The 20th-ranked Colorado College Tigers resume the Battle for the Gold Pan with a home-and-home series against the No. 7 Denver Pioneers, March 7-8. Friday's game will be played at Magness Arena in Denver, beginning at 7 p.m., while Saturday contest, the 2024-25 regular-season finale, will be at Ed Robson Arena with a 6 p.m, puck drop. 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 / 1240 AM with the 'Voice of the Tigers' Ken Landau and streamed on NCHC.tv. Friday's game will be televised on Altitude 2, while Saturday's will be shown on SOCO CW and CW2 with Josh Howe and Kyle Huson.

Last Time Out
The No. 20 Tigers split a pair of games at St. Cloud State, Feb. 21-22 ... On Friday, Kaidan Mbereko had a season-high 42 saves and CC scored three times in the second period for a 4-3 victory. Gavin Lindberg opened the scoring with his third goal in as many games at the 8:12 mark of the first period. Cooper Wylie evened the score at 10:10 of the opening frame, then Verner Miettinen put the home team ahead, 2-1, at 2:49 of the second period, but the Tigers roared back with three goals in a span of 3:07 midway through the frame. Tyler Coffey took advantage of a Husky pass from behind their own net that found him alone in the slot and made SCSU pay with his fourth goal of the year at 9:05 that tied it at 2-2, followed by Bret Link scoring his fifth of the season just two minutes later with a wrist shot from the boards that snuck past Isak Posch. Team captain Stanley Cooley made it 4-2 at the 12:12 mark when he pounded home a rebound from the left circle after Tommy Middleton's shot from the right dot was saved by Posch. Gavyn Thoreson cut the lead to 4-3 with a backhander in front of Mbereko at the 14:12 mark of the middle frame and neither team found the net after that ... On Saturday, Barrett Hall scored twice and added an assist to lead SCSU to a 4-2 victory. Hall scored his two goals within the first 10 minutes of the game. He opened the scoring at the 3:23 mark when a pass from behind the net by Austin Burnevik was deflected and went right to Hall, who beat Mbereko from the doorstep. Just after a penalty expired at the 9:33 mark, Hall put in a rebound from in front after Mbereko saved a shot by Daimon Gardner. Hall then started a play that culminated in a goal from Burnevik after he took a drop pass from Verner Miettinen at 16:49 of the opening frame. Fisher Scott put the Tigers on the board at the 3:30 mark of the second period with a shot from the left point that found its way through traffic and past Posch. The Huskies regained their three-goal lead with a tally by Gavyn Thoreson at 8:14, then Zaccharya Wisdom made it 4-2 at the 12:36 mark.

Battle For The Gold Pan
Established by former head coaches Don Lucia of Colorado College and Frank Serratore of Denver in 1993-94, the Gold Pan has been awarded every season since to the team that prevails in the regular-season series between CC and DU. In the event of an even split, the team currently in possession of the trophy keeps it. After retaining the Gold Pan last season, Denver has hoisted the trophy 18 times, compared to 13 for CC. The teams split a pair of games earlier this season, so CC must earn at least four of the six possible points this weekend to reclaim the Gold Pan.

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 … David Carle is in his seventh season as head coach at Denver. He led the Pioneers to the NCAA Division I title in 2021-22 and 2023-24. Carle served as an assistant coach for the Pioneers the previous four and a half seasons following a season and a half as an assistant coach with the Green Bay Gamblers.

Previous Meetings
Colorado College and Denver have met 343 times, with the Pioneers holding a 198-124-21 advantage in the series, including a 114-52-11 record in Denver. The 343 games played between CC and DU are the second-most  among two schools in college hockey history. Michigan and Michigan State have played 347 contests against each other.

Senior Night on Saturday
Saturday night will be Senior Night at Robson Arena, with six Tigers playing their final  game at Robson Arena. Tyler Coffey, Stanley Cooley, Tommy Middleton, Henry Wilder, Ty Gallagher and Chase McLane will be honored in a post-game ceremony. Coffey has been with the Tigers for five years, Cooley and Middleton for four, while Wilder (Boston College) transferred to CC prior to his junior season and graduate students Gallagher (Boston University) and McLane (Penn State) transferred into the program prior to this season. They will be honored on the ice in a post-game ceremony.

Balanced Scoring
Thirteen (13) Tigers have at least 10 points this season, led by Max Burkhokder (6g,19a) with 25, followed by Owen Beckner (6g,18a) with 24, Ty Gallagher (6g,17a) with 23 and Noah Laba (8g,14a) has 22. Klavs Veinbergs (9g,8a), Drew Montgomery (10g,7a) and Bret Link (5g,12a) each have 17. Zaccharya Wisdom (6g,9a) and Gleb Veremyev (8g,6a) have 14 apiece, followed by Philippe Blais-Savoie (4g,9a) with 13, Stanley Cooley (6g,6a) with 12, and Gavin Lindberg (5g,5a) and Chase McLane (5g,5a) with 10. Montgomery leads the team with 10 goals, while Burkholder tops the squad with 19 assists.

Career-Highs in '24-25
Four Tigers have recorded a career-high number of points this season. Max Burkholder (25 points), Klavs Veinbergs (17) and Drew Montgomery (17) have each surpassed his total as a freshman last season, while Ty Gallagher (23) tops his career-high from '22-23.   

Tiger Tales
Drew Montgomery (two vs. Miami on Feb. 14) joined Klavs Veinbergs (two at North Dakota on Feb. 7), Zaccharya Wisdom (two vs. WMU on Feb. 1) and Noah Laba (three vs. UMD on Jan. 17 and two at ASU on Jan. 25) as the only Tigers with multi-goal games this season ... Veinbergs is tied for second in the NCHC in faceoff percentage (61.4%) ... Ty Gallagher is tied for seventh in the NCHC with 48 blocked shots and 12th with 91 shots ... Max Burkholder is 15th in the NCHC with 19 assists ... Kaidan Mbereko is seventh in program history with 44 career victories ... The Tigers are seventh in the country in penalty killing (86.0%) ... CC is tied for sixth in the country in faceoff percentage (54.8%) ... Owen Beckner has 15 points in his last 12 games and has the most points in a season (24) by a CC freshman since Bryan Yoon had 26 in 2018-19.
    
Laba, Mbereko and Gallagher Named Hobey Baker Nominees
Juniors Noah Laba and Kaidan Mbereko and graduate student Ty Gallagher are among 95 student-athletes nominated for the 2025 Hobey Baker Award. The Hobey Baker Award is presented annually to the collegiate hockey player who best demonstrates strength of character both on and off the ice, contributes to the integrity of his team and displays outstanding skills in all phases of the game. Consideration is given for scholastic achievement and sportsmanship. Colorado College has had two winners since the first Hobey Baker was awarded in 1981, Peter Sejna (2003) and Marty Sertich (2005).

Five Goals in a Period
CC's five goals in the third period at Arizona State on Jan. 25 marked the first time the Tigers scored five goals in a period since Oct. 13, 2023, a 7-3 victory over Union (2nd period), and the first time with five in the third period since an 8-2 win over Western Michigan on Feb, 23, 2019.

Pair of Three-Goal Comebacks Very Rare
With the 5-4 victories over Denver (Dec. 13) and Arizona State (Jan. 25), the Tigers have collected two wins rallying from a three-goal deficit in a season for the first time in at least 25 years.
 
Tied for First in Nation in OT Wins
Colorado College is tied for first in the country with Michigan with six overtime wins, which ties the 2023-24 and 1979-80 teams for the most in one season.

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.