If you looked carefully enough, you’d find DU hockey in some of sports’ largest publications.
In the March 7 issue of Sports Illustrated, freshman center Dylan Gambrell appeared in Faces in the Crowd after his five-point week vs. Colorado College in late February.
Big weekends are nothing new for Gambrell in 2016, as he has 31 points in his past 22 games, trailing only teammate Trevor Moore in points among NCHC players since the calendar flipped.
Farther into the issue, we find Coach Jim Montgomery quoted about Calgary Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau, whom he coached in 2010-11 at Dubuque of the USHL. An interesting tidbit that I was unaware of, Pioneers defenseman Will Butcher made a two-game cameo for the Fighting Saints that season before he went to the U.S. National Team Development Program.
Also on that team, which won the Clark Cup, was Buffalo Sabres forward Zemgus Girgensons, former Cornell (and current AHL) defenseman Joakim Ryan and former Miami forward Riley Barber.
Montgomery and the Fighting Saints won another Clark Cup two seasons later when Evan Janssen and Gambrell were on the Dubuque roster. Gambrell was one of just three 16-year-olds who played regularly for Montgomery, and in hindsight it’s not hard to see why.
The March 7 cover date continued to be good to Montgomery as he was featured in one of The Hockey News’ 8 Awesome Moments in AHL History story, a short piece the 1995 playoff series between Hershey (where Montgomery – Cooper lid and all – was playing) and Cornwall. The plotline included the teams’ parent organizations flipping affiliations the following season. The coach recounts his somewhat reluctant role in a Cornwall-initiated line brawl during Game 5 of the series after Hershey took a 3-0 lead.
As they say, “If it’s in The Hockey News, it’s gotta be true.”
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