Rage All Fluff?

It appears that the only thing coming out of Rage camp these days is fluff. Like this little ditty from cbs4denver.com:

The Broomfield Event Center is giving trick-or-treaters a chance to get candy and check out the suites at the center with a "Trick or Suite" event on Sunday, Oct. 28. The event runs from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. and is free.

Members of the Rocky Mountain Rage hockey team and the Colorado 14ers basketball as well as mascots and dancers will also be on hand to greet the trick-or-treaters.

I hope someone gets crosschecked. Like a 14er. Come the hell on. Camp has been open for four days. This is what we get? Good luck with the season, boys. Save me a kit kat.

Technorati Tags: CHL, Hockey, Rage

Both Teams Open Camp Monday

Itching for some hockey? Want to see what the teams may have to offer? The first signs of life in the CHL start Monday with the Rage and Eagles opening their training camps.

The Rage kick things off early at 9:00am at the Broom. For a complete schedule, you can look here, but Monday looks like this:

9 a.m. - 11 a.m. – On-ice Session

2:30 p.m. - 4 p.m. – On-ice Session

The Eagles roll out of bed an hour later, a much more hockey friendly 10:00am start time. Your full schedule and info is here. As for Monday:

10 a.m. Practice at Budweiser Events Center (BEC)

3:30-4:30 Intra-Squad Practice Game

Don't forget about preseason battle games, with home and home series to kick it off. The battle schedule is listed on the right.

Map to Broomfield Event Center

Map to Budweiser Event Center

Technorati Tags: CHL, Eagles, Hockey, Rage

Eagles Coach To Miss Season Start

Chris Stewart, head coach of the Colorado Eagles, will not be able to work the opening night game. From the Coloradoan:

Stewart, who has led the Eagles to two titles in their four seasons, will miss an undetermined length of time at the beginning of the season as he recuperates from recent back surgery. The coach underwent "experimental surgery" to put two artificial discs in his back.

You know what? You gotta do what you gotta do, and if that means missing the start of the season, so be it.

Assistant coach Ryan Bach will assume the day-to-day coaching of team, implementing a system Stewart said has been refined through years of trial and error.

"Ryan Bach will take over, and he'll handle things the very best he can," Stewart said. "I've dictated everything in a very specific pattern."

I didn't realize Bach was an assistant coach for the team. I hate to admit, and it pains me to think about, but I owned a Ryan Bach game worn jersey from the inaugural season. Alas, it is gone, lost in a parking garage in Baltimore, MD. But that's a story for a different day.

I'll let the Coloradoan finish this one off with some words about Ryan Bach.

For the early portion of the season, though, Bach will be the one in charge. He said he will lean on the system and the players who have proven track records in the organization.

"Basically, we have something that's worked here," Bach said. "The biggest thing that works in our favor is the chemistry we have in the locker room and the guys returning."

The man who was the first Eagles goalie in 2003-04 and joined the staff as a goalie coach last year never imagined he would be taking on a full-time role.

Bach has a successful real estate career, but he has reworked his schedule and delegated some of his work to make sure he can fully concentrate on his new job. He said he was hooked when he got to be around the team during its title run last season and when Stewart approached with the assistant coach offer, Bach took the plunge.

He said he'll look to set the tone early in training camp, which officially starts Oct. 8.

"As a coach, I have to provide the direction and environment so that moving forward we have no comfort zone," Bach said, meaning he won't let complacency set it. "Teams will be gunning for us, especially after last year.

"I've got a challenge in front of me, no question. I'm looking forward to it."

Technorati Tags: CHL, Eagles, Hockey

Rage Tickets on Sale Now

The Rocky Mountain Rage put their tickets for single games on sale today. You can buy them through the Rage website.

Technorati Tags: CHL, Hockey, Rage

Plume Update

The Quad City Mallards Flames announced roster cuts today, and Clay Plume was among those cuts. No word yet on where he will end up, but perhaps he will be back in the C. Good luck, Clay.

Technorati Tags: CHL, Hockey, Rage

Rage Attendance: Not Bad

Minor league hockey is more popular than minor league basketball. That may not come as any surprise to hockey fans, but at least it's confirmed. The Rocky Mountain Rage had more butts in seats (or at least, less empty ones, according to the Daily Camera) than the Colorado 14ers.

Out of the 6,000 seats at the arena, about 2,000 were empty for each of last season's Rocky Mountain Rage hockey games. More than half the seats — about 3,500 — were empty during Colorado 14ers basketball games.

So, if we do some math, we get that the Rage were selling an average of around 4000 seats per game. In fact, according to Pointstreak, the Rage sold an average of 4,027 tickets per game. While that may be half of what the Oklahoma City Blazers sold last year (who play in a full sized arena in a busy downtown area), that's pretty good. In fact, that's a lot better than the Austin Ice Bats (1,900) or the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL (1,844 in the 17,000 seat US Bank Arena). 4,000 a game is enough to live on.

Games against the Colorado Eagles averaged higher than the season average, but not by much.

So, really, those who questioned placing "another" hockey team in Colorado, so close to the Avalanche and the Eagles, in the short term at least, they have been proven wrong.

Technorati Tags: CHL, Hockey, Minors, Rage

Eagles to give Acting a Shot

The Colorado Eagles are going to have more airtime soon. Altitude is giving the Eagles a half hour show to bring Northern Colorado hockey to the people. From the Coloradoan:

The Colorado Eagles aim to give fans more entertainment than just what they’ll see on the Budweiser Events Center rink this season.

The organization debuts the Colorado Eagles NoCo Hockey Show this year.

Nice. Here comes the scary part:

The show, a mix of sports talk, hockey 101 and comedy skits, airs the first of its monthly scheduled episodes at 5 p.m. Oct. 7 on Altitude before coverage of a Colorado Avalanche game.

Comedy skits? Seriously? So, the Eagles are aiming to become the SNL of the CHL?

Local sports TV at it's best.

Technorati Tags: CHL, Eagles, Hockey, Minors

First Battle of the Season in Pre-Season

The first Battle of Colorado is going to take place in the preseason, with a home and home series. The first will be in Broomfield on October 13th, with the second being at the Bud the 14th. It's the preseason, so expectations may be low, but I suspect the bad blood between the teams will start here. Get in early, and see how your team shapes up.

Technorati Tags: CHL, Eagles, Hockey, Minors, Rage

Rosters Taking Shape

This is the listing for both teams from the current signing pages on the CHL site:


Colorado Eagles
Dave Iannazzo, F
Jay Birnie, D
Erik Adams, D
Ed McGrane, F
Aaron Schneekloth, D
Greg Pankewicz, F
Ryan Tobler, F
Brad Williamson, D
Riley Nelson, F
Jason Beatty, D
Marco Emond, G
Brett Thurston, D
Scott Polaski, F
Fraser Filipic, F
Steve Haddon, F
Chris Hartsburg, F
Paulo Colaiacovo, G
Jonathan Lounsbury, D
Tyson Terry, F
Les Borsheim, F/D
Clayton Pool, G
Seth Leonard, F
Mike Lukajic, F
Ian Keserich, G
Rocky Mountain Rage
Chip Dunleavy, F
Brent Cullaton, RW
Scott Wray, LW
Tyler Butler, D
Clay Plume, D
Scott Reid, G
David Morelli, C
Nathan Rosychuk, F
Trevor Weisgerber, F
Rob Chappell, D
Nick Harloff, D
Colt King, F
Daymen Rycroft, F
Simon Watson, F
Jami Yoder, D
Pat Sutton, D
Terry Dunbar, G

Thats 24 players for the Eagles, four of which are goaltenders.

You can keep up with all the current signing around the league here.

Technorati Tags: CHL, Eagles, Hockey, Rage

Plume of Rage Trying Out in the AHL

Clay Plume is getting a shot to make it to the AHL. From the Central Hockey League:

Rocky Mountain Rage defenseman Clay Plume has earned a try out with the American Hockey League’s Quad City Flames, the top player development affiliate of the NHL’s Calgary Flames. Plume, who garnered the Rage’s inaugural Defenseman of the Year award, set career highs across the board last season for goals (8), assists (18), points (26), and penalty minutes (75).

While that may not seem like impressive numbers, he did play all 64 games last season, and was part of a Rage team that was less than impressive (17 wins -40 losses - 7 OT loses last season for last place in the league). To be a standout in that sort of situation is impressive.

The current roster listing on the QC Mallards Flames website shows eleven total defensemen, making for some stiff competition, especially since Flames prospects get the upper hand, and Plume is undrafted. We'll see how this plays out.

Technorati Tags: CHL, Hockey, Minors, Rage

Hockey Coach Stops Horse in a Unique Way

This is ridiculous, but the AP says it's true:

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- The coach of Oklahoma City's minor-league hockey team helped prevent a possible stampede of Belgian horses at the Oklahoma State Fair by biting one of the animals on its ear.

Do what now?

Doug Sauter, who coaches the Oklahoma City Blazers of the Central Hockey League, was at the fair Saturday attending the Centennial Expo's Draft Horse Show when he saw a Belgian horse break free from its reins. That caused a chain reaction that spooked other horses, he said Monday.

He bit the ear of one of the spooked horses to stop it from stampeding.

"That's how you stymie a horse," he said.

"You bite as hard as you can, and it won't move."

In a related, completely fabricated story, two-thirds of the Oklahoma City Blazers have suddenly quit the team.

Do you think he had a tough time getting to the horse's ear through his mustache?


(photo from the Central Hockey League website)

That's small for his mustache. You should see (I kid you not) his bobble-head, on sale at the Blazers arena.

Technorati Tags: CHL, Hockey, Minors, Weird

The Boys are Back

In the never-ending struggle of icing a solid team, the Colorado Eagles seem the most successful of non-affiliated minor league teams to bring back the same players year after year. This season, the main core is back along with the goaltender of last season, begging the question, do the Eagles know something the rest of the league doesn't?

Of course, having a rabid fan base at this level helps, but I will say this. Living in Colorado, you can understand why moving back to the Ft. Collins area would be appealing.

Welcome to the Battle of Colorado. This is a place for the scoop (and occasional bile) from both sides of the Front Range. From the meetings of the Colorado Eagles and the Rocky Mountain Rage, to the news from around the Central Hockey League, this is the place. At least, I hope so.

I would love to see a pair of bloggers, one for each team, posting about the teams, games, and their feeling about hockey in Colorado. If you are interested, email me. I'd love to hear from you and see what you think.

The Battle of Colorado starts on the ice October 20th with the Rage at the Eagles. Don't miss out.