Colorado College returns to action in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference with a weekend series against No. 3-ranked St. Cloud State, Jan. 13-14, at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minn. Live streaming and live stats links for the game 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
This weekend's games will be broadcast 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.   

Last Time Out
Colorado College wrapped up the 2022 calendar year with a split against Princeton at Ed Robson Arena ... On Friday, Dec. 30, Noah Serdachny collected a career-high five points and Brett Chorske scored a pair of power-play goals to lead CC to a 7-2 victory. Serdachny, who entered the game with one assist in eight career games, scored twice and added three assists as the Tigers won their third straight game. Chorske, who also entered the game with just one assist this season, scored both of his career-high two goals in the first period, and both on the power play. Serdachny and Nicklas Andrews assisted on both goals. In between Chorske's goals, Princeton's Jack Cronin scored a power-play goal of his own at the 6:13 mark of the opening frame. Serdachny scored the first goal of his career just 1:37 into the second period to make it 3-1. After Danny Weight sent the puck to the front of the net, Serdachny fell to one knee, then slid the puck past Pearson while falling to the ice. Logan Will provided a big 1-2 punch later in the middle frame when he laid out Mike Kennedy at center ice, then took a pass from Tommy Middleton and cleanly beat Pearson for a commanding 4-1 lead. Weight scored his first goal of the season at the 7:53 mark of the middle frame with a fierce slapshot from the top of the left circle. Tyler Coffey made it 6-1 3:12 into the third period, then Serdachny tipped in a Jack Millar shot from the point 54 seconds later for CC's final goal of the evening. Pito Walton added a goal for Princeton at the 7:50 mark of the third period ... On New Year's Eve, Adam Robbins scored on a breakaway with 1:35 remaining in overtime to give Princeton a 2-1 victory. After Stanley Cooley took the puck behind the Princeton net, his centering pass was deflected by Nick Seitz right to Robbins, who took the puck the length of the ice and beat CC goalie Matt Vernon with a backhander to salvage a weekend sweep. After the teams combined for nine goals on Friday night, the two Tiger squads couldn't find the back of the net until the third period on Saturday. Princeton's Nick Carabin opened the scoring at the 4:27 mark of the final frame. Jack Millar evened the game at 11:11 of the third with his first goal of the season with a wrister from the left circle that cleanly beat Princeton goalie Ethan Pearson. Colorado College put four shots on Pearson in the extra frame before Robbins netted his game winner.

The Coaches
Kris Mayotte is in 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 … Brett Larson is in his fifth 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 and helped UMD win the NCAA Division I national title in 2011 and again in 2018. Larson led St. Cloud State to the NCAA Division I Championship game in 2021, falling to UMass, 5-0, in the final.

Previous Meetings
The Tigers and St. Cloud State have met 121 times, with the Huskies holding a 62-50-9 advantage in the series. Colorado College is 0-10-1 in the last 11 games since sweeping the Huskies in St. Cloud early in the 2019-20 campaign. St. Cloud State swept CC, 3-1 and 5-0, earlier this season at Ed Robson Arena.

Up Next
The Tigers return home for a weekend series against 12th-ranked Western Michigan, Jan. 20-21, at Ed Robson Arena.

Best Conference Start in NCHC
With the 1-0 victory over Omaha on Dec. 10, the Tigers moved into third place in the NCHC standings with a 5-4-1 record, the highest position held by CC heading into the holiday break since joining the league 10 years ago.

Tiger Tales
The Tigers have equaled their win total from last year (9) ... On Dec. 30, Noah Serdachny (2g,3a) became the second Tiger freshman to post a five-point game this season, joining Noah Laba, who had two goals and three assists in an 8-0 victory over Air Force on Oct. 28 ... Hunter McKown continues to lead the nation with nine power-play goals and is tied for sixth with 13 goals overall ... Kaidan Mbereko leads the nation among all freshmen with a .927 save percentage and is third in goals-against average (2.26) ... This is the fewest games (20) it has taken Colorado College to collect nine victories since the 2011-12 season (14) ... The Tigers are 20th in the nation in power-play percentage (22.8%).    

Mbereko, Laba Played For Team USA at World Junior Championship
Freshmen Kaidan Mbereko and Noah Laba were selected to the 2023 U.S. National Junior Team and represented their country at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship in Moncton, New Brunswick, and Halifax, Nova Scotia. The tournament began on Dec. 26 and concluded on Jan. 5. Team USA claimed a bronze medal with an 8-7 overtime victory over Sweden fter falling to Canada, 6-2, in the semifinal. Mbereko appeared in two games during the tournament, including the third period and overtime frame gainst Sweden. Laba made his tournament debut in the bronze-medal game.
 
Serdachny Named NCHC Rookie of the Week
Freshman Noah Serdachny was named the KJ Branding NCHC Rookie of the Week after helping the Tigers to a weekend split against Princeton. Entering the weekend with only one collegiate point (an assist) in eight career games as a Tiger, Serdachny erupted for a career-high five points in CC's 7-2 win over Princeton on Dec. 30. Serdachny set up each of CC's first two goals, both on the power play, with primary assists. He then scored his first career goal, which served as the game-winner, early in the second period while falling to the ice with his back to the net. Serdachny added a third helper on CC's fifth goal, while he scored for the second time off a deflection in the third period to cap the Tigers' scoring and make it a 7-1 contest. Serdachny also posted career highs with three shots on goal and a +3 plus/minus in Friday's opener. Serdachny now has six points (2g, 4a) in 10 games this season.

Mbereko Repeats as NCHC Goaltender of the Month
Freshman Kaidan Mbereko earned his second consecutive National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) Goaltender of the Month award after posting a 3-1 record in December. Mbereko, from Aspen, Colo., continued his stellar play for the Tigers in December, starting four of their six games. He recorded shutouts in half of his starts last month, while ranking second in the NCHC in December with a .940 save percentage. His 31.25 saves per game were tops in the NCHC during the month, while his 125 total saves were second. Mbereko's 2.00 goals-against average ranked third in the NCHC in December. Mbereko began December with a 39-save shutout in a 3-0 victory at Minnesota Duluth on Dec. 2. He then made 22 saves in the series finale at UMD in a loss. A weekend later, the draft-eligible netminder compiled 64 saves to backstop CC to a home sweep of Omaha. After making 24 stops in a 6-4 win in the series opener, Mbereko tightened things up with a career-high 40 saves in a 1-0, shutout win over the Mavericks.

Jan. 20 Game vs. Western Michigan on TSN in Canada  
The hockey game between Colorado College and No. 12-ranked Western Michigan on Friday, Jan. 20, at Ed Robson Arena in Colorado Springs will be televised on TSN in Canada and is now scheduled to start at 8 p.m. (MT). College Hockey Inc. and TSN announced that Canada's Sports Leader will televise no fewer than 10 NCAA hockey games during the month of January, with the CC-WMU contest the only one on linear TSN throughout all of Canada. The Jan. 20 contest will still be televised live on AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain, AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain West and AT&T SportsNet Southwest.

Six Future Tigers Sign National Letter of Intent
Six future Tigers have signed a National Letter of Intent to attend and play hockey at Colorado College. Owen Beckner (Salmon Arm Silverbacks - BCHL), Philippe Blais-Savoie (Tri-City Storm - USHL), Ryan Koering (Eden Prairie High School - MN), Gavin Lindberg (Waterloo Black Hawks - USHL), Fisher Scott (Dubuque Fighting Saints - USHL) and Riley Stuart (Dubuque Fighting Saints - USHL) will don the black and gold in coming years.

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

CC to Have 15 Games Televised 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 was broadcast live in Colorado Springs and throughout the Southern Colorado region on KRDO NewsChannel 13. Upcoming road games at Denver on Friday, Jan. 27, and Friday, March 3 will be televised on Altitude and CBS Sports Network, respectively.