Written by Pat Rooney, former Denver beat writer for the Rocky Mountain News, “Crimson & Gold, The Denver Pioneers’ Magical Run to the 2004 NCAA National Championship” is your typical retrospective, complete with the tales and the ups and downs of any championship season.
For those who follow the team closely, don’t expect any new insights. But it is a thorough accounting of the Pioneers’ season, sure to please any fan.
Of course, there is a lot to talk about. A team that started off on the wrong foot, suffered through numerous injuries, especially on defense, the relied on senior leadership to go on a magical run. It culminated with one of those most exhilarating two minutes of any college hockey game ever, the frantic 6-on-3 Denver was forced to kill of to preserve a 1-0 win and a national title.
Included is a forward by Ron Grahame, the school’s assistant athletic director and former goaltender.
Rooney’s feature articles from the course of the season, which originally ran in the Rocky Mountain News, the newspaper for which he works, are sprinkled in judiciously in order to beef things up. In all, the publication comes in at under 120 pages.
There are advertisements also sprinkled in, which is unusual for a book. It gives it more of a special one-time magazine feel, not that that’s bad.
The last section of the book takes a historical look at Denver hockey, making a nice added value for fans.
