The Battle for Pikes Peak is a college ice hockey rivalry series that is played between the

Colorado College Tigers The Colorado College Tigers are composed of 16 teams representing Colorado College in intercollegiate athletics, including men and women's basketball, cross country, lacrosse, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, and track and field. Men's sports in ...

and the

Air Force Falcons The Air Force Falcons are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the United States Air Force Academy, located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The athletics department has 17 men's and 10 women's NCAA-sanctioned teams. The current athl ...

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 The University of Denver (DU) is a private university, private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Mountain States, Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is ...

added ice hockey in 1949. The rivalry between Colorado College and the University of Denver, commonly called the

Battle for the Gold Pan The Battle for the Gold Pan (also called The DU/CC Rivalry, or known locally as The Gold Pan) is a series played between the Colorado College Tigers and the University of Denver Pioneers hockey teams. The Gold Pan is among the top rivalries in ...

, 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, with CC within the Colorado Springs city limits and the AFA adjacent to the city limits (with a very small portion within the city). 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. The rules to the series are 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 The Atlantic Hockey Association (AHA) is an NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey conference which operates primarily in the northeastern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as an ice hockey-only conference. Unlike several other ...

, while Colorado College is a founding member of both its former and current hockey leagues, respectively the

Western Collegiate Hockey Association The Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) is a college athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a women's ice hockey-only conference. From 1951 to 1999, it operated a ...

and

National Collegiate Hockey Conference The National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) is an NCAA men's Division I hockey conference formed on July 9, 2011. The league began playing for the 2013–14 season, the same season that the Big Ten Conference began competition, as a combina ...

. Both play a home-and-home series on weekends, where both teams play on each other's home ice on back-to-back nights. As of the upcoming 2022–23 season, CC plays its home games at

Ed Robson Arena The Ed Robson Arena in Colorado Springs, Colorado is a 3,400-seat ice hockey arena on the campus of Colorado College. The arena opened on September 18, 2021. History Plans for a school-run arena date as far back as 2008 in the Colorado College Lo ...

, while Air Force's home ice is

Cadet Ice Arena The Cadet Field House is an indoor sports complex in the Western United States, western United States, located at the United States Air Force Academy, U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado, near Colorado Springs, Colorado, Colorado Springs. The mul ...

. Both arenas feature NHL-sized rinks, in contrast to CC's former home of

Broadmoor World Arena The Broadmoor World Arena was a skating rink and hockey arena located at The Broadmoor Resort & Spa in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Originally an outdoor equestrian center and riding academy, the building was enclosed and converted into an ice a ...

, with a larger Olympic-sized rink. Before Robson Arena opened in 2021–22, the difference in rink size was 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. In the 2019-20 season, the teams faced off twice in a season for the first time in four seasons.

Overall rivalry record

The following table details the game results since the inaugural 1969 meeting.

Goal count

Updated as of November 26, 2016

Head-to-head tally

*As of November 2016

References

{{Colorado College Tigers men's ice hockey navbox

Air Force Falcons ice hockey The Air Force Falcons men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents the United States Air Force Academy. The Falcons are a member of Atlantic Hockey. They play at ...

College ice hockey rivalries in the United States Colorado College Tigers men's ice hockey Ice hockey teams in Colorado 1969 establishments in Colorado

Background

Overall rivalry record

Goal count

Head-to-head tally

See also

References