(above) Tyler Ruegsegger is back from the Czech RepublicFrom: Denver Post
by Terry Frei
Tyler Ruegsegger was back on the University of Denver campus Wednesday, readjusting to the Mountain Time Zone and stepping out of the glare of international hockey's spotlight.
Still only 19, the Lakewood native and DU sophomore forward is one of the nation's top young hockey players — a status reinforced by his selection to the U.S. team that finished fourth in the World Junior Championships in the Czech Republic last week.
Another Pioneers sophomore, Rhett Rakhshani, also was on the U.S. team, and both will be back in their DU uniforms for weekend home games against Wisconsin.
"To have a chance to represent my country was very special, and it's something I'll remember my whole life," Ruegsegger said at Magness Arena.
The Americans went 4-0 in pool play, then lost to eventual champion Canada in the semifinals and to Russia in Saturday's bronze-medal game. The disappointment was palpable, but because Ruegsegger is open about his fervent Christian faith and never has used words that trigger the laughs in "Slap Shot," he doesn't need to be censored when talking about it.
"Any time you play, especially for your country, you want to medal, if not win the gold medal," Ruegsegger said. "So it's frustrating, yet at the same time, we took a lot from that tournament. We met some great people, learned a lot about the game and had a wonderful experience."
Both of the Pioneers help illustrate the changing face of DU and U.S. hockey. With youth hockey booming throughout the state since the Avs' arrival, DU has six Coloradans — including Ruegsegger, already a 2006 Toronto Maple Leafs draft choice — on its roster.
He follows the departed Geoff Paukovich and J.D. Corbin as Coloradans to play for DU and go in the NHL draft. His predecessors are toiling in the minors in their rookie pro seasons — Paukovich as an Edmonton Oilers farmhand with the Stockton Thunder of the ECHL; and Corbin with the Avalanche's American League affiliate, the Lake Erie Monsters.
And Rakhshani, the other current Pioneer on the U.S. World Junior team? He's from Huntington Beach, Calif., and is the latest in a caravan of Southern California products to wind up playing for the national power programs at DU and Colorado College.
At this point, even the Coloradans generally leave the state to refine their game, most often in junior hockey and the United States Hockey League, before coming to DU. Ruegsegger, who played for the powerhouse youth programs in Arvada and Littleton, instead went to Shattuck-St. Mary's, the renowned prep school in Faribault, Minn. His mother, Catherine, moved to Faribault with Tyler and his sister, Rebecca. Father Doug, an attorney, visited them when he could, also watching Rebecca's development into one of the top young American goaltenders.
"Shattuck was a great school and a great hockey program, and both are important to me," Ruegsegger said.
As a Shattuck-St. Mary's freshman, he wasn't on the varsity, but got to watch a sophomore, Sidney Crosby, score 72 goals in 57 games for the prep school before Crosby — now the NHL's best player at age 20 — moved on to major junior.
"I never was on his team, but skated with him in some drop-ins and things like that," Ruegsegger said. "He's pretty amazing. Even as a 10th-grader, he had incredible talent. When he left, I remember shaking hands with him and he wished me the best. He's a really good person."
As Ruegsegger, the Pioneers' third-leading scorer this season, makes his mark at DU, his little sister is taking a break from Shattuck-St. Mary's to play for the USA in the inaugural girls' under-18 world tournament in Calgary. (Denver-area resident Elizabeth Turgeon, the daughter of former Avalanche center Pierre Turgeon, also is on the U.S. team.)
"We helped each other," Tyler said of his goalie sister, who is 17. "There were times in high school when I went through difficult things, whether frustrations on the ice or injuries or things like that, she'd be the first person there to help me and help pushing me along. We have a very special relationship, and I love her to death."
Still only 19, the Lakewood native and DU sophomore forward is one of the nation's top young hockey players — a status reinforced by his selection to the U.S. team that finished fourth in the World Junior Championships in the Czech Republic last week.
Another Pioneers sophomore, Rhett Rakhshani, also was on the U.S. team, and both will be back in their DU uniforms for weekend home games against Wisconsin.
"To have a chance to represent my country was very special, and it's something I'll remember my whole life," Ruegsegger said at Magness Arena.
The Americans went 4-0 in pool play, then lost to eventual champion Canada in the semifinals and to Russia in Saturday's bronze-medal game. The disappointment was palpable, but because Ruegsegger is open about his fervent Christian faith and never has used words that trigger the laughs in "Slap Shot," he doesn't need to be censored when talking about it.
"Any time you play, especially for your country, you want to medal, if not win the gold medal," Ruegsegger said. "So it's frustrating, yet at the same time, we took a lot from that tournament. We met some great people, learned a lot about the game and had a wonderful experience."
Both of the Pioneers help illustrate the changing face of DU and U.S. hockey. With youth hockey booming throughout the state since the Avs' arrival, DU has six Coloradans — including Ruegsegger, already a 2006 Toronto Maple Leafs draft choice — on its roster.
He follows the departed Geoff Paukovich and J.D. Corbin as Coloradans to play for DU and go in the NHL draft. His predecessors are toiling in the minors in their rookie pro seasons — Paukovich as an Edmonton Oilers farmhand with the Stockton Thunder of the ECHL; and Corbin with the Avalanche's American League affiliate, the Lake Erie Monsters.
And Rakhshani, the other current Pioneer on the U.S. World Junior team? He's from Huntington Beach, Calif., and is the latest in a caravan of Southern California products to wind up playing for the national power programs at DU and Colorado College.
At this point, even the Coloradans generally leave the state to refine their game, most often in junior hockey and the United States Hockey League, before coming to DU. Ruegsegger, who played for the powerhouse youth programs in Arvada and Littleton, instead went to Shattuck-St. Mary's, the renowned prep school in Faribault, Minn. His mother, Catherine, moved to Faribault with Tyler and his sister, Rebecca. Father Doug, an attorney, visited them when he could, also watching Rebecca's development into one of the top young American goaltenders.
"Shattuck was a great school and a great hockey program, and both are important to me," Ruegsegger said.
As a Shattuck-St. Mary's freshman, he wasn't on the varsity, but got to watch a sophomore, Sidney Crosby, score 72 goals in 57 games for the prep school before Crosby — now the NHL's best player at age 20 — moved on to major junior.
"I never was on his team, but skated with him in some drop-ins and things like that," Ruegsegger said. "He's pretty amazing. Even as a 10th-grader, he had incredible talent. When he left, I remember shaking hands with him and he wished me the best. He's a really good person."
As Ruegsegger, the Pioneers' third-leading scorer this season, makes his mark at DU, his little sister is taking a break from Shattuck-St. Mary's to play for the USA in the inaugural girls' under-18 world tournament in Calgary. (Denver-area resident Elizabeth Turgeon, the daughter of former Avalanche center Pierre Turgeon, also is on the U.S. team.)
"We helped each other," Tyler said of his goalie sister, who is 17. "There were times in high school when I went through difficult things, whether frustrations on the ice or injuries or things like that, she'd be the first person there to help me and help pushing me along. We have a very special relationship, and I love her to death."
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