The No. 18-ranked Colorado College Tigers return home for an NCHC weekend series, Jan. 17-18, against the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs at Ed Robson Arena. The series opener on Friday, Jan. 17, is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. (MT), and will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network. Live streaming and live stats links can be found at CCTigers.com.

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 streamed on NCHC.tv. Friday's contest will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network with Alex Heinert, Dave Staman and Shireen Saski on the call. Saturday's game will be televised on SOCO CW with Josh Howe and former Tiger Andrew Canzanello.  

Last Time Out
The Tigers lost a pair of games at Omaha last weekend ... On Friday, Brady Risk scored three goals and Simon Latkoczy had 42 saves to lead Omaha to a 5-2 victory. Omaha struck first with a power-play goal in the final seconds of the first period. Risk took a centering pass from Sam Stange and sent a wrist shot past CC goaltender Kaidan Mbereko with 7.7 seconds remaining in the opening frame. Stange doubled the Maverick lead with a goal just 2:30 into the second period, then the teams combined for three goals in a span of one minute, 23 seconds later in the frame. Ty Gallagher put the Tigers on the board with a wrist shot from the right point, but Omaha responded just 13 seconds later when Risk scored his second of the game on a rebound. Zaccharya Wisdom closed the gap to 3-2 with his fourth goal of the season at 5:42 of the middle frame. It appeared the Tigers evened the score midway through the second period when Chase McLane tipped in a shot by Ryan Koering, but Omaha challenged the play for offside and the goal was disallowed after review. The Mavericks put the game away with a pair of goals in the third period. Cam Mitchell made it 4-2 just three minutes into the frame, then Risk completed his hat trick at the 8:01 mark ... On Saturday, Fisher Scott collected his first career goal and Mbereko had 27 saves, but it wasn't enough as No. 13 Colorado College dropped a 3-1 decision. Omaha struck first in the final minute of the first period for the second consecutive night. Zach Urdahl caused a turnover just inside the Maverick blue line, found himself all alone on a breakaway and beat Mbereko on the stick side with 42.2 seconds remaining in the frame. The Tigers evened the score when Scott scored his first career goal at the 14:53 mark of the second period. Scott's one-timer from the top of the right circle deflected off a Maverick defender and into the net behind Simon Latkoczy. Harrison Israels scored the game-winner just 1:47 into the third period and Myles Hillman closed the scoring with an empty-netter with 38.3 seconds remaining. Hillman and Israels each posted a goal and an assist for the Mavericks.

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 … Scott Sandelin is in his 25th season at Minnesota Duluth. He led the Bulldogs to the 2011, 2018 and 2019 national championships and won the Spencer Penrose Award (Division I Coach of the Year) in 2004.

Previous Meetings
The Tigers and Minnesota Duluth have met 210 times, with the Bulldogs holding a 110-88-12 advantage in the series, including a 51-48-7 mark in Colorado Springs. CC went 2-1-1 against UMD last season, with the teams splitting a pair of 3-2 overtime games in Duluth and CC winning and tying in Colorado Springs.  

Highest Ranking in Nearly 13 Years
Colorado College is ranked No. 18 in this week's USCHO.com and No. 19 in the 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.  

Balanced Scoring
Eleven Tigers have at least seven points this season, led by Ty Gallagher (5g,9a) and Noah Laba (2g,12a) with 14 apiece. Max Burkholder (4g,8a) follows with 12 and Drew Montgomery has evened his career high with 10 (5g,5a). Klavs Veinbergs (5g,4a), Gleb Veremyev (5g,4a), Owen Beckner (3g,6a), Stanley Cooley (3g,6a) and Bret Link (2g,7a) each have nine. Gallagher, Veinbergs, Veremyev and Montgomery top the team with five goals each, while Laba has a team-high 12 assists.

Tiger Tales
12 of CC's 20 official games have been decided by one goal or less ... Klavs Veinbergs is ranked second in the NCHC in faceoff percentage (59.3%) ... Kaidan Mbereko is the seventh goaltender in program history to record 40 victories in a career ... Mbereko is ranked No. 2 on the school's career lists for save percentage (.919) and No. 3 for goals-against average (2.33) ... Mbereko was named to the Mike Richter Award "Watch List" for the nation's top goalie; He was a finalist for the award last season ... The Tigers are tied for seventh in the country in penalty killing (87.7%) and opponents are 3-for-29 on the power play in the last eight games ... CC is tied for 14th in the country in faceoff percentage (53.0%).
    
Mbereko Named National Co-Goaltender of the Month For November
Junior Kaidan Mbereko was named the National Co-Goaltender of the Month for November after leading the NCHC 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

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.  

CC to Have 17 Games Televised This Season
Colorado College announced that 14 home games will be broadcast live by television partner SOCO CW during the 2024-25 season. SOCO CW is available to viewers throughout Colorado Springs, Pueblo and Southern Colorado. In addition, CBS Sports Network will televise two games nationally from Robson Arena, Jan. 17, against Minnesota Duluth and Jan. 31, against Western Michigan.