The No. 8-ranked Colorado College Tigers play their second-to-last non-conference series of the season, Dec. 6-7, against No. 10 Providence College in Providence, R.I. The series opener on Friday, Dec. 6, 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 with the 'Voice of the Tigers' Ken Landau and streamed on ESPN+.     

Last Time Out
The Tigers split a weekend series against No. 11/10 St. Cloud State, Nov. 22-23, at Robson Arena ... On Friday, Max Burkholder had a goal and an assist, but the Tigers suffered their first home loss of the season, 3-2. SCSU's Verner Miettinen opened the scoring with a power-play goal at the 9:45 mark of the first period. The Huskies doubled their lead at the 2:17 mark of the second period when Tyler Coffey's pass from deep in the Tiger zone found the stick of SCSU's Tyson Gross, who was 1-on-1 with Kaidan Mbereko from the slot and beat him on the stick side. CC's leading scorer, Ty Gallagher, cut the deficit to one with a power-play goal at 7:04 of the middle frame. The Huskies regained their two-goal lead with an unassisted power-play goal by Austin Burnevik at 10:18 of the second. SCSU held on to the two-goal advantage throughout the third period until Mbereko went to the bench for an extra attacker with just over three minutes remaining and Burkholder rifled a one-timer from the point past Posch with 2:41 left in regulation. Mbereko (14 saves) headed to the bench once again a few seconds after play resumed but the Tigers could not even the score ... On Saturday, Phillippe Blais-Savoie scored 3:59 into overtime to lift CC to a 1-0 victory. Blais-Savoie took a drop pass from Owen Beckner at the right circle and fired a wrist shot that went top shelf for his second career game-winning goal. The puck caromed right back out of the net and the officials had to review that the puck actually went in. SCSU goalie Isak Posch and Mbereko were the stars of the game. Posch finished with 34 saves, including several from point-blank range, while Mbereko had 27 in his second shutout of the season and sixth of his career. Each netminder had two saves in the overtime period.
 
Best Start in 19 Years
Colorado College's 9-2-1 record is the best start after 12 games since since the 2009-10 season (9-2-1).     

Highest Ranking in Nearly 13 Years
Colorado College is ranked No. 8 in the USCHO.com and USA Hockey / The Rink Live Top 20 polls. The Tigers' No. 7 ranking on Nov. 18 marked the highest since they were ranked No. 6 on Jan. 2, 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 … Nate Leaman is in his 14th season as head coach at Providence. He led the Friars to the 2015 NCAA Division I title and another Frozen Four appearance in 2019. Leaman has guided Providence to 12 consecutive winning seasons and holds a 387-280-95 career record, which includes six seasons as the head coach at Union College prior to his tenure with the Friars.

Previous Meetings
Providence leads the all-time series against Colorado College, 7-5-3, including a 3-3-1 advantage at Providence. The teams last played during the 2014-15 season, with the Friars sweeping the TIgers, 5-4 in overtime and 5-3.

Providence Connections
Colorado College head coach Kris Mayotte played collegiately under current Providence head coach Nate Leaman for three seasons at Union College. Mayotte then served for three years as an assistant coach (2014-17) and two as associate head coach ('17-19) for Leaman at Providence, which captured the the 2015 NCAA DIvision I title. In addition, former Tiger Logan Will, who served as team captain his final two seasons at CC, is a graduate student playing for Providence this season.

Most Overtime Wins in the Country
Colorado College leads the nation with four overtime victories this season. Providence is second with three and no other team in the nation has more than two.

Balanced Scoring
The Tigers have nine players that have at least six points this season, led by graduate transfer Ty Gallagher, who has 10 (3g,7a). Max Burkholder (4g,5a) and Noah Laba (1g,8a) follow with nine and Klavs Veinbergs has eight (5g,3a). Zaccharya Wisdom (3g,4a), Drew Montgomery (3g,4a), and Bret Link (2g,5a) each have seven apiece. Two other players have six points. Veinbergs tops the team with five goals, while Laba has a team-high eight assists.

Mbereko Named NCHC Goaltender of the Month For November
Junior Kaidan Mbereko was named the NCHC Goaltender of the Month for November after leading the league in wins during the month. Mbereko posted a 5-2-1 record in CC's eight games, allowing just 14 goals. He was fourth in the NCHC in goals-against average (1.71) and save percentage (.941). Mbereko had a season-high 41 saves vs. Arizona State on Nov. 9 and blanked St. Cloud State on Nov. 23.

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 have allowed 19 goals this season, the fewest allowed in the first 12 games in program history ... CC does not have a multi-goal scorer in a game this season ... Kaidan Mbereko is tied for fourth in the country with nine wins, fifth in goals against-average (1.56) and seventh in save percentage (.940) ... CC is one of eight teams in the nation with two or fewer losses this 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.