Colorado College Tigers vs. Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs

Game Notes: Colorado College | Minnesota Duluth
Dates: Friday, Feb. 1 / Saturday, Feb. 2
Time: 7:37 pm / 6:07 pm
Location: Colorado Springs, Colo.
Venue: Broadmoor World Arena (7,380)
Radio: KRDO NewsRadio 105.5 FM
TV: None
Live Streaming: NCHC.tv
Records: Colorado College 10-12-3, 4-7-2 NCHC | Minnesota Duluth 16-6-2, 9-4-1 NCHC
Series: Minnesota Duluth leads 101-81-10
First Game: 1/4/61, UMD won 6-4
Last Game: 1/13/18, UMD won 5-1
Streak: Minnesota Duluth - 4

This Weekend
Colorado College plays its first home game since Dec. 8 with a weekend series against the No. 3-ranked Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs, Feb. 1-2, at the Broadmoor World Arena. Friday's game is scheduled for 7:37 p.m., while Stutrday's contest will begin at 6:07 p.m. 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, and streamed live on NCHC.tv. Friday's contest will also air on 93.7 KSBV (West of Pikes Peak).

Last Weekend
Colorado College posted its first road sweep since November of 2012, first against an NCHC opponent since December of 2015, and moved into sixth place in the league with a pair of wins at Miami ... On Friday, Brian Williams scored twice in his first appearance of the season and Alex Leclerc made 29 saves to lead Colorado College to a 6-1 victory. Troy Conzo added a goal and an assist and Erik Middendorf and Ben Copeland each collected a pair of assists. Williams, Alex Berardinelli and Conzo scored within a span of 5:04 midway through the first period for a 3-0 lead. The Tigers kept the pressure on in the second period as Trey Bradley scored on a wraparound just 41 seconds into the frame to make it 4-0. Bradley, who has five goals in his last six games, became the first Tiger to reach double figures with his career-high 10th goal of the season. Williams, who has four of his five career goals against Miami, scored his second of the game to put the Tigers ahead 5-0 at the 9:37 mark with a rocket from the right circle that beat Jordan Uhelski, who replaced Ryan Larkin following Bradley's goal. Grant Hutton put Miami on the board with a shot from the point at the 11:08 mark of the middle frame and Christiano Versich scored with 2:04 remaining in the third period for the game's final goal ... On Saturday, Kristian Blumenschein capped a third-period rally with a 5-on-3 goal with 3:22 remaining in the third period to give Colorado College a 3-2 victory. Blumenschein took a pass from Mason Bergh and blasted a shot from the high slot. The Tigers trailed 2-1 entering the third period, but Cole McCaskill scored just 1:26 into the period after taking a pass across the crease from Berardinelli to tie the game at 2-2. Each team had a power play opportunity midway through the final frame, but could not capitalize. Miami's Casey Gilling was called for interference with 5:20 remaining, then Andrew Sinard kicked Bradley's stick while it laid on the ice for another
interference call 37 seconds later to give CC its two-man advantage. Blumenschein's first career game-winning goal came with just two seconds remaining on the 5-on-3 and allowed the Tigers to stay on the power play for another 35 seconds. Along with Ben Israel's opening goal just 3:54 into the contest, the CC defensive corps accounted for all three goals Saturday night after scoring just three in the first 24 games. Israel opened the scoring when he took Bradley's pass from behind the net and blasted a one-timer from the high slot past Uhelski. The RedHawks answered late in the first period when Scott Corbett skated into the Tiger zone and placed a wrister from the top of the right circle into the lower left corner of the net past Leclerc with 1:50 remaining in the frame. Miami's Derek Daschke scored the only goal of the second period, a power-play tally at the 12:25 mark. Daschke scored on a wrister from the top of the left circle past a screened Leclerc to give the RedHawks a 2-1 advantage.

For The Record
Colorado College is 10-12-3 overall and 4-7-2 in the NCHC following the weekend sweep at Miami ... Minnesota Duluth is 16-6-2 overall and 9-4-1 in the NCHC after sweeping Omaha, 7-2 and 3-1, at home last weekend.

Previous Meetings
Colorado College and Minnesota Duluth have met 192 times, with the Bulldogs holding a 101-81-10 advantage in the series. UMD swept the Tigers, 3-0 and 5-1, in Duluth earlier this season.

Up Next
The Tigers travel to Minnesota for a weekend series, Feb. 8-9, against the top ranked team in the country, St. Cloud State. The game on Friday, Feb. 8, will be televised on CBS Sports Network.

Tiger Tales
Westin Michaud (8g,11a) leads the Tigers in scoring with 19 points, followed by Bradley (10g,8a) with 18 and Bergh with 16 (5g,11a). Leclerc has an 10-11-3 record with a 2.63 GAA and .913 saves percentage. He is tied for the national lead among goalies with two assists this season.  

Scouting the Bulldogs
Justin Richards leads the Bulldogs and is tied for fifth in the NCHC with 24 points (8g,16a). Scott Perunovich follows with 22 points (3g,19a) and leads the league in assists. Hunter Shepherd has played in 24 games this season and sports a 16-6-2 record. He is third in the country with 16 victories and has a 1.72 GAA (No. 2 in the country) and .925 saves percentage.  

The Coaches
Mike Haviland (Elmira College, '90) is in his fifth 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 … Scott Sandelin (North Dakota, '86) is in his 19th season at Minnesota Duluth. He has led the Bulldogs to the 2011 and 2018 national championships and won the Spencer Penrose Award (Division I Coach of the Year) in 2004.

Nine Straight Road Games
With the postponement of the Jan. 18 home game against Denver, the Tigers just finished playing nine consecutive true road games, marking the longest such streak in program history. CC has played eight in a row on the road several times and played 12 straight games away from home, which included four neutral site games, during the 1965-66 season.

First Road Sweep Since 2012
With Saturday's victory at Miami, the Tigers completed their first regular-season weekend sweep on the road since Nov. 2-3, 2012 at Wisconsin. It also marked the first sweep against an NCHC opponent since Dec. 4-5, 2015 against Miami at home.   

Century Club Watch
With his assist on Blumenschein's game-winning goal last Saturday at Miami, Bergh has 93 career points (41g,52a) and is tied with Gabe Guentzel (2008-12) and Shawn Reid (1990-94) for 85th place on CC's career scoring list.

Not a Lot of Whistles
Colorado College is one of the least penalized teams in college hockey. The Tigers rank second in the nation for fewest penalties called per game (3.40) and third in fewest penalty minutes per game (8.20). CC was not called for a penalty against Vermont on Dec. 7, the first time the Tigers were not whistled since Dec. 14, 2013 at Wisconsin, and had just one penalty last night.

Very Defensive in 10 Wins
In their 10 victories this season, the Tigers have allowed 16 goals, and have given up 53 in the other 15 games.

Defensemen Double Their Scoring
All three goals in Saturday's 3-2 victory at Miami were scored by defensemen, doubling the goal output of the blue-line corps prior to that game. Defensemen had accounted for just three of the team's 75 goals in the first 24 games of the season. Israel and McCaskill each scored his second of the season on Saturday, while Blumenschein's game-winner was the first of his career and his first goal of the 2018-19 campaign.

Happy 80th
This season marks the 80th year of varsity ice hockey at Colorado College and sixth season as a member of 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 prior to the 2013-14 campaign.

Coaching History at Maine
When the Tigers battled Maine on Jan. 2, it marked the first time in college hockey history that both head coaches owned a Stanley Cup ring as an assistant coach in the NHL. CC's Mike Haviland was an assistant with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010, while Maine's Red Gendron was on the staff of the New Jersey Devils when they won the Stanley Cup in 1995.

Michaud and Bradley Nominated for Hobey Baker Award
Michaud and Bradley are among 81 student-athletes nominated for the 2019 Hobey Baker Award. The Hobey Baker Award is presented annually to the collegiate hockey player who best demonstrates strength of character both on and off the ice, contributes to the integrity of his team and displays outstanding skills in all phases of the game. Colorado College has had two winners since the first Hobey Baker was awarded in 1981, Peter Sejna (2003) and Marty Sertich (2005).

Gooch, Copeland Nab Monthly NCHC Awards
Colorado College captured two of the three monthly awards for December by the NCHC as Gooch and Ben Copeland were named Player of the Month and Rookie of the Month, respectively. Gooch closed out 2018 in strong fashion, leading the NCHC with both five goals and seven points in December to help the Tigers to a 3-3-0 record during the month. His five tallies, including one game-winner, also tied for fifth nationally in December, one off the NCAA lead. Gooch recorded two multi-point games and fired 25 shots on goal in the final month of 2018, which also led all NCHC skaters, while he posted a +3 plus/minus. Copeland, meanwhile, more than doubled his season points total in December, racking up five points in six games to lead all NCHC rookies in scoring during the month. He notched two goals, one of only two NCHC rookies to do so in December (along with teammate Grant Cruikshank), while adding three assists. Copeland's 0.83 points per game also led all NCHC rookies with more than one game in December, while his five points tied for fourth nationally among rookies in the final month of 2018.

On the Air
All CC games in 2018-19, 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. Friday's pre-game shows start 60 minutes before faceoff, with a 30-minute pregame show on Saturday. The broadcasts also can be heard worldwide via the Internet ... Selected games, including this Friday's, will also be available on KSBV 93.7 FM in Cripple Creek, Divide, Buena Vista, Monarch and Leadville.

Tough Schedule Again This Season
After playing 21 of its 36 games against ranked teams last season, the Tigers are at it again this year. Four of Colorado College's 15 opponents this season played in the NCAA Division I Hockey Tournament last season and 16 of CC's 36 regular-season games are scheduled against teams that are ranked in this week's USCHO's Top 20 poll, with 12 against the last three national champions (Minn. Duluth, Denver and North Dakota), the most of any team in the country. Nine of CC's final 11 games this season are against teams currently ranked in the top eight in the country.

New On-Campus Arena on the Horizon
Colorado College, in partnership with Colorado Springs' City for Champions initiative, has unveiled a proposal to build the Edward J. Robson Arena as an on-campus competition arena. If approved, this new facility with 3,650 permanent seats would become the permanent home of CC Tiger Hockey and, for the first time since the program's founding in 1938, the CC hockey team would be able to play games on campus.

Pikes Peak Trophy Comes to CC
With the victory over Air Force on Oct. 13, Colorado College claimed the Pikes Peak Trophy for the first time. In 2013, Colorado College and Air Force established the Pikes Peak Trophy in memory of the former head coach of both schools, John Matchefts. Matchefts compiled a record of 54-88-3 in five seasons (1966-71) at the Colorado College helm before posting a ledger of 154-150-6 in 11 years (1974-85) with Air Force. The Tigers now own a 61-13-2 all-time record against Air Force.

Mason Bergh a Candidate for Senior CLASS Award
Bergh has been selected as a candidate for the 2018-19 Senior CLASS Award for hockey. He is one of the 15 men's hockey student-athletes that were selected for excelling both on and off the ice. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.

Michaud to Hit Triple Figures on Saturday
Michaud will play his 100th career game for Colorado College on Saturday against Minnesota Duluth. He joins Gooch (119), Israel (117), McCaskill (106) and Bradley (104), as players that have reached 100 career games this season.