TheDenver Cup was a mid-seasoncollege ice hockey tournament with the first iteration played in late December 1992. It was Discontinued after the 20th edition of the series.
Denver began hosting a mid-season tournament during the winter break for the1992–93 season.[1] The series was held at the team's home rink, theDU Arena, for the first two years before moving to the largerMcNichols Arena, the future home of theColorado Avalanche. By 1997, the Pioneers were able to getWells Fargo to sign on as the sponsor to help fund the tournament.
After the McNichols Arena was closed in 1999 and the Avalanche moved to thePepsi Center, the tournament returned to Denver's campus. In the interim, the Pioneers had built theMagness Arena which, though smaller than the McNichols Arena, had a much larger seating capacity than the DU Arena. By the end of the 2000s, interest in the tournament had waned and Wells Fargo ended its sponsorship after the 2009 series. Denver moved the tournament to theThanksgiving weekend but, when no sponsor was secured after two years, the series was discontinued. In the final two years the tournament was styled as the 'Denver Cup Classic'.
During its 20-year run, Denver overwhelmingly dominated the series, winning 15 championships. The series had aSingle-elimination format for all but one season; the 2009 series was around-robin tournament with all matches set before the series began.
