This Weekend
Colorado College opens its 2019-20 regular season this weekend with a two-game series against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at the Broadmoor World Arena. The puck drops at 7:37 p.m., on Friday, Oct. 11, and 7:07 p.m., on Saturday, Oct. 12. Both games will be broadcast in Colorado Springs on KRDO NewsRadio 105.5 FM, 1240 AM and 92.5 FM. Friday's game will be televised on AT&T SportsNet.
Getting Started
This season marks the 81st year of varsity ice hockey at Colorado College and seventh 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.
Season Openers
Colorado College is 48-30-2 all-time in regular-season openers. The Tigers are 40-14-1 at home and 8-16-1 on the road (including neutral games). Last season, the Tigers opened with a 10-2 victory at Alaska Anchorage.
For the Record
Colorado College finished the 2018-19 season with a 17-20-4 record, including a 9-12-3 mark and sixth-place finish in the NCHC standings ... Minnesota finished with an 18-16-4 overall record last season and was 11-10-3 in the Big Ten.
Previous Meetings
Friday's game will be the 255th meeting between the two teams. Minnesota owns a 161-85-8 record against the Tigers. The teams have not played since March 22, 2013, a 2-0 Tiger victory over No. 1 Minnesota in the semifinals of the WCHA Final Five.
Up Next
After a week off, the Tigers host the Michigan State Spartans on Friday, Oct. 25 and Saturday, Oct. 26, at the Broadmoor World Arena.
The Coaches
Mike Haviland (Elmira College, '90) enters his sixth 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 … Bob Motzko (St. Cloud State, '87) is in his second season as head coach at Minnesota. He spent the previous 13 years as the head coach at St. Cloud State and was an assistant coach with the Gophers from 2001-05.
New Leadership for '19-20
Senior
Alex Berardinelli and sophomore
Grant Cruikshank will serve as co-captains of the team for the 2019-20 season, while seniors
Nick Halloran and
Chris Wilkie and junior
Zach Berzolla will be the assistant captains. Cruikshank is the first sophomore in program history to wear the "C".
Most Wins in Six Years
The Tigers' 17 victories last season were the most in one season since the 2012-13 campaign (18).
Tigers Down Trinity Western in Exhibition game
Alex Berardinelli scored twice and
Christiano Versich and
Connor Mayer each picked up a pair of assists to lead Colorado College past Trinity Western University, 4-1, Saturday night at the Broadmoor World Arena.
Chris Wilkie put the Tigers on the board midway through the first period, then Berardinelli made it 2-0 later in the frame. The senior captain put the Tigers up 3-0 with 4:17 left in the second and
Erik Middendorf scored with less than four minutes remaining in the third.
Ryan Ruck,
Matt Vernon and
Jon Flakne each played 20 minutes in the net.
First Appearance at the NCHC Frozen Faceoff
After finishing the 2018-19 regular season in sixth place in the NCHC, Colorado College made its first appearance in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff in the six years of the league's existence last season. By winning the best-of-three series, 2-1, over third-seeded Western Michigan, the Tigers became the first lower-seeded team to win an NCHC quarterfinal series since St. Cloud State won at Omaha in 2015.
The Gold Pan and Pikes Peak Trophy Come to CC
Colorado College claimed The Gold Pan for the first time since 2014 when the Tigers swept Denver on March 8-9 to close the regular season. In addition, with the 6-1 victory over Air Force on Oct. 13, Colorado College claimed the Pikes Peak Trophy.
Yoon With Most Points by a Frosh in Eight Years
Bryan Yoon's 26 points last season were the most by a Colorado College freshman since current St. Louis Blues forward Jaden Schwartz had 47 (17g,30a) during the 2010-11 campaign, and the most by a CC freshman defenseman since Scott Swanson had 48 (13g,35a) in 1995-96.
SPECIAL Teams
From Feb. 8 through their final game on March 23, covering the final 14 contests, the Tigers had the best penalty kill (92.2%) in the country, fighting off 47 of their last 51 penalties. In addition, CC had the fifth-best power-play percentage (26.5%/13-for-49) in the nation during the same time frame.
Tough Schedule Down the Stretch ...
Last season, the Tigers played 25 of their 41 games, including the final 16, against ranked opponents. For the season, 11 games were against a Top-5 team. The Tigers posted eight victories over a ranked team last season, the most in one campaign since 2012-13 (9). CC also played 12 games against the last four national champions (Minn. Duluth, Denver and North Dakota), the most of any team in the country.
And Again This Season ...
The Tigers will play 18 of their 34 regular-season games this season against teams that are ranked in this week's USCHO.com Top 20 Poll. Colorado College, which received seven votes, will play an additional five games against teams that received votes.
Nine Straight Road Games
With the postponement of the Jan. 18 home game against Denver, the Tigers played nine consecutive true road games between Dec. 8 and Feb. 1, 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.
Third Time with Three Games
The series against Western Michigan marked the third time in the six years of the NCHC that the Tigers played a third and deciding game in the quarterfinal series. In the first year of the league (2013-14), CC went three games at North Dakota (won game two), then went the distance in 2017-18 at Denver after winning the first game.
Ten Newcomers Join the Program
Including grad transfers
Ryan Ruck (Northeastern) and
Andrew Gaus (Yale), the Tigers welcome 10 newcomers to the program. In addition,
Bailey Conger is eligible to play this season after transferring from Providence and sitting out the 2018-19 campaign. The incoming freshman class was ranked No. 10 in the country by College Hockey News.
Most Goals Since '13
Colorado College scored 117 goals last season, the most in one campaign since scoring 133 in 2012-13.
Copeland Pulled Off Rare Four-Goal Game
Ben Copeland scored four goals on Feb. 23 against Western Michigan, the first CC player to score four times in a game since Andrew Hamburg against Air Force on Oct. 19, 2012 and the first Tiger freshman with four goals since Jay McNeill against Air Force on Nov. 11, 1992. Copeland is the second Division I player in the country to score four goals in a game this season (Arizona State's Johnny Walker on Oct. 27 vs. Omaha) and the first DI freshman to score four goals in a game since New Hampshire's Patrick Grasso on Oct. 29, 2016 vs. Merrimack. He is also the second player to score four goals in an NCHC conference game in the history of the league. Joey Benik of St. Cloud State had four goals vs. WMU on Nov. 14, 2015.
Tigers Picked Sixth in NCHC Preseason Poll
Colorado College was picked sixth in the 2019-20 NCHC Preseason Poll.
1. Minnesota Duluth – 218 points (23 first-place votes)
2. Denver – 178 (2)
3. Western Michigan – 156 (3)
4. North Dakota – 143
5. St. Cloud State – 138
6. Colorado College – 81
7. Omaha – 53
8. Miami – 41
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. The arena, with an estimated capacity of 3,400+ seats, will become the permanent home of CC Tiger Hockey and for the first time since the program began in 1938, the hockey team will play games on campus. The arena is expected to open in the fall of 2021.
