Battle for Pikes Peak


Battle for Pikes Peak
CC – Air Force Rivalry

Air Force Falcons Colorado College Tigers
Ice Hockey
First MeetingCC 5–1 @AFA – December 5, 1969
Last MeetingUSAFA 6-3 @AFA – December 29, 2017
Next GameOctober 13, 2018
Games Played74
Current Winning StreakAF – 2
All-time seriesCC leads 59–13–2
Pikes Peak TrophyUSAFA leads 5–0
Battle for Pikes Peak
USAFA (5)CC (0)
2013 / 14
2014 / 15
2015 / 16
2016 / 17
2017 / 18

The Battle for Pikes Peak is a college ice hockey rivalry series that is played between the Colorado College Tigers and the Air Force Academy Falcons.

Background

The two schools have played each other since the Air Force Academy introduced ice hockey to its sporting schedule in the 1968–69 season. Colorado College started its hockey program thirty years before in 1938 and had been the lone top tier college hockey team till the University of Denver added ice hockey in 1949. The rivalry between Colorado College and the University of Denver, commonly called the Battle for the Gold Pan, has had a far more reaching intensity and history. However, unlike CC and DU, who are 65 miles from each other, CC and the Air Force Academy are only 11 miles apart (both within Colorado Springs city limits). In 2013, Colorado College and Air Force established the Pikes Peak Trophy in memory of former CC and Falcons head coach John Matchefts. Matchefts had compiled a record of 54-88-3 in five seasons (1966-71) at the Colorado College helm before posting a ledger of 154-150-6 in 11 years (1974-85) with Air Force. [1]

Overall rivalry record

Colorado College victoriesAir Force victoriesTie games

Goal Count

TeamTotal Goals
AIR FORCE Goals219
CC Goals429
TOTAL Goals639

Head-to-head tally

TypeLeaderLeaders W – L – TTotal Matches
AIR FORCE Home GamesCC32 – 5 – 138 Matches Total
CC Home GamesCC27 – 7 – 135 Matches Total
Overtime GamesUSAFA2 – 1 – 14 Matches Total
  • As of November 2016

Setup

The rules to the series is very similar to that of the more widely known Battle for the Gold Pan.There are however many distinct differences. Unlike the four games per year between CC and DU, Air Force and CC have traditionally played only two games per year (between 2011 and 2014 only one game was played), this is mostly done in part as Air Force and CC have never been in the same conference. Air Force is currently part of the Atlantic Hockey Association, while Colorado College is a founding member of both its former and current hockey leagues, respectively the Western Collegiate Hockey Association and National Collegiate Hockey Conference. Both play a home-and-home series on weekends, where both teams play on each other's home ice on back-to-back nights. The home ice for the Colorado College Tigers is the Broadmoor World Arena (which is a larger Olympic-size rink), while the home ice for the Air Force Falcons is Cadet Ice Arena (which is a smaller NHL-size rink). The difference in rink size is again, similar to that of the rivalry between CC and DU. The setup is that the winner of the series wins the Pikes Peak Trophy. If a tie is reached then the trophy is retained by the previous winner. In the 2016/17 season both schools faced off again for only one game in the regular season.

Cadet Ice Arena
Cadet Ice Arena home of the Air Force Falcons
World Arena
Broadmoor World Arena home of the Colorado College Tigers

See also

References

  1. "Battle for Pikes Peak Trophy This Weekend". Colorado College Athletics. Retrieved 2015-11-26.
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