After months and months of planning and preparation, Dawg Nation's flagship event, the Dawg Bowl II hockey tournament, went off at the Edge Ice Arena last weekend. And what a weekend it was!
This year we had 30 teams, up from 24 last April, and expanded to five divisons. Tournament play began Friday afternoon, and ended with our championshiop games late Sunday afternoon. All the divisions were very competitive, and the quality of hockey was terrific in every group.
In the Platinum division, Team Ahbe went undefeated for the whole weekend, and won the title with a convincing 10-4 victory over CSU. In the Gold group, Rocky Hockey ran away with a solid 8-3 win over Team Colorado. The skill in both of these divisions was unbelievable, and showed how good adult hockey in Colorado can be.
The Silver bracket saw The Nooks, a team comprised of players from the Edge Arena, get by The Misfits, 4-2, in a very good final. Then in the most exciting championship game of the weekend, the Rat Bastards took on the Blade Runners in the Copper Division. The teams were never separated by more than one goal for the entire game, and finished regulation play knotted up at 5-5. But the Rat Bastards were able to break through and put in a rebound three minutes into overtime, and came away with a heart stopping 6-5 vistory.
And in the last title match, The Thirsty Bears, who cruised through their bracket undefeated, took on a Cobra Kai squad comprised mainly of players who play under the Dawg Nation banner. On paper it looked like a close match, but it never turned out that way, as Cobra Kai scored early and often, and romped to a 7-0 win.
Cobra Kai
But as good as the hockey was over the weekend, there were several things that were a lot more important in the big picture. The first was our initial Survivor Game, played on Saturday afternoon. It featured players and referees that have either defeated, or are waging the good fight against cancer and other serious illnesses.
The game turned into one of the most special events we've ever put on in Dawg Nation. Before an almost capacity crowd, over 20 players with a common bond skated together, and formed friendships that will last a lifetime. And this will become a permanent part of the Dawg Bowl weekend.
(Please see the Dawg Nation website to view all the photos- link upper right of this page)
And to put a cherry on top, during the intermission we were able to present a check for $5325.00 to Scott Staudte, a referee who had been injured, and was dealing with a ton of medical bills. In fact almost every referee that worked the tournament this weekend donated his entire fee to Scott's cause, making the check much larger that originally planned. Who says refs don't have a heart?
Another highlight from the weekend was a project we called Goals for Gabriel, which was spearheaded by Dawgs board member Dan Cashman. Gabriel Acuna, son of Dawg Nation member Chris Acuna and his wife Amy, was born five months ago with clubbed feet and missing toes, and will face a childhood of multiple surgeries in order to help correct the problem. Needless to say, these procedures will build massive medical bills for the Acuna family.
Dan Cashman and Gabriel
This is right in the wheelhouse of the Dawg Nation Hockey Foundation, and we set up a special project for the Dawg Bowl tournament, in which teams would contribute to a special fund for this gorgeous baby boy. When the weekend was through, we were able to give Chris and Amy over $11,000 to help lighten the load. We wish the Acuna family the best, and we'll continue to keep Gabriel in our hearts for future projects.
One of two checks presented to Chris and Amy
Along with all the great hockey, we also had a huge silent auction upstairs at the Edge, managed unbelievably well by Dawg Nation wives Cindy Richardson and Annie Sterner. Hundreds of items were donated, including dozens of NHL and college jerseys, including one from Wayne Gretzky, a wine cooling rack, a bubble hockey game, an air hockey game, Colorado Rockies signed equipment, and much, much more.
Cindy Richardson, left, and Annie Sterner
When the auction ended in a frenzy of activity Saturday night, Dawg Nation was able to bring in over $15,000 to help our cause. We can never thank the organizations and individuals enough that contributed to our charity- the weekend was even that much more of a success because of these generous donors!
So Sunday night, after the games were over, and everything from the weekend was packed up, it was time to take stock of our endeavor, and find out how well we did for the Dawg Nation Hockey Charity. And after counting money from entry fees, the silent auction, our barbeque on Saturday, our Del Taco food bar on Friday night, Goals for Gabriel, Dawgs merchandise sales, and other individual contributions, we were able to raise almost $50,000!
Dawg Nation wishes to thank everyone that made this weekend such a success. We had over fifty hard working volunteers, who gave hundreds of hours to our cause, and this undertaking would never have been possible without them. Secondly, we'd like to thank the Edge Arena and their staff, especially Alec Hines and Peter Friesma, who gave us a first class facility to hold our event. We also wish to thank everyone that contributed food, auction items, plus their time and money. None of this would be possible without your support, and we really appreciate it!
Our next big event will be the Dawg Nation Golf Tournament, which will be Septmember 10th at the beautiful Red Rocks Country Club in Morrison, Colorado. See all the details, and hundreds of other photos of Dawg Bowl II, on our main website, www.dawgnationhockey.org, or click the link on the top right of this page.
See you all next year for DAWG BOWL III!
