Earlier this season, former coach George Gwozdecky, Trevor Moore and former captain Adrian Veideman weighed in on the Gold Pan rivalry.

In advance of this weekend’s series between No. 6 Denver and Colorado College, we checked in with two more players at the opposite end of the program’s history. One is recent Pioneer Matt Tabrum (Class of 2015).

The other, Mike Lampman (Class of 1972), holds the distinction of being the latest player drafted in the 1970 NHL Amateur Draft (as it was known then) to reach the NHL. And Lampman wasted little time doing it upon the completion of his Pioneers career, playing for both the St. Louis Blues and the Denver Spurs of the old Western Hockey League during the 1972-73 season. In fact, he was one of the Spurs’ leading scorers that season with 53 points in 49 games.

The Pioneers, meanwhile, won 73 games in the three seasons he played for them (freshmen were ineligible) and reached the Frozen Four in 1971 and ’72. Lampman scored 102 career points, including back-to-back seasons of 42 and 43 points.

Lampman checked in from his home in Hawaii recently. He works in the banking industry and still finds time to lace ’em up. … Hockey and Hawaii – I’m not sure it gets better than that.

Mike vividly recalled the DU-CC rivalry in the early 1970s:

The Broadmoor World Arena was historic for figure skating and was the home arena for Colorado College. It may have held 4-5,000 fans, and the student section was always raucous due to our intense rivalry and the low roof.

The fans always seemed really close to the ice and a part of the game. What DU students we had at the game always started the “CC sucks!” chant right away.

The interesting thing was the CC student section was located over our dressing room at the end of the arena, meaning we had to walk under the student 
section after each period to get to our dressing room.

I remember one game in particular, the game was really hard fought and tight but we had the lead. In the third period we had the puck in their end and I was 
standing in front of their goal hoping to pick up a rebound or just screen the goalie. Well, all of a sudden I felt this hard slash on the back of my legs. It turns out the goalie was the culprit, so without thinking too long about it, and knowing we had the lead late in the game, I punched the goalie in his face mask, knocking him down.

As we would expect, all chaos ensued with me getting jumped by a few of their players. I ended up squaring off with one of them … and out of nowhere during the fight he referee came over and put me in this bear hug to stop the fighting. The CC player took advantage of this and punched me in the face. After a while things did simmer down and I was thrown out of the game.

The real fun part came when I had to leave the ice for our dressing room, which meant going under the student section. The students were really fired up at this point and no doubt had a lot to drink. They proceeded to boo me vigorously and throw hot dogs, popcorn and soft drinks at me as I walked under their section to 
our dressing room.

I had a smile on my face and thanked them with a wave.

Upon returning to Denver after the game I had a date – and looked like a raccoon with two black eyes. It was great fun and those are good memories. 

But Mike has more:

On another occasion against CC at home, some students (I’m assuming) snuck up in the rafters of the DU arena and rigged a huge banner that somehow unraveled during the game. It had to be 15 feet by 15 feet at least. It had a profile of someone with their mouth wide open and the words “CC sucks” below it.

It brought the game to a halt while DU maintenance went up to the rafters to roll it back up. All of the fans loved the whole thing and of course there was the loud “CC sucks” chant that came with it all. 

While Lampman lived in Hamilton, Ontario, until his family moved to Southern California when he was 12, Tabrum is a Colorado native who grew up deep in the heart of CC country in Colorado Springs.

Tabrum was an every-night fixture in DU’s lineup for four years, from 2011-15, and scored 31 points in 151 career games. After a season in the ECHL, he retired and currently works for the City of Denver.

Matt also had a couple of favorite memories of the rivalry:

I think first and foremost one of my favorite memories was my senior (2014-2015), when we went undefeated against them which started the 14-game winning streak against the Tigers.  

Second, were the atmospheres. Growing up I never realized how loud either arena actually was during those rivalry games, but when you are on the ice in the thick of things it is quite the experience. Magness Arena was always rocking, and having the student section in a white out, ready to go to battle with the boys was the best. Pioneer Nation always brought the energy for that series.

You can bet both teams’ fan bases will be riled up this weekend, when with one win or one tie, Denver will retain the Gold Pan for a record fifth consecutive season.

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