The No. 8-ranked Colorado College Tigers travel to Kalamazoo, Mich., for their first NCHC road series against No. 13/11 Western Michigan, Nov. 15-16, at Lawson Arena. The series opener on Friday, Nov. 15, is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. (ET). 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 will be broadcast live in the Colorado Springs area and Southern Colorado on KRDO NewsRadio 105.5 FM / 95.5 FM / 1240 AM and streamed on NCHC.tv with the 'Voice of the Tigers' Ken Landau.     

Last Time Out
The 8th-ranked Tigers swept Arizona State at Robson Arena last weekend ... On Friday, Zaccharya Wisdom scored 1:44 into overtime to give CC a 4-3 overtime victory. Wisdom completed a 2-on-1 as his second goal of the season breezed past ASU goalie Gibson Homer from the left circle. The game went to overtime thanks to CC captain Stanley Cooley, who scored with 57 seconds remaining in regulation as Kaidan Mbereko was on the bench in favor of an extra skater. Max Burkholder opened the scoring just 3:59 into the contest with a power-play goal, assisted by Klavs Veinbergs and Drew Montgomery. Veinbergs doubled the lead at 11:45 of the first period, putting home a rebound from the slot after Homer saved a shot from Bret Link. ASU's Ryan Alexander cut the CC lead to one with 1:45 remaining in the opening frame when his shot from the side of the net deflected off a CC defender's stick and snuck past Mbereko. The Sun Devils tied the game at the 6:40 mark of the second period and took the lead at 7:17 of the third with a power-play goal ... On Saturday, Mbereko had a season-high 41 saves in a 3-1 victory. Montgomery opened the scoring with a power-play goal at the 10:41 mark of the opening period and Tyler Coffey doubled the lead on a breakaway midway through the third period. The only goal Mbereko allowed was an extra-attacker goal by David Hymovitch with 45 seconds left in the contest that made it 2-1. However, Veinbergs sealed the deal with an empty-net goal with nine seconds remaining, with assists going to Bret Link and Gavin Lindberg, who collected his first career point.

8-0-0 For The First Time in 68 Years
With its victory Saturday night, Colorado College improved to 8-0-0 for the first time since the 1956-57 season. That season marked CC's last NCAA national championship.     

One of Three With a Perfect Record
Colorado College (8-0-0) is one of three teams in the nation that is undefeated and untied this season, joining NCHC-foe Denver (10-0-0) and Dartmouth (4-0-0).

Highest Ranking in Nearly 13 Years
Colorado College is ranked No. 8 in the USCHO.com and the USA Hockey / The Rink Live  Top 20 polls. That marks the highest ranking for the TIgers since they were ranked No. 8 on Jan. 9, 2012.  

The Coaches
Kris Mayotte is in 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 … Pat Ferschweiler is in his fourth season as head coach at Western Michigan after spending two seasons as an associate head coach with the program. Prior to rejoining the WMU staff, he spent four years as an assistant coach for the Detroit Red Wings.

Most Overtime Wins in the Country
Colorado College leads the nation with three overtime victories this season.

Previous Meetings
Western Michigan leads the all-time series against Colorado College, 24-13-6, including a 13-7-1 advantage in Kalamazoo. However, the TIgers have won each of the last four games at Lawson Arena, including a pair of overtime wins last season.

Balanced Scoring
The Tigers have nine players that have at least six points this season. Four players. Klavs Veinbergs, Max Burkholder, Bret Link and Ty Gallagher, lead the way with seven apiece. Five other players have six points. Veinbergs tops the team with four goals,  followed by three player with three and seven others with two.

Mbereko Named Back-to-Back NCHC Goaltender of the Week
Junior Kaidan Mbereko earned his second consecutive KJ Branding NCHC Goaltender of the Week award after allowing just three goals, Nov. 1-2, against Air Force. Mbereko made 25 saves in Friday's 3-2 overtime victory, then stopped 27 shots, including nine with Air Force on the power play, on Saturday in a 6-1 win. He also won the award the previous week following CC's sweep at Alaska Anchorage. Mbereko is tied for second in the nation with eight wins, ninth with a 1.49 goals against average and tied for 11th with a .941 save percentage.  

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

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, seven NCHC opponents (excluding Miami) and Providence.

Tiger Tales
The Tigers swept their conference-opening series for the first time since the 2012-13 season, when they opened WCHA play with two wins at Wisconsin, 5-4(ot) and 3-0 ...
Three Tigers, Klavs Veinbergs (6), Stanley Cooley (4) and Drew Montgomery (4), currently have at least a four-game point streak, all career highs. Another two players, Zaccharya Wisdom and Bret Link, each have a three-game point streak, which ties their career high ... 20 of CC's 25 skaters have registered at least one point this season ... The last time CC allowed 12 goals or less in its first eight games was the 2008-09 season, when they allowed 12. The Tigers were 5-0-3 after eight games that season.

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

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. Last Friday against Air Force was the first time all nine were in the lineup.