Longtime archrivals Colorado College and Denver continue their battle for the Gold Pan this weekend, with this season marking the 27th anniversary of the Gold Pan competition. The teams will play at the Broadmoor World Arena Friday, March 6, at 7:37 p.m., and at Magness Arena in Denver on Saturday, March 7, at 8:06 p.m.
Friday's home game also is Senior Night, and seniors on the roster will be honored at a pre-game ceremony. Additionally, the new name for CC's athletic mascot will be unveiled during the first intermission, as Prowler is "graduating" this season.
The Gold Pan is a traveling trophy established by former head coaches Don Lucia of Colorado College and Frank Serratore of Denver in 1993-94. It has been awarded every season since to the team that prevails in the regular-season series. In the event of an even split of the four games, the team currently in possession of the trophy keeps it.
Each team has hoisted the hardware 13 times in the 26 previous years. CC won the trophy last March for the first time since 2014 when it posted back-to-back victories, 2-1 in Denver and 1-0 at home. The Gold Pan had resided in the Mile High City the previous four years.
The 322 games played between Colorado College and Denver makes it the second-most played rivalry in college hockey history. Only Michigan and Michigan State have played more times (326). Colorado College, which won the trophy four consecutive seasons from 1999-2003, will have to repeat that to retain it as Denver swept the Tigers earlier this season.
The first Gold Pan trophy was a rusty old gold pan from Cripple Creek, Colorado, that had actually been used for prospecting. That first trophy was lost in Denver after the 2003-04 season. The current trophy was created by Colorado sculptor Mike Halterman and donated by the Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mine in 2005.
The CC-DU rivalry took on a new look four years ago, when the two teams played the first outdoor hockey game on Feb. 20, 2016, at Coors Field in Denver. The "Battle on Blake" was the first outdoor game between CC and DU and played one week prior to the Colorado Avalanche hosting the Detroit Red Wings at Coors Field as part of the Coors Light NHL Stadium Series. The CC-DU game attracted a crowd of 35,144.
The games will be broadcast in Colorado Springs on KRDO NewsRadio 105.5 and 92.5 FM and 1240 AM. Saturday's game will be televised on CBS Sports Network.