Jax News

The concept of the Arkansas Valley Lumbajax has been brewing in Central Colorado for a long long time...

Every Sunday morning, twenty or so hockey players would converge on the concrete to play roller hockey at Longefellow Elementary School in Salida, CO. Players of all ages would hone their skills, smash into the basketball poles, and scrape against the chain link fence. It was there, on the pebble riddled basketball court, that the idea of building a tournament team to travel and play ice hockey in real rinks would begin to develop.

Fast forward ten years. The outdoor roller hockey had deceased. Most of the players had either moved on or lost interest, but within a few the passion still remained. On a cold winter night, after a few too many games of pool and Keystone Lights at the Rog Mahal, Roger Potts and Nathan Cook made the decision. Tired of wearing sponsors who didn't care on their backs, paying lots to play very little, and always leaving tournaments disappointed, they decided to make the ARKANSAS VALLEY LUMBAJAX a reality!

With the help of a federal tax return, Roger Potts decided to buy the jerseys outright. He and Nathan combined with Ed Clark to make the Jax Logos, philosophy, and decide just what the team would be about. The Lumbajax were born.  

The Lumberjack

He is the bearded man, Made of myth and legend. With tools of ax and saw and brawn, He labors the reverse of dusk to dawn. Without a complaint, in the morning he wakes, And in manly silence eats his stack of pancakes. Trees are his livelihood, and his paradox. A friend, yet an adversary that must be felled. His world is bound by logs and lumber, And yet the world does not stop to wonder Where all that wood comes from. And so he toils on, unrecognized. He is the embodiment of a pure man, Far supreme are his height and strength. More than mere mortal, his wardrobe is best: Boots, stocking cap, jeans, and red flannel are better than the rest. He snacks upon beef jerky and bacon, And bellows with a deep voice. Never discouraged and never to be stopped, His wooded obligation is his choice. He works alone in the forest, And as the last of his kind, he stands tall. In a close contest, he beats out pirates As the manliest of them all. Jesse Swedlund