As I enter my senior year at this school, I have three things left on my Colorado College bucket list: attend a Llamapalooza with no rain, defeat Trevor Barron, the Olympic speed-walker, in a walk-off and see our beloved hockey team win a National Championship.
Rain may inevitably fall on May 11. No matter how hard I train, there is no chance I will ever be able to move my hips in the required speed-walking motion to walk a six-minute mile. However, watching our hockey team compete for a National Championship at Robert Morris University on April 13 ― now that’s a possibility.
Some doubters might call me out for having unrealistic goals for my senior year. To these nay-sayers let me simply mention that this season will absolutely be a historic one. The Colorado College Tigers have been part of the WCHA since its foundation in 1951; however, at the start of the 2013-14 season, the Tigers will no longer be members of the only conference they have really ever known. After this season, the WHCA will break up. Teams such as Minnesota and Wisconsin, who are part of the Big Ten Conference in every other major sport, will play for the Big Ten in hockey. Meanwhile, CC, the anti-Christ Denver Pioneers, Minnesota Duluth, Nebraska Omaha and St. Cloud State will join Miami University and Western Michigan in a newly formed CCHA. Let’s not forget about the Notre Dame Fighting Irish who will join the Hockey East.
In a momentous year like this, anything can happen. Especially with the maturity our CC hockey team boasts. Scott Owens enters his 14th season as the head coach, which is the longest tenure of any head coach in the history of this school. What is more, Owens has the pleasure of coaching seven returning seniors and six juniors. Now, saying that winning a National Championship is a tall task is an incredible understatement; since 1948, the winningest team has done it nine times.
This all boils down to one fact. You fans and scholars deserve a weekly update on this historic season. For that reason, I regret to inform you, my words will occupy this space in The Catalyst for the remainder of the Colorado College hockey season. I have been a hockey fan my entire life. I’ve played the sport since I was six, and I have to say, it’s the most exciting sport. Hockey has it all: the speed, skill, toughness, fighting, rowdy fans, awesome celebrations and unmatched passion. If that doesn’t get you excited for this upcoming season, I don’t know what could. The first game is this Sunday at 6 p.m. so get out there, get loud and enjoy the start of a season that may enable me to cross off one of the few remaining items on my Colorado College bucket list.
Alex Woolford
Sports Columnist