If you're a fan of the University of Denver hockey team and are despairing because your beloved Pioneers failed to reach the NCAA West Regional for which you are holding a ticket, it's time to get over the pain and get excited.

So what if DU and Colorado College will not be on the ice when the tournament begins Saturday at the Pepsi Center? An upstart Air Force team will be on hand, as will some of the top programs and players in the country.

For fans of wide-open hockey and high- scoring games, this could be the tournament of your dreams. The four teams - Air Force opens against top-seeded Minnesota at 1:30 p.m., with Michigan and North Dakota meeting at 5:30 p.m. - are ranked in the top 14 nationally in scoring.

"It's unreal. They loaded this region up, there's no doubt about it," Air Force coach Frank Serratore said. "Obviously, it would've been best if CC or Denver could have been in there along with us, but I don't think you could have asked for a better field that didn't include CC or Denver."

Nor could anyone have asked for a field more stocked with offensive firepower than the one that will be taking aim at a regional championship and a spot in the Frozen Four.

Highlighting the field will be the nation's top four scorers - Michigan's T.J. Hensick, a draft pick of the Avalanche, and linemate Kevin Porter; Ryan Duncan of North Dakota; and Eric Ehn of Air Force.

Late bloomer

Little about Ehn's rapid development into one of the top forwards in the nation has made logical sense.

Raised in Dexter, Mich., Ehn hardly received a sniff of interest from Michigan or Michigan State. The devoted Detroit Red Wings fan took his skates and sticks to Air Force, in the heart of Avalanche country.

Ehn (rhymes with "seen") put up solid but not spectacular numbers before this season. Before arriving at Air Force, he recorded 12 goals and 20 assists in 59 games for the Green Bay (Wis.) Gamblers of the U.S. Hockey League.

He was named to the all-rookie team of College Hockey America, Air Force's former conference, after posting 22 points in 36 games as a freshman, and he improved to 35 points in 32 games last season.

Still, no one expected the scoring outburst Ehn produced this season or that he would become the first Falcons player named as a finalist for college hockey's ultimate individual prize, the Hobey Baker Award.

"He's got great skill and he's just one of the most creative players I've ever seen," Serratore said. "He's a throwback. He's like a rink rat-type guy. He's got the creativity of Marty Sertich (CC's 2005 Hobey Baker Award winner). Their intuitive senses are just special. He's got very good puck skill. He's not a burner, but he's sneaky fast. He's not big, but he's strong on his skates."

Ehn produced 18 points in the first seven games this season, including six points against NCAA tournament participant Alabama Huntsville on Oct. 27, and has not looked back. The Atlantic Hockey Association player of the year's 64 points are second nationally to Hensick's 66 and he is the first Falcons player to reach 60 points in 27 years.

The West Regional presents an opportunity for Ehn to match his skills against fellow Hobey Baker Award finalists Hensick and Duncan, both of whom play for more prominent programs.

"It's a little tough not to get caught up with it, just with the buzz that's going around school," Ehn said. "I never want to try and put that ahead of the team's goals. That's first and foremost, going in and focusing on Minnesota. If my goals and the team's goals coincide with each other, that's great. But you have to put the team ones first."

Dangerous combinations

All the aforementioned scorers have benefited from, and contributed to, the success of their linemates.

Hensick centers a line with Porter, and the two have helped Michigan to an NCAA-best scoring average of 4.22 goals a game. Duncan plays on a line with two first-round NHL draft picks, Jonathan Toews and T.J. Oshie, to form the nation's most prolific scoring combination.

Ehn centers a line with sophomore right wing Mike Phillipich (43 points) and senior left wing Andrew Ramsey (47 points), who earned a second-team all-AHA honor after thriving in Ehn's shadow.

"(Ehn) is a great player, but we've been fortunate to have two kids that really complement him," Serratore said. "You've got Phillipich on the right, who's an all-around talent with heart, and Ramsey on the left, who's got really good speed and has a good scoring hand. It's a great balance of skill and chemistry."

Hensick, Duncan and Toews have a good chance of playing at the Pepsi Center again in the near future.

While pro contracts are looming for them and many of their teammates, Ehn and his linemates can only look forward to their five-year military commitment.

But not before trying to make their mark against the nation's elite this weekend.

"We've got a great bunch of guys who are busting themselves every day to get to the same place where the perennial powerhouses are getting every year," Phillipich said. "During the year, it's always big for us to go play Denver and CC. We're always looked upon as the redheaded stepchild of the state. It's always big for us to try and pull an upset against them to kick-start our season.

"It didn't happen this year but, hopefully, it can happen this weekend."

Big four

• The West Regional this weekend at the Pepsi Center will feature the top four scorers in the nation.

1. T.J. Hensick, senior, Michigan

Stats: 21 goals, 45 assists, 66 points.

Height: 5-foot-10. Weight: 189.

Draft status: Selected in the third round of the 2005 draft by the Avalanche.

Overview: A two-time finalist for the Hobey Baker Award has built his remarkable career on consistency. He ranks eighth on the Wolverines' all-time scoring list and has registered at least 46 points in all four of his seasons with Michigan. The versatile playmaker is the active college career leader in assists (146) and points (219).

2. Eric Ehn, junior, Air Force

Stats: 24 goals, 40 assists, 64 points.

Height: 5-foot-10. Weight: 175.

Draft status: Free agent.

Overview: Exploded into the ranks of the nation's elite forwards this season, producing seven more points than he did during his first two seasons combined. Air Force's first Hobey Baker Award finalist was held without a point in only eight of 39 games and set an Atlantic Hockey Association record with 45 points in league games. Any notion Ehn feasted on the AHA's lesser competition was dispelled by the goals he recorded during the Falcons' 2-1 losses against the University of Denver and Colorado College.

3. Kevin Porter, junior, Michigan

Stats: 23 goals, 33 assists, 56 points.

Height: 5-foot-11. Weight: 195.

Draft status: Selected in the fourth round of the 2004 draft by the Phoenix Coyotes.

Overview: The left wing on a line centered by Hensick has played a critical role on the Wolverines' power-play units. He leads Michigan with four winning goals. Porter stayed among the national scoring leaders despite a late-season slide in which he recorded only one point in six games. He has recorded four goals in the three games since, including two winners, and two assists.

4. Ryan Duncan, sophomore, North Dakota

Stats: 30 goals, 23 assists, 53 points.

Height: 5-foot-6. Weight: 158.

Draft status: Free agent.

Overview: The smallest and youngest of the group is the best pure finisher. He is the top goals-scorer in the NCAA tournament and ranks second in the nation with 17 power-play goals, which ties the Fighting Sioux's single-season mark. Size led to his slipping through the cracks of the NHL draft, but he has played big in big games, recording eight goals and six assists in 12 games in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association and NCAA tournaments.IN HIS OWN WORDS: FRANK SERRATORE

Air Force coach Frank Serratore, a Minnesota native and a fixture in college hockey in Colorado since he began coaching at the University of Denver in 1990, talks about playing the Golden Gophers on Saturday at the Pepsi Center in the first NCAA tournament game in the program's history.

• On the hockey culture in Minnesota:

"Kids in Colorado, who do they want to play for growing up? The Avalanche. In Minnesota, you didn't grow up wanting to play for the North Stars and now the Wild. When you grew up, you wanted to play for the Gophers. The Gophers are it."

• On his team's lack of NCAA tournament experience in a pool featuring three of the most prestigious programs in the nation:

"I can't do anything about that. I can go to Wal-Mart and buy anything I want except experience. We have to get that on the run on Saturday. Hopefully, we can get back here next year and I won't have to answer that question."

• On what he hopes to see from the fans at the Pepsi Center:

"One of my relatives called and asked, 'Where will the Air Force section be at the Pepsi Center?' I said, 'Anywhere that's not a Minnesota section.' Because I guarantee the Michigan fans, the North Dakota fans and all the Denver hockey fans will be pulling for us."

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