Tigers Take on Top-Ranked St. Cloud State
Colorado College opens play in the NCHC this weekend with a series against the No. 1-ranked team in the country, St. Cloud State. Friday's game will begin at 7:30 p.m., while Saturday's contest is scheduled for 6 p.m., at Ed Robson Arena. Friday's game will be televised live around the country on AT&T SportsNet and the following channels:

AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain
AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain West
AT&T SportsNet Southwest
AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh

Last Time Out
The Pikes Peak Trophy will continue to reside at Colorado College after the Tigers split a home-and-home series against Air Force ... On Friday, Will Gavin recorded a hat trick, including the game-winning goal just 55 seconds into overtime, to lead Air Force to a 5-4 victory. Ty Pochipinski added a pair of goals and Alex Schilling had 20 saves for Air Force. Four Tiger sophomores scored for the Tigers, while freshman Stanley Cooley collected a career-high three assists and Brian Hawkinson tied his career-best with two helpers. The Tigers needed a goal by Tyler Coffey with 42 seconds remaining in the third period to even the score at 4-4 and force overtime. With Dominic Basse (30 saves) on the bench in favor of an extra attacker, Cooley's cross-ice pass deflected off an Air Force player's skate and went right to Coffey in the high slot, and he beat Schilling for his second goal of the season. In the extra frame, Gavin found the puck just inside the blue line following a CC turnover, skated down the right side, cut in front of the net and beat Basse for the game winner ... On Saturday, Colorado College checked a lot of boxes with a dominating 8-1 victory over Air Force at Ed Robson Arena. The first win in the team's new home, retaining the Pikes Peak Trophy, and tying a conference record with six power-play goals. Eight different players scored for CC, which improved its all-time series record against the Falcons to 64-14-2. Matthew Gleason had a goal and two assists, while Nate Schweitzer and Brett Chorske each notched his first career goal and Dominic Basse turned away 16 Air Force shots. The Tigers jumped out to a 1-0 lead at the 5:37 mark of the first period when Logan Will scored his third goal of the season and second in as many nights. Hunter McKown made it 2-0 at the 1:12 mark of the second period with the first of CC's six power-play goals. Later in the frame, the flood gates opened when the Tigers scored three times during a five-minute man advantage after Gavin was whistled for a checking from behind major and given a game misconduct. Jordan Biro, Gleason and Chorske scored within a span of 1:38 to make it 5-0 and put the game out of reach. Nate Horn scored Air Force's lone goal just 1:41 into the third period, but another five-minute checking from behind major against AFA's Luke Robinson netted power-play goals from Schweitzer and Nicklas Andrews. Tyler Coffey closed out the scoring with his third of the season midway through the final period. The Tigers were 6-for-11 on the power play, while killing four of its five penalties. Air Force played both of its backup goalies after Schilling gave up five goals in 35 minutes.

Up Next
The Tigers take their first trip to Minnesota this season to take on No. 4-ranked Minnesota Duluth at Amsoil Arena, Nov. 12-13.

Tigers Retain The Pikes Peak Trophy
With the 8-1 victory over Air Force on Saturday, the Tigers will keep the Pikes Peak Trophy for the third consecutive season. In 2013, Colorado College and Air Force established the Pikes Peak Trophy in memory of former CC and Falcons head coach John Matchefts. The winner of the season series between the two teams captures the trophy. If the season series ends in a tie, the team that holds the trophy will retain it. CC is in possession of the trophy after defeating Air Force twice during the 2019-20 campaign. The teams did not play last season.

For the Record
Colorado College is 2-4-2 after splitting with Air Force last weekend ... St. Cloud State is 6-2 after sweeping Wisonsin, 5-1 and 4-1, two weekends ago.  

Previous Meetings
The Tigers and St. Cloud State have met 110 times, with the Huskies holding a 52-50-8 advantage in the series. The Huskies beat CC three times last season, 4-3 in overtime during the NCHC Pod, 4-0 in St. Cloud, and 2-1 at the NCHC Tournament.

The Coaches
Kris Mayotte is in his first season at the helm of the Tigers. He came to Colorado College after serving two years as an assistant coach at the University of Michigan. Mayotte was an assistant coach for Providence College when the Friars won the NCAA Division I title in 2015. In addition, he has won a pair of gold medals and a bronze in three stints as an assistant coach with Team USA at the World Junior Championships. Mayotte will be an assistant for Team USA at the 2022 World Junior Championships in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta … Brett Larson is in his fourth 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, helping UMD win the national title in 2011 and again in 2018. Larson led SCSU to the NCAA Division I title game last season.
 
Tiger Tales
Colorado College tied the NCHC record with six power-play goals on Saturday against Air Force ... The last time CC scored six power-play goals in a game was on Nov. 6, 2010 in a 9-2 victory over Denver ... Colorado College scored five power-play goals in 23 games last season ... The last time eight different Tigers scored in a game was Oct. 6, 2018, a season-opening 10-2 win over Alaska Anchorage ... CC scored eight goals in one game for the first time since Feb. 23, 2019 (8-2 over Western Michigan) ... The Tigers are outshooting their oppenents, 93-57, in the third period this season.

Scouting the Huskies
Jami Krannila and Kevin Fitzgerald lead St. Cloud State in scoring with eight points (4g,4a) apiece ... David Hrenak has appeared in seven of the team's eight games. He leads the NCHC with a 1.37 goals-against average and .943 saves percentage.

History Against No. 1
Colorado College has played 44 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 12-24-8 overall against top-ranked teams, including an 8-11-5 record on the road vs. No. 1. Colorado College is 2-4-1 against SCSU with the Huskies ranked No. 1, with the first four games played during the 2001-02 season and three during the 2018-19 season. In fact, CC's last three games against the nation's top-ranked team were against St. Cloud State. The last time the Tigers hosted a No. 1-ranked team was Dec. 9, 2017 against Denver at the Broadmoor World Arena. The game ended in a 1-1 tie.

Another Tough Schedule
The Tigers are scheduled to play 21 of their 34 regular season games against teams that that are ranked in this week's USCHO.com Top 20 poll. In addition, Colorado College is scheduled to play 10 games versus four of the last five national champions (Minn. Duluth (2), Denver and North Dakota).

First Career Win for Kris Mayotte
Kris Mayotte collected his first win as a collegiate head coach on Friday, Oct. 22, when the Tigers upset 10th-ranked Boston College at Kelley Rink in Chestnut Hill, Mass. Mayotte, the 15th head coach in the history of the Colorado College hockey program, brought a wealth of success as one of the top assistant coaches and recruiters in the nation to Colorado College. Throughout his 10 years as a Division I assistant and associate head coach, he helped his teams to an NCAA National Championship in 2015, two Frozen Fours and seven NCAA Tournament appearances.

Youngsters On Fire Lately
All but one of Colorado College's 23 goals this year have been scored by freshmen or sophomores. Patrick Cozzi is the only junior or senior to score for the Tigers in '21-22. Sophomores have scored 15 of the team's last 17 goals. In addition, sophomore Dominic Basse has played every minute in net this season.

Chorske Named NCHC Rookie of the Week
Freshman Brett Chorske was named the NCHC Rookie of the Week after fueling the Tigers' 8-1 victory over Air Force last Saturday with a goal and an assist. Chorske, who did not dress for CC's first seven games of the season, made the most of his collegiate debut, tallying the first two points of his career in his first collegiate game. He scored his first career goal on the power play late in the second period to make it a 5-0 game, before tallying his first assist on CC's seventh goal in the dominating victory that secured the Pikes Peak Trophy and the first win at Ed Robson Arena. This is Chorske's first career NCHC weekly award.

On the Air
All CC games in 2021-22, 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. The broadcasts also can be heard worldwide via the internet.

CC to Televise 13 Games This Season
Colorado College will televise more games during the 2021-22 hockey season than any other season in program history. The season-opener on Oct. 8 against St. Lawrence University was shown in Colorado Springs and throughout the Southern Colorado region on KRDO NewsChannel 13. Eleven other games will be televised live on AT&T SportsNet, including nine from CC's new home, Ed Robson Arena, while the contest against Omaha on Jan. 28 will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network.

Yoon and Hawkinson Named Captains for 2021-22 Season
Seniors Bryan Yoon and Brian Hawkinson will serve as co-captains of the Colorado College hockey team for the 2021-22 season. Yoon, a defenseman from Parker, Colo., is the team's active scoring leader with 48 points (5g,43a) in 101 career games. He was selected to the all-College Hockey News Rookie Team and NCHC all-Rookie Team as a freshman after finishing second in the NCHC and third in nation among freshmen with 23 assists. His 26 points (3g,26a) that season were the most by a CC freshman defenseman since Scott Swanson had 48 in 1995-96. Yoon finished second on the team with 16 assists as a sophomore and posted a goal and an assist in 19 games last season. Hawkinson, meanwhile, appeared in 23 games and notched two goals and one assist last season, his first as a Tiger after spending two years at Miami University. The forward from Centennial, Colo., scored 18 points (3g,15a) in 60 games for the RedHawks, including 16 as a freshman, the second-most by a rookie on the team in '18-19.

Three Tigers Have Stanley Cup Genes
Three current CC players, Matt Vernon, Brett Chorske and Danny Weight, each have a father that played in the NHL and won the Stanley Cup. Mike Vernon won a pair of titles with Calgary ('89) and Detroit ('97), while Tom Chorske won with New Jersey in 1995 and Doug Weight with Carolina in 2006.  

Tigers Picked Eighth in NCHC Preseason Poll
Colorado College was picked eighth in the 2021-22 NCHC Preseason Poll.

1.    St. Cloud State – 195 points (20 first-place votes)
2.    Minnesota Duluth – 143 (3)
3.    North Dakota – 142 (1)
4.    Denver – 123 (1)
5.    Omaha - 114
6.    Western Michigan - 105
7.    Miami - 45
8.    Colorado College – 33