Tigers Host No. 9 Omaha Monday and Tuesday
Colorado College and the No. 9-ranked Omaha Mavericks open a two-game series on Monday, Jan. 18, at the Broadmoor World Arena. The puck drops at 7:07 p.m. The game will be broadcast in Colorado Springs on KRDO NewsRadio 105.5 FM, 1240 AM and 92.5 FM and televised live on AT&T SportsNet.

More Schedule Changes
Based on previously announced and new impacts related to COVID-19 among National Collegiate Hockey Conference programs, the Conference has announced multiple schedule changes. In addition to the CC-Omaha series moving to Jan. 18-19, this weekend's Minnesota Duluth at Miami series, has been postponed due to a combination of positive COVID-19 tests, contact tracing and subsequent quarantining of individuals within the Minnesota Duluth hockey program. Also, the North Dakota - Denver series, will now take place on Jan. 17-18. The CC-North Dakota series in Grand Forks, originally scheduled for Jan. 22-23, has been moved back one day and will be played on Saturday, Jan. 23 and Sunday, Jan. 24.

Last Time Out
Colorado College battled second-ranked North Dakota to the brink Monday night, but ended up falling to the Fighting Hawks, 2-1, at the Broadmoor World Arena. After a scoreless first period, the teams traded power-play goals in the middle frame. Riese Gaber opened the scoring by collecting his own rebound and poking it by CC goalie Dominic Basse at the 14:26 mark. Basse, who kept the game at 0-0 earlier in the period with back-to-back outstanding saves on Grant Mismash and Matt Kierstad, finished the game with 27 saves. The Tigers finally solved UND goalie Adam Scheel as Ben Copeland scored his third goal of the season with just under one minute left in the frame to make it 1-1. Copeland gathered the puck after a shot by Jackson Jutting went off the boards behind the net and fired a wrister from the top of the left circle that beat Scheel. Mismash scored the game-winner 1:41 into the third period, finishing a 2-on-1 with Collin Adams. Mismash had a chance to put the Fighting Hawks up by two later, but Basse stoned him with just under six minutes left in the game. The Tigers had a late power-play opportunity when Mismash was called for tripping at the 16:24 mark of the final period, but just 10 seconds after Basse exited the net for an extra skater, Hugo Blixt was called for holding and the game ended with Fighting Hawks on the power play.

Up Next
The Tigers and Omaha wrap up their two-game set on Tuesday, Jan. 19 at the Broadmoor World Arena, beginning at 7:07 p.m.

Tiger Tales
Zach Berzolla leads the country in blocked shots per game (3.17) and is second in the nation with 38 blocks ... Freshman Chase Foley collected the first point of his collegiate career with an assist Monday vs. North Dakota ... Fellow freshman Tyler Coffey recorded a career-high three shots vs. UND on Monday.  

For the Record
Colorado College is 3-7-2 after Monday's 2-1 loss to second-ranked North Dakota ... Omaha is 6-3-1 and has not played since defeating CC, 3-0, in the final game of the NCHC Pod on Dec. 21.   

Previous Meetings
The Tigers and Omaha have met 35 times, with Omaha holding a 20-10-5 advantage in the series. The Mavericks defeated CC twice, 6-1 and 3-0, at the NCHC Pod.

Scouting the Mavericks
Chayse Primeau (4g,8a) leads the Mavericks with 12 points, followed by five players with eight points apiece. Isaiah Saville has appeared in nine of the team's 10 games this season with a 2.00 goals-against average and .929 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 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.

Balanced Scoring
CC has 16 players with at least one point in the first 12 games. Josiah Slavin leads the team with nine points (3g,6a), followed by Grant Cruikshank with eight (6g,2a), Ben Copeland (3g,4a) with seven and Jack Millar (2g,4a) with six.

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.

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.

Matthew Gleason Joins Program
Matthew Gleason, a finalist for the Minnesota Mr. Hockey Award in 2020, has been added to Colorado College's 2020-21 hockey roster. A native of St. Paul, Minn., Gleason opened the 2020-21 campaign with the Chicago Steel of the United States Hockey League (3g,3a in 13 games) following a stellar high school career. As a senior captain at Cretin-Derham Hall High School in St. Paul, Gleason tallied 78 points (36g,42a) in 27 games during the 2019-20 season and was named the Star Tribune's Metro Player of the year, joining former Tiger and 2005 Hobey Baker winner Marty Sertich on that list of recipients. Gleason tallied 225 points (123g,102) in 107 career high school games and led Cretin-Derham Hall in scoring all four years. He also played 57 games in the Upper Midwest HS Elite Hockey League and 13 games over three years in the USA Select Festival.

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.

Tigers Opened the Season 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.