SENS. SALAZAR, ALLARD LAUD PIONEERS CHAMPIONSHIP
SEND "WINNINGS" FROM FRIENDLY SENATE WAGER TO TEAM AND COACH

WASHINGTON, DC – United States Senators Ken Salazar and Wayne Allard of Colorado today introduced a resolution congratulating the DU Pioneers Hockey team for their 2nd national championship in two years. Colorado’s two senators also collected on a wager with fellow Sens. Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota on the outcome of the 2004 NCAA ice hockey national championship game.

Senators Salazar and Allard today introduced a Senate Resolution recognizing the accomplishments of the DU national championship team, highlighting DU’s seventh national title through their victory over the Fighting Sioux, their 30-plus-wins season and the team’s outstanding scoring ratio. Included below is the text of the Senators’ resolution.

Salazar and Allard also announced that their winnings – a box of Lewis and Clark candy bars, made by Lindy Sue’s Candies in Mandan, as well as a box of the world-famous Widman’s Chipperz, chocolate covered potato chips, made in Grand Forks – would be sent to DU ice hockey Coach George Gwozdecky as congratulations to him and his team.

Senator Salazar said, “Back-to-back national championships have solidified DU as among hockey’s elite and kept the NCAA trophy here in Colorado, right where it belongs. I hope these winnings make it all the ‘sweeter’ for the DU ice hockey team, Coach Gwozdecky and the entire DU family.”

Senator Allard said, “The Pioneers have done Colorado proud with their seventh national title, and I’m pleased to pass along the spoils to Coach Gwozdecky and the entire DU hockey team so that they can truly savor the ‘taste’ of victory.”

“Our congratulations go out to the Denver Pioneers and the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux along with their coach Dave Hakstol. Both teams played a tremendous game, capping off an outstanding Frozen Four tournament,” North Dakota Senators Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan said in a joint statement. “We tip our hats to our friends from Colorado, Senator Salazar and Senator Allard, and again congratulate DU Coach George Gwozdecky and the national champion Denver Pioneers.”

On Saturday, April 9, the University of Denver Pioneers defeated the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux by a score of 4-1, winning their seventh national championship and back-to-back titles in 2004 and 2005. The win capped DU’s 31-9-2 season where the team outscored opponents 170 to 109 under the guidance of Coach George Gwozdecky.

Below is the text of Senator Allard and Salazar’s Resolution Congratulating DU’s hockey team and Coach Gwozdecky:

S. Res. ____, Congratulating the University of Denver Pioneers men’s hockey team, 2005 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Hockey Champions.

Whereas the Denver Pioneers first won the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Hockey Championship in 1958;

Whereas the University of Denver has won 7 NCAA Division I Men’s Hockey Championships, including back-to-back championships in 2004 and 2005;

Whereas on April 9, 2005, the University of Denver won the Frozen Four with a hard fought victory over the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux; and

Whereas the Championship ended a terrific season in which the University of Denver outscored its opponents 170 to 109 and had a record of 31–9–2: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Senate congratulates the University of Denver Pioneers men’s hockey team, Coach George Gwozdecky and Chancellor Daniel Ritchie on an outstanding championship season, a season which solidifies the Pioneers’ status among the elite in collegiate hockey.