Colorado College Tigers at North Dakota Fighting Hawks

Game Notes: Colorado College | North Dakota | NCHC
Dates: Friday, Jan. 11 / Saturday, Jan. 12
Times: 7:37 pm / 7:07 pm (CT)
Location: Grand Forks, ND
Venue: Ralph Engelstad Arena (11,634)
Radio: KRDO NewsRadio 105.5 FM
TV: Fox College Sports Pacific/TSN (Sat. Only)
Live Streaming: nchc.tv
Records: Colorado College 8-10-2, 2-5-1 NCHC | North Dakota 9-9-1, 3-5-0 NCHC
Series: North Dakota leads 157-83-11
First Game: 2/12/48, UND won 8-4
Last Game: 2/10/18, UND won 5-1
Streak: North Dakota - 1

This Weekend
Colorado College resumes play in the NCHC with a pair of games, Jan. 11-12 against the North Dakota Fighting Hawks in Grand Forks, N.D. Friday's game begins at 7:37 p.m, while Saturday's is scheduled for 7:07 p.m. (CT). The games will be broadcast in Colorado Springs and the Pikes Peak Region on KRDO NewsRadio 105.5 and 92.5 FM, and 1240 AM, as well as 93.7 KSBV (West of Pikes Peak). Both games can also be seen on the internet at NCHC.tv. Saturday's contest will be televised on Fox College Sports Pacific and TSN in Canada.

Last Time Out
Maine rallied from a 2-1 deficit with three unanswered goals in the second period to defeat Colorado College, 4-2, Jan. 2 in Orono. CC's Erik Middendorf opened the scoring just 2:41 into the contest. He took Troy Conzo's pass from behind the net and put a shot past Maine goalie Jeremy Swayman from the slot for his fourth goal of the season. Maine's Chase Pearson evened things up at 1-1 at the 3:54 mark, but the Tigers regained the lead just 41 seconds later when Trey Bradley took a pass from Mason Bergh and top-shelfed a backhander past Swayman. The Black Bears took control of the game in the middle period. Brendan Robbins evened things up once again at the 8:06 mark after poking a rebound of Tim Doherty's shot past CC goalie Alex Leclerc, then Doherty gave Maine a 3-2 lead at the 11:07 mark after creating a turnover in front of the Tiger net and beating Leclerc with a wrister from the slot. Patrick Shea gave the Black Bears a 4-2 advantage with 1:49 remaining in the second period by deflecting a shot by Rob Michel past Leclerc. The Tigers had an opportunity in the third period with a lengthy delayed penalty and Zach Berzolla rang a shot off the pipe. CC did not capitalize on the ensuing power play and the Black Bears held their zone the rest of the way. The Tigers held a 35-25 advantage in shots. Swayman finished with 33 saves, while Leclerc had 21. Colorado College was 0-for-3 on the power play and Maine was 0-for-2.

Up Next
The Tigers renew the battle for The Gold Pan with a home-and-home series against the 3rd-ranked Denver Pioneers, Jan. 18-19. Friday's contest will be at The Broadmoor World Arena, while the teams will play at Magness Arena the following night.

For The Record
Colorado College is 8-10-2 overall after falling to Maine on Jan. 2. The Tigers are 2-5-1 and in eighth place in the NCHC ... North Dakota is 9-9-1 after getting swept by Canisius, 3-1 and 2-1, on the road last weekend. The Fighting Hawks are 3-5-0 and in sixth place in the NCHC.

Previous Meetings
Colorado College and North Dakota have played 251 times, with the Fighting Hawks holding a 157-83-11 advantage in the series. The teams split four games last season, going 1-1 at each team's home venue.

Tiger Tales
Westin Michaud (6g,8a) leads the Tigers in scoring with 14 points, followed by Bradley (6g,7a) and Nick Halloran (4g,9a) with 13 apiece. Trevor Gooch (7g,5a) and Bergh (5g,7a) each have 12, while Gooch and Alex Berardinelli are tied for the team lead with seven goals. Leclerc has an 8-9-2 record with a 2.60 GAA and .911 saves percentage. He is tied for the national lead among goalies with two assists this season.  

Scouting the Fighting Hawks
Jordan Kawaguchi leads the Fighting Hawks with 12 points (3g,9a), followed by Jacob Bernard-Docker with 11 (4g7a) and Matt Kiersted with 10 (4g,6a). Adam Scheel has appeared in 16 games and started 14 in the net this season and sports an 8-6-1 record, along with a 1.91 GAA and .908 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 … Brad Berry (North Dakota, '02) is in his fourth season as head coach at UND. Berry was an assistant coach at the school for nine seasons before taking over the helm in May of 2015. He became the first person in the history of NCAA Division I men's hockey to lead his team to a national title in his first year as head coach.

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 won 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.

Gooch, Copeland Nab NCHC Monthly 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 third among all NCHC skaters in the final month of 2018 and tied for fourth nationally among rookies.

Three Helpers For First Time in Nearly a Year
Berzolla collected a career-high three assists in the 5-1 victory over Merrimack on Dec. 31, becoming the first Tiger with three assists in a game this season and the first since Bradley had three helpers against Miami on Jan. 27, 2018.

Wilkie Returns to Grand Forks
Chris Wilkie returns to Grand Forks to play against North Dakota for the first time since transferring to CC from UND following the 2016-17 campaign. Due to NCAA transfer rules, he had to sit out the 2017-18 season. Wilkie returned to the lineup on Dec. 31 against Merrimack after missing 12 games with an upper body injury. He posted two assists in the 5-1 victory over the Warriors and CC is 5-2-1 with him in the lineup this season. Wilkie has seven points (3g,4a) in eight games played in '18-19.

Very Defensive in Eight Wins
In their eight victories this season, the Tigers have allowed 13 goals, and have given up 42 in the other 12 games.

Bergh Cracks Top 100
Bergh moved into the Top 100 on CC's career scoring list with a goal at Omaha on Dec. 1. With his assist on Jan. 2 against Maine, Bergh is now tied with Cam Kryway (1996-2000) and Lee Sweatt (2003-07) for 93rd place with 89 points (41g,48a).

Not a Lot of Whistles
Colorado College is one of the least penalized teams in college hockey. The Tigers are fourth in the nation for fewest penalties called per game (3.70) and 12th in fewest penalty minutes per game (9.15). 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. Vermont was called for two penalties in the game, marking the fewest combined penalties in a CC game since that same contest at Wisconsin, in which there were zero penalties.

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. Both of this weekend's pre-game shows start 30 minutes before faceoff. The broadcasts also can be heard worldwide via the Internet ... Selected games, including both this weekend, will also be available on KSBV 93.7 FM in Cripple Creek, Divide, Buena Vista, Monarch and Leadville.

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 3,000 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.

Bradley to Hit Triple Figures on Friday
Bradley will play his 100th career game for Colorado College on Friday at North Dakota. He joins Gooch (114), Ben Israel (114) and Cole McCaskill (101), as players that have reached 100 career games this season.

Played Top Two Back-to-Back, Again
By playing No. 2 St. Cloud State and No. 1 Minnesota Duluth back-to-back in November, Colorado College faced the nation's top two teams in consecutive weekends for the third consecutive season. Two years ago, the Tigers faced No. 2 Denver, followed by No. 1 Minnesota Duluth at home. Last season, CC played at No. 2 St. Cloud State, followed by No. 1 Denver.

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 20 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.

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.