The Gold Pan that No. 3 Denver and Colorado College will play for this season isn’t the original one.

The original, a miner’s actual gold pan, went MIA in the aftermath of DU’s 2004 NCAA title, former Pioneers coach George Gwozdecky recalled in a conversation this week.

The eternally affable Gwozdecky, now the head coach of Valor High School’s program in suburban Denver, told the story – one of many among a treasure trove he has.

“After the national title, there was a huge demand for autographed Denver paraphernalia,” he said. “So we cleared out the locker room to make room for players to sign things for charities and individuals. As we moved stuff out, the Gold Pan was lost. We couldn’t find it anywhere.

“In late August I called (then CC coach) Scott Owens and told him, ‘Either it’s been lost or it’s been taken.’ He got a company in Colorado Springs to pay for a new trophy.”

The Gold Pan is a mixed bag for the second-winningest coach in Pioneers history (443 wins to Murray Armstrong‘s 460). He won his fair share of them, but …

“It’s funny how you always remember the good ones, but you also remember the ones that tore your guts out,” Gwozdecky said.

And to think, DU’s rivals to the south didn’t consider it that much of a rivalry when it was started for the 1993-94 season by then-DU coach Frank Serratore (Air Force’s coach for 22 seasons) and then-CC coach Don Lucia.

“When I arrived (in 1994), my counterpart at CC, Don Lucia, downplayed the rivalry. He said they had bigger rivalries,” Gwozdecky said. “That was my first introduction to it.”

That changed the next season at the annual Denver Cup, which happened to be held at McNichols Arena.

“One year we had to play in McNichols Arena and CC was invited to participate,” Gwozdecky recalled. “CC won its semifinal, and DU won its semifinal to set up the championship game. DU won (3-2 over the then-No. 1 Tigers). … It was a heck of a game.”

Knocking off a top-ranked team really put the Gold Pan rivalry back on track. But what was bigger that night of Dec. 28, 1995 was the crowd. An announced crowd of 16,061 watched the Pioneers’ triumph.

“I never thought McNichols Arena would be packed for college hockey,” Gwozdecky marvels to this day. “That was my first real initiation into how fierce this rivalry would become.”

Aging well

The names of the players and coaches have changed, but the rivalry was no less intense whether bench bosses were Gwozdecky, Jim Montgomery or now David Carle opposing Lucia, Owens or now Mike Haviland.

This 26th installment of the Gold Pan – per usual a home-and home series beginning tonight in Colorado Springs and continuing Saturday at Magness Arena – offers the Pioneers a golden opportunity.

Sweep this weekend and they retain the trophy for a record fifth consecutive year. Win two times between now and the teams’ early March meeting and they still retain it. Overall, DU has won 13 to CC’s 12.

Carle and current players – as well as Colorado natives – Colin Staub, Jared Resseguie and Jack Doremus took up this topic in our latest Pioneer Hockey Podcast.

And some former players checked in as well (if you’d like to share your favorite Gold Pan memory please email me at chris@firstlineeditorial.com or direct message @MagnessMayhem on Twitter).

Trevor Moore recently made his NHL debut with the Toronto Maple Leafs. A second-team all-American in 2016 for DU, Moore had no doubt which address he remembers best on memory lane.

“My favorite has to be the outdoor game at Coors Field (in 2016),” Moore said. “Every time we played CC it was really special, but that one was super memorable because we were playing outdoors in that environment. I also always enjoyed the white outs at home.”

DU won that game, 4-1, and it more than doubled the McNichols Arena game in attendance with 35,144 at Coors Field.

“It was an incredible experience,” DU coach Jim Montgomery said that night. “I didn’t know there were that many Pioneer jerseys in Denver. It was just awesome to see.”

If you enjoy twisting the knife into the Tigers, former captain Adrian Veideman recalled this from his sophomore season.

“My favorite memory of playing against CC was in 2005 when we chartered out to the Frozen Four with CC,” Veideman said. “When we got to the airport they had already boarded and taken all of the front seats.

“We crushed them in the semifinals two days later and went onto win the national championship. After we won we got to the airport and all the CC players were on the plane at the back and we celebrated all the way home with the trophy. Fun times.”

The University of Denver has an excellent historical page set up about the rivalry full of nuggets. Be sure to check that out when you’re not cheering for the Pioneers.

©First Line Editorial 2017-19