Angels On Ice

East High Hockey Wins First State Championship Title; Goes On Win In National Championships

Story and photos by Reid Neureiter

For the GPHN

The East High ice hockey team was crowned Colorado State 5A champions after a hard-fought 6-3 victory on March 8 at Ball Arena over two-time defending champs Valor Christian. The Angels squad not only dominated its in-state competition but also finished the high school season as the MaxPreps No. 1 ranked high school team in the country.

The East team went on to capture the national Division II title with a 4-2 win over the Northport (New York) Huntington Tigers in the 2022 national championships in Plano, Texas.

The team, which plays its home games at the Big Bear facility in Lowry, has been in existence for just eight years and is the only hockey program in Denver Public Schools. So, while officially playing under the East banner, in reality it is a combined DPS program that includes players from other DPS schools, as well as out-of-district schools that don’t have hockey programs.

The team includes six students from East, three from South High, two each from Northfield, George Washington, Brighton, plus players from North High, Strasburg, and Colorado Connections Academy. Head Coach John Kopperud says the entire DPS community came together to support the team at the championship game —  a turnout that broke the attendance record.

“I can’t say just how spectacular the fans were,” he said.

Of the players in the championship game, none shone brighter than 16-year-old East sophomore goaltender Noel Friedman, a Park Hill resident who lives with his family on Krameria Street. Friedman, who also attended McAuliffe International School before heading off to East, saved 32 shots over the course of the game, withstanding intense Valor Christian pressure in the first period by saving all 10 shots to keep the slow-starting Angels from falling behind.

“It was unreal and such an amazing feeling with how good the ice was and the atmosphere of the arena,” Friedman said. “With all the fans it just made it that much better.”

Freidman began playing competitive hockey at age nine and for the first year was an on-ice player. But, he says, the goalie spot “looked like it would be fun” and he decided to give the high pressure position a try.

Friedman explains the difficult part being the shot-stopper: “It is for sure the mental part of the game, as a goalie if you aren’t strong mentally you will never be able to compete in close games. Mentally you need to always leave any mistakes in the past and can’t dwell on those mistakes. Learn from them and do better and improve.”

As an underclassman and the last line of defense, Freidman had great support from his teammates: “The seniors and upperclassman have been extremely supportive ever since I came on the team as a freshman last year. As an underclass starting goalie I have quite a bit of pressure on me and I just try and play my game and I know the team has it in front of me.”

Coach Kopperud was effusive in his praise for Friedman: “[He]handles the pressure with ease, and the more pressure there is, the better he plays.”

Friedman’s mental toughness and support from his team has paid off handsomely. Not only was he the starting goalie for the state champs, he was also named First Team All-State by the Colorado High School Ice Hockey Coaches Association, along with fellow Angel senior forward Connor Hasse and junior defender Joseph Capra.

Capra, who is also the starting quarterback for the South High football team, was also named as the Colorado 5A Player of the Year. The Angels coaching staff also received postseason honors, with Kopperrud being named Coach of the Year, and assistant coaches Ben Robinson and Jeremiah Buckley being named Assistant Staff of the Year.

This year East will lose seven seniors from its title winning squad, but with Friedman just a sophomore, he has two more years to help take East to another title. Friedman gives the Angels a unique advantage. “We go into every game knowing our goalie is going to be better than their goalie,” Kopperud says.

That will likely to be the case for the foreseeable future.