Fans going to enjoy personalities of Rage, 14ers

BROOMFIELD – If the puck ever gets by Rage goalie David Guerrera (an unlikely scenario, but more on that later), he can let expletives fly in three languages.

At last count, Guerrera speaks English, Italian and French.

Why the versatility? His parents are from Italy, he was born in Montreal (a lot of French is spoken there) and, of course, he now lives in the U.S.

“I do cuss in different languages,” Guerrera says. “It just depends on the people I’m around – what language they speak – as to the language I choose to cuss in.”

But chances are good he won’t be cursing because a puck got by him – he’s like a wall in front of the goal.
Last season with a Norwegian hockey team, he earned 2.89 goals against average and .897 save percentage during 23 regular season games. In his rookie season with the Laredo Bucks in the Canadian Hockey League, he went 26-4-5 with 2.10 goals against average and a save percentage of .932. At home he was even better: 14-0-1 with 1.65 goals against average and a .934 save percentage.

He’s especially ready to face the obvious rivals, the Loveland Eagles (the two teams face each other 12 times this season.)

“Rivalries are good,” he says. “They help you play better.”

Little looms large

If hockey doesn’t work out for Guerrera’s teammate and fellow Canadian, Jordan Little, he can always head to Hollywood.

Little starred on a reality TV show in Canada about hockey last year. The show, called “Making the Cut,” featured hockey players enduring a rigorous two-week training camp in an attempt to make the pro hockey ranks.

Little was the first draft pick and played pro with the Edmonton Oilers until he tore up his shoulder and sat out all of last season. He came to the Rush this fall and says his shoulder is “feeling better every day.”

“I think we’ll have a strong season,” says Little, a defenseman. “Before I got here I looked at the team on paper, and it looked awesome. Then when I actually got here and saw what we had, I was really impressed.”

To relax, Little says he’s learning quickly and easily to like Colorado. “It’s really beautiful here, and my girlfriend and I just like to walk around Boulder and see the sights,” he says.

As for acting though, Little doesn’t see much of a future.

“I just like being myself, not anyone else,” he says.

Player from Littleton

Chip Dunleavy, the team’s only player who grew up in Colorado, hails from Littleton. His earliest memory is telling as to why he’s a hockey player.

“I remember when I was about 4 my dad putting me in a hockey bag and zipping me up to my chin to keep my warm when he was helping my older brother learn how to play,” Dunleavy says.

At 24, Dunleavy is clearly out of the bag and making his own marks on the ice.

He was voted the freshman of the year in 2002-03 at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, where he also was captain his senior year. Dunleavy led the club in points (17), goals (13) and power play goals (nine) on the way to earning All-Northern Collegiate Hockey Association honorable mention accolades.

And he couldn’t be happier about playing in front of the hometown crowd. “It’s an honor for me to be able to play here in my own backyard,” Dunleavy says.

Dunleavy was a junior at Columbine High School when the shootings happened, and he knew some of the victims.

“That day has affected my entire life. I’ll never be the same person,” he says. “But what I took from it was that you live every day like it’s your last.”

The big good wolf

On the basketball side of the arena, former Denver Nuggets standout Joe Wolf is taking the reins of the Colorado 14ers.

Wolf began his basketball career in high school where he helped bring home three state championships for Kohler High School in Kohler, Wis. (And he’s a smart cookie, too – his academics landed him in the National Honor Society.)

He was offered more than 250 scholarships during his senior year in high school. Wolf chose the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, where he played in 128 games over his four-year career. Wolf tallied 1,231 points for the Tar Heels as well as 707 rebounds.

Not surprisingly, Wolf was drafted in the first round by the Los Angeles Clippers (13th overall) in the 1987 NBA draft. It was a very talented draft year that included the likes of David Robinson (first overall) and Reggie Miller (11th overall).

After spending three years with the Clippers, the Denver Nuggets signed him and he played here two seasons. During the 1990s he played for the Boston Celtics, the Portland Trail Blazers, the Charlotte Hornets, the Orlando Magic and the Milwaukee Bucks. Wolf ended his playing career in Charlotte in the 1998-1999 season.
Wolf will also serve as general manager of player personnel.

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