Great Expectations I


The Colorado Rampage is helping elevate the state’s status as a hockey power By Pat Rooney


t’s a typical workday for the Colorado Ram- page. And on this day, it’s time for an ex-


hausting set of faceoff drills for this group of Tier I AAA players. For the better part of a half-hour, assistant


coach Nick Hantge puts the Rampage’s 18U squad through their paces while head coach An- drew Sherman stands aside, observing every motion by every player with the focus of a hawk. Hantge leaves no situation unturned as he


works through various scenarios. The Rampage sprints through drills at the center circle before racing through every game situation imaginable. Faceoffs in the defensive


zone. Faceoffs in the of- fensive zone. Repeating the cycle while a man down, and then again while work- ing with a man advantage. Every so often, Sher-


man steps forward to speak his mind. Judging by the intent silence that ensues as Sherman makes his point, it’s clear the Ram- page players are hanging on every word. Which really is no won-


der, given the success the program has enjoyed since Sherman came aboard in 2002. The player agent-


turned-coach has built the Rampage into a regional force, and the list of Divi- sion I signees who count themselves among the Rampage’s alumni is grow- ing longer and more illus- trious every year. Sherman’s move to Colo-


man. “My first thought was, ‘No, but I could help you look for a guy.’ We couldn’t find anybody, and I was like, ‘I guess I’m coaching.’ That was the beginning of the Rampage, and now it’s been about 10 years.” The Rampage, whose 16U and 18U AAA


clubs play at the Tier I Elite League, has found a unique niche in Monument. The program has won numerous state titles, and the list of alums making their way through the junior and col- legiate ranks is beginning to swell to staggering proportions. Among countless others, Rampage alum


Darik Angeli is a regular in the lineup at Ohio State. Tom Serratore, from a hockey family


scores to see how everybody is doing after a weekend.” The Rampage’s ascension over the past


decade has turned heads not only in the Rocky Mountain region, but throughout the west. Kirk, for instance, migrated to Colorado from Califor- nia, and the Rampage also boasts a number of players who call Minnesota home - a prospect that bordered on impossible as recently as a decade ago. “I wanted more games and I didn’t really like


the 25-game (high school) season (in Minne- sota),” said Rampage 18U player Zach Hartley, a native of Minneapolis who stays with a host family and attends nearby Lewis-Palmer High School. “I heard about the Rampage from a couple other Minnesota kids who came out here. Those guys said I should check it out, and I heard only positive things.” Just about every single


hockey aficionado along Colorado’s Front Range cite the 1995 arrival of the Colorado Avalanche - and the two Stanley Cups the franchise won during its first six seasons - as the root cause of the explosion of hockey interest in the state over the past 10-15 years. The Rampage is no


rado from the East Coast was made in part for family reasons, but also because of the realizations that hit him after noting the competition he discov- ered while trying to recruit a potential client at Providence College. His move from the agent business into coach-


ing with the Rampage was a little more circum- stantial. “I was following Bobby Orr up the stairs


(at Providence) and I started thinking, ‘How the heck am I going to beat Bobby Orr for a client?’” Sherman said. “I thought it would be a great op- portunity to come out here and recruit from the WCHA with CC and Denver. “Through a client, it kind of popped up that I


could coach here for a Squirt team. That was the beginning of it.” Soon after the Midget program spawned, an


initiative nobody really planned, according to Sherman. “There were some changes, and then a couple people asked if I could be a coach,” said Sher-


6 magazine


Member of the Colorado Rampage, including, from left, USHL draft picks Jared Fiegl (16U team), Alejandro Ochoa (18U), Charlie Donlin (18U), Zach Hartley (18U) and Josh Racek (18U), have benefited tremendously from the pro- gram’s commitment to developing and advancing its players. Photo/Brad Clark


that includes his father, Air Force head coach Frank Serratore, as well as his uncle and namesake, Bemidji State head coach Tom Ser- ratore, honed his skills with the Rampage. Kyle De Laurell is a steady scorer at Air


Force, and three former Rampage players cur- rently playing for the United States Hockey League’s Green Bay Gamblers recently an- nounced their college commitments: Grant Arnold (Denver), Max Hartner (Air Force) and Brandon Kirk (Dartmouth). “It’s such a great feeling to know you had a


positive impact on those kids at an important age when they need a good mentor to provide a great vehicle for development,” Sherman said. “It feels great to have that opportunity to see how well some of them are doing, and know that it was tough for them because they want to play at that next level, but, when they get here, they’re unsure. “It’s a lot of fun scrolling through the box


different than a number of other local organiza- tions that have witnessed the sort of increase of skill levels and participation numbers enjoyed by the program during Sherman’s tenure; yet the Rampage’s growth shouldn’t be mea- sured solely by its lengthy list of college commitments,


or the number of banners hanging in the club’s rink. The 18U locker room originally was a conces-


sion stand before it was gutted and refurbished. The club boasts a strength and conditioning coach who works at Colorado College and a former emergency room doctor serving as the team trainer. The club drug tests two players per week and Sherman takes great interest in getting regular updates on his players’ grades. “I think the culture of the coaches has really


been a great driving force,” Sherman said of the Rampage’s success. “I think in those early years, when maybe the talent wasn’t as good as it is now, there were a lot of coaches working very hard to do right by the kids. It pushed opposing coaches to work harder to make their programs better, to make their development better. “And, obviously, it didn’t hurt that the Avs


won the Stanley Cup twice. That brought in a nice group of players.”


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