Denver is Dominating Hockey at Every Level
Hockey in 2021-22 has had a single city constantly find itself at the top and you may think it’s a city in Minnesota or maybe even the Northeast, but in fact, that city is Denver, Colorado. While only home to one National Hockey League (NHL) team, Denver has had teams win the title at two other levels of hockey.
In the NHL, Denver’s team is the Colorado Avalanche who is currently the favorite to win the Stanley Cup. Through 72 games this season, the Avs have won a league-leading 52 games and have the most points with 110. The Avs have a two-point advantage over the Florida Panthers in the race for the Presidents’ Trophy given to the league’s best team in the regular season.
The Avs have already clinched a place in the NHL Playoffs and are the only team in the Western Conference to have clinched a playoff spot so far. The last few years have been tough for the Avs come playoff time with three straight second-round exits. This year’s team seems to have the best chance of bringing the Stanley Cup back to Denver for the first time since 2001. Cale Makar is a Norris Trophy contender, Nazem Kadri has had his best season in Denver, and Darcy Kuemper has played extremely well in net.
While the Avs have a good shot at the title, a high school team in Denver has already accomplished that. Denver East High School had never been known for being a very good hockey team, but the Angels had been getting better and ran through the Colorado High School Sports Association (CHSSA) 5A hockey division this season. Denver East finished the regular season 17-1-1 with their lone loss coming in the first game of the season. In the Colorado State Playoffs, Denver East had the #1 seed and steamrolled their way to the State Championship. In the championship game, Denver East beat Valor Christian 6-3 to win the six-year-old program’s first title.
Their season did not end there as they went to compete in the 2022 USA Hockey-Chipotle High School Division II National Championship in Dallas, Texas. In Dallas, Denver East played six games outscoring their opponents 39 to 9, and ultimately won the National Championship 4-2 against New York’s Northport Huntington Tigers thanks to a hattrick by Kaden Dunham. Following the win Denver East found its name sitting at the top of MaxPreps national rankings.
Then there is the University of Denver Pioneers. The Pioneers made the NCAA tournament and after upsetting the Michigan Wolverines, a team with 13 NHL draftees and the favorite to win it all, in the Frozen Four found themselves in the National Championship. In the championship game, the Pioneers had to come from a goal down to beat the Minnesota State Mavericks 5-1. This was a remarkable accomplishment for the Pioneers who won their first title since 2017 after scoring five third-period goals. It was also a record-tying win for the Pioneers as they claimed their ninth NCAA Championship title to equal that of Michigan.
Maybe the Avs can bring a third hockey title to Denver and complete a sweep of the high school, college, and professional levels. We will have to wait a few months and find out.
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