Colorado College Tigers at #1 St. Cloud State Huskies

Game Notes: Colorado College
Dates: Friday, Feb. 8 / Saturday, Feb. 9
Times: 8:08 pm / 6:07 pm (CT)
Location: St. Cloud, Minn.
Venue: National Hockey Center (5,159)
Radio: KRDO NewsRadio 105.5 FM
TV: CBS Sports Network (Friday)
      Fox Sports North (Saturday)
Live Streaming: NCHC.tv (Saturday)
Records: CC 11-13-3, 5-8-2 NCHC | SCSU 20-4-2, 12-2-2-1 NCHC
Series: St. Cloud State leads 50-48-7
First Game: 1/23/89, SCSU won 5-2
Last Game: 11/3/18, SCSU won 2-1
Streak: St. Cloud State - 4

This Weekend
Colorado College travels to Minnesota for a weekend series, Feb. 8-9, against the top-ranked team in the country, the St. Cloud State Huskies. Friday's game will begin at 8 p.m., while Saturday's contest is scheduled for a 6 p.m. (CT) start. 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, as well as 93.7 KSBV (West of Pikes Peak). Friday's game will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network and Saturday's will be televised on Fox Sports North as well as on TSN.ca and the TSN App in Canada, and streamed live on NCHC.tv.
 
Last Weekend
The Tigers split a weekend series with No. 3-ranked and defending national champion Minnesota Duluth at the Broadmoor World Arena ... On Friday, Troy Conzo scored twice and Trey Bradley added a goal and and two assists as CC upset the Bulldogs, 4-1. Alex Leclerc posted 40 saves for the Tigers, who collected their season-high third consecutive victory and snapped UMD's four-game winning streak. Bradley opened the scoring at the 4:26 mark of the first period. He collected the puck behind the net after a UMD turnover, skated out in front and placed a shot between UMD goalie Hunter Shepard's legs for his team-leading 11th goal of the season. Conzo put the Tigers up 2-0 at the 7:13 mark of the second after a shot by Christiano Versich that Shepard stopped was collected by Conzo and he scored from the right circle. Peter Krieger cut the lead in half by deflecting a shot from Noah Cates right in front of Leclerc, but Conzo sent the lead back to two with 2:41 remaining in the middle frame. Cole McCaskill's shot from the left point was blocked and the puck went to Bradley, who found Conzo at the bottom of the right circle and he went top shelf past Shepard for his sixth of the season. Conzo notched the second two-goal game of his career, the other was Feb. 9, 2018 at North Dakota. Grant Cruikshank closed out the scoring at the 5:12 mark of the third period. Shepard stopped a deflection by Bradley off a Chris Wilkie shot, but Cruikshank was all alone in the slot for the rebound. Leclerc was sharp, especially during UMD's only power-play opportunity midway through the first period, stopping all four shots to keep the CC lead at 1-0 ... On Saturday, UMD scored three goals in each of the final two periods and defeated the Tigers, 6-0. Koby Bender scored twice and Shepard had 23 saves as the Bulldogs salvaged a split of the weekend series. CC came out of the gate strong, outshooting UMD, 13-6, in the first period and had two-power-play opportunities, but could not capitalize. The defending national champions scored three times in a span of 3 minutes, 57 seconds in the second period to squash any momentum the Tigers had from the spirited opening stanza. Dylan Samberg opened the scoring with a power-play goal at the 3:53 mark when his shot from the left point eluded a screened Leclerc. Bender made it 2-0 at the 6:25 mark after taking a centering pass from Jade Miller and finding the back of the net. Peter Krieger added to the UMD lead just 1:25 later with a wrister from the left circle that found the upper right corner. Jackson Cates put the Bulldogs (17-7-2, 10-5-1) ahead 4-0 at the 4:19 mark of the third, then UMD scored twice in the last 32 seconds after a five-minute major call for spearing with 1:04 remaining.

For The Record
Colorado College is 11-13-3 overall and 5-8-2 in the NCHC, good for sixth place in the conference, following last weekend's split ... St. Cloud State is 20-4-2 and 12-2-1-1 in the NCHC after sweeping Miami, winning both games 5-1, at home last weekend. St. Cloud State is the No. 1-ranked team in the country and leads the league by eight points.

Previous Meetings
Colorado College and St. Cloud State have met 105 times, with the Huskies holding a 50-48-7 advantage in the series. SCSU has won the last four games, including a pair  earlier this season, 5-3 and 2-1, in Colorado Springs.

Up Next
The Tigers are idle the weekend of Feb. 15-16 before returning to action at the Broadmoor World Arena against Western Michigan, Feb. 22-23.  

Tiger Tales
Bradley took over the team lead Friday night and has 21 points (11g,10a) this season, followed by Westin Michaud with 19 (8g,11a) and Mason Bergh with 16 (5g,11a). Leclerc has an 11-12-3 record, with a 2.69 GAA and .913 saves percentage. He is tied for the national lead among goalies with two assists this season.  

Scouting the Huskies
Patrick Newell leads the Huskies and is third in the NCHC with 28 points (13g,15a). Robby Jackson follows with 25 points (11g,14a), while Blake Lizotte (10g,14a), Jimmy Schuldt (8g,16a) and Ryan Poehling (5g,19a) each have 24. David Hrenak has played in 20 games this season and sports a 16-3-1 record. He is tied for third in the country with 16 victories and has a 2.09 GAA and .906 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 … Brett Larson (Minnesota Duluth, '95) is in his first season as head coach at St. Cloud State after spending three seasons as an assistant coach at Minnesota Duluth. He also was an assistant with the Bulldogs from 2008-11 and helped Minnesota Duluth win the NCAA Division I national title in 2011 and again in 2018. He served as head coach and GM for the USHL team in Sioux City and as the associate head coach at Ohio State.

History vs. No. 1
Colorado College has played 41 games against the nation's No. 1-ranked team dating back to the beginning of the USCHO.com poll prior to the 1997-98 season. The Tigers are 12-22-7 overall against top-ranked teams, including an 8-9-4 record on the road vs. No. 1. Colorado College is 2-2 against SCSU with the Huskies ranked No. 1, with all four games played during the 2001-02 season.

Highest Ranked Victory at Home in Nearly Eight Years
With last Friday's 4-1 victory, No. 3 Minnesota Duluth was the highest-ranked team Colorado College had defeated at home since the Tigers downed No. 2 Denver, 3-2, on Feb. 4, 2011.  

14-19-34 Good For 5-7-12 in Last 4
Since joining forces on the same line for the last four games, Bradley (2g,3a), Conzo (3g,2a) and Wilkie (0g,2a) have combined for 12 points (5g,7a).

Century Club Watch
With his assist on Kristian Blumenschein's game-winning goal on Jan. 26 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 (3.44) and fifth in fewest    penalty minutes per game (8.59). 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.

Very Defensive in 11 Wins
In their 11 victories this season, the Tigers have allowed 17 goals, and have given up 59 in the other 16 games.

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. Seven of CC's final nine games this season are against teams currently ranked in the top eight in the country.

Lots of Plusses
Bradley, who was on the ice for all of CC's goals and recorded a career-high +4 rating last Friday against Minnesota Duluth, has nine points (6g,3a) in his last eight games. Meanwhile, Wilkie tied his career high with a +3 last Friday.

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.

First Road Sweep Since 2012
With a couple of victories at Miami, Jan. 25-26, 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.   

Defensemen Double Their Scoring
All three goals in the 3-2 victory at Miami on Jan. 26 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.

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. 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 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).

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 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. The arena, with an estimated capacity of between 3,000 and 3,650 permanent seats, would become the permanent home of CC Tiger Hockey and for the first time since the program began in 1938, the hockey team would 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.