Colorado College Tigers vs. Vermont Catamounts

Game Notes: Colorado College | Vermont
Dates: Friday, Oct. 6 / Saturday, Oct. 7
Time: 7:05 p.m. ET
Location: Burlington, VT
Venue: Gutterson Fieldhouse (4,035)
Radio: KRDO NewsRadio 105.5 and 92.5 FM / 1240 AM
TV: None
Live Streaming: CatamounTV.com
Series: Colorado College leads 2-1
First Game: 12/21/76, Vermont won 5-3
Last Game: 12/27/96, CC won 6-0

This Weekend
Colorado College opens the 2017-18 regular season this weekend with a pair of games against the University of Vermont in Burlington. The games on Friday, Oct. 6, and Saturday, Oct. 7, will begin at 7:05 p.m. (ET). Both games will be broadcast in Colorado Springs and the Pikes Peak Region on KRDO NewsRadio 105.5 and 92.5 FM and 1240 AM.     Friday's game is the fourth meeting between the two schools.

Tigers Down Lethbridge in Exhibition
Junior Westin Michaud scored a pair of goals and added an assist to lead Colorado College to a 4-1 victory over Lethbridge University in an exhibition game last Saturday at the Stephen C. West Arena in Breckenridge. Michaud scored 1:40 into the contest and the Tigers took a 2-0 lead when fellow junior Trevor Gooch took a pass from Michaud and found the net two minutes later. Mitchell Maxwell cut the Lethbridge deficit in half with one minute to play in the second period, but Michaud and freshman Zach Berzolla added third-period tallies for CC to the delight of the sold-out crowd. Sophomore Nick Halloran dished out a pair of assists for the Tigers.

Getting Started
This season marks the 79th year of varsity ice hockey at Colorado College. This is the Tigers' fifth season in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. CC was a charter member of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (1951-52) for 62 seasons before joining the NCHC with seven other schools in 2013.

Up Next
The Tigers open the home portion of the 2017-18 season against Alaska Anchorage, Oct. 13-14, at The Broadmoor World Arena.

For the Record
Colorado College finished the 2016-17 season with an 8-24-4 record, including a 4-16-4 mark in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference … The University of Vermont, a member of Hockey East, was 20-13-5 overall and 10-8-4 in conference play last season. The Catamounts finished sixth in Hockey East in '16-17.

The Coaches
Mike Haviland (Elmira College, '90) enters his fourth season at the helm of the Tigers. He came to Colorado College after serving one year as head coach of the Hershey Bears (AHL). Haviland was an assistant coach for the Chicago Blackhawks from 2008-12, helping the team win the Stanley Cup in 2010 … Kevin Sneddon (Harvard, '92) is in his 15th season as head coach at Vermont. He led the Catamounts to three NCAA Tournament berths in the last nine seasons, including the program's second-ever NCAA Frozen Four berth in 2009. Including five seasons as the head coach at Union, his career record is 274-338-86.

Previous Meetings
Friday's game will be the fourth meeting between the two teams. CC holds a 2-1 advantage in the series, including a 4-3 double overtime victory in the semifinals of the 1996 NCAA Tournament.

Scouting the Opposition
Vermont defeated Waterloo, 6-1, in an exhibition game in Burlington on Sunday ... Brian Bowen and Ross Colton are the team's top returning scorers after recording 27 points (12g, 15a) apiece last season ... Stefanos Lekkas posted a 2.56 goals-against average and .911 saves percentage in 33 games as the team's goalie.

On the Air
All CC games in 2017-18, home and away, will be broadcast live throughout Southern Colorado on KRDO NewsRadio 105.5 and 92.5 FM and 1240 AM, featuring Ken Landau with the play-by-play. Pre-game shows start 37 minutes before faceoff. The broadcasts also can be heard worldwide via the Internet ... Selected games will also be available on KSBV 93.7 FM in Cripple Creek, Divide, Buena Vista, Monarch and Leadville.

This Year's Leadership
Junior forwards Mason Bergh (Eden Prairie, MN) and Tanner Ockey (Calgary, Alberta) will serve as the team captains in 2017-18. Bergh led the team in scoring with 24 points (14g,10a) last season, while Ockey paced the squad in faceoff percentage (49.2%) ... Junior defensemen Andrew Farny (Steamboat Springs, CO) and Cole McCaskill (Kamloops, B.C.) are the assistant captains this season.

Another Tough Schedule
After playing the second-toughest schedule in the country last season, the Tigers are at it again this year. Five of Colorado College's 13 opponents this season played in the NCAA Division I Hockey Tournament last season and 17 of CC's 34 regular-season games are scheduled against teams that were ranked in the USCHO's Top 20 preseason poll.

First Transfer in a Decade
Junior forward Chris Wilkie (Omaha, NE) joined the program this season after spending two years at the University of North Dakota. Wilkie, who helped UND to the 2016 Division I national championship, is the first transfer to join Tigers since Eric Walsky came to Colorado Springs from Alaska-Anchorage prior to the 2006 campaign. Wilkie, a sixth-round pick of the Florida Panthers in the 2015 NHL Draft, must sit out the 2017-18 season due to the NCAA transfer rules and has two years of eligibility remaining.

No Seniors This Season
Colorado College is one of only two Division I programs in the country without a senior on the 2017-18 roster. Boston College is the other. The Tigers have 10 juniors, 10 sophomores and nine freshmen on the roster.

Number Changes
Sophomore forwards Alex Berardinelli and Kade Kehoe will each wear a new number in 2017-18. Berardinelli will move from No. 25 to No. 7, while Kehoe moves from No. 24 to No. 9.

Leon Hayward Named Assistant Coach
Leon Hayward joins the Tiger program this season as an assistant coach. Previously, he was an assistant with the Bloomington Thunder of the USHL and Avon Old Farms School, a prep school in Avon, Connecticut. Hayward played four seasons at Northeastern University from 1998-2002, scoring 30 points (15g,15a) in 132 career games. He then spent six years playing professionally, including four in the AHL, collecting 85 goals and 88 assists for 173 points.