DENVER, Colo. – Now in its 60th anniversary year, the Denver Coliseum is about to get a new tenant and a town with a rich history of professional ice hockey is about to get a new team. According to the Denver Post’s Adrian Dater, a press conference will be held at the venue tomorrow at 1:00 pm to announce a new Central Hockey League team, which will begin play in the 2012-13 season. Dater broke the story about the new team in early February. The team’s owner is said to be John Hayes, the CEO of Ball Corporation in nearby Broomfield. The 132-year-old company reported $8.6 billion in sales from its metal packaging and aerospace businesses last year and employs more than 14,500 people worldwide, including 3,000-plus in Colorado. The as-yet un-named team will reportedly be coached by former NHL player and Denver Grizzlies (IHL) player Derek Armstrong . Armstrong participated in 1,059 Professional games amassing 767 points and 920 penalty minutes. Of his total games 477 were played in the NHL where he put up over 200 points. Armstrong was drafted by the New York Islanders but played most of his career with the Los Angeles Kings. He also played for the New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators and St. Louis Blues. Armstrong is currently an assistant coach for the Boulder Junior Bison. Brent Cullaton has reportedly been tapped to be the assistant general manager/director of hockey operations. Cullaton, prev iously the coach of the Boulder Junior Bison of the Western States Hockey League and former captain of the Rocky Mountain Rage – a CHL team that played three seasons (2006-09) at the FirstBank Center in Broomfield. A three-time Central Hockey League all-star, Cullaton also played four seasons with the Laredo Bucks and contributed to that team’s Ray Miron President’s Cup Championships in 2004 and 2006. The name of the team, rumored to be the Cutthroats, after a species of Colorado trout, has actually not been determined. The team will put that decision up to fans, who will vote in an online contest.
Established in 1952, the Denver Coliseum has great Colorado hockey roots with teams playing there all the way back to the 1950’s. The arena is owned by the City and County of Denver and is run by its Theatres and Arenas division. The venue seats 10,200. The Denver Mavericks of the International Hockey League played there during the 1959-60 season, but the team folded due to financial reasons after just 34 days. The Denver Invaders of the Western Hockey Association (a farm club for the Toronto Maple Leafs) played at the Coliseum during the 1963-64 season. The WHA’s Denver Spurs was the next hockey club to call the Coliseum home (1968-75). The Spurs played in the Central Hockey League during the 1974-75 season. The team returned to the WHA for the 1975-76 season before they folded. Ice Hockey returned to the newly renovated Coliseum in 1987 when the IHL’s Indianapolis Checkers mover to Denver as the Colorado Rangers. They were coached by Pete Mahovlich. As an affiliate for the NHL’s New York Rangers, the team became the Colorado Rangers the following season. After the 1988–1989 season the team moved to Phoenix, Arizona and became known as the Phoenix Roadrunners. The IHL’s expansion Denver Grizzlies was the last hockey team to play at the Coliseum during the 1994-95 season, The team moved to Salt Lake City the following season and became the Utah Grizzlies. While in Denver, the Grizzlies won the 1994–95 Turner Cup, the official Championship of the IHL. According to the Post’s Dater, the team has already planned a reunion night for all members of that 1994-95 Grizzlies team that really helped lay the foundation for the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche coming to town in 1995. The new team will join the Avalanche, who play at the Pepsi Center, and the Colorado Eagles (ECHL), who play at the Budweiser Events Center in nearby Loveland as the area’s third professional hockey organization. Contact the writer at robert.keith@prohockeynews.com
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