A few short seasons ago, the Colorado Academy ice hockey team looked for a single win.
None came for two seasons for the young program, but the Mustangs have grown and reached to the point where they now are in search of THE win, as in one that delivers a state championship.
Colorado Academy — which attended the Denver Broncos Winter Sports media day at Empower Field at Mile High — got a chance to get that one last year, but came up short with a 4-0 loss to Cheyenne Mountain in the Class 4A state title game on the Colorado Avalanche’s home ice that made an impression on coach Richie Nelson and his players.
“I felt last year our performance in the state championship was that we were just happy to be there,” said Nelson, now in his third season as head coach. “You could tell they were starstruck a little bit. I will say it was somewhat overwhelming with the success that the Avalanche had and the boys going to an Avs game and then they are playing a big game on that same rink (at Ball Arena). It was a big stage and a new situation for them.”
“If we can have that same success we had last year, that experience might make the difference.”
Indeed, the returning Colorado Academy players would really like the chance to play in another state championship game given what they learned a year ago.
They are eager to show the motivation and hunger to win that represent another step in the continued solidification of the program’s foundation.
“We know the expectations and how hard you have to work, how much focus on the details and effort in every single practice and game it takes to reach that highest stage,” said junior Fraser Smith, a returning 4A All-State first team goaltender. “Once we reach there, we all feel like we have something to prove. We did not feel like our performance in last year’s title game was our best game, so we really want to get back there and prove that we are a different team.”
“There’s definitely extra motivation and desire to prove ourselves after last year’s defeat.”
Added senior defenseman Elliot Rutherford: “I think that if we reach the playoffs again this year, there’s more of a sense of ‘We deserve to be here.’ I think that sense was sort of lost last year and we thought maybe we can steal this championship. This season, from the start, everyone really believes in the team and our coaches have done a great job of making the culture so that we have all bought into the fact that we can be a really good team if we put the effort in. I think that will make a big difference.”
Colorado Academy is most definitely a different team than it used to be, no matter what the outcome of the campaign, especially coming off a 17-4 season that the returning players both called “special.”
In just over a handful of seasons, it has grown from a program of largely multi-sport athletes who played hockey as something secondary to one that is taken seriously by all who lace up the skates.
The arrival of Nelson and a new coaching staff plus the addition of weight training coach Wes Kirk has been transformative in many ways.
The Mustangs lift weights before school at least three times a week and it has produced a toughness that shows in the way they play.
That is particularly notable on defense, where Colorado Academy has some key pieces still in place with the return of Rutherford as part of the unit that has Smith as its “backbone.”
“We really preach being physical on the defensive end and setting the tone,” Rutherford said. “From a hockey perspective, if you can win the physical battle, it opens up space. We’re an extremely fast team as well and those things go hand-in-hand. It starts on the defensive front, winning puck battles in the corner. Our mindset right now is that if it is a 50-50 puck, it’s our puck. “No one really backs down to any checks the other team might throw at us, so toughness is playing a key role.”
Frasier credits the plan of assistant Christian Brown for the success of the defense, which is coming off a season in which it allowed just 29 goals in 21 games, but needs to make up for some losses due to graduation.
“He’s done a great job helping with positioning and structure, so our defense has really taken a big step,” Smith said of Brown.
While defense and goaltending look to be a strength, Colorado Academy also has some offensive punch with the return of forward Asher Still — who earned 4A first team all-state honors last season — along with some other players who have stepped up to fill the void of several players that graduated from a team that averaged more than five goals per game.
“I have a lot of forwards who are hungry to put pucks in the back of the net,” Nelson said. “They don’t care who puts it in and I think that’s the key to any team’s success.”
Colorado Academy hopes to get a chance to add a state ice hockey championship to an already successful athletic season for the school, which won the state field hockey championship as well as the Class 3A boys soccer title.