YOUR AD HERE »

Aspen Leafs host Breckenridge in key series

Dale Strode
The Aspen Times

The Aspen Leafs are back on home ice — and just in time.

The Leafs are deadlocked in a first-place tie in the Rocky Mountain Junior Hockey League as they open a home series against visiting Breckenridge on Friday night at the Aspen Ice Garden.

The start is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Aspen’s downtown rink.



The second game of the series will be at 7:15 p.m. Saturday at the Aspen Ice Garden.

The Aspen Leafs dropped a pair of road games last in Colorado Springs to the surging Pikes Peak Miners.




In the opener, as the Aspen Leafs adjusted to a lineup with Ivan Bondarenko (the leading scorer in the league), Pikes Peak rolled 7-3.

After trailing 6-1, the Aspen Leafs rallied int he third period with power-play goals from Trent Luby and Hayden Knight.

On Saturday, Knight and Luby started the scoring for Aspen in the opening period.

But the Miners rallied to win 5-3. They joined the Leafs atop the conference standings. Each team has 32 points.

Friday night’s game against Breckenridge is the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Awareness Game.

The Aspen Leafs will wear special pink jerseys and all gate and concession revenue will go to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

The game-worn jerseys from Friday night will be available for purchase on Saturday during a silent auction.

“We hope, in our small way, to support (breast cancer) research while providing our teams and fans a chance to honor and join those who remain in the fight,” said Shaun Hathaway, director of Aspen Junior Hockey.

Bondarenko, the Leafs’ standout from Russia, was called up last week by the Janesville Jets of the North American Hockey League.

dstrode@aspentimes.com