Tigers Host #3 North Dakota
Due to a late schedule change, Colorado College will host the No. 3-ranked North Dakota Fighting Hawks on Sunday, Jan. 10, 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, ROOT SPorts Northwest and Midco Sports Network.

Recent Schedule Changes
Due to a combination of positive COVID-19 tests, contact tracing and subsequent quarantining of individuals within the Denver hockey program, the Denver and Colorado College home-and-home series scheduled for Friday, Jan. 8 and Saturday, Jan. 9, was postponed. In its place, Colorado College will now host North Dakota on Sunday, Jan. 10 and Monday, Jan. 11 for a two-game set. In addition, the NCHC announced the Tigers will make a trip to Minnesota from Feb. 18-20 to make up their two postponed contests from the NCHC Pod. CC will face Minnesota Duluth on Thursday, Feb. 18, and St. Cloud State on Saturday, Feb. 20.

Last Time Out
Brett Stapley and Reid Irwin each scored twice to lead 14th-ranked Denver to a 6-1 victory over Colorado College Saturday night at Magness Arena. Stapley opened the scoring with a power-play goal at the 7:32 mark of the first period. He took a back pass at his own blue line, skated through center ice and placed a wrister from the top of the right circle past CC goalie Dominic Basse. Basse did his best to keep the Tigers in the game the remainder of the period, including an outstanding save on a partial breakaway by Griffin Mendel with two minutes left in the opening frame. Carter Savoie put the Pioneers ahead 2-0 with a power-play goal of his own at the 7:11 mark of the second period. He took a feed from Mike Benning and put a shot from the right circle over Basse's shoulder. A couple of minutes later, the Tigers (3-5-2) had a couple of great looks as freshmen Jordan Biro and Marc Pasemko each nearly missed cutting the Denver lead in half. Brian Hawkinson did just that with his first goal as a Tiger, completing a 2-on-1 with Josiah Slavin at 12:26 of the middle frame. The junior transfer from Miami University gathered Slavin's pass in front of DU goalie Corbin Kaczperski and beat him between his legs. Denver regained a two-goal lead when Reid Irwin scored with just 11.8 seconds left in the second period for a 3-1 advantage. The Pioneers (4-7-1) added three goals in the final period and Matt Vernon relieved Basse after Irwin notched his second of the game to make it 5-1 just over five minutes into the stanza. Stapley collected his second of the contest with an unassisted goal at the 7:29 mark. Kaczperski and Basse each finished the game with 17 saves.

Up Next
The Tigers and North Dakota battle again on Monday, Jan. 11 at the Broadmoor World Arena, beginning at 7:07 p.m.

Tiger Tales
Hunter McKown was named the NCHC Rookie of the Week following CC's series vs. Denver ... McKown notched three points (1g,2a) in the 4-3 victory on New Years Day ... McKown was the first CC player with three points in a game vs. Denver since Mason Bergh and Nick Halloran each had three on Dec. 8, 2017 ... Zach Berzolla leads the country in blocked shots per game (3.50) and tied for the  national lead with 35 blocks.

All-Time Series vs. North Dakota
Colorado College and North Dakota have played 257 times, with the Fighting Hawks holding a 162-84-11 advantage in the series. The teams only played twice during the regular season in 2019-20, with UND sweeping the Tigers in Grand Forks. The teams were scheduled to meet in the first round of the NCHC playoofs, but the series was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  

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 … Brad Berry (North Dakota, '02) is in his sixth season as head coach at UND. Berry was an assistant coach at the school for nine seasons before taking over the helm in May of 2015. He became the first person in the history of NCAA Division I men's hockey to lead his team to a national title in his first year as head coach.

For the Record
Colorado College is 3-5-2 after splitting a pair of games with Denver last weekend ... North Dakota is 7-2-1 and hasn't played since Dec. 20 at the NCHC Pod in Omaha.

Scouting the Fighting Hawks
Shane Pinto (5g,8a) and Jordan Kawaguchi (3g,10a) lead North Dakota and are tied for second in the NCHC with 13 points, followed by Grant Mismash with 10 (4g,6a). Adam Scheel has started eight of UND's 10 games in the net this season. He has a 6-1-1 record with a 2.13 goals-against average and .913 saves percentage.  

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.

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 10 games. Josiah Slavin leads the team with nine points (3g,6a), followed by Grant Cruikshank with eight (6g,2a). Ben Copeland and Jack Millar each have six (2g,4a).

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.