Freshman Staub took longway to becoming Pios contributor
Last summer while preparing to play out his dream, Colin Staub was diagnosed with a progressive eye disease known as keratoconus, a thinning of the cornea that distorts vision and often leads to a corneal transplant.
His diagnoses coincided with more bad news: The Colorado Springs native was denied acceptance to the Air Force Academy because of the disease.
“The day before basic training, I found out it was a disqualifiable condition,” Staub said.
An outstanding student while at nearby Palmer High School, Staub didn’t necessary want to fly jets. He just wanted to play NCAA Division I college hockey and get a great education in Colorado. He had put college off for three years to play junior- A hockey for the Wichita Falls Wildcats of the North American Hockey League, putting his future on hold in the hopes he would earn a scholarship and play hockey.
He did just that. Then it disappeared.
But in a roundabout way and with more twists and turns than Interstate 25 between Denver and Colorado Springs, Staub reached his dream at the University of Denver. The freshman forward has played the past seven games and 15 overall for the Pioneers, who will take an eight- game unbeaten streak into this weekend’s series at Miami ( Ohio).
“It was pretty surreal,” Staub said Wednesday. “I thought I had it set with Air Force, Iwas content with that decision, and all of a sudden I’m going to play for DU, which was always my dream growing up— to play for a national championship for a great college hockey program. Not that I couldn’t do that at Air Force.” Staub said Wednesday.
DU picked up Staub in July on the recommendations of Air Force coach Frank Serratore and Wichita Falls coach John LaFontaine, who formerly worked with Pioneers assistant coach Dave Carle in Minnesota.
“We are very fortunate,” DU coach Jim Montgomery said of Staub. “He’s the kind of kid that when someone asks you about him, he puts a smile on your face because he’s an unbelievable human being. His attention to detail, how easy he is to coach and how he is as a teammate, he just grows on you every day, and he’s an everyday player for us now and helping us win.”
Staub played youth hockey for the Colorado Springs Junior Tigers ( double- A and lower) and the Pikes Peak Miners ( triple- A) before joining Wichita Falls in the Tier IINAHL. He led the Wildcats with 60 points ( 26 goals) in 60 games last season— numbers that would have earned him heavy recruiting interest if he had not committed to Air Force.
In July when he learned he couldn’t play at Air Force, virtually all college teams had their 18 scholarships assigned and would consider signing a recruit only for the following year. But Staub, who turned 21 in March, had to become a freshman in 2015- 16 or he would lose the athletic year.
DU came up with partial academic and athletic scholarships and promised more in the future if Staub became the player Serratore envisioned
“Frank called a lot of guys for me,” Staub said of Serratore. “Toward the end of July, itwas kind of a Hail Mary pass. Most schools were starting in a couple weeks and DU has that later start date, which is one of the major reasons I could still get it. We threw the Hail Marys, and DU grabbed one and gave me a call.”