Coming Up
The Colorado College Tigers open their 2022-23 season this Friday, Oct. 7, against Alaska Anchorage at Ed Robson Arena. The game is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. (MT). Live streaming and live stats links can be found on the CC Hockey schedule page at CCTigers.com.

Getting Started
This season marks the 84th year of varsity ice hockey at Colorado College and 10th season as a member of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. CC was a charter member of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (1951-52) for 62 seasons before joining the NCHC with seven other schools prior to the 2013-14 campaign.

How To Watch / Listen
Friday's game will be televised live on AT&T SportsNet with Josh Howe and Kyle Huson on the call. Both games this weekend will be broadcast in the Colorado Springs area and Southern Colorado on KRDO NewsRadio 105.5 FM / 95.5 FM / 1240 AM with the 'Voice of the Tigers' Ken Landau, and streamed live on NCHC.tv.  

Season Openers
Colorado College is 49-32-4 all-time in regular-season openers. The Tigers are 41-16-1 at home and 8-16-3 on the road (including neutral games). Last season, the Tigers opened with a 2-1 loss to St. Lawrence at Ed Robson Arena.

For The Record
Colorado College finished the 2021-22 campaign with a 9-24-3 overall record and a 6-17-1 mark in the NCHC, good for seventh place in the league's final standings. The Tigers defeated three ranked teams last season, at #10 Boston College (5-3), at #10 Omaha (4-0) and #16 Omaha at home (4-1) ... Alaska Anchorage, which did not play hockey the last two seasons, is 1-1 after splitting a pair of games against Western Michigan at home last weekend. UAA won, 3-1, on Saturday, while WMU captured a 4-1 victory on Sunday.   

The Coaches
Kris Mayotte enters his second 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 four stints as an assistant coach with Team USA at the World Junior Championships … Matt Shasby is in his first season as head coach at Alaska Anchorage. He is the seventh head coach in program history. Shasby, who also is the vice president of player development for the state of Alaska and serves as a coach with the Anchorage Hockey Association, played in 127 games during his four-year career for the Seawolves.

Previous Meetings
Colorado College and Alaska Anchorage have met 81 times, with the Tigers holding a 57-19-5 advantage in the series, including a 37-5 mark at home. The teams last played the opening weekend of the 2018-19 campaign, splitting a pair of games in Anchorage.   

Lidgett, Durocher Join Tiger Staff
John Lidgett and Ryan Durocher joined the Tiger coaching staff during the summer as an assistant coach and director of hockey operations, respectively. Lidgett comes to CC after spending two years as an assistant coach at Niagara, while Durocher was an assistant coach at Sacred Heart for the 2021-22 campaign.

Youngsters Lit The Lamp Last Year
All but 11 of Colorado College's 79 goals last year were scored by freshmen or sophomores. Brian Hawkinson (5), Patrick Cozzi (2), Bryan Yoon (1), Noah Prokop (1), Connor Mayer (1) and Hugo Blixt (1) were the upperclassmen to score for the Tigers in '21-22. Sophomores scored 54 of the 79 goals.

Another Tough Schedule
The Tigers are scheduled to play 18 of their 34 regular-season games against teams that competed in the 2022 NCAA Division I Hockey Championships, including 12 against five of the last six national champions (Denver, Minnesota Duluth and North Dakota).

Ironmen Last Season
Three Tigers, defensemen Bryan Yoon and Jack Millar, and forward Stanley Cooley, were the only Tigers to play in all 36 games last season.

Exhibition Win Over Air Force
Matthew Gleason scored a pair of goals to lead Colorado College past Air Force, 5-1, in an exhibition game last Saturday night at the Academy. The Tigers had to rally after Air Force's Mike Rowe opened the scoring at the 16:11 mark of the first period, sending a shot from the left circle that beat CC goalie Matt Vernon on the short side. The Tigers responded and took the lead with a pair of goals in the second period. Gleason put CC on the board at the 3:43 mark, grabbing the puck after a scrum in front and firing it past AFA goalie Guy Blessing. Noah Serdachny put the Tigers ahead just after the penalty expired. Tyler Coffey took a shot from the high slot that was saved by Blessing, but Serdachny scored on the rebound and gave CC the lead for good. Hunter McKown was called for a five-minute major for contact to the head and a game misconduct later in the second and a roughing call to Brett Chorske with 1:34 left in the period gave the Falcons a 5-on-3 advantage. The Tigers killed Chorske's penalty, then extinguished the rest of McKown's to keep it 2-1 early in the third, and put the game away with three goals in the final frame. Gleason put home his second of the game at the 3:10 mark of the third. Noah Laba sent him a perfect pass from the corner and Gleason beat Blessing from the slot. Ryan Beck then scored a power-play goal with 6:17 remaining. He took a pass from Laba in the left corner, deked a pair of Falcon defenders to the front of the net and slid the puck behind Blessing. Coffey closed the scoring with an empty-net goal in the final two minutes.

Leadership Named for 2022-23 Season
Graduate student Bryan Yoon and junior Logan Will have been named team captains of the Colorado College hockey team for the 2022-23 season, while junior Hunter McKown and sophomore Stanley Cooley will serve as alternate captains. Yoon, a defenseman from Parker, Colo., returns to the CC squad for a fifth season in '22-23. He is the team's active scoring leader with 57 points (6g,51a) in 129 career games after collecting one goal and 11 assists in 36 games last season. Will, from Ames, Iowa, appeared in 32 games and tied for second on the team with 18 points (6g,12a) last season. He tied for the team lead with 12 assists and tied for third with six goals. McKown paced the Tigers with 13 goals, 21 points and 85 shots as a sophomore in '21-22. He posted the first hat trick of his career, including the game-winning goal, in a 4-3 overtime victory over Miami. Cooley was one of only three Tigers to appear in all 36 games last season and led the team with four power-play goals. He finished in a tie with Logan Will for second in scoring with 18 points and the team lead with 12 assists, including a career-high three at Air Force.

Eight Newcomers on '22-23 Roster
Colorado College added eight newcomers to the roster for the upcoming season. They are: Cade Ahrenholz (F, Omaha Lancers - USHL), Ryan Beck (F, Dubuque Fighting Saints - USHL), Nikolai Charchenko (D, Minot Minotauros - NAHL), Noah Laba (F, Lincoln Stars - USHL), Kaidan Mbereko (G, Lincoln Stars - USHL), Noah Serdachny (F, Salmon Arm Silverbacks - BCHL), Ethan Straky (D, Green Bay Gamblers - USHL), and Gleb Veremyev (F, Lincoln Stars - USHL).

Three Tigers on Team USA at World Juniors
Kris Mayotte, Hunter McKown and Kaidan Mbereko represented the United States at the 2022 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championships. The tournament, which was originally canceled on Dec. 29, 2021, due to COVID-19 issues, was played August 9-20 in Edmonton, ALB. Mayotte served as an assistant coach with Team USA for the fourth time, while Mbereko was Team USA's starting goaltender and McKown made his first appearance at the WJC.

CC to Televise 12 Games This Season
11 of Colorado College's 34 games will be televised live on AT&T SportsNet, including 10 from Ed Robson Arena, while the Princeton game on New Year's Eve will be broadcast live in Colorado Springs and throughout the Southern Colorado region on KRDO NewsChannel 13.

Tigers Picked Sixth in NCHC Preseason Poll
Colorado College was picked eighth in the 2022-23 NCHC Preseason Poll.

1.    Denver – 180 points (19 first-place votes)
2.    North Dakota – 160 (4)
3.    Minnesota Duluth – 136
4.    St. Cloud State – 115
5.    Western Michigan - 86
6.    Colorado College – 64
7.    Omaha - 59
8.    Miami - 28

Second Season at Robson Arena
Never in the storied history of Colorado College Tiger Hockey had the team played its home games on campus. Thanks to the generosity of donors, including former CC hockey player Ed Robson '54, along with the vision of former President Jill Tiefenthaler and the Board of Trustees, that changed on October 8, 2021, when the Tigers and St. Lawrence battled in the first regular-season game at Ed Robson Arena. Colorado College ranked No. 1 in the nation last season with percentage of attendance vs. capacity, at 104.5 percent. The capacity of Robson Arena is 3,407 and CC averaged an attendance of 3,559 in its 17 regular-season games.