where the Rust Belt begins," and other industrial activity followed suit with more closures, including shipbuilding, heavy machinery, and the Air Force base. With the decline of the city's industrial core, the local economic focus shifted to tourism. The downtown was renewed with red brick streets and skywalks, and old warehouses along the waterfront were converted into cafés, shops, and restaurants, forming Canal Park as a largely tourism-oriented district. The city's population, for years experiencing a steady decline, has stabilized to around 85,000 in recent years.

Duluth once fielded a National Football League team called the Kelleys (officially the Kelley Duluths after the Kelley-Duluth Hardware Store) from 1923-1925 and the Eskimos (officially Ernie Nevers' Eskimos after the early NFL great, their star player) from 1926-1927. The Eskimos were then sold and became the Orange Tornadoes (Orange, New Jersey). This bit of history became the basis for the 2008 George Clooney/Renee Zellweger movie, "Leatherheads."



The Series
This should be interesting.

The Bulldogs has some firepower with the one-two punch of Justin Fontaine and MacGregor Sharp, two of the leading scorers in the WCHA so far, and they have some very promising freshman including Mike Connelly, with nine points already. The Dawgs also have one of the WCHA’s most exciting and capable goalies in Alex Stalock, who is no stranger to Pioneer fans, having shut out DU last year. The question marks for UMD are primarily on defense, where there are capable players, but no real standouts.

DU should be a bad mood after dominating CC last week in all but scoring. DU is averaging just 2.33 goals per game in its last three games after averaging 5.25 in its first four, but the Pioneers are 3-1-1 against ranked opponents and 4-1-1 at Magness Arena. Pioneer freshmen and sophomores have accounted for 81% of the team’s goal scoring and 67% of the team’s total points. Freshman and sophomores have accounted for all four game-winning goals, and for DU to continue to develop, more is expected of the upperclassmen. The Pioneers also have had mostly decent, but not standout goaltending from Cheverie so far.

Coach Scott Sandelin’s team is off to a good start, but they have yet to see a team with the Pioneers offensive capabilities. If the Pioneers play as they did against CC, generating 40 shots per night, they should score enough goals to sweep.

Prediction: Denver 4, UMD 2 Friday, Denver 3, UMD 1 on Saturday.

The Colorado College Tigers (4-0-2)

Magness Arena, Denver November 1
Colorado Springs World Arena, November 3

The No.4 ranked University of Denver Pioneers (4-1) host the nation’s top-ranked Colorado College Tigers, coached by Scott Owens (left), in the renewal of one of college hockey’s best rivalries -- the pursuit of the Gold Pan Trophy. As usual, sellout crowds are expected in both arenas.

Denver holds a 152-105-10 (.588) advantage over Colorado College in the storied rivalry that dates back to 1950. CC has held possession of the Gold Pan Trophy the last two seasons and owns a 6-2-2 advantage over DU in the last 10 contests. The Pioneers are 89-46-4 against CC in Denver and 60-59-5 against the Tigers in Colorado Springs. The Pioneers are 1-3-1 in their last five games against the Tigers overall and 1-3-1 in their last five games against CC in Denver.

Tigers to Watch
The Defending MacNaughton Cup Champion Tigers are led by goaltender Richard Bachman, and forwards Chad Rau, Eric Walsky (left) and Bill Sweatt. Bachman, the 2007-08 WCHA Rookie and Player of the Year, is 3-0-2 with a 0.97 GAA and .963 Sv% in 2008-09. Bachman, who has two shutouts, allowed three total goals in CC’s two ties last weekend at Clarkson. Rau leads the Tigers with 10 points on five goals and five assists and has long been a proverbial thorn in the Pios’ side with his ultra quick release and penchant for bagging shorties, while former UAA Seawolf Eric Walsky has eight points and speedster Sweatt five. Colorado College ranks No. 2 in the nation on the penalty kill at 97.7% (43-for-44). Head coach Scott Owens has posted a 227-121-27 mark in 10 seasons at CC.

About Colorado College:
The Colorado College (familiarly known as CC) is a private, selective liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It was founded in 1874 by General William Palmer. The college enrolls approximately 2,000 undergraduates at its 90-acre campus, 70 miles south of Denver. While it shares many similarities with the arch rival University of Denver (Both private and expensive, both have national student bodies and both student bodies love skiing and hockey) the major difference is the orientation of the schools. CC focuses solely on liberal arts and is mostly undergraduate, while DU is a medium sized university with business, liberal arts and professional schools and a 50/50 undergraduate balance. Also, CC is a famously liberal school (albeit in a conservative city) while DU is more conservative as a school but situated in a more liberal city.

Colorado College is known for its unusual "block plan," which divides the year into eight academic terms; a single class is taken during each block. Students study only one subject for three and a half weeks, which advocates say allows for more lab time, field trips, and other more intensive learning experiences. Blocks are only three weeks long in summer school, during which there are also graduate blocks of differing lengths. In parallel with the students, professors teach only one block at a time. Classes are generally capped at 25.

The current President of the college is Richard Celeste, former Governor of Ohio, ambassador to India, and Director of the Peace Corps.

Colorado College was instituted as a liberal arts college which would foster Christian outreach by its graduates and faculty in the New England tradition. Like many U.S. colleges and universities that have endured from the 19th century it now is secular in outlook, though it retains its liberal arts focus.

The college's first building, Cutler Hall, was occupied in 1880; the first bachelor's degrees were conferred in 1882. Phi Beta Kappa was chartered in 1904. Under President William F. Slocum, who served from 1888 to 1917, the campus took the shape it held until the 1950s. Since the mid-1950s, the campus has been virtually rebuilt. New facilities include three large residence halls, Worner Campus Center, Tutt Library, Olin Hall of Science and the Barnes Science Center, Honnen Ice Rink, Boettcher Health Center, Schlessman Pool, Armstrong Hall of Humanities, Palmer Hall, El Pomar Sports Center, and Packard Hall of Music and Art. Bemis, Cossitt, Cutler, Montgomery, and Palmer Halls are some of the remaining turn-of-the-century structures on the National Register of Historic Places, along with the William I. Spencer Center.

CC’s sports programs are primarily NCAA D-III, except for hockey and women’s soccer, which are Division I. CC and DU were once fierce rivals in many sports, and the two schools played the first football game west of the Mississippi River back in 1885. CC won 12-0, but the victory was tarnished when CC later revealed that a number of players on that team were not CC students.

About the CC Program:
Colorado College started playing hockey in the late 1930s when the Broadmoor Hotel converted its seldom-used indoor riding academy into an ice rink. The Broadmoor World Arena, originally called the Broadmoor Ice Palace, served as CC's home for 55 seasons before being demolished at the conclusion of the 1993-94 campaign.

CC has done a remarkable job in building a powerhouse program when one consider the size of the school, the distance from hockey hotbeds (far) and the strong academics and liberal arts nature of the college . Making it even more special is the fact that the program almost went bust in 1994, when many years of losing seasons and escalating costs put the program at a crossroads. After brushing aside faculty members who called for the end of hockey, CC made a great hire in then coach Don Lucia, who took the Tigers back to the NCAA finals in just a couple of seasons, built a new arena with the help of the city and USA Hockey, and today, have enjoyed strong contender status in the upper echelons of the NCAA. Lucia went on to Minnesota, but CC has remained a contender ever since.

However, ask many Denver Pioneer fans when CC won its last NCAA title and the answer “1957” comes quickly. Yes, Ike was still President when the Tigers brought home the hardware that year in beating Michigan, and the CC fans have been waiting ever since. The Tigers won the NCAA Division I championship twice during the formative years (1950 and 1957) of the NCAA tournament when it was always played in Colorado Springs, were runners up three times (1952, 1955, 1996) and made the NCAA Tournament eighteen times, including every year since 1995 except 2000, 2004 and 2007. In 2005, CC played in the ­Frozen Four against Denver in Columbus, but suffered a 6-2 setback when they could not stop the Denver power play that April afternoon.

While the Tigers have been a strong program since the mid 1990s, there were many years of disappointing hockey between the 1957 NCAA title and Lucia’s arrival in 1993, as the Tigers had just four winning seasons and one NCAA appearance in that time span .

Tiger Hockey officially made its debut on January 21 of 1938 in an 8-1 loss to a team sponsored by Giddings Department Store in Colorado Springs. Colorado College finished the campaign with three victories and nine defeats under playing coach and team captain John Atwood of Watertown, Conn.

The program made significant strides forward the following season under new coach Garrett Livingston, whose leadership the next four years helped vault CC to national prominence. While several New England students with backgrounds in high school hockey joined the team, the strongest addition was Ernie Young of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. When Young returned in the fall of 1939 for his second year at the school, he brought four more Canadian players with him - Jack Chamney, John "Chick" Ross, Wilmer "Spike" Wilson and Harold McClay -all from his home province.

With Livingston at the helm, those players helped the Tigers sweep the University of Michigan, 4-2 and 4-3, in their first-ever intercollegiate series early during the 1939-40 season. Colorado College also played games against Colorado Mines, the Montana School of Mines and the University of Southern California, champion of the Pacific Coast League, that season. Enthusiasm reached a feverish pitch among CC hockey supporters for the next few years, with games at the World Arena selling out on a regular basis. By winter of 1942, the Tigers had earned a reputation as one of college hockey's "Big Four," along with USC, the University of Illinois and Dartmouth.

Due to World War II, no games were played in 1942-43 or '43-44, but the sport was rejuvenated at Colorado College and nationwide in 1944-45. With the return of former players and the addition of seven more Canadians, the Tigers quickly were on the rise again. Cheddy Thompson, who came to Colorado Springs when he was assigned to 2nd Air Force Headquarters here, took over the coaching duties in the fall of 1945 and held the position for the next decade.

In cooperation with the Broadmoor Hotel, Colorado College sponsored the first National Collegiate Athletic Association Hockey Championships at the end of the 1947-48 season. The tournament would be held at the Ice Palace for the next 10 years, with CC participating seven times - in 1948, '49, '50, '51, '52, '55 and '57. Thompson was at the helm when CC won its first NCAA championship in 1950 and finished as runner-up in 1952 and '55. He was named national Coach of the Year in 1952 by the United States Hockey Coaches Association.

In 1951, Colorado College helped found the Mid-West Collegiate Hockey League, which changed its name to the Western Intercollegiate Hockey League in 1953. Other charter members were the University of Denver, Michigan, Michigan State, Michigan Tech, Minnesota and North Dakota. The WIHL evolved to become the Western Collegiate Hockey Association in November of 1959, with the present-day WCHA consisting of five of its original seven teams plus the University of Wisconsin, Minnesota-Duluth, St. Cloud State University and Alaska Anchorage.

Four Colorado College coaches - John Matchefts (1968-69), Jeff Sauer (1971-72 and '74-75), Brad Buetow (1991-92) and Don Lucia (1993-94 and '95-96) - have earned WCHA Coach of the Year honors. Matchefts (2007) and Sauer (2003) both have been named recipients of the prestigious John “Snooks” Kelley Founders Award for their contributions to the overall growth and development of ice hockey nationwide. Lucia (1993-94) and Tony Frasca (1962-63) each were named national Coach of the Year by the U.S. Hockey Coaches Association. Still another, Bob Johnson (1963-66), went on to the National Hockey League where he guided the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Stanley Cup championship in 1991. Johnson earlier had served as head coach of the 1976 United States Olympic Team and of the NHL's Calgary Flames, as well as a three-year stint as executive director of USA Hockey.

More than 20 former Tigers actually have played in the NHL, including recent Tigers Noah Clarke, Mark Cullen, Jack Hillen, Curtis McElhinney, Toby Petersen, Richard Petiot, Tom Preissing, Peter Sejna, Brett Sterling, Mike Stuart, Colin Stuart and Mark Stuart, who was a first-round draft pick of the Boston Bruins in 2003. Two Colorado College products – Red Hay with the Blackhawks in 1961 and Doug Lidster with the New York Rangers in 1994 and Dallas Stars in 1999 have had their – names engraved on the Stanley Cup.

University Traditions:
Nickname – Tigers
College lore has it that in the late 19th century, the CC Trustees made the decision in homage to Princeton University's tiger emblem. Nearly a hundred years after in 1994, a group of CC students began a campaign to change the mascot from the tiger to the greenback cutthroat trout, the Colorado state fish. When the subject came to a vote, the tiger won by a narrow margin: 468 for, 423 against. The Tiger mascot is named “Prowler.

School Colors
Black and Gold

Motto:
Scientia Et Disciplina (Science or Knowledge and Discipline)

Famous CC Alumni
Diana De Gette, US House (D-Colo.)
Ken Salazar, US Senator (D-Colo.)
Lynne Cheney, Wife of US Vice President Dick Cheney
Steve Sabol, President, NFL Films
Dutch Clark, NFL Hall of Fame (Detroit Lions, New York Giants)
Red Hay, NHL Player and administrator
Peggy Fleming, US Gold Medalist Figure Skater

The City of Colorado Springs
Colorado Springs is the county seat and most populous city of El Paso County, Colorado. At 372,437, it is the second most populous city in the State of Colorado behind Denver and the 47th most populous city in the United States. In 2007. the Colorado Springs area had population of 609,096. The city is situated near the base of one of the most famous American mountains, Pikes Peak, at the eastern edge of the southern Rocky Mountains.

While noted for its exceptional natural beauty and climate, Colorado Springs is not exempt from the problems that typically plague cities that experience tremendous growth: overcrowded roads and highways, crime, sprawl, and government budget issues. Many of the problems are indirectly or directly caused by the city's difficulty in coping with the large population growth experienced in the last 20 years.

It is a well known as a conservative city, as it is dominated by large military installations including Fort Carson, NORAD and the United States Air Force Academy, which make up the largest employers in the city. Also, a large percentage of Colorado Springs' economy is also based on high tech and manufacturing complex electronic equipment, second to the military in terms of total revenue generated and employment.

Additionally, a large number of religious organizations such as Focus on the Family and churches make their headquarters here, particularly Evangelical Christians, as well as serving as the headquarters for the US Olympic Committee and many national sports governing bodies.
Colorado Springs was founded in August 1871 as a residential community by General William Palmer (who also founded CC and co-founded the Denver and Rio Grand Railroad), with the intention of creating a high quality resort community to benefit from the mountain location, the railroad and the proximity to mining affluence from a previous gold strike at nearby Colorado City. The flow of gold and silver ebbed as the decades passed, and Colorado City's economic fortunes faded with it; the miners and those who processed the ore left or retired. Because of the healthy natural scenic beauty, mineral waters, and extremely dry climate, Colorado Springs became a tourist attraction and popular recuperation destination for tuberculosis patients.

Famous Colorado Springs Residents
* Silent film star Lon Chaney
* Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Rich ‘Goose’ Gossage
* Focus on the Family founder James Dobson
* Cassandra Peterson (better known as Elvira, Mistress of the Dark)
* Automobile racer Bobby Unser
* Former British ice dancer Christopher Dean

The Series:
While CC has gotten the better of DU in the last few years in regular season action, DU still likes to point out that in the last DU/CC meeting in WCHA and NCAA playoff tournaments, it is the Pioneers who have emerged victorious. All of it fuels the long-held rivalry, which has taken on even greater fervency as both programs are nationally ranked.

The Tigers like a fast up-tempo style of play with some very experienced and dangerous forwards, and with the high quality of goaltending and defense on the squad, there is no question why they were a consensus pick to win the WCHA. So far this season, the goaltending and defense have been fine, but the offense power everyone expected from CC has been largely fueled by the top line of Sweatt, Rau and Walsky, while the second and third lines have been less productive than expected. DU needs to particularly contain Rau and Mike Testuide (brother of Pioneers’ captain JP Testuide) who always seem to play exceptionally well against Denver. CC is going to be tested defensively, as they have not seen an offense this year as potent as Denver.

The Pioneers on the other hand, have had great offensive success on three lines and from the defense, while the defensive and goaltending have been a little less stout than expected. Accordingly, DU hopes it can tighten up a bit on the backline, and CC is going to try and upgrade and balance the scoring output. Both teams have plenty of speed.

All that said, emotion plays a big role in the series, and DU in recent years has not played at the same emotional level as CC has, and I am sure that coming off a tough loss to Ohio State and trying to get the Gold Pan back should help the Pioneers play at a higher emotional level. I also think the Tigers will come into the series with a high level of emotion as they have for the last few years.

Looking at the quality of players on both benches, I think we’re in for a split, with the Pioneers getting the first one in Denver and CC getting revenge at home. I am predicting a 3-2 Pioneer victory on Friday and a 4-2 CC win on Sunday. CC this year seems to have a little more trouble on the smaller rink, while Denver has yet to play on a large surface this year.

The Ohio State University Buckeyes (1-2-1)

Magness Arena, Denver October 24-25
Homecoming and DU Hall of Fame Weekend

The No. 2 ranked University of Denver Pioneers (3-0) host The Ohio State University Buckeyes from the CCHA(1-2-1) during Homecoming and University of Denver Hall of Fame Weekend. Sellout crowds are expected.

The Pioneers are 4-2 all-time, including a 3-2 mark in Denver, against Ohio State in the series that started in 1973. When the Pioneers and Buckeyes met last time on Oct. 3, 2003, DU thumped OSU 5-2 at the Lefty McFadden Invitational tournament in Dayton to open the season, with the Pioneers going on to win the NCAA Championship. The Pioneers have scored five or more goals in their last three meetings against Ohio State and have outscored the Buckeyes, 32-21, in six meetings.

The ‘Puck Bucks’, a very young OSU team with 22 underclassmen, improved to 1-2-1 after splitting a two-game series against Lake Superior State last weekend in Columbus. Lake State defeated OSU 7-3 on Oct. 17, but the Buckeyes earned the split with a 4-2 win on Oct. 18. The Buckeyes opened the season with a loss (7-3) and tie (3-3) against in state rival Miami (Ohio).
Buckeyes to Watch

Sophomore forward John Albert leads the team in scoring with 2-4—6, Sophomore Hunter Bishop has 5 poitns and rookie phenom Zac Dalpe, who played in juniors in Wayne Gretzky’s hometown of Brantford, Ont., earned CCHA Rookie of the Week honors after a four-point weekend against the Lakers. Goalies Joseph Palmer (0-2-1, 5.36 GAA, .836 Sv%) and Dustin Carlson (1-0, 4.01 GAA, .854 Sv%) have each played three games, and both have struggled. OSU is 3-for-24 (12.5%) on the power play and 20-for-28 (71.4%) on the penalty kill. Head coach John Markell is 243-236-47 in 15 seasons at Ohio State.

About the Ohio State Program:
Ohio State first laced up the varsity skates in 1963 in the what is now the old OSU Ice Rink, which is connected to St. John's Arena (the former basketball home of the Buckeyes), and a stone’s throw from the famous “Horseshoe” of Ohio Stadium. The OSU ice rink was notoriously grim from the very beginning seating about 1,000 people on bleachers with a low ceiling, with additional standing room for another 200 people. The men’s played in the OSU Ice Rink from 1963 until 1998, when they moved in to the Value City Arena at the Jerome Scottenstein Center, the 17,500 seat home of OSU Hockey and Basketball and the largest hockey arena in the NCAA today. Poineer fans behold the Value City Arena with great reverance, as it was site of the 2005 NCAA Denver title in Columbus. The old OSU rink is now home to the OSU women’s hockey team.

OSU began hockey in 1963 as part of the now defunct Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association under former Colorado College coach Tom Bedecki, who had won CC’s last NCAA Championship in 1957 as coach of the Tigers. After a couple of losing seasons, Bedecki was replaced by Glen Sonmor, who coached only a year at OSU before moving on the coach the Minnesota Gophers. Current Toronto Maple Leafs TV analyst Harry Neale took over the reins for the next four seasons and coached OSU from 1966-70. “We only had four scholarships, which we wound up splitting between eight kids” Neale told the Toronto Sun in 2006 …We didn’t win many games, but I helped (Buckeyes football legend) Woody Hayes win two titles” (Neale was also physical fitness instructor that helped the Buckeye football team) and also taught beginners hockey to several OSU football players, including Jack Tatum, later an all-pro Safety with the Oakland Raiders.

When the MCHA folded in 1971, OSU joined a new league, the CCHA which has been founded that same year as a collection of fledgling hockey programs that would not become eligible to send a team to the NCAA tourney until 1977. In 1971, under coach Dave Chambers, the Buckeyes finished 24-5 and won the regular season CCHA championship, and conference tournament championship, but was not eligible for NCAA tourney play due to the league’s youth and composition.

Former Buckeye Jerry Welsh took over the team as coach in 1975, and would hold the job for nearly 20 years without an NCAA tournament appearance, with a career record of 328-381-56.

Current coach John Markell took control of the hockey Buckeyes when Coach Welsh retired and has been there ever since, with a winning record and over 200 victories, but more importantly the Buckeyes have gathered 5 NCAA tournament appearances, and one Frozen four appearance in 1998, when the Buckeyes fell to Boston College in Overtime, 4-3 in Boston.

In the 2003-04 season, the Buckeyes found themselves on the top of the CCHA hill for the first time since the 1971-72 season, as the Buckeyes defeated the Michigan Wolverines in the CCHA Tournament final, but the Bucks fell to Wisconsin 1-0 in the NCAA East regional.

Since the completion of the Value City Arena, the Buckeyes have had excellent facilities that have helped in recruiting, but OSU hockey in the football and basketball-mad city of Columbus has had a hard time generating consistent fan support as it has at other large Big 10 universities.

About the Ohio State University
The Ohio State University (OSU) was founded in 1870 as a land-grant university under the name of the Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College. The school was originally situated within a farming community located on the northern edge of Columbus in Central Ohio. While some interests in the state had hoped that the new university would focus on matriculating students of various agricultural and mechanical disciplines, Governor (and later US President) Rutherford B. Hayes foresaw a more classic, comprehensive university and manipulated both the university's location and its initial board of trustees towards that end. Later that year, the university welcomed its first class of twenty-four students. In 1878, and in light of its expanded focus, the college permanently changed its name to the now-familiar "The Ohio State University"

Today, OSU is huge – it is currently the largest single-campus university in the United States with more than 52,000 students on campus, and over 60,000 system wide. For comparison, the entire University of Denver undergraduate student population (4900) is smaller than the freshman class at OSU (6100).

Despite improving academic programs, OSU is still probably best known for its enormous varsity sports program driven by its famous football program, with nearly 40 varsity sports and an athletic budget of over $100 million, more than 5 times the athletic budget of the University of Denver Football at OSU generates more than $60 million and returns a profit of nearly $30 million on its own, which allows OSU to fund nearly 40 sports and still have millions left over in profit to plow back into the school.

Columbus, Ohio – Home of the Buckeyes

Columbus is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Ohio with a city population of 711,470 in the 2000 census, and metropolitan area population of 1,754,337. Located near the geographic center of the state, Columbus is the county seat of Franklin County, although parts of the city also extend into Delaware and Fairfield counties. Named for explorer Christopher Columbus, the city was founded in 1812 at the confluence of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers, and assumed the functions of state capital in 1816. The city has a diverse economy based on education, insurance, healthcare, retail, and technology. It is probably best known as the headquarters for companies such as Wendy’s, Nationwide Insurance and The Limited.

University Traditions:

Nickname: Buckeyes
According to OSU, the use of the term Buckeyes to refer to Ohio State University sports teams derives from the even wider use of the term to refer to all residents of the State of Ohio. The university's Athletic Council officially adopted the term in 1950, but it had been in common use for many years before—certainly it was firmly established by 1920, and most records indicate that it had probably been used with some frequency to refer to Ohio State and its athletic teams since before the turn of the century.

As with many such terms that seem to have evolved rather than been decreed, the history of "buckeye" is a bit fuzzy. The buckeye (aesculus glabra) is a tree, native to Ohio and particularly prevalent in the Ohio River Valley, whose shiny dark brown nuts with lighter tan patches resemble the eye of a deer. Settlers who crossed the Alleghenies found it to be the only unfamiliar tree in the forest. Perhaps its uniqueness contributed to its popularity because it had few other attractions. Pioneers carved the soft buckeye wood into troughs, platters, and even cradles. Before the days of plastic, buckeye wood was often used to fashion artificial limbs. The nuts, although inedible, are attractive and folk wisdom had it that carrying one in a pocket brings good luck and wards off rheumatism. However, in general, the trees and their nuts are of little practical use: the wood does not burn well, the bark has an unpleasant odor, and the bitter nut meat is mildly toxic.

It was the presidential election of 1840, though, that put the term permanently in the vocabulary. William Henry Harrison, who had traded his Virginia-born aristocratic background for a more populist image as a war hero and frontiersman living on the banks of the Ohio River just west of Cincinnati, adopted the buckeye tree and buckeye nuts as campaign symbols. At the Whig convention, Harrison delegates carried buckeye canes, decorated with strings of buckeye beads. The buckeye nut was a precursor to today's campaign buttons. The buckeye became indelibly linked with Ohio.

The Ohio buckeye is one of 13 recognized members of the genus Aesculus, seven native to North America, one to Europe (the horse chestnut) and five to Asia. The Ohio buckeye's five-fingered leaflet, along with the nut, are sometimes used as symbols for The Ohio State University and are incorporated in its Alumni Association logo. Buckeye leaf decals are awarded to Ohio State football players for outstanding efforts on the field; players with many buckeye leaves on their helmets are indeed honored.

It is rare for an athletic team to be named after a tree; but the Buckeye name is so ingrained in the history and lore of the state and the university that few stop to consider how unusual it is.

Mascot: Brutus Buckeye
In 1965 Brutus Buckeye hit the scene when student Ray Bourhis, along with other members of the student organization Ohio Staters Inc., convinced the OSU athletic council of the idea of a Buckeye as Ohio State’s live mascot. At the time, other schools used animals for their mascots and actually had the animals present at the games. Bourhis thought the only animal fitting for Ohio was the buck deer, but bringing an actual buck to games would have been virtually impossible. The buckeye was later named Brutus in an all-campus naming contest and began his career as a large fiber glass shell which weighed forty pounds. Since then, Brutus has gone through several updates, and today is a much more lightweight and active part of Ohio State sporting and spirit events.

School Colors

Ohio State's official school colors since 1878, Scarlet and Gray were chosen by a group of three students in a lecture room in University Hall because "it was a pleasing combination...and had not been adopted by any other college," noted selection committee member Alice Townshend Wing.

OSU Fight Song

In 1915, OSU student William A. Dougherty, Jr., set out to write the fight song for his alma mater. Introduced at a pep rally for the 1915 Illinois OSU football game, Fight the Team Across the Field made its Ohio Field debut at the same game. Though the lyrics are geared to the football field, it has become a rallying song for all Buckeye teams. While it has been arranged in many different ways and used for many purposes, its most popular appearance is at Buckeye football games.

Lyrics:

Across the Field

Fight the team across the field,
Show them Ohio's here
Set the earth reverberating
with a mighty cheer
Rah! Rah! Rah!
Hit them hard and see how they fall;
Never let that team get the ball,
Hail! Hail! the gang's all here,
So let's win that
old conference now.

Script Ohio:

The signature formation of the Ohio State Marching Band performed before, during halftime or after home football games but also has been presented in a reduced version on the ice for hockey games.

Actually first performed by the rival University of Michigan Band in 1932, the OSU band perfected the formation in the mind 1930s. Each time the formation drill is performed, a different fourth-or fifth-year sousaphone player has the privilege of standing as the dot in the "i" of "Ohio." At exactly 16 measures from the end of an old French military March "Le Regiment," the drum major struts out toward the top of the "i," with a senior sousaphone player high-stepping a couple of paces behind. As the crowd's cheering crescendos, the drum major stops and dramatically points to the spot, and the sousaphone player assumes the post of honor, doffs his or her hat and bows deeply to both sides of the stadium or arena.

Famous Ohio State University Alumni

Ohio state is a huge school, and has turned out one of the largest alumni groups in the world. Here is a sampling of well-known Buckeyes

Arts and literature

· George Wesley Bellows, painter (1905) (attended but did not graduate)

· Roy Lichtenstein, artist (BFA, 1946; MFA, 1949; honorary doctorate, 1988)

· James Thurber, author and humorist (attended but did not graduate)

Business

· Leslie Wexner, CEO, chairman and founder of Limited Brands corporation (B.S. 1959)

Entertainment

· Patricia Heaton, Emmy Award-winning actress on Everybody Loves Raymond (B.A., 1980)

· Melina Kanakaredes, actress, star of Providence and CSI: NY (attended but did not graduate)

· Richard Lewis, comedian, actor, writer (B.S. (1969)

· Dwight Yoakam, Country musician, actor

Current United States Senators

· Sherrod Brown, United States Senator from Ohio (M.A., 1981)

· Thomas R. Carper, United States Senator from Delaware (B.A., 1968)

· George Voinovich, United States Senator from Ohio (J.D.)

Others

· Curtis LeMay, United States Air Force general (World War II and Cold War) (B.S. 1928)

· Jeffrey Dahmer, serial killer

Olympic Medalists

· Glenn Ashby Davis, Track and Field 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games Gold Medal; 1960 Rome Olympic Games Two Gold Medals

· Paul Hamm, Gymnastics 2004 Athens Olympic Games Gold Medal, Two Silver Medals

· Jerry Lucas, Basketball 1960 Rome Olympic Games Gold Medal

· Jesse Owens, Track and Field 1936 Berlin Olympic Games Four Gold Medals

Basketball

· John Havlicek, NBA star, Basketball Hall of Fame

· Clark Kellogg, former NBA player, TV sports analyst

· Bobby Knight, Basketball Hall of Fame (B.A., 1962)

· Jerry Lucas, NBA star, Basketball Hall of Fame

· Greg Oden, 1st Team All-American, 2007, selected with the number one pick of the 2007 NBA Draft by the Portland Trail Blazers

· Arnie Risen, four-time NBA all-star Basketball Hall of Fame

· Fred R. Taylor, long time former OSU head basketball coach, Basketball Hall of Fame

Baseball

· Galen Cisco, MLB pitcher (1961-1969)

· George Steinbrenner, N.Y. Yankees owner

Football

· Paul Brown, famous coach, member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and namesake of Paul Brown Stadium (M.A. 1940)

· Earle Bruce, College Football Hall of Fame coach

· Cris Carter, former NFL wide receiver

· Howard "Hopalong" Cassady, Heisman Trophy Winner 1955

· Eddie George, Heisman Trophy winner 1995, former NFL football player

· Sid Gillman, NFL coach and Pro Football Hall of Fame

· Randy Gradishar, NFL linebacker, College Football Hall of Fame member

· Archie Griffin, only two-time (1974 & 1975) Heisman Trophy winner, current president of The Ohio State University Alumni Association

· A.J. Hawk, NFL linebacker for the Green Bay Packers 2005 Lombardi Award Recipient

· Woody Hayes, Ohio State football coach and educator, M.A.

· Kirk Herbstreit, ESPN sports analyst and former OSU quarterback

· Urban Meyer, head coach of the Florida Gators (M.A. 1988)

· Glenn E. "Bo" Schembechler, Former football coach of the Michigan Wolverines (Master's 1952)

· Troy Smith, 2006 Heisman Trophy winner, Baltimore Ravens

· Jack Tatum, football player for the Oakland Raiders, author

· Paul Warfield, Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver

· Bill Willis, Pro Football Hall of Famer and first African-American pro football player

Golf

· Jack Nicklaus(attended)

· Tom Weiskopf

Hockey

· Ryan Kesler, current NHL hockey player

· Jamie Macoun, longtime veteran ice hockey defenceman in the NHL

· Rod Pelley, currently playing for the New Jersey Devils in the NHL

· R.J. Umberger, current ice hockey player in the NHL for the Columbus Blue Jackets

· Dave Steckel, current ice hockey player in the NHL for the Washington Capitals


The Series:
OSU has had a checkered start to the season, and that’s not at all surprising for such a young team, which played only two upperclassmen last week. Coach Markell is hoping for a “Top 6” finish in the CCHA, but the Buckeyes are considered by most to be a little too young at this point to challenge the top teams in the CCHA this season. With frosh Zac Dalpe. A second round draft pick of the Carolina Hurricanes, breaking out as CCHA Rookie of the Week last week, he is likely the key to the Bucks’ offensive success this weekend, but realistically, OSU needs a more consistent goaltending performance to have a chance at victory this weekend.

The Pioneers, on the other hand, are coming into the homecoming series with confidence at 3-0, scoring progressively more goals (5-6-7) in their three games, all against ranked teams. On paper, it looks as though Denver should be able to get the sweep, and I think this is the likely outcome. That said, Denver needs to get some more focus out of goalie Marc Cheverie, who has been adequate but inconsistent to date. The Pioneers also need to be wary of a “trap” weekend, with arch rival Colorado College on the docket next week.

Prediction: Sweep. Denver 4, OSU 1 on Friday, Denver 3 OSU 2 on Saturday.

The University of Wisconsin Badgers (0-2-0)

(above) The Kohl Center has the largest attendance in college hockey

Magness Arena, Denver October 17-18
WCHA Opener for Both Teams

The Denver Pioneers host the Wisconsin Badgers in what promises to be an exciting new chapter of a growing rivalry between the schools beyond the usual quest for WCHA supremacy. In the last meeting between the schools, the Badgers ran the Pioneers straight out of the Kohl Center in Madison in the NCAA regional, 6-2, ending the Pioneers’ season in bitter fashion. Wisconsin had historically struggled against the Pioneers in Madison in recent years, but last year, the Badgers were likely fueled by memories of the “Randy Schmidt incident” – a controversial botched video review that robbed the Badgers of the tying goal in a hotly contested league game at Magness Arena won by the Pioneers last January.

The Badgers hold a 70-51-9 advantage in the all-time series that dates back to 1968. DU is 1-4 in its last five games against Wisconsin and 5-5 in its last 10.

This offseason also added a little fuel to the fire when Patrick Wiercioch, a highly coveted recruit of both schools, decided to break his verbal commitment to Wisconsin after the Badgers wanted him to play another year of junior hockey, rather than come to Madison to compete for a spot on a crowded Badger backline. Instead, Wiercioch decided (perhaps nudged a bit by the Ottawa Senators, the holders of his draft rights) that he was ready for college hockey now, and chose to come to Denver to take the spot of DU defensive recruit David Carle, who had been forced to retire from hockey due to a heart condition.

The Badgers roll into Denver 0-2 after a tough opening weekend on the East Coast. UW lost the opener to last years NCAA Champion Boston College 5-4 in a close contest, and then took one on the chin in a 5-1 loss at New Hampshire. Wisconsin started two goaltenders (Shane Connelly and Scott Gudmandson) and each allowed five goals last weekend. The Badgers went 0-for-16 on the power play and 16-for-19 on the penalty kill.

Badgers to Watch
Wisconsin returns five of its top six scorers from last year, including Ben Street, Blake Geoffrion, Michael Davies and Jamie McBain. The Badgers welcome eight newcomers to the roster, including freshmen Jordy Murray and Ryan Little, who lead the team with two points each. From my perspective, coach Mike Eaves is building a strong defensive talent base, but a lot of that talent is still young and developing. Wisconsin is at it best in tight games, and look for the Badgers to try and disrupt DU’s transition game.

About the Wisconsin Program:
According to Wikipedia and the UW web sites, records indicate that ice hockey was played at Wisconsin before 1900, but the first varsity game was played in 1921. Coaching changes were frequent and seasons were short, due presumably to relying on nature to provide suitable outdoor conditions, and the University dropped the sport in 1935.

The modern era of Badger Hockey began in 1963, with the decision of athletic director Ivan B. Williamson. The Badgers started out ambitiously, playing as an independent team and scheduling 8 games against Western Collegiate Hockey Association teams, losing all 8 games. However, the persistence eventually paid off. Late in the 1965-66 season, the Badgers finally broke through, beating the Minnesota Golden Gophers 5-4 in overtime, their first win over a WCHA opponent. At the end of that season, Coach John Riley retired, and UW hired "Badger" Bob Johnson (left), a former Minnesota Gopher player who would build the UW program into what it is today. Johnson would become one of the most the most legendary American hockey figures of all time, coaching not only the Badgers to NCAA glory, but winning a Stanley Cup as coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins and becoming an international fixture with USA Hockey as a coach and administrator.

The next milestone for UW hockey was WCHA membership, which came for the 1969-70 season. The Badgers shocked the hockey world by gaining an NCAA tournament berth in their first season as members of the WCHA. The early success captivated fans, who packed the 8,600 seat Dane County Coliseum off campus and made the arena what Sports Illustrated termed the “Montreal Forum of College Hockey”.

More success would follow under Johnson. After again earning an NCAA bid in 1972, the Badgers won their first national championship in 1973, over the Denver Pioneers. The 1977 UW team further cemented Wisconsin Hockey in the national landscape, by sweeping the WCHA regular season, tournament, and NCAA tournament titles. Behind the efforts of four first team All-Americans, Mike Eaves (the current head coach of UW) 1980 Olympic hero Mark Johnson (Badger Bob’s son and now coach of the UW women’ team), Craig Norwich and Julian Baretta) the 1977 team won the title in amazing fashion, getting an equalizing goal late in regulation and winning goal in overtime in the final against Michigan. Another player on that team, grinding forward George Gwozdecky, would later become the coach of the Denver Pioneers, cementing his own legend in Denver.

The early 1980s were a glory period for Badger Hockey. The Badgers reached the NCAA title game three consecutive times in 1981, 1982, and 1983. The 1981 title was especially sweet for the Badger faithful, coming with a defeat of archrival Minnesota in the championship game. After again reaching the championship game in 1982, where the Badgers lost to North Dakota, the program was dealt a double blow with the resignation of "Badger" Bob Johnson. He left Wisconsin after 15 seasons with 3 NCAA championships, a record of 367-175-23, and having built the program into an NCAA powerhouse.

The pain of 1982 was quickly eased in 1983, however, with the hire of former Badger assistant coach Jeff Sauer. Sauer turned around and won the 1983 NCAA championship in his first season. Wisconsin defeated Harvard 6-2 to earn the program's 4th NCAA title. Under Sauer's leadership, the Badgers would qualify for eight consecutive NCAA tournaments from 1988 to 1995, winning the program's 5th NCAA title in 1990, with a 7-3 victory over Colgate in Detroit. Also, Sauer presided over the team's move from the venerable Dane County Coliseum to the new, on-campus Kohl Center in 1998. The Badgers have been tops in college hockey attendance every year since moving to the Kohl Center, where crowds of 13,000 -15,000+ are the norm, with a rowdy band and and fully engaged student section. Wisconsin is also credited with the inventions of the "Sieve" cheer, now heard all over college hockey. A game in Madison is a special experience that all hockey fans should experience.

In the mid 1990s, Badger hockey hit a bit of a lull, earning NCAA bids in 1998 and 2000, but generally underachieving compared to the high standards of the 1970s and 1980s. The 1999-2000 team featured a duo of 2nd overall NHL draft pick Dany Heatley and Steve Reinprecht, won the MacNaughton Cup, and earned a #1 position in the polls for most of the season, only to be upset by Boston College in the NCAA regionals. Two seasons later, during the 2001-2002 campaign, coach Sauer announced his retirement.

Sauer's replacement was hotly debated. Denver’s George Gwozdecky was considered, but elected to stay at DU, and the selection came down to Mike Eaves and Mark Johnson, with Eaves getting the nod due to deeper coaching experience in the NHL and abroad. While Eaves still holds the record as UW's all-time leading scorer, he is a much more defensive-minded coach. His first season at UW was full of hardship and controversy, including one of the worst records in the modern era. However, in 2003-2004, Eaves brought the Badgers just short of the Frozen Four, falling in overtime to Maine. After a disappointing finish to the 2004-2005 season, the Badgers returned to national prominence by winning the 2005/2006 NCAA championship by winning the Frozen Four held in nearby Milwaukee. He is looking to return the Badgers to the pinnacle again, but recent teams have lacked the scoring depth needed to win Frozen Fours.

About the University of Wisconsin
Founded in 1848, the original idea of UW was to start the university near the seat of the state government in Madison, the capital city of Wisconsin. UW was founded the same year that Wisconsin became a state, and the University began with 17 students in rented rooms at the Madison Female Academy. Since then, it has grown to become one of America’s largest research universities, with over 42,000 students in 20 different schools, and the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin system over $900 million in research funding.

Early UW academic successes included the 1913 and 1916 discoveries of Vitamins A and B by UW scientist, Elmer V. McCollum, and the 1923 process for adding vitamin D to milk. In 1940, UW developed Warfarin, an important blood thinner,
(also known as Coumadin) and named it after the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation

In the 1960s and 70s, Madison and UW became a hotbed of anti-war protests including the August, 1970 bombing outside the Army Math Research Center in Sterling Hall, killing post-doctoral researcher Robert Fassnacht.

In 1988, two UW Madison students, Tim Keck and Christopher Johnson founded the Onion humor newspaper, and in 1998, UW cell biologist James Thompson first isolated and cultured human embryonic stem cells.

UW is a member of the Big 10 conference as well as the WCHA, and has really upgraded its athletic programs in recent years, and with no other comparable school in the state, UW Madison has a deep and passionate statewide following with large alumni chapters across the world.

Madison, Wisconsin
Known as one of America’s great college towns, the City of Madison is the State Capital with over 220,000 residents, and over 500,000 in the metropolitan area, the second largest city in Wisconsin after Milwaukee. The city was founded in 1836 as planned capital for the new Wisconsin Territory, and had only 626 people when UW was founded in 1848. The UW Campus has over 900 acres that occupy much of central Madison, sitting on an isthmus between Lake Monona and Lake Mendota in south central Wisconsin.

During the American Civil War, Madison served as a center of the Union Army in Wisconsin. Camp Randall, on the west side of Madison, was built and used as a training camp, a military hospital, and a prison camp for captured Confederate soldiers. After the war ended, the Camp Randall site was absorbed into the University of Wisconsin. Camp Randall Stadium was built over the site in 1917.

Today, the city is known for both its liberal leanings and for its reputation as a party town, helped along by 40,000+ UW students and the bars of State Street. It's a white collar place with a lot of culture, recreational opportunities and cheap alcohol.

University Traditions:

Nickname – Badgers
The nickname "Badgers" was borrowed from the state of Wisconsin. The territory was dubbed the "Badger State," not because of animals in the region, but rather because of an association with lead miners. In the 1820s and 1830s, prospectors came to the state looking for minerals, and without shelter in the winter, the miners had to "live like badgers" in tunnels burrowed into the hillsides. The badger mascot was adopted by the University of Wisconsin in 1889.

Logo and Mascot:
"Buckingham U. Badger", aka “Bucky Badger” was chosen in a student contest in 1949. The current emblem, a scowling, strutting badger wearing a cardinal-and-white striped sweater, was designed by Art Evans in 1940. Bucky wears a cardinal red and white Wisconsin sweater along with a gruff look on his face (the costumed-mascot version is decidedly cheerier, with a beaming smile).He also has a history of playfully fighting other team's mascots like the University of Minnesota's Goldy Gopher or Purdue University's Purdue Pete. Although fighting is no longer allowed by NCAA mascots, Bucky still frequently interacts with other mascots through skits. Bill Sagal was the first costumed Bucky Badger. The original Bucky costume was introduced at a pep rally on Friday, November 11, 1949, before the next day's Homecoming football game against Iowa. Carolyn (Connie) Conrad, a UW art student, designed the original chicken wire and paper mache head. Sagal, then head cheerleader, wore his regular cheerleader trousers and sweater and added boxing gloves.

The modern Bucky Badger logo was part of a group of "comic collegiate badger mascots" created by the Anson W. Thompson Company of Los Angeles in 1940. The company was one of several that manufactured decals and other logowear for universities. The UW athletic department first used the logo on the cover of the 1948 Football Facts and Centennial Sports Review. In 2003, Bucky was given an update, with simplified lines and the "motion W" on his sweater.

Wisconsin School Colors:

Cardinal and white are the official colors of UW’s sports teams, and the color of cardinal shade or red comes originally from Catholic Cardinal’s Cassock (robe). Arizona, Arkansas, Iowa State, USC, Stanford and Wisconsin all use Cardinal as a school color, which is very close shade to crimson, the color of the Pioneers.

Wisconsin Fight Song
"On, Wisconsin!" is the fight song of the Wisconsin Badgers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It is also the official state song of Wisconsin. "On, Wisconsin!" was also the cry that Arthur MacArthur, Jr. used in the Battle of Chattanooga at Missionary Ridge, in the Civil War.

The tune was composed in 1909 by William T. Purdy, with the intention of entering it into a competition for a new fight song at the University of Minnesota. Carl Beck, a former University of Wisconsin-Madison student, convinced him to withdraw it from the contest at the last minute and allow his alma mater to use it instead. Beck then wrote the original, football-oriented lyrics, changing the words "Minnesota, Minnesota" to "On, Wisconsin! On, Wisconsin!" (The eventual winner of the competition became known as the Minnesota Rouser).

The lyrics were rewritten for the state song in 1913 by Judge Charles D. Rosa and J. S. Hubbard. The song was widely recognized as the state song at that time, but was never officially designated. Finally in 1959, "On, Wisconsin!" was officially designated as the State Song. The song is actually in the public domain and used by hundreds of high school and small colleges, and is even used as the fight song of the CFL’s Saskatchewan RoughRiders.

Lyrics
On, Wisconsin! On, Wisconsin!
Plunge right through that line!
Run the ball clear down the field,
A touchdown sure this time. (U rah rah)
On, Wisconsin! On, Wisconsin!
Fight on for her fame
Fight! Fellows! - fight, fight, fight!
We'll win this game.

Famous University of Wisconsin Alumni
The University of Wisconsin has many distinguished alumni including aviator Charles Lindbergh, Architect Frank Lloyd Wright, writers Saul Bellow, Joyce Carol Oates, Stephen Ambrose and Eudora Welty, TV personalities Edwin Newman, Greta Van Susteren and Jeff Greenfield. Famous UW politicians include Dick and Lynn Cheney, Senators Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold, as well as musicians Steve Miller and Boz Skaggs.

Famous Sports Alumni include Alan Ameche, Ron Dayne, Troy Vincent and Crazy Legs Hirsch (Football), NBAers Michael Finley and Devin Harris, Baseball Hall of Famer Addie Joss, NHL Hockey players Chris Chelios, Dany Heatley,Tony Granato, Mike Richter and Gary Suter, and Olympians Eric Heiden, Suzy Favor Hamilton, Carly Piper and Horse trainer D. Wayne Lukas.

The Series
Wisconsin rolls into Denver agitated and angry after an 0-2 start and ranked 20th, while the Pioneers are ranked fourth and are coming off a dominant third period against Notre Dame and are playing with confidence after the 5-2 victory over the Irish.

Wisconsin is deeper in the defensive talent than DU is, but the Pios have a deeper offensive attack. I also like Cheverie a little more than the Wisconsin goaltending so far, (Shane Connelly and Scott Gudmandson) who are allowing 5 goals per game.

I think Wisconsin is better than its record, and I would not be at all surprised to see UW take points in Denver this weekend, especially after owning the Pioneers in the last few games. But I also think Denver has respect to play for after last years early NCAA exit at the hands of Bucky. The key to the series will be Denver's ability to use its offensive advantages as Wisconsin's defensive talent continues the gelling process.

I am predicting a split. 2-1 Wisconsin on Friday, 5-3 Denver on Saturday.