Tigers Play Final Game in the Pod
Colorado College plays Omaha in the final game of the NCHC Pod on Monday, Dec. 21, at Baxter Arena in Omaha, Neb. The puck drops at 12:05 p.m. (CT). The game will be broadcast in Colorado Springs on KRDO NewsRadio 105.5 FM, 1240 AM and 92.5 FM and streamed live on NCHC.tv.

Last Time Out
Dominic Basse allowed just one goal for the third time in his four starts Saturday night as Colorado College and Miami skated to a 1-1 tie at Baxter Arena. After a scoreless, five-minute 3-on-3 overtime period, CC's Hunter McKown scored the only goal in the three-player shootout to give the Tigers the extra point in the NCHC standings. Miami's Matt Barry opened the scoring with a power-play goal at the 4:59 mark of the second period. Barry took a pass across the crease from Phil Knies and buried a shot past CC goalie Dominic Basse. The Tigers had a couple of chances in the middle frame, but Jordan Biro rang a shot off the pipe and Grant Cruikshank had a clean breakaway saved by Miami's Ludvig Persson. Cruikshank got his revenge with 3.4 seconds left in the second as he scored on a rebound after Persson saved a shot from the top of the left circle by Connor Mayer. It was the sixth goal of the season and fifth in the last four games for the junior co-captain. Basse made an incredible kick save against Miami's John Sladic early in the third period to keep the game even at 1-1. The freshman from Alexandria, Va., finished the night with 20 saves and improved his record to 2-1-1. Persson, meanwhile, had 38 saves as the Tigers put a season-high 39 shots on target.

Tigers At The "NCHC Pod"
Due to the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic, the NCHC announced the 2020-21 season will start with all eight teams playing in Omaha, Neb. With the focus on the health and safety of student-athletes, coaches, staff, and officials, the conference has intentionally attempted to limit team travel. Because of this, NCHC teams have been divided into two divisions based on geography for 2020-21 scheduling purposes: East and West. The East Division consists of Miami, Minnesota Duluth, St. Cloud State and Western Michigan. The West Division consists of Colorado College, Denver, North Dakota and Omaha. Teams will play each of their divisional opponents six times (18 games total) and each cross-division opponent twice (8 games total).

Up Next
The Tigers open up the second half of the season and this year's Battle for the Gold Pan  against Denver on Friday, Jan. 1 at 7:07 p.m., at the Broadmorr World Arena.

Tiger Tales
CC's 39 shots vs. Miami on Saturday were the most in a game since attempting 41 at Western Michigan on Jan. 18, 2020 ... Josiah Slavin has a career-high four-game point streak (2g,2a) ... Grant Cruikshank leads the NCHC and is tied for 10th in the nation in goals per game (0.86) ... Cruikshank is the first Tiger to score six goals in the first seven games of a season since Mason Bergh in 2017-18.  

For the Record
Colorado College is 2-3-2 after Saturday's 1-1 tie and shootout win against Miami ... Omaha is 5-3-1 after defeating Western Michigan, 6-5, on Friday.   

Previous Meetings
The Tigers and Omaha have met 34 times, with Omaha holding a 19-10-5 advantage in the series. The Mavericks defeated CC, 6-1, on Wednesday, Dec. 9.

Scouting the Mavericks
Chayse Primeau (4g,8a) leads the Mavericks with 12 points, followed by Taylor Ward (5g,3a) with eight. Isaiah Saville has appeared in eight of the team's nine games this season with a 2.26 goals-against average and .917 saves pct.  

The Coaches
Mike Haviland (Elmira College, '90) is in his seventh 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 … Mike Gabinet (Omaha, '04) is in his fourth season as head coach at Omaha after serving as the team's associate head coach during the 2016-17 season. Prior to that, he was the head coach of the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in 2015-16.

Another Tough Schedule
The Tigers' 2020-21 schedule includes 22 of their 26 regular-season games against teams that are ranked in this week's USCHO.com Top 20 Poll. Colorado College also has two games scheduled against teams that received votes and 14 contests against the last four national champions (North Dakota, Denver and Minnesota Duluth (x2)).

14 Newcomers Join the Program
The Tigers welcome transfers Hugo Blixt (Boston University) and Brian Hawkinson (Miami University) and 12 incoming freshmen to the program. At one point last spring, the incoming class was ranked No. 2 in the country by Neutral Zone.

Robson Arena Coming October of 2021
Never in the storied 80-plus years history of Colorado College Tiger Hockey has the team played its home games on campus. Thanks to the generosity of donors, including former CC hockey player Ed Robson '54, P'79, G'11, along with the vision of former President Jill Tiefenthaler and the Board of Trustees, that will change in 2021. The Ed Robson Arena will be a state-of-the-art, multi-purpose arena with a capacity of 3,400, including bar rail and club level seating.