I want to make it clear: I’m a big hockey fan.
It was good news to my ears when it was announced a few years ago that high school hockey, sanctioned by the Colorado High School Activities Association, would be launching teams at Chatfield, Columbine, Dakota Ridge, Ralston Valley and Standley Lake beginning in the 2006-07 school year.
The move finally gave hockey players in Jeffco a chance to show off their talents at more than just the club level.
Ralston Valley and Standley Lake quickly jumped into the class of the elite teams in the state last season, with the Mustangs reaching the championship game.
Since 1982, a team from Colorado Springs had won the state title 22 of 26 seasons. The growth of the sport has turned those numbers around with Peak to Peak and Aspen claiming the last two state crowns.
While there is no doubt hockey popularity is on the rise in Jeffco, there is also a thin line teams must maneuver around. Hockey is a violent contact sport, where rivalry games can get out of hand in a hurry.
Ralston Valley and Standley Lake established a healthy rivalry during the last two seasons, but it became heated Thursday, Jan. 24. The Mustangs scored six power-play goals on the way to a 7-1 victory. The score didn’t tell the story.
Standley Lake was called for 19 penalties, and Ralston Valley for eight. The second period featured a handful of roughing, high sticking and boarding calls. While nobody dropped the gloves asking for a flat out fight, the end of the third period couldn’t come quickly enough for coaches and administrators.
Things settled down a little in the third period, but the 19 Gator penalties were enough to suspend Standley Lake coach Scott Reynolds for a game. Under CHSAA rules, any team who has 15 penalties or more in a single game has its head coach suspended for the next game.
Put a bunch of sticks in the hands of teenagers, mix in some emotion, and a great game can turn into something that doesn’t resemble hockey.
If Jeffco wants to continue to grow and stay in a positive spotlight, players must keep their heads. And, maybe more importantly, keep their sticks on the ice. Just one ugly incident could melt away hockey in Jeffco.
Girl Power Part II
I almost witnessed a bit of history Saturday, Jan. 26, at the Class 5A Jeffco Wrestling Invite. Chatfield junior Adeline Gray was seconds away from winning her first varsity tournament at the high school level.
To my knowledge, it would have been the first girl to win any varsity tournament at the high school level in Colorado.
Gray, who wrestled for Bear Creek her freshman year before her family moved to south Jeffco, had a 6-2 lead over Green Mountain’s Bryce Pexton with seconds remaining in the 140-pound champion bout. Pexton managed a reversal and two-point near fall, sending the match into overtime.
Pexton got the takedown in the opening seconds of overtime to prevent history.
Gray is a multiple winner at the U.S. Girls Wrestling Association Championships. She has an impressive 25-5 record this season, and could very well become the second girl to qualify for Colorado’s state tournament next month. Golden’s Brooke Sauer qualified for the 4A state tournament in 2006.