This Weekend
Colorado College renews the Battle for the Gold Pan with a home-and-home series against the Denver Pioneers, Jan. 21-22. Friday's game at Magness Arena begins at 8 p.m., and will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network. Saturday's contest is scheduled for a 6 p.m. puck drop at Robson Arena and will be televised on AT&T SportsNet. Both contests will be broadcast on KRDO NewsRadio 105.5 FM/1240 AM.

Series Against Western Michigan Postponed
Last weekend's series between Western Michigan and Colorado College, scheduled for Friday and Saturday, Jan. 14-15, at CC's Ed Robson Arena was postponed due to COVID-19 protocols. The series has been rescheduled for Friday and Saturday, Feb. 4-5, at Robson Arena. Friday's game is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. MT, while Saturday's contest will have a 6:00 p.m. CT puck drop. The game on Friday, Feb. 4, will be televised on AT&T SportsNet. Additionally, Colorado College's series at North Dakota, originally scheduled for Feb. 4-5, will be played Friday and Saturday, Feb. 11-12, at Ralph Engelstad Arena.

Last Time Out
The Tigers posted their first sweep of the season, Jan. 7-8, at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio ... On Friday, Tyler Coffey posted a hat trick and Dominic Basse had 36 saves to lead CC to a dominating 5-1 victory. After Miami's Matt Barry opened the scoring at 7:57 of the first period, it was all Colorado College. The Tigers exploded for four goals in the second period to put the game out of reach. Hunter McKown started it off with a power-play goal just 1:28 into the frame, then defenseman Hugo Blixt notched his first career goal at the 8:04 mark of the second to give CC the lead for good. Coffey put the game out of reach with two goals in a span of one minute, 35 seconds to give the Tigers a 4-1 advantage. Danny Weight and Nicklas Andrews assisted on both goals. Coffey secured his hat trick with an unassisted goal at the 4:44 mark of the third period ... On Saturday, Ray Christy scored twice, including the game-winning goal in the third period, and added an assist as the Tigers completed the sweep with a 4-3 victory. Each team scored a pair of goals in the first period. Miami's Jack Olmstead opened the scoring just 1:50 into the contest, but Hunter McKown notched his second goal of the weekend to even the score at 1-1 at 3:22 of the first period. The RedHawks took back the lead at the 7:36 mark, but the Tigers responded when Christy scored the first goal of his career on a rebound with 55.4 seconds remaining. Fletcher scored a power-play goal at the 11:03 mark for another Miami one-goal advantage. It didn't last long as Nicklas Andrews struck just 32 seconds later to make it 3-3. Christy notched his second of the contest and the game winner with 6:31 left in the third period.  

Up Next
The Tigers stay home to face the 16th-ranked Omaha Mavericks, Jan. 28-29, at Ed Robson Arena. Friday's game begins at 7 p.m., and will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network. Saturday's contest is scheduled for a 6 p.m. puck drop at Robson Arena and will be broadcast on AT&T SportsNet.

The Gold Pan
This season marks the 29th 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, the team currently in possession of the trophy keeps it. After clinching the Gold Pan last season, Denver has hoisted the trophy 15 times, compared to 13 for Colorado College.

For The Record
Colorado College is 6-11-3 overall and 3-6-1 in the NCHC, good for a sixth-place tie in the league ... No. 5 Denver is 14-5-1 overall and 7-3-0 in league play. The Pioneers are in second place in the NCHC.

Previous Meetings
Colorado College and Denver have met 328 times, with the Pioneers holding a 186-121-21 advantage in the series. The 328 games played between CC and DU are the second most among two schools in college hockey history. Only Michigan and Michigan State have played each other more (329). The Pioneers won three of four games against Colorado College last season.

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 … David Carle is in his fourth 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.

Mayotte Coached Again at World Juniors
Kris Mayotte served as an assistant coach with Team USA at the 2022 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championships. The tournament was canceled on Dec. 29. Team USA was attempting to win secure back-to-back gold medals after defeating Canada in the 2021 final. Mayotte, who was on the staff in 2021, also won gold in 2017 and bronze in 2018 as an assistant coach with Team USA.

Scouting the Pioneers
Bobby Brink leads the Pioneers and the NCHC with 29 points (5g,21a), followed by Carter Savoie with 26 (13,13a) and Massimo Rizzo with 24 (10g,14a). Goalie Magnus Chrona has started 18 games this season and has a 2.24 goals-against average and .909 saves percentage.  

Tiger Tales
Tyler Coffey's hat trick against Miami on Jan. 7 was the first by a CC player since Feb. 17, 2020 (Grant Cruikshank in a 4-2 victory over Air Force) and first against an NCHC opponent since Feb. 23, 2019 (Ben Copeland with four goals in an 8-2 victory over Western Michigan) ... The Tigers have won three consecutive games for the first time since Dec. of 2019 ... Jordan Biro posted a team season-best +4 in the 4-3 victory over Miami on Jan. 8 ... CC posted its first road sweep against an NCHC team since Nov. 15-16, 2019 at St. Cloud State ... Hugo Blixt (Friday) and Ray Christy (Saturday) each scored his first career goal against Miami and each was the game-winning goal ... Hunter McKown has scored a goal in four consecutive games, the first Tiger to do so since Cruikshank early in the 2020-21 campaign ... Logan Will leads the Tigers with 14 points (5g,9a), followed by Matthew Gleason with 13 (5g,8a) and Stanley Cooley with 11 (2g,9a) ... Dominic Basse has started 16 games and has a 6-8-2 record, including a career-high three-game winning streak. He enters Friday's game with a 2.51 GAA and .906 saves percentage.

Three Tigers Earned NCHC Honors Last Week
Tyler Coffey, Nicklas Andrews and Dominic Basse were named Players of the Week by the NCHC after the Tigers swept Miami University, Jan. 7-8. Coffey, the Forward of the Week, posted a natural hat trick on Friday in the 5-1 victory. Andrews, meanwhile, won Defenseman of the Week honors with a goal in Saturday's 4-3 win and a pair of assists on Friday. Basse, the Goalie of the Week, made 50 saves against the RedHawks, including 36 on Friday, and currently has a career-high three-game winning streak.  

Youngsters Continue to Score
All but seven of Colorado College's 51 goals this year have been scored by freshmen or sophomores. Brian Hawkinson (4), Patrick Cozzi (1), Noah Prokop (1) and Hugo Blixt (1) are the only upperclassmen to score for the Tigers in '21-22. Sophomores have scored 38 times this season, including 34 of the team's last 45 goals.

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 DCU/USCHO.com Top 20 poll. Colorado College will play 10 of its last 14 games of the regular season against teams ranked in this week's Top 10.

Recent Signee Named to Team USA For World Juniors
Kaidan Mberko, who recently signed a National Letter of Intent to attend and play hockey at Colorado College, was named one of the 25 players that represented the United States at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championships. Mbereko, currently a   goalie for the Lincoln Stars of the USHL, was one of three goalies on Team USA.  

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.

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.  

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.