The Colorado College Tigers resume the Battle for the Gold Pan this weekend with a home-and-home series against the No. 8 Denver Pioneers. CC can take home the Gold Pan with two regulation wins.
 
Live streaming and stats links can be found on the CC Hockey schedule page at CCTigers.com.

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 19 times, compared to 13 for CC. Denver captured five of six possible points last November, so the Tigers must win both games in regulation to win back the Gold Pan. 

87 Years of Tiger Hockey
This season marks the 87th year of varsity ice hockey at Colorado College and 13th 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 and streamed live on NCHC.tv. Friday's game will be televised on SOCO CW with the 'Voice of the Tigers' Ken Landau and Kyle Huson.
  
Last Time Out
The Tigers split a pair of games against Arizona State last weekend at Robson Arena ... Despite a furious rally in the third period, Colorado College fell to Arizona State, 6-5, in overtime Friday night. Joel Kjellberg scored 1:40 into the extra period to give the Sun Devils two points in the NCHC standings. Mats Lindgren had two goals and an assist and Tomas Mrsic posted his first career two-goal game for Colorado College, which scored three times in the third period to even the score at 5-5 and send the game to overtime.
Bennett Schimek opened the scoring when he snuck behind the Tiger defense, took a pass from Cruz Lucius, and beat CC goalie Kaidan Mbereko on a breakaway at the 13:12 mark of the first period. The visitors made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at the 16:56 mark of the opening frame. The Tigers evened the game with a pair of goals in the first 1:44 of the second period. Lindgren scored just 58 seconds into the period, then Ryan Alexander then made it a 2-2 game at the 1:44 mark with a backhander from the left circle. Arizona State rebounded with three straight goals before the conclusion of the middle period, capped by Ty Nash making it 5-2 at 13:18 with a rebound on the power play that chased Mbereko (13 saves) from the game in favor of Jackson Unger. Mrsic notched his third goal of the season to cut the deficit to 5-3 just 2:41 into the third period, then the Tigers had a golden opportunity later in the period. At the 10:53 mark of the third period when ASU was called for two minor penalties and the Tigers took full advantage. Mrsic scored his second goal of the game during the 5-on-3 advantage with a one-timer from the right circle at the 11:10 mark, then Lindgren collected his second of the contest at 12:21 of the third period with a blast from the point that cleanly beat Hasley. That wrapped up the scoring in regulation, setting up Kjellberg's game-winning goal during 3-on-3 play. He took a pass from Schimek and fired a wrister from the top of the right circle that beat Unger. Veinbergs and Philippe Blais-Savoie each had two assists for the Tigers, while Unger finished with four saves ... On Saturday, Unger posted the first win of his career, making 21 saves to lead Colorado College to a 4-1 victory. The Tigers, who outshot Arizona State 25-6 in the first period, took a 1-0 lead when Tomas Mrsic scored his third goal of the weekend at the 17:19 mark of the opening frame. During a 2-on-1 rush, Bret Link took a shot that was saved by ASU goalie Samuel Urban (37 saves), but Mrsic was on the doorstep to put home the rebound. Seth Constance made it 2-0 at the 15:45 mark of the second period with his second goal of the season. As Wilson Björck came out of the penalty box, he found the puck at his feet and passed to Klavs Veinbergs, who found himself with Constance on a 2-on-1 rush. Veinbergs sent a pass cross-ice to Constance, who beat Urban from the right circle. Drew Montgomery made it 3-0 early in the third period after Connor Hvidston forced a turnover in the ASU end and fed Montgomery from behind the net. Montgomery potted his fourth goal of the season from the slot. With the Sun Devils (13-14-1, 6-9-1 NCHC) on a power play and Urban on the bench in favor of an extra skater, Kyle Smolen scored to make it 3-1 with 15 seconds remaining. Off the ensuing faceoff, former Sun Devil Ryan Alexander scored into the empty net for the final margin.

The Coaches 
Kris Mayotte is in his fifth 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 … David Carle is in his eighth 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.

Previous Meetings
Colorado College and Denver have met 349 times, with the Pioneers holding a 203-125-21 advantage in the series, including a 79-70-10 record in Colorado Springs. This is the most-played rivalry in college hockey, surpassing the 347 games played between Michigan and Michigan State.

Mats Lindgren Named NCHC Defenseman of the Week and Month  
Defenseman Mats Lindgren, who was added to the 2025-26 roster during winter break, was named the KJ Branding Defenseman of the Week following the split against Arizona State and the NCHC Defenseman of the Month. In Friday's 6-5 overtime loss, Lindgren tallied a career-high three points and the second multi-goal game of his short CC career so far. Lindgren book-ended the scoring for the Tigers, potting their first goal early in the second period, before striking on the power play in the third period to tie the game at 5-5 and cap a three-goal comeback. He also assisted on CC's third goal that started the rally to earn the Tigers a point in the standings. For the month, Lindgren posted eight points (4g,4a) in his first eight games as a Tiger. His four goals and eight points in January both tied for the NCHC lead among defensemen, while his four goals also tied for second nationally among blueliners in the month.

Tiger Tales  
The Tigers lead the NCHC and are third in the nation in faceoff winning percentage (55.1) ... Klavs Veinbergs leads the NCHC with a 62.2 faceoff win percentage and is second with 327 faceoff wins ... CC is tied for eighth in the country with 34.1 shots on goal per game and 10th with 886 shots on goal this season ... Kaidan Mbereko is No. 2 on CC's career list for games played by a goalie with 122, five behind career leader Jeff Sanger (1998-02).

Mbereko, Beckner Named Hobey Baker Nominees
Senior Kaidan Mbereko and sophomore Owen Beckner are among 87 student-athletes nominated for the 2026 Hobey Baker Award, according to the Hobey Baker Memorial Award Foundation. Mbereko is sixth in the NCHC with 10 victories in 2025-26. A first-team All-American in 2024, he has been nominated for the Hobey Baker Award each of the last three seasons. Meanwhile, Beckner leads the Tigers with 17 points and 11 assists. 

Most NHL Draft Picks on Roster in Program History
With the addition of Mats Lindgren, the 2025-26 roster has 10 players that have been drafted by the NHL. That ties for the most on a roster in program history, joining the 2003-04 and '04-05 rosters. 

Oh Brother
Freshmen 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.

Tigers Picked Fifth in NCHC Preseason Poll
Colorado College was picked fifth in the 2025-26 NCHC Preseason Poll. 

1.    Western Michigan - 252 (19 first-place votes)
2.    Denver – 225 points (4)
3.    North Dakota – 220 (5)
4.     Arizona State - 180 (2)
5.    Colorado College – 128
6.    Minnesota Duluth – 120
7.    Omaha - 110
8.    St. Cloud State – 80 
9.    Miami - 35

CC to Have 15 Games Televised This Season 
Colorado College announced that 15 games will be broadcast live on television this season, including 12 games by partner SOCO CW. SOCO CW is available to viewers throughout Colorado Springs, Pueblo and Southern Colorado. In addition, KRDO-13 (ABC) in Colorado Springs will televise two games. 

Season Five 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 nine Division I teams to surpass capacity on a per game basis last season at 106.7 percent. The capacity of Robson Arena is 3,407 and CC averaged an attendance of 3,634 in its 17 home games.