Tigers Open Second Half of Season vs. Denver
After playing its first eight games at the NCHC Pod in Omaha, Neb., Colorado College opens the second half of the season and renews the Battle for the Gold Pan against its in-state rival, the Denver Pioneers, on Friday, Jan. 1, 2021. The puck drops at 7:06 p.m., at the Broadmoor World Arena. The game will be broadcast in Colorado Springs on KRDO NewsRadio 105.5 FM, 1240 AM and 92.5 FM and televised nationally on CBS Sports Network.

Last Time Out
Colorado College wrapped up play at the NCHC Pod on Dec. 21 with 3-0 loss to 11th-ranked Omaha at Baxter Arena. Omaha's Isaiah Saville posted his first shutout of the season by stopping all 34 shots by the Tigers. Kevin Conley put the Mavericks on the board first with a power-play goal at the 19:29 mark of the first period. Conley took a pass from Brandon Scanlin and fired a one-timer from the right circle past CC goalie Dominic Basse. Omaha doubled the lead at 7:49 of the second when Martin Sundberg deflected a shot by Jack Randl over Basse's right shoulder, the Tyler Weiss put the Mavericks ahead 3-0 with a goal at the 15:43 mark of the third period. Basse finished the game with 27 saves.

Tigers At The "NCHC Pod"
Due to the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic, the NCHC opened the 2020-21 season 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. CC arrived to the Pod late due to a postiive COVID-19 test within the program and subsequent 14-day quarantine for the entire team. The Tigers played eight games within a span of 12 days, and will make up games against St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth during the second half of the season, which starts with all eight teams playing their rival/travel partner on each of the first two weekends of the New Year (Dec. 31-Jan. 3 and Jan. 8-9).

Up Next
The Tigers travel to Denver for the back half of the home-and-home weekend with the Pioneers on Saturday, Jan. 2 at 7:07 p.m., at Magness Arena.

Tiger Tales
Ben Copeland and Josiah Slavin each attempted a career-high six shots against Omaha on Dec. 21 ... Troy Conzo played in his 100th game vs. the Mavericks ... Zach Berzolla is tied for the national lead in blocked shots per game (3.62) ... Grant Cruikshank leads the NCHC and is tied for eighth in the nation in goals per game (0.75).  

The Gold Pan
This season marks the 28th anniversary of The Gold Pan. Established by former head coaches Don Lucia of Colorado College and Frank Serratore of Denver in 1993-94, the Gold Pan has been awarded every season since to the team that prevails in the regular-season series between CC and DU. In the event of an even split of the four games, the team currently in possession of the trophy keeps it. After winning the Gold Pan last season, Denver has hoisted the trophy 14 times, compared to 13 for Colorado College.

Second Most Played Rivalry in College Hockey
The 324 games played between Colorado College and Denver are the second most among two schools in college hockey history. Only Michigan and Michigan State have played each other more (325). Denver holds a 183-120-21 in the all-time series.

For the Record
Colorado College is 2-4-2 following the NCHC Pod ... Denver is 3-6-1 after playing 10 games in Omaha.   

Previous Meetings
The Pioneers hold a 183-120-21 advantage in the series. Denver won the season series, 2-1-1, in 2019-20.

Scouting the Pioneers
Carter Savoie (7g,4a) leads the Pioneers with 11 points, followed by Cole Guttman (3g,5a) with eight. Magnus Chrina has started eight of the team's 10 games this season with a 2.71 goals-against average and .904 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 … David Carle (Denver, '12) is in his third season as head coach at Denver. He served as an assistant coach for the Pioneers the previous four and a half seasons following a season and a half as an assistant coach with the Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL.

Another Tough Schedule
The Tigers' 2020-21 schedule includes 20 of their 24 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 12 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.

NCHC Announces Schedule Change
Following the successful completion of the NCHC Pod, the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) has announced some changes to its upcoming schedule during the second portion of the 2020-21 season. The biggest change, which affects all teams, is the reduction of both scheduled three-game series down to two-game series. The two three-game series between Colorado College and North Dakota, Miami and St. Cloud State, Denver and Omaha, and Minnesota Duluth and Western Michigan, which were slated for Jan. 21-24 and Feb. 11-14, will now be played as two-game series on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 22-23 and Friday and Saturday, Feb. 12-13. The locations of the series are not changing, however, CC-UND, Miami-SCSU, Denver-Omaha, and UMD-WMU will now only face each other four times during the regular season, giving each team a 24-game conference slate. For health and safety reasons, the NCHC Athletic Council voted to eliminate the three-game series. The changes were made related to challenges with COVID-19 testing during the three-game series weeks, mitigating risk to COVID-19 by lessening team travel, and the desire to alleviate time away from each member institution's campus.

Cruikshank, Berzolla Wearing the "C"
Junior forward Grant Cruikshank and senior defenseman Zach Berzolla will serve as team captains in 2020-21. Cruikshank, who will be a captain for the second straight year, was the first sophomore in program history to wear the "C". Berzolla was an assistant captain in 2019-20.

Balanced Scoring
CC has 16 players with at least one point in the first eight games. Cruikshank leads the team with eight points (6g,2a), followed by Slavin with seven (2g,5a), while Ben Copeland has five (2g,3a) and Jack Millar has four (2g,2a). Patrick Cozzi has three (1g,2a) and four other TIgers have two points.  

On the Air
All CC games in 2020-21, 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.