Big Dawg Nation Presence At Cutthroats Opener

On Friday night, October 19th, the brand new Denver Cutthroats hockey team played their inaugural game against the Missouri Mavericks at the Denver Coliseum. And they opened in fine style, winning a very exciting game 4-3 in overtime. Jamie MacQueen sent the Fish fans home happy, wristing a beauty through Mavericks goalie Mike Clemente early in overtime for the deciding goal.

Over 5000 fans came to the first hockey game played at the Coliseum since 1989, including almost 400 representing Dawg Nation. The Cutthroats made a special deal with The Nation, letting us sell tickets for $10, and keeping two dollars for our charity. They originally allotted 250 tickets, thinking that would be plenty to take care of our organization.

Uh...not so much. The Fish were just the latest to be surprised by the juggernaut that is Dawg Nation. Just this year, we brought 30 teams to our hockey tournament, we packed the Comedy works on a Wednesday night, and we set a record for the number of players to play a golf tournament at the Red Rocks Country Club (including a record bar tab, by the way). No, 250 seats were not nearly enough.

This fact was not lost on Cutthroats owner John Hayes, who personally called Dawg Nation president Marty Richardson to express his appreciation, and tell him how impressed he was with our organization. John would understand even more what we're all about at the 14 minute mark of the second period Friday night.

During a time out, Dawg Nation was able to present its latest check to a deserving recipient. Kim McLeod has been a coach in Arvada Hockey for a long time, but has been battling cancer for the past several years. But even as he wages the good fight, he has been able to find time to donate his services for Dawg Nation, including spending a bunch of hours volunteering at the Dawg Bowl hockey tourney.

Even with insurance, cancer treatment still puts a huge out of pocket expense on a patient. Knowing that, the board members of the Dawg Nation Foundation decided to try to help Kim and the McLeod family, proudly awarding this good man with a grant of $10,000.


    From left to right: Eddie Cribbs, Marty Richardson, Dennis Heaton, Kim McLeod, Mike Pijanowski, Cutthroats owner John Hayes, Al Sterner, and Greg Clinard

We couldn't have found a better person to help, and the entire Dawg Nation organization wishes nothing but the best for Kim in the future.

Building on our opening night success, we will continue to partner with the Denver Cutthroats throughout the 2012-2013 season, holding events on a monthly basis. The next Dawg Nation night will be on November 17th, when the Fish take on the Fort Worth Brahmas. $10 tickets are available on our website (or just plug in https://oss.ticketmaster.com/html/group_corp_start.htmI?l=EN&team=cutthroats&owner=1493361&group=95&err=&event=&customerID, password is "dawg"), and be sure to bring your skates to the game! Right after the final buzzer, fans are invited to come down and skate with the Cutthroat players, who will be available for pictures.

$10 for a professional hockey game, free parking, and a skate with the players? You'll never get a better deal! So let's see if we can break that 500 ticket barrier, and represent Dawg Nation on November 17th! 

A Great Day of Golf at Dawg Nation Tourney

On September 10th, we put on our second annual golf tournament, which we call Tee It Up For Dawg Nation. This year, we upgraded our venue tenfold, when we were able to partner with the fine staff at the Red Rocks Country Club.

When you play golf in September in the Colorado foothills, you always take a chance that Mother Nature will make life difficult. But Mother Nature knows a good cause when she sees one, and provided a perfect day in the low 90's. And combining the great conditions with a spectacular golf course provided the players with a day that they won't soon forget.



This year, 132 golfers participated, making it not only a record for the Dawgs tournament, but also the largest tourney ever held at the Red Rocks Country Club. The event also set another dubious record at Red Rocks, running up the largest bar tab in the venue's history. But that's what happens when hockey players get together to have some fun.

 

The golf itself was very good, with the players taking advantage of the fabulous condition of the perfectly manicured course. The team of Dave Decker, Cliff Holmes, Dave Davenport, and Sophan Kong mastered the lightning fast greens well enough to fashion an outstanding 15 under par score of 56, which ran away with $500 team first prize.



  There were also various contests out on the course, where players could win other prizes. The closest to the hole winner was Brent Cullaton, who is the director of hockey operations for the new local minor league team, called the Denver Cutthroats. Jim Gragg made the longest putt, while Chase McGee won the long drive contest, ripping one around 400 yards on the 18th hole. And Dawg Nation's own Danny Packard won our straightest drive hole, putting his ball just inches from the center of the 14th fairway.

Then at the end of the day, one player was selected to try one putt from 50 feet, and if he could sink it, he would win $5000. Mario Lopez, who plays on the Old Dawgs in the Over 40 league, gave it a brave effort with many people looking on, but hit it a little long.



But the real winner on the day was The Dawg Nation Hockey Foundation, which grossed around $35,000 for the one day event, due to the generosity of all our players, Red Rocks Country Club, and especially our terrific sponsors. This money will go a long way toward helping adult hockey players throughout the Rocky Mountain region, who have gotten hurt, or are seriously ill.

There were two recipients during the day of the tournament, and the first was an adult league goalie named Christopher Grass. Chris has epilepsy, making it impossible for him to work, but he is able to get between the pipes for his beer league squad. He was nominated by a teammate, and was unanimously approved for a $6000 grant. Dawg Nation wishes Chris the best as he continues his battle.


Left to right- Dawg Nation president Marty Richardson, Chris Grass, and Rob Packard

Then at the end of the day, after an excellent buffet dinner, we were able to make a special presentation to Ken Rose, who along with his mother, lost his home in the Waldo Canyon fire in Colorado Springs. Ken is still playing hockey at age 64, and we heard about his stroke of terrible luck. We decided to hold a special putting contest between the first and 18th holes, where players would pay $10, and the closest to the hole, putting with a hockey stick, would win a Hewlett Packard notebook worth $850.

Most of the players tried, some with the help of one of our friendly volunteers.



After it was all said and done, Dawg Nation matched the generous contributions of our players, and we were able to give Ken a check for $2260. This will enable Ken to buy some new equipment, and help him along as he recovers from the disaster in the Springs.


Ken Rose and Marty

The Dawg Nation Hockey Foundation wishes to thank everyone involved in making our second annual tournament so successful. Big thanks go out to Ali Canyon, Kirby Lee, and the entire tremendous staff at Red Rocks Country Club, who were so professional, organized, and patient in their dealings with us. We look forward to continuing our relationship for many years to come.

Next, thank you so much to all of our sponsors. We would not have raised nearly the amount of money that we did without your generosity. You overwhelm us, and we appreciate your support.









 Finally, we would like to thank every volunteer who helped make this event possible, and especially Annie Sterner and Cindy Richardson, who put in many, many hours to ensure the success of the tournament.


Annie Sterner and Amber Packard


Cindy Richardson

Thanks again for everything, and we look forward to seeing everyone next year!

Dawg Bowl II Massively Successful

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!  

Cody's Big Night At Pepsi Center

Last Thursday night, April 5th, Cody Beekman came to the Avalanche game at Pepsi Center, along with around 350 of his good friends, to be honored and receive a check from Dawg Nation to help cover his massive expenses. Last October, Cody was seriously injured when the car he was riding in was struck by a drunk driver, paralyzing him from the chest down.

After almost four months at Craig Hospital, Cody is now home and making terrific progress in his journey to recovery. With the aid of some of the handier members of Dawg Nation, he now has a house that's wheelchair accessible, including two ramps, larger doors, a new bathroom, and a hardwood floor. But he really needs a van with a wheelchair lift, and that's where several fundraisers, including the Avalanche game, came in.

Because of generous contributions to the Dawg Nation website, a benefit skate at the Ice Centre in Westminster, a grant from the Dawg Nation Hockey Foundation, and a portion of all tickets sold to the game at Pepsi Center, before the contest, we were able to proudly present Cody with a check for $13,300. That is the most money we've been able to give to one recipient so far, and it should be enough to purchase the vehicle that he needs.


Click to enlarge all pictures

After the game, the Pepsi Center ice was made available to Dawg Nation, and Cody was even able to get out and cruise the same surface as his heroes from the Avalanche, including his favorite player, Milan Hejduk.





Cody, along with all the Beekmans, are now part of the Dawg Nation family, and we'll continue to do whatever we can to help as he gets better and better. In the meantime, Dawg Nation will now move on to other fundraisers, including a night at the Comedy Works on April 25th, and our signature hockey tournament, Dawg Bowl II, on June 1st-3rd. All details are available at http://www.dawgnationhockey.org/.


Some highlights of the evening:


Some of Cody's teammates from his men's league squad The Scouts, along with Dawg Nation board member Dan Cashman


Cody's mom Debbie, along with board member Rob "Superfan" Packard


Cody, Debbie, and Dawg Nation president Marty Richardson


Dawg Nation hits the big time, with our logo up on the big scoreboard at Pepsi Center



Cody, Marty, his daughter Alexi, and Bernie, the Avs mascot


Board members Eddie Cribbs, Dan Cashman, and Andy Gerrie


Marty Richardson and Avalanche liaison Jake Godber



The Scouts on the players bench


Cody and his teammates

For more pictures, please link to the following:

https://picasaweb.google.com/105053956534403946860/CodyNightAtTheAVS?locked=true#

Little Cordie Much Better After Heart Surgery

Do you ever feel like things aren't going your way? Maybe things at work aren't great, you might be having car troubles, or, God forbid, you've gone a few games without putting the puck in the net?

Well kids, it's time for a little perspective. Imagine you have a three year old daughter that looks like this:



Now, imagine doctors tell you that your daughter has a faulty chamber in her tiny heart, and the only way to fix it is to have open heart surgery. Otherwise, it could give out at any time.

In the grand scheme of things, don't those everyday problems seem a little less important now?

This little angel is Cordelia Kmetz, or Cordie, who is the daughter of Candi and Timmy Kmetz. Timmy started playing goalie for Dawg Nation last summer, but his season was cut short after just a few games when he had to have surgery to repair four hernias.

This was not Timmy's first operation...far from it. He was diagnosed with bone cancer in his leg when he was a teenager, and has had 35 surgeries in order to save the leg and lead a normal life. They must have worked; his Dawgs I team just won the Edge Cup in the highest division, given to the league champion. He plays at least three nights a week, and is a total hockey junkie.

And you can bet the house that he would repeat every one of those 35 surgeries again, if it would save Cordie from having to endure an open heart procedure. You readers with kids out there- wouldn't you do anything to keep your child from having to go through something painful? Of course you would.

But this is the real world, and Cordie had to have it done in order to grow up as a normal, healthy little girl. So last Tuesday, the Kmetz's put their daughter's life in the hands of the unbelievably talented surgeons at Children's Hospital in Denver.

It took probably the longest three hours in Tim and Candi's life, but Cordie came through with flying colors. The bad chamber was fixed, and she did so well that she was able to come home in three days, instead of the seven to ten days they were expecting to keep her. She's resting comfortably at home, and the prospects of a normal life are terrific.

Well, as normal of a life as possible, when you have a dad that's a goalie...

Life In the Novice Dad Hockey League

(This week we have a post by Dawg Nation board member Bern Levesque)

Game time is 6:10pm it is currently 6:15 and the white team is waiting for their goalie.  He would have been ready on time had Jeff “Wolff Pack” Wolff not asked his goalie “Don’t goalies where breezers?”.  Jeff and Brad Marker helped their goalie take off his pads get the breezers on and then Jeff asked.  “Are the pads on the wrong legs?”  The answer was yes and not wanting to go out there like Martin “Cappy” Richardson had a few games prior, Brad and Jeff helped their goalie get the pads on correctly and then they hit the ice with big smiles on their faces.  There was still a problem: the other goalie was not out there yet.  He was unable to figure out how to get his hand in the goalie glove that he had borrowed for this very important matchup.  So is the life in the Novice Dad Hockey League.

Mike Raftery of Comedy Works and Matt Kayser of KD Kanopy have been spending most of their free time at the ice rink over the last few years watching their kids play hockey.  Not having grown up playing themselves, they wanted to give hockey a try.  In late summer 2011 they organized a non hockey playing parents vs kids game at the Ice Ranch and it was a huge success.  Feeling they were on to something they decided to take things one step further and organize a private drop in club for people with little to no on-ice hockey experience.  It was an opportunity to give the great sport of hockey a chance.

Why is this story on the Dawg Blawg you may ask?  The members of the league have been supportive of the Dawg Nation Hockey Foundation since the very first fundraiser up at the pond, and have been seen drinking beer at the hockey tournament, laughing out loud at the Comedy Works, sitting in the stands at an Avs game and swinging a golf club at Green Gables.  When Mike and Matt started their league they were getting some yeses and mostly maybes. Then Dawg Nation reach out to their membership and were able to rustle up a dozen players so that the league would have two complete rosters to get it going.  This included Dawg Board Member and proud father of multiple Dawg players Rob “Superfan” Packard.

Although I don’t put on breezers before goalie pads, or know which legs the pads go on, I still enjoy coming out and playing with these guys.  Sitting in the dressing room with guys like Slappy, Castro and the Wolf Pack, listening to the laughter and the playful banter makes us realize that we are here for more than just the game; we are here to be part of a hockey team. 

In the last few months it went from a bunch of guys falling down and breaking skates (Jody “The Mullet” Seltzer and Mike “So Serious” Raftery inspired the jersey logo) to feeling as though we are playing a real hockey game.  Guys are passing, skating and shooting so much better than they were the first night.  It has been an amazing experience being out there on the ice with a bunch of guys that are there because they love the hockey experience.

From left: Mike Raftery, Bern Levesque, Matt Kayser

On behalf of Dawg Nation I would like to congratulate the Novice Dads Hockey League.  I would also like to thank Mike Raftery of Comedy Works for putting together the amazing fundraiser “Stand Up for Dawg Nation” and Matt Kayser of KD Kanopy for donating an awesome canopy that will be on display at many of our Dawg Nation events.

P.S. My team won 3-0 behind a 34 save performance.  As goalie mentor and referee Scott Nelson says.  “Ugly saves count too.”

Skate For Cody a Huge Success

On Saturday afternoon, March 24th, friends and teammates of Cody Beekman gathered at the Ice Centre at Promenade to welcome him home after a long stay at Craig Hospital, and to raise some money to help pay his medical expenses.



Because of the efforts from Cody's men's league team, The Scouts, and some very dedicated volunteers from Dawg Nation, led by Annie Sterner, the afternoon was terrific, and raised well over $2000. Special thanks go out to Ice Centre director Bob Bebber, who donated the ice time for the event, and Benders Bar and Grill at the Promenade, who contributed 20% of their sales on Saturday to this great cause.

During the skate, Cody's teammate from the Scouts, Jeremy Backen, was able to present Cody with a Colorado Avalanche jersey signed by the entire squad. Avs assistant coach Sylvain Lefebvre, a great guy and huge supporter of Dawg Nation, spearheaded the effort of getting all the players' autographs on the sweater, and we'll never be able to thank him enough.



Dollars for Cody continue to roll in to the Dawg Nation Hockey website (http://www.dawgnationhockey.org/), and we have a special night coming up at the Avalanche game April 5th against the Columbus Blue Jackets. We will be presenting Cody with a big check on the ice during the contest, and five dollars from every ticket sold by Dawg Nation will go to our charity. Tickets are still available- just click on our site, and it will take you right where you need to be.

Dawg Nation wishes Cody Beekman the best, as he continues his journey to recovery.