Walsh strikes gold in third overtime as Cheyenne Mountain wins 4A hockey title

DENVER – Jeremy Renholm. As Cheyenne Mountain coach Erik Austin stood in the hallway in Magness Arena, those were the only two words he could get out of his mouth.

Jeremy Renholm.

The junior goalie was nothing short of spectacular as he turned away 26 shots from Glenwood Springs. All he needed was one to go in for Cheyenne Mountain.

Hank Walsh finally delivered that gift in the third overtime. Coming from behind the net, Hanks flung the puck toward Glenwood goalie Marek Senn. For the first time all night, the back of the net rattled and Cheyenne Mountain got the 1-0 win to claim the Class 4A hockey title for the second year in a row.

“Our shots, we had like five at the end of the second period and they had maybe 20,” Walsh said. “We knew we had to get in front of the net. We hadn’t tested their goalie for the first three periods.”

They really hadn’t tested him much through the three overtimes either. The Red-Tailed Hawks (18-3-1 overall) had maybe a handful of legitimate scoring chances in regulation and through the first two overtimes. But nothing broke through.

The Demons on the other hand were getting chance after chance. But the Hawks had Jeremy Renholm.

“We kept coming into the locker room and thanking Jeremy for everything he was doing,” Walsh said.

The reality was that he was just doing his job. The playoffs are familiar territory for Renholm as he was a big reason for Cheyenne Mountain’s championship win a year ago. A former teammate, Noah Bennett, made the remark that Playoff Jeremy is a whole different beast.

Nothing was getting by that beast. Not on this night and not in Magness Arena.

“Your biggest plays have to come from your biggest players,” Renholm said. “There are guys out here that have shown up all tournament. I was just trying to stay with them and do my job.”

He did more than his job. The Demons (17-5) had five power play chances and came away with nothing They caught Renholm out of position once, but he gave up nothing. A couple of shots fell off his pads and dropped right in front of the net. Yet, he surrendered nothing.

“It was a crazy game,” Austin said. “Jeremy Renholm. Jeremy Renholm. Jeremy Renholm. One more time I’m going to say, Jeremy Renholm.”

This is the 16th state hockey title in program history, which is 10 more than any other program in the state. Regis Jesuit has the second-most titles with six.

It’s the second in a row after an 18-year championship drought. But this one felt special. Coming in as the No. 3 seed, the Hawks were the perceived underdog due to Glenwood taking on top-level Aspen players after the Skiers put their program on hold for two seasons.

And it could be argued that that Glenwood outplayed Cheyenne Mountain in every facet of the game except for one category. It just happened to be the category that mattered.

The weight of it made this championship feel special.

“I have no words,” Austin said. “You’re going to have to come back and interview me in a week.”

Even if he couldn’t express the overall emotion of this championship win, he couldn’t emphasize enough the biggest factor on why Cheyenne Mountain is once again a hockey champion in Colorado.

Jeremy Renholm.