Upcoming Colorado College, Air Force hockey rivalry “ain’t just another game”

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) - After a year hiatus, the Battle for the Pikes Peak Trophy is on once again.

Colorado College and Air Force hockey will meet for the 79th and 80th times this weekend in the annual cross-town rivalry dating back to 1969. Their 2020 matchup, canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has only led to more excitement for the Halloween-weekend showdown.

“This is a huge series for us,” head coach Frank Serratore said Tuesday. “Coaches will come on and talk about these rivalries games and they’ll say...they’ll posture, ‘it’s just another game’. BS. It ain’t just another game. When you look at the schedule they’re all important, but there’s a couple that are a little more important. One of them is Army, one of them is Colorado College, and the other one is Denver.”

The Tigers currently have possession of the Pikes Peak Trophy, winning the series three straight years dating back to 2018. CC hosted Air Force for a preseason exhibition game to open their new on-campus stadium, Ed Robson Arena Oct. 2, ultimately dropping the contest 2-1. New Colorado College head coach Kris Mayotte expressed confidence in his young team’s progress since the opening loss.

“We believe we’ve grown a lot in the last month,” Mayotte said Tuesday. “We’ve been playing good hockey, and we’re getting closer and closer every time we step on the ice to being the team we want to be.”

Air Force (1-3) and Colorado College (1-3-2) will play twice over the weekend: Friday at 7pm at Cadet Ice Arena on USAFA grounds, and Saturday at 6pm at the new Ed Robson Arena.

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