Want ice with that, Denver?

• Author: Schley, Stewart
• Position: SPORTS biz

WITH THE DEBUT OF THE CENTRAL HOCKEY

League's Denver Cutthroats at the Denver Coliseum this month, Denver becomes one serious playground for hockey fans.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Here's the math: Including the NHL's Colorado Avalanche, the Cutthroats and Denver University's men's ice-hockey team, an inventory of 1.1 million seats for live hockey are waiting to be filled this season in the metro area. (That's the number of regular-season home games X the number of available arena seats per game.)

Blame the new guy for inflating the numbers. As the new arrival on the scene, the Cutthroats have added 269,000 available tickets, or roughly 24 percent of the total inventory, courtesy of 33 home games in the 8,000-seat Coliseum.

Among other things, hockey fans, that means you can brace yourself for harmonic hockey-convergence evenings when all three Denver teams will by vying for your affections. One example: Saturday, Oct. 20. The Cutthroats face off at 7:05 p.m. against the Missouri Mavericks at the Coliseum, while the Avalanche will host the Calgary Flames at Pepsi Center starting at 8 p.m. Or, you can ditch the pro teams and opt for DU's Pioneers, who will play Air Force at Magness Arena, 7:07 p.m.

Wait, there's more. That same evening at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland, the Eagles of the East Coast Hockey League play the Idaho Steelheads. Came time is 7:05 p.m. I suppose if you're a true hockey fanatic with a sweet credit limit and a full tank of gas, you can hit all four games.

But seriously. The hockey feast provokes some big questions: Are there enough fans to go around? And how will the market disperse around three metro-area teams with full-season schedules?

DU APPROACH

DU hopes to solve the competitive hockey puzzle by adopting a new mantra: It's all about the experience. From the technical workings of a revamped ticket-sales website to in-game giveaways to revved-up performance from the pep band at Magness Arena, the university's athletic department is being extra-mindful of the holistic fan experience it's responsible for presenting.

"We sometimes get caught up in the 'go-go, win-win' mentality," says Angel Field, DU assistant ath-L letic director of marketing. "But it's also the small things that count."

Not that the quality of play is secondary. Field thinks the speed and skill...