The 15th-ranked Colorado College Tigers host an exhibition game against the U.S. National Under-18 Team on Friday, Oct. 9, at Ed Robson Arena, beginning at 7 p.m. CC swept then #10-ranked UMass, 2-0 and 6-1, last weekend at Robson Arena.
Live streaming and live stats links can be found on the CC Hockey schedule page at CCTigers.com.
88 Years of Tiger Hockey
This season marks the 88th year of varsity ice hockey at Colorado College and 14th 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
Friday's game 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 live on NCHC.tv with the 'Voice of the Tigers' Ken Landau.Â
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Last Time Out
Colorado College opened its 2026-27 campaign with a weekend sweep over then No. 10 UMass at Robson Arena.
Jackson Unger posted his first career shutout with 32 saves in a 2-0 victory on Friday, then saved 22 of 23 shots the following night in a 6-1 win.
Drew Montgomery scored in each game, including the game-winner on Saturday, and
Philippe Blais-Savoie had a goal and an assist on Saturday, while
Klavs Veinbergs collected three assists during the weekend.Â
Season Openers
Following last Friday's 2-0 victory, Colorado College is now 54-31-3 all-time in regular-season openers and have won the last five. The Tigers are 46-15-1 at home and 8-16-2 on the road (including neutral games). CC has won its last five season-opening contests. Â
The CoachesÂ
Kris Mayotte is in his sixth 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 was the NCHC Coach of the Year following the 2023-24 campaign … Kevin Porter is in his first season as head coach of the U.S. Under-18 National Team. He is a former captain of the NTDP who played 12 seasons of professional hockey, including 249 games in the NHL. He was an assistant coach at the NTDP for the past two seasons.
Another Tough Schedule Â
The Tigers are scheduled to play 18 of their 36 regular-season games against teams thatÂ
are ranked in the Top 15 in the USCHO.com national preseason poll. In addition, CC has 16 games scheduled against nine of the last 10 national champions (UMass, Minn. Duluth, Denver, North Dakota, and Western Michigan). Â
Most NHL Draft Picks on Roster in Program History
With the addition of freshmen
Zach Olsen and
Michal Pradel, the 2026-27 roster has 11 players that have been drafted by the NHL, the most on a roster in program history.Â
2026-27 Leadership
Senior defenseman
Max Burkholder has been named team captain of the Colorado College hockey team for the 2026-27 season, while junior forward
Owen Beckner and senior forwards
Drew Montgomery,
Bret Link and
Riley Stuart will serve as assistant captains. Burkholder will wear the 'C' for the second conseutive year after playing just three games last season. Beckner tied for the team lead with 27 points and 15 assists in 2025-26, while Montgomery had 16 points (8g,8a) and tied for second on the team with eight goals. Link is the team's career active leading scorer with 53 points (18g,35a), including 17 (7g,10a) last season and Stuart posted career highs of four goals, four assists, eight points and 33 games played last season as a junior.
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Tiger TalesÂ
Jackson Unger was named the KJ Branding NCHC Goaltender of the Week ... Last Friday's game marked the earliest regular-season game in program history (Oct. 2) ... Unger's shutout Friday was the first of his career and CC's first since Nov. 23, 2024, by
Kaidan Mbereko in a 1-0 victory over St. Cloud State ... It was CC's first shutout in a season opener since Oct. 10, 2008, when Richard Bachman blanked Ala.-Huntsville, 1-0 ...
Klavs Veinbergs, who led the NCHC and finished second in the country in faceoff percentage (61.1%) last season, won 24 of 31 faceoffs last weekend (77.4%); He is the nation's top returner in faceoff percentage ... The Tigers are tied for sixth in the country with the highest percentage (85%) of returning goals and tied for seventh with the highest percentage (81%) of returning points.Â
Tigers Picked Sixth in NCHC Preseason Poll
Colorado College was picked sixth in the 2026-27 NCHC Preseason Poll.Â
1.  Denver, 304 points (14 first-place votes)
2.  North Dakota, 302 (12)
3.  Minnesota Duluth, 273 (7)
4.  Western Michigan, 237
5.  Miami, 175
6.  Colorado College, 159
7.  St. Cloud State, 121
8.  St. Thomas, 102
9.  Arizona State, 73
10.  Omaha, 69
The Incoming Class
Six newcomers join the Tiger hockey program for the 2026-27 season. The incoming class consists of five incoming freshmen and one transfer:
Carmelo Crandell (Arizona State - NCHC),
Ty Halaburda (Kelowna Rockets - WHL),
Blake Jones (Nanaimo Clippers - BCHL),
Zach Olsen (Saskatoon Blades - WHL),
Michal Pradel (Tri-City Storm - USHL) and
Sebastian Vitali (New Jersey Jr. Titans - NAHL). The six newcomers ties Princeton and Harvard for the fewest in the country.Â
Two New Assistant Coaches
Head coach
Kris Mayotte welcomes two new faces to the staff this season,
Dana Borges (assistant coach) and
David Powlowski (assistant coach / director of operations). Borges comes to Colorado Springs after spending three seasons as an assistant coach at Arizona State, where he focused on player development as well as recruiting. He helped recruit and develop an All-American, five NCHC all-conference selections, five NHL draft picks, including ASU's first-ever first-round pick and three players on the 2026 Central Scouting List for this year's draft. Borges, who played collegiately at Stonehill College, has also coached at Colgate and Williams College. Powlowski, meanwhile, spent the last three seasons as an assistant general manager and assistant coach for the Rochester Jr. Americans of the North American Hockey League (NAHL). He worked primarily with the team's defensive unit and focused on scouting and recruiting, including the organization's draft day operations. Powlowski played college hockey and golf at Nazareth College.
Oh Brother
Sophomores Tomas and
Mateo Mrsic are the 21st set of brothers to play hockey together at Colorado College and the first since Cody (2012-16) and Trey Bradley (2015-19) during the 2015-16 season. Other prominent brothers to lace their skates up at the same time in Colorado Springs include the only two NHL first-round draft picks from CC, Jaden (St. Louis, 2010) and Rylan Schwartz played together from 2010-12, while Mark Stuart (Boston, 2003) played two years with each of his older brothers, Mike from 2000-02 and Colin from 2002-04. Marty Sertich, the 2005 Hobey Baker winner, and his brother, Mike, played together at CC during the '04-05 campaign.
CC to Have 12 Games Televised This SeasonÂ
Colorado College will have 12 games broadcast live on television this season, including 10 games by partner SOCO CW. SOCO CW is available to viewers throughout Colorado Springs, Pueblo and Southern Colorado and televised Friday's game vs. #10 UMass. In addition, KRDO-13 (ABC) in Colorado Springs will televise both home games against Denver in The Gold Pan rivalry.Â
Season Six 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 the school's 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 102.7 percent.Â
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