The No. 12-ranked Colorado College Tigers open their 2024-25 regular season this weekend with a series against Northern Michigan at Ed Robson Arena. The opening game on Friday, Oct. 11, is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. (MT). Live streaming and live stats links can be found on the CC Hockey schedule page at CCTigers.com.

Getting Started
The 2024-25 season marks the 86th year of varsity ice hockey at Colorado College and 12th 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 Listen / Watch
Both games this weekend will be broadcast live 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 televised live on SOCO-CW in the Southern Colorado area and streamed live on NCHC.tv with Josh Howe and Kyle Huson. Friday's pregame show starts at 6 p.m.   

Season Openers
Colorado College is 51-31-3 all-time in regular-season openers. The Tigers are 43-15-1 at home and 8-16-2 on the road (including neutral games). Last season, the Tigers opened with a 7-3 victory over Union College at Ed Robson Arena.

The Coaches
Kris Mayotte enters his fourth 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, and was an assistant coach for Providence College when the Friars won the NCAA Division I title in 2015. Mayotte is the reigning NCHC Coach of the Year … Dave Shyiak is in his first season at his alma mater. He spent the past four seasons as the associate head coach at St. Cloud State, helping lead the program to new heights with three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, including an NCAA runner-up finish in 2020-21. Shyiak served as head coach at Alaska Anchorage from 2005-13.

For The Record
Colorado College finished the 2023-24 campaign with a 21-13-3 overall record and a 14-8-2 mark in the NCHC, good for a tie for third place in the league's final standings. Northern Michigan was 12-16-6 overall and 10-10-4 in the CCHA last season. The Wildcats finished fifth in the CCHA.

Previous Meetings
Colorado College and Northern Michigan have met 54 times, with the Wildcats holding a 31-22-1 advantage in the series. The teams last played in the 1996-97 campaign, and were members of the WCHA from 1984-97.    

Tigers Dominate Breiercrest in Exhibition  
Ty Gallagher and Drew Montgomery each scored two goals to lead Colorado College to an 8-0 victory over Briercrest College in an exhibition game Saturday night at Ed Robson Arena. Ryan Beck collected three assists and Noah Laba added a goal and two helpers as the Tigers dominated from start to finish, outshooting Briercrest, 50-5. Laba opened the scoring at the 8:47 mark of the first period on a beautiful tic-tac-toe play from Beck and Bret Link. The Tigers exploded for five goals in the middle period, beginning with Fisher Scott scoring just 2:08 into the frame. Beck picked his second assist on the play. Gallagher scored a power-play goal at the 5:14 mark, then made it 4-0 at 12:49 of the second period with a wrister from the slot off a pass from Beck. Montgomery scored at the 14:50 mark and Max Burkholder closed out the second-period scoring with 1:20 left as Laba collected his second assist of the contest. Jordan Brisson made it 7-0 with an unassisted goal just 3:05 into the third period and Montgomery closed out the scoring at the 8:44 mark.

First Winning Season Since 2012  
Colorado College posted a 21-13-3 record last season, it's first winning season since the 2011-12 campaign. CC's 21 wins were the most in a season since 2010-11, when it won 23 games, and the Tigers tied for 13th in the nation with 21 wins.   

First Home Ice Series in a Dozen Years
Colorado College secured its first post-season playoff series at home last season since the 2011-12 season, when the Tigers were members of the WCHA. Prior to the '23-24 campaign, CC's last home playoff series was March 9-10, 2012, when it was swept by Michigan Tech. The last home playoff victory before the March 15 win over Omaha was March 13, 2011, a 2-1 win over Wisconsin.
    
Finished  in the Top 20 / Ranked No. 11 Preseason
Colorado College finished No. 15 in both the USCHO.com and the USA Hockey / The Rink Live polls, its highest finish since 11th at the end of the 2010-11 campaign. The Tigers entered the Top 20 on Dec. 11, reached a season-high of No. 10 on Feb. 19, and remained in the polls for the rest of the season. CC was ranked No. 11 in the USCHO.com Preseason Top 20 poll, which included eight NCHC teams, and is ranked No. 12 in both national polls this week.  

Mbereko and Laba Named All-Americans
Kaidan Mbereko and Noah Laba were each named a 2023-24 CCM/AHCA All-American by the American Hockey Coaches Association. Mbereko, from Aspen, Colo., was selected as the first-team goaltender on the West team, while Laba, a forward from Northville, Mich., earned a spot on the West's second team. Mbereko was stellar all season for the Tigers, starting all 37 games and earning the NCHC Goaltender of the Year Award by a unanimous vote. He finished the season with 21 wins, the most by a CC goalie since 2007-08, and led the NCHC with a 2.40 goals-against average and .915 save percentage. Laba led the Tigers with 37 points, scoring a team-high 20 goals and tying for the team lead with 17 assists. The first-team all-NCHC selection finished fourth in the country with seven game-winning goals, including a nation-leading four in overtime. Mbereko and Laba are the first to join the All-American list from CC since forward Nick Halloran, who was a second-team selection in 2018.

Tigers Collected Four Major NCHC Awards
Colorado College collected four of the NCHC's major awards in 2023-24, led by head coach Kris Mayotte winning the Herb Brooks Coach of the Year Award, at the league's Awards Celebration in St. Paul, Minn. The four awards won by Colorado College were the most by any NCHC team. Mayotte, in his third season at CC, led the Tigers to their first 20-win season in 13 seasons and a tie for third in the NCHC standings, the program's best league finish since tying for third in the WCHA in 2008-09. He is the first Colorado College head coach to win a conference Coach of the Year award since Don Lucia won the award in 1995-96. Meanwhile, sophomore goaltender Kaidan Mbereko was unanimously selected as the league's Goaltender of the Year, while fellow sophomore Noah Laba won the Defensive Forward of the Year and the Three Stars Awards.

Mbereko, Laba Named To Preseason All-NCHC Team
Juniors Noah Laba and Kaidan Mbereko were named to the 2024-25 National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) Preseason All-Conference Team. Thirty (30) ballots were submitted by local media members from each school, as well as select national media.  Laba was one of two players, joining defenseman Zeev Buium of Denver, that were named on all 30 ballots. Denver senior forward Jack Devine followed with 26 votes, while North Dakota sophomore defenseman Jake Livanavage collected 25. Mbereko received 22 votes as the team's goaltender.

Preseason All-NCHC
F: Noah Laba, Jr., Colorado College – 30 votes (unanimous)
F: Jack Devine, Sr., Denver – 26
F: Cameron Berg, Sr. North Dakota – 11
D: Zeev Buium, So., Denver – 30 (unanimous)
D: Jake Livanavage, So., North Dakota – 25
G: Kaidan Mbereko, Jr., Colorado College – 22

Leadership Named for 2024-25 Season
Senior forward Stanley Cooley will serve as team captain for the 2024-25 season, while junior forward Noah Laba and junior defenseman Ethan Straky will serve as assistant captains. Cooley, from Regina, Sask., appeared in all 37 games and posted 14 points (5g,9a) last season. An assistant captain each of the last two seasons, Cooley has 52 points (17g,35a) in 111 games at Colorado College. Laba, from Northville, Mich., led the team last year with 37 points (20g,17a). He has appeared in 71 games in his two seasons at CC and is the leading scorer among active players with 59 points (31g,28a). Straky, from Ormond Beach, Fla., has not missed a game as a Tiger and has 15 career points (4g,11a), including five (2g,3a) in 37 games last season as a sophomore.  

12 Newcomers on '24-25 Roster
Twelve newcomers join the Tiger hockey program for the 2024-25 season.The class consists of eight incoming freshmen and four transfers. The incoming class consists of Nick Baer (Bismarck Bobcats – NAHL), Owen Beckner (Tri-City Storm – USHL), Philippe Blais-Savoie (Tri-City Storm – USHL), Jordan Brisson (Chicago Steel – USHL), Brady Cleveland (university of Wisconsin – Big Ten), Ty Gallagher (Boston University – HEA), Ryan Koering (Muskegon Lumberjacks – USHL), Gavin Lindberg (Waterloo Black Hawks – USHL), Chase McLane (Penn State University – Big Ten), Carsen Musser (Madison Capitols – USHL), Fisher Scott (Dubuque Fighting Saints – USHL) and Charlie Strobel (University of Minnesota – Big Ten). Six of the players (Beckner, Cleveland, Gallagher, McLane, Musser and Scott) have been drafted by NHL franchises.

Tigers Picked Third in NCHC Preseason Poll
Colorado College was picked third in the 2024-25 NCHC Preseason Poll.

1.    Denver – 263 points (24 first-place votes)
2.    North Dakota – 241 (4)
3.    Colorado College – 200 (1)
4.    St. Cloud State – 149
5.    Omaha - 137
6.    Western Michigan - 127 (1)
7.    Minnesota Duluth – 115
8.     Arizona State - 80
9.    Miami - 38

Another Tough Schedule
The Tigers are scheduled to play 12 of their 34 regular-season games against teams that competed in the 2024 NCAA Division I Hockey Championships, and eight against six of the last eight national champions (Denver, Minnesota Duluth and North Dakota). In  addition, CC will play 24 games against teams that were ranked in the USCHO.com preseason Top 20 poll, the seven other NCHC opponents and Providence.

Season Four at Robson Arena
Never in the storied 80-plus years 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 was one of seven Division I teams to surpass capacity on a per game basis last season at 103.7 percent. The capacity of Robson Arena is 3,407 and CC averaged an attendance of 3,532 in its 22 home games.

Ironmen Last Season
Ten Tigers, including returners Stanley Cooley, Gleb Veremyev, Ethan Straky, Kaidan Mbereko and Max Burkholder, played in all 37 games last season.

Three Was the Number
The Tigers were 18-2 last season when scoring three or more goals. The only losses were to Augustana (4-3) on Oct. 28 and at Denver (4-3) in the regular-season finale on March 9. CC was 20-6-3 when it allowed three goals or less.

Most NHL Draft Picks on Roster in Two Decades
With six of the 12 newcomers (three transfers and three freshmen) joining Noah Laba, Klavs Veinbergs and Zaccharya Wisdom as National Hockey League draft picks, the 2024-25 roster has nine players that have been drafted by the NHL. THat tied for the third-most on a roster in program history. The 2003-04 and '04-05 rosters each had 10 draft picks, while there were nine on the 2002-03 roster.