The jerseys are lying in a basket waiting for cleaning. Sparks fly from the skates being sharpened. Helmets are designed for each player. Different sticks are being ordered for every player. One man is behind all of it.He is the guy that nobody knows, but without him nothing would happen with the DU hockey team. He is the equipment manager, and his name is Lee Greseth.He is the guy that gets the masks specially decorated for the goalies or the sticks for every player or the skates sharpened before games and practices or the laundry done. He is the guy that nobody knows, but should.”Lee is awesome. He puts up with a lot of stuff. Guys have their own little stuff for their equipment that good equipment managers can handle, certain little things that help the ritual before the games,” said sophomore goalie Peter Mannino.Lee has been an equipment manager now for six years at DU and 18 years overall. As a student, Greseth was a manager at the U.S. International University in San Diego, and also a student manager at the University of Minnesota. After he graduated, he became the hockey equipment manager for the Colorado College Tigers in 1992-1993. Then he traveled to become the equipment manager at the University of Alaska-Anchorage. After three years there, he moved to North Dakota to become the hockey equipment manager for the Fighting Sioux. After UND won the NCAA National Championship in 1999-2000, Greseth decided to make the move to Denver where he is now entering his sixth season as the hockey equipment manager.”I have been working in college hockey for about 18 years and I really enjoy it at this level. I guess I could always move up to a professional league, but their travel is just brutal compared to what we do, but with a family it is nice to see them more than I would at the professional level,” said Greseth.Mike DePaola is the head equipment manager for the athletics department and is in charge of all the sports except for hockey.”Mike takes care of about 90% of the work, I take care of mostly hockey.”Greseth first thought about being an equipment manager when one of his high school buddies was being recruited for hockey and he asked the school if he could be the equipment manager for the hockey team and they agreed and his journey began.”You got to love this job with the amount of hours that you are putting in.”An average day for Greseth Monday through Thursday starts off by getting to DU around 10 a.m. He begins by doing any laundry, taking care of equipment issues that athletes might have, sharpening skates and doing any work DePaola might have for him. After this is all done and a little lunch is eaten, the guys start to arrive at 2 p.m. and Lee takes care of any problems they might have. At 3 p.m. practice begins and Greseth along with his student assistant watch for any equipment problems. After practice the final laundry is taken care of and by 6 p.m. it is time for Lee to pick up his two year old daughter from day care and head home.”There is a lot of time when you are sitting around waiting for stuff to happen, but you still have to be here and take care of everything.”On Fridays, Lee arrives around 9 a.m. to start off with his daily routine, around 11 a.m. the visiting team has a skate around followed by DU’s skate around at 12 p.m. On Fridays Lee can stay as late as midnight helping to prepare things for Saturday’s game. Saturdays are a little easier as he arrives at 10 a.m., gets a couple of hours off for lunch and gets Sundays off.”My daughter is almost two and a half and we have a newborn son, so it is pretty tough to leave them when we go on the road.”The hockey team spends about $90,000 to $100,000 a year on equipment.”The best moment I can remember here at DU is two years ago when we beat North Dakota in the regional final, because they had our number all year and that is where I came from before.”When asked about his favorite part of the job Greseth responded with, “the winning lately has been great, just being around the guys, it keeps you young. It is a pretty fun job.”Lee does about four loads of laundry for the hockey team and Coors Fitness Center a day in 45-60 pound washers.”Lee is very laid back and a very fun guy and whatever you need he is there for you,” said Mannino.When asked about being the guy nobody knows, Lee didn’t have much of a problem, “That’s perfect just sitting back, they win and all that, I get to go to the white house. I don’t know what more you can ask for. I suppose a few people know, but I am fine being in the background.”In the background is what Greseth is ,and he could not be happier being the equipement manager for the back to back national champs.”I am just along for the ride.”