The No. 8-ranked Colorado College Tigers open NCHC play this weekend with a series against league-newcomer Arizona State, Nov. 8-9, at Robson Arena. The series opens on Friday, Nov. 8, beginning at 7 p.m. 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 with the 'Voice of the Tigers' Ken Landau and streamed on NCHC.tv. Friday's contest will be televised on SOCO CW, with Josh Howe and Kyle Huson on the call.    

Last Time Out
No. 8-ranked Colorado College swept Air Force last weekend to retain the Pikes Peak Trophy for the sixth consecutive season ... On Friday, Max Burkholder scored 1:08 into overtime to give CC a 3-2 victory. Burkholder collected the puck deep in the CC zone, took it coast to coast and fired a wrist shot from the slot past Air Force goalie Guy Blessing. The Tigers rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win their second overtime game of the campaign. AFA's Brendan Gibbons opened the scoring midway through the first period. Clayton Cosentino won a draw to the left of Tiger goalie Kaidan Mbereko and Nick Remissong tipped the puck to Gibbons, who sent a wrister from the slot past Mbereko at 9:57 of the opening frame. Cosentino gave Air Force a 2-0 lead at the 9:18 mark. Gibbons sent the puck out front and Cosentino flipped it over Mbereko. CC cut the lead in half with a power-play goal from Klavs Veinbergs at 13:56 of the middle period. Drew Montgomery evened the score one minute into the third period with his second goal of the season. Stanley Cooley attempted a wraparound from behind the net and the puck went right to Montgomery, who was all alone on the doorstep and beat Blessing ... The following night, Ty Gallagher and Tyler Coffey each collected a goal and an assist and Kaidan Mbereko had 27 saves in a 6-1 victory. Riley Stuart opened the scoring with his first goal of the season at the 8:16 mark of the first period. Zaccharya Wisdom scored his first goal of the season at the 4:09 mark of the middle frame to make it 2-0. The Falcons cut the lead in half with a power-play goal on their fifth man-advantage opportunity at the 16:23 mark of the second, but the Tigers exploded for four goals in the third period to put the game away. Gallagher scored just 18 seconds into the frame, then Chase McLane notched his first as a Tiger at the 6:59 mark. Gleb Veremyev scored his third of the season off a breakaway at 16:00 and Coffey closed the scoring with 1:39 remaining in the game.

6-0 For The First Time in 24 Years
With its sweep over Air Force, Colorado College improved to 6-0 for the first time since the 2000-01 season. The Tigers finished that season with a 27-13-1 overall record and advanced to the regional final in the NCAA Tournament.    

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 … Greg Powers is in his 16th overall season on the Sun Devil staff and his ninth as head coach of ASU's NCAA Division I Hockey program. He was a finalist for the 2019 and 2020 Spencer Penrose Award, awarded to the Division I Coach of the Year.  

Previous Meetings
Arizona State leads the all-time series against Colorado College, 6-2-2. The Tigers are 2-2-2 against the Sun Devils in Colorado Springs.  

Mbereko Named NCHC Goaltender of the Week, Again  
Junior Kaidan Mbereko earned his second consecutive KJ Branding NCHC Goaltender of the Week award after allowing just three goals last weekend 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. Mabereko is tied for second in the nation with six wins and leads the NCHC with a 1.33 goals against average and .940 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, the seven other NCHC opponents and Providence.

One of Four With a Perfect Record
Colorado College (6-0-0) is one of four teams in the nation that is undefeated and untied this season, joining Denver (8-0-0), Cornell (2-0-0) and Dartmouth (2-0-0).

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.  

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.