Review of the Lightning Classic from CC Athletics

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Tigers fall to UMass in overtime
Sitting on a two-goal lead after 20 minutes of play, Colorado College made things hard on itself in Sunday’s championship game of the Lightning College Hockey Classic. This time, there was no happy ending. Matt Burto scored for the University of Massachusetts at 1:55 of overtime, giving the Minutemen a 5-4 victory and tournament title at the St. Pete Times Forum. CC wasted not only its early advantage, but also a pair of dramatic tallies by junior center Chad Rau that rallied his team from one-goal deficits. But UMass prevailed, winning on its 44th shot on goal of the contest when senior left wing Burto picked up a loose puck in front of the net and buried it past netminder Drew O’Connell, who had no chance. Rau’s first red lighter, a shorthanded effort, came just 19 seconds after Massachusetts scored the third of three consecutive goals in the second period to grab a 3-2 edge. His second tied the game at 4-4 midway through the final frame. O’Connell finished with a career-high 39 saves. Rau, along with Jimmy Kilpatrick and Nate Prosser, were named to the all-tournament team.

Schultz

CC stages furious rally to stun Engineers
The rabbit jumped out of yet another hat on Saturday, turning Colorado College’s debut in the state of Florida into a very memorable one. Freshman right wing Stephen Schultz (who played for the Lincoln Stars last season) scored on a deflection with 7.6 seconds left in regulation, lifting the shorthanded Tigers to a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the opening round of the Lightning College Hockey Classic in Tampa. CC shoots for a fifth regular-season tournament title in its last six tries on Sunday, meeting the University of Massachusetts in the championship game at the St. Pete Times Forum. UMass defeated host Notre Dame, 4-3, in Saturday’s other first-round match-up. Senior winger Jimmy Kilpatrick made Schultz’ heroics possible, striking twice earlier in the third period to wipe out a 2-0 deficit. Kilpatrick’s first red lighter, set up by Andreas Vlassopoulos, cut RPI’s lead in half at 2:47 of the frame. His second, off a nice set-up by Erik Walsky, pulled the Tigers even with just 3:39 remaining. Schultz’ game winner came during CC’s fourth power play of the contest, after defenseman Brian Connelly took a shot from along the right boards. Defenseman Nate Prosser also assisted on both of the last two goals, while freshman netminder Richard Bachman finished with 16 saves in the triumph.

Tigers lose in OT in tourney final

from USCHO

UMass Tops Colorado In OT:Burto Notches Game Winner
Compiled by USCHO Staff

TAMPA, Fla. (Dec. 30) — Massachusetts defeated Colorado College 5-4 in overtime Sunday evening to win the Lightning College Hockey Classic. Matt Burto scored the game winner 1:55 into overtime to propel the Minutemen to their first tournament championship in team history. UMass is now 5-1-1 against nationally ranked opponents this season, and have won their last three games against top-10 teams.

UMass trailed by two goals after the first period, but rallied with three goals in the second period. With the score tied after two periods, UMass took the lead early in the third period on a goal from Cory Quirk. Colorado College answered with a goal of their own to tie the score and set up the game-winner by Burto.

After the Minutemen took a penalty just one minute into the first period, Colorado went to work on the ensuing power play, but was unable to get one past UMass netminder Paul Dainton.

The Tigers struck first five minutes into the opening frame when Jack Hillen skated around a UMass defenseman and fired a shot on goal. The puck hit Dainton on his shoulder and trickled into the net.

The lack of discipline by UMass continued, as the Minutemen took another penalty just after the goal. While on the penalty-kill, Alex Berry had a shorthanded chance as he skated down the right side and shot five-hole on O’Connell, but the Tigers’ goalie closed up his pads to refute the scoring opportunity.

Midway through the period, the Tigers increased the pressure in the Minutemen defensive zone and forced UMass into icing the puck constantly. UMass had a chance to get back into the game when they were awarded a five-on-three power play, but the aggressive penalty killing of the Tigers did not allow the Minutemen to set up their power play, as the Tigers got their sticks in the passing lanes and blocked shot attempts by the UMass defensemen.

The Tigers extended their lead to two when Eric Walsky scored his seventh goal of the season on a great individual effort. Walsky skated into the UMass zone, spun around a UMass defenseman and threw the puck past Dainton.

UMass turned up the heat in the second period, scoring three goals in the middle frame, but a late Tigers’ goal tied it 3-3.

The Minutemen began the period on the power play, and Mike Kostka nearly got UMass on the board when he hit the post after some good puck movement by the UMass power play unit.

Just after the penalty expired, Berry scored his third goal of the season when he ripped a shot from the point that got through traffic and past O’Connell.

The line of Burto, Brian Keane and Scott Crowder put lots of pressure on the Tigers’ defense and threw multiple shots on net throughout the middle stanza.

UMass tied the score with five minutes to play in the frame when Mike Lecomte netted his fifth goal of the season, banging home a rebound. Two minutes later, the Minutemen took their first lead of the game while on a five-on-three power play. P.J. Fenton took a pass and fired a shot from the left faceoff dot that beat O’Connell top corner.

The Tigers answered right back, however, as Chad Rau scored a shorthanded goal just 14 seconds after UMass had taken the lead.

UMass continued their offensive explosion early in the third period, as Cory Quirk scored his sixth goal of the season just 48 seconds into the period to give UMass the 4-3 lead. The Minutemen continued to pressure the Tigers, peppering O’Connell with shots. Burto looked to extend the lead when he streaked down the left side of the ice and deked to the right, but O’Connell made a glove save to keep his team in the game.

After the Minutemen took another penalty, the Tigers scored to tie the game at four when Rau took a pass from the corner of the rink and rocketed a shot that beat Dainton to the right side. The teams traded chances for the rest of the period, but neither squad could score and the game headed into overtime.

Looking to avoid a shootout to decide a winner, the Minutemen set to work in hopes of taking home the Championship trophy. The Tigers opened the overtime with tons of pressure in the UMass end, and Dainton did his best to scramble around the net to prevent the puck from crossing the goal line. The Minutemen ended the game when Marcou took a pass from Lecomte and fired a shot from the right. The initial shot was saved by O’Connell, but he left the rebound out to the left, where Burto crashed in and buried the puck for the game winner.

The Minutemen will take next weekend off before they return to action on January 11 and 12 for a home-and-home series against UNH.

Saturday Reading

The Tigers start out their holiday tournament tonight against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 6 p.m. down in Tampa Florida and will be without some key members of the team as they take on an unfamiliar team.

Take a look at the overview of the Lightning Classic Tournament

If you haven't heard, 2 Tigers have been suspended, the biggest being Cody Lampl who has been suspended until January 2009 for a violation of student conduct, the school has been tight-lipped regarding just what occurred to deserve a year long suspension.

The US Junior team jumps to 2-0 after beating Switzerland 4-2

Tigers ready to rock

The Colorado College Tigers get ready to return to action after their Christmas break
From CC Athletics

Florida-bound Tigers return to the ice
Christmas has come and gone, and it’s back-to-business time for Tiger Hockey. Colorado College, tied for first place in the WCHA halfway through its 2007-08 league schedule, puts its No. 4 national ranking on the line this weekend with a pair of non-conference outings at the Lightning College Hockey Classic in Tampa, Fla. Playing in that state for the first time ever, CC takes on Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in an 8:05 p.m. (EST) first-round contest at the St. Pete Times Forum on Saturday, then meets either the University of Massachusetts or Notre Dame on Sunday. The championship game, featuring Saturday’s winners, is scheduled for 8:05 p.m., shortly after completion of the 5:05 p.m. consolation tilt. Notre Dame, a member of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, is ranked No. 6 in the national polls. UMass, of Hockey East, is No. 9, while ECAC member RPI is No. 17 in one poll and has received votes in the other. The Tigers practice at the World Arena on Wednesday and Thursday before flying to Florida on Friday.
More here

NHL is cool with screwing over college hockey and Universities

I have always felt like NHL commish Gary Bettman is a little sleazy and his latest comments about Minnestoa's Kyle Okposo haven't exactly calmed my feelings. Basically, he said that its ok for a player to leave his school hanging to go chasing after a big paycheck at any time during his career. Never mind the commitment he made to his school, teammates, fans and, oh yea, getting a degree. To me it seems like a disgrace that an NHL team would actively pursue an amateur player to leave early. Granted, the draft status of many players is decided early in college, if not before, but they still have pledged loyalty to their program and hopefully to themselves to get an education. There aren't enough Billy Sweatts in this world I guess.
Read the complete story and Bettman's comments here

Could Colorado teams dominate the Tourney?!

Mike Chambers of the DenverPost wrote an awesome article about the 3 thriving Colorado teams this season and the possibilities that lay ahead. Can you imagine having the 3 major hockey programs in Colorado all playing at the World Arena and/or Pepsi Center this post season?!!
Here is the full story:

Nation's best feel Front Range power

DU, Tigers and Falcons could forge a Colorado connection in the NCAA postseason fields

By Mike Chambers The Denver Post

Article Last Updated: 12/24/2007 11:52:26 PM MST

The NCAA Tournament West Regional will return to Colorado Springs in March, and two weeks later Denver (Pepsi Center) will host the Frozen Four for the first time since 1976.

So naturally, this season began as a big one for Front Range college hockey.

At the midway point, however, it has grown bigger — given that all three of Colorado's Division I teams appear to be NCAA Tournament contenders.

Air Force, the University of Denver and Colorado College are a combined 34-13-3 and each sits atop its league standings. Never before have the Falcons, Pioneers and Tigers made the NCAA Tournament field in the same year. But this could be that year.

Air Force (9-4-3), the defending Atlantic Hockey Association tournament champion, leads the AHA with 17 points, and DU (14-4) and CC (11-5) are tied for first in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association with 22 points — nine ahead of third-place Minnesota-Duluth.

The Falcons, because of a weaker schedule, likely would have to win the AHA tournament — same as last season — to get into the 16-team national field.

The Pioneers and Tigers have thrived while playing two of the country's three most difficult schedules, and both likely will be among the top five in the all-important Pairwise Rankings when that poll — which mimics the formula of the NCAA selection committee — makes its annual debut in a few weeks.

Each Front Range team returns from the Christmas break with holiday tournaments this weekend. Air Force goes to Minneapolis, CC to Tampa, Fla., and DU hosts the Denver Cup.

Heading into the season's second half, The Post offers its all-Front Range first team for the first half:

F Brock Trotter, DU, So. — Leads the Pioneers in goals (10), assists (11) points (21) and game-winning goals (three). He has 66 points in 63 career games and will only get better.

F Eric Ehn, AFA, Sr. — Has amassed a modest team-leading 21 points (six goals) despite playing without injured linemate Mike Phillipich for all but four games.

F Chad Rau, CC, Jr. — Has team-highs in goals (10), points (19), game-winning goals (four) and short-handed goals (two). He had a hat trick in a win over DU on Nov. 23.

D Chris Butler, DU, Jr. — He surprisingly hasn't scored a goal this season after producing a combined 17 in his first two seasons, but has otherwise been the best two-way defenseman in the WCHA.

D Nate Prosser, CC, So. — Has two power-play goals and leads the team with a plus-10. He's been the best among the Tigers' four underclassmen on the back line.

G Peter Mannino, DU, Sr. — CC freshman Richard Bachman has slightly better numbers, but Mannino (14-4, 1.80 GAA, 93.2 saves percentage) has a huge edge in experience and size.

Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com

Recent Tiger News for the holidays

Hope everyone is having a great December! Even though it is a dead-period for the college hockey season there is still plenty of interesting news.

As if Minnesota's struggles weren't enough already, they learned this week that they have seen the last of sophomore Kyle Okposo as he chose, in a rare move, to bypass the rest of the season and collegiate career to sign with the NY Islanders. He was the team's 1st overall pick in the 2006 draft.
Read the Full Story

In CC news, Kate Crandall wrote a great article about Billy Sweatt joining the US Junior National team for the second time around and the oddities of being teammates with some of your fiercest WCHA rivals.
Complete Story

Also, Jack Hillen earned the weekly WCHA honor (story from CC Athletics Site)
Senior defenseman Jack Hillen, who had an assist in both games of last week’s split at St. Cloud State, has been named WCHA Defensive Player of the Week. After setting up sophomore defenseman Nate Prosser’s early go-ahead tally in Friday’s 3-1 victory, Hillen helped Colorado College hold the Huskies to just 22 shots on goal in Saturday’s 4-2 loss. He currently is CC’s top-scoring blue-line specialist with 12 points (2g,10a) for the season, and his 10 assists represent a career high. He is the third Tiger to win league POW honors so far in 2007-08, joining freshman goalie Richard Bachman and junior center Chad Rau, who have combined for five earlier awards.

And finally, I hope everyone is enjoying the seasonal blog colors. I decided to have a little Christmas fun with it last night and tweaked it, banner and all! I'm debating about the background though, that white tree has rendered the text unreadable so it's very likely that, by the time you all are reading this, you will have no idea what tree I'm talking about. Also, look for a new blog color scheme in 2008. I've had the black background for a full year now and am looking for a slight change. Don't worry, nothing drastic! As always, any inputs to the future and the blog itself are always welcome!

CC drops

Apparently the voters felt that CC should easily sweep St. Cloud this weekend as they fell to #4 with a split of the weekend series. Rival DU has moved into CC's former spot at #3. Read more from USCHO below

RedHawks Reign Resumes

Sweep of No. 16 RPI Retakes Crown, Idle Michigan Falls to No. 2; Denver Wins and CC Split Shakes Up Top Five but Rest of Top 20 Remains Relatively Unchanged

by Nicholas Jon Wood/Contributing Editor

MINNEAPOLIS (Dec. 17) — As much as things change … . Undoubtedly a common sentiment around the country as for the past couple of months a CCHA team has sat atop the national rankings. Three weeks ago it was Miami, last poll Michigan. Now again the RedHawks reign supreme. Not without some fight from the idle Wolverines, however.

Previously No. 1 Michigan garnered one more first place vote — 24 to 23 — but four fewer total tallies to cede the top ranking to a Miami team who convincingly swept No. 16 RPI on the road, 7-3 and 5-1. Also fresh off a road sweep (of the Seawolves in Anchorage), new No. 3 Denver nabbed the other three first place votes, leaping over conference (and in-state) brethren Colorado College, who split a series with host No. 17 St. Cloud.

Michigan State rounds out the top five.

Proving that last year’s meteoric rise was no fluke, Notre Dame, 16-4-0 on the season in a conference that features four of the top six teams, remains at No. 6 while idle schools North Dakota, Clarkson, and Massachusetts also remain in place at seventh, eighth, and ninth, respectively.

No. 10 New Hampshire remained motionless, too, despite shutting out arch rival Maine, 2-0.

Teams 11 through 13 — Northeastern, Minnesota, and Wisconsin — did not take the ice this week, but in an early Beanpot preview on Wednesday, No. 15 Boston College’s Nathan Gerbe put on a show, scoring four times including three on the power play and one 4-on-4, as the Eagles easily handled No. 14 Harvard, 7-2, in Cambridge.

After splitting a home series against then-third-ranked Colorado College, new No. 16 St. Cloud moved up a rung while Rensselaer’s sweep at the hands of Miami demoted to them to No. 17.

Minnesota-Duluth, Bowling Green, and UMass-Lowell round out the top 20.

Tigers Stopped Cold

From USCHO

ST. CLOUD, Minn. (Dec. 15) — Behind two goals by senior Nate Dey, No. 17 St. Cloud State broke their six-game losing streak, beating No. 3 Colorado College. The victory got the Huskies back above .500 as they head into the break.

The Huskies notched three first-period tallies to take control of the game, then held on against a determined Tigers onslaught. relied on three first period goals to ice the game against CC. Sophomore Andreas Nodl started the scoring with his ninth goal of the season at 4:20 on a power play. It was the sixth consecutive game that Nodl earned a point; he now has 19 on the season.

CC tied the game at 11:48 on a goal by Addison DeBoer, but the Huskies regained the lead when freshman Nick Oslund posted his second goal of the season at 16:32. Oslund’s first shot was blocked by Tigers’ netminder Richard Bachman, Oslund pounced on the rebound and pushed it past Bachman for the score.

Dey notched the eventual game winner at 17:55 of the first period.

In the second period, Tigers’ forward Chad Rau notched a power play goal to close the gap. The Tigers’ momentum was halted at 12:37 when Dey scored his second of the game. Ryan Lasch got his second assist of the game, and he leads the team with 26 points, averaging 1.44 ppg.

Huskies’ sophomore Jase Weslosky finished with 30 saves, making several key stops as the Tigers outshot the Huskies 32-22. Bachman made 18 saves for the Tigers.

The Huskies return to action at the Ohio State Tournament on December 29 against No. 2 Miami, while CC will play No. 16 Rensselaer in the Lightning Classic in Tampa Bay on December 29

Tigers smack St. Cloud

So here's something interesting. The article in the Gayzette today spoke of the Tigers living on the edge of doom, committing stupid penalties and being on the edge of disaster. The USCHO speaks of CC dominating the entire game, what's the deal? If Kate is writing in the paper's notorious gloom-and-doom style she's an idiot (by the way, she was the one who released the "blackface" incident that was blown ridiculously out of proportion). How can the "home" paper be more negative than the national media? Doesn't make sense so, like always, I will not post her article and let you read about what really happened, not what some lame wanna-be journalist thought of the game.



The HEADLINE article on USCHO
In their first action since being passed over for the nation’s number one ranking, the now No. 3 Colorado College Tigers stated their case. Emphatically. Going into the always tough National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, CC dominated from the outset, getting two first period goals — including the game winner from freshman defenseman Ryan Lowery — to knock off the No. 17 Huskies, 3-1. Now 11-4-0 overall and a scintillating 11-2-0 in the WCHA, the high-octane Tigers are garnering at least initial comparisons to the Don Lucia-helmed squads who ran roughshod over the conference in the late 1990s. The two top 20 squads will face off again tomorrow evening.

CC Athletics:
Tigers keep rolling with 3-1 victory at SCSU
Whatever cobwebs Colorado College may have developed from a weekend away from competition, the WCHA-leading Tigers shook off very quickly on Friday. They picked up right where they left off 13 days earlier, winning their third consecutive road decision with a 3-1 victory over St. Cloud State University at the National Hockey Center. A pair of young defensemen – sophomore Nate Prosser and freshman Ryan Lowery – clicked for first-period goals that were enough for freshman goalie Richard Bachman, who again was superb between the pipes. Bachman made 26 saves, allowing only a power-play tap-in by SCSU’s Ryan Lasch in the final minute of the second period. Lowery’s game winner, a bouncing shot from the right boards and the first point of his collegiate career, came with 2:22 left in the opening frame after Prosser gave CC a 1-0 lead at the 9:03 mark. Senior left wing Scott McCulloch added an insurance tally at 14:10 of the third period, firing high over the shoulder of Huskies goalie Dan Dunn after Chad Rau won a faceoff in the St. Cloud State end. Dunn had relieved starter B.J. O’Brien after the opening stanza. The two combined for 32 saves, as the Tigers out-shot SCSU by a 35-27 margin. Third-ranked Colorado College, which has won nine of its last 10 outings, improved to 11-4 overall and 11-2 in league play.

Tigers win 3-1

CC came out of their bye week with a strong performance and beat St.Cloud State 3-1 firing off 35 shots in the first game of their series. More to come

New Polls out

Oddly enough, CC actually dropped a place in this week's USCHO poll to #3 while remaining at #3 in the USA Today poll. No matter, the Tigers will have to play tough this weekend to take out St. Cloud State.

USCHO POLL

1	Michigan	(27)	16-2-0	953	3
2	Miami	(15)	14-2-0	933	1
3	Colorado College	( 6)	10-4-0	905	2
4	Denver	( 2)	12-4-0	862	4
5	Michigan State		12-3-2	803	5
6	Notre Dame		16-4-0	770	6
7	North Dakota		8-6-1	658	7
8	Clarkson		10-5-0	614	9
9	Massachusetts		7-3-5	599	11
10	New Hampshire		8-4-1	590	8
11	Northeastern		7-4-2	483	12
12	Minnesota		9-8-1	366	15
13	Wisconsin		7-7-2	358	10
14	Harvard		6-3-2	330	13
15	Boston College		5-4-5	278	17
16	Rensselaer		8-5-3	243	19
17	St. Cloud State		7-7-2	175	14
18	Minnesota-Duluth		6-6-4	133	16
19	Bowling Green		8-6-0	99	18
20	Mass.-Lowell		7-4-4	96	NR

USA TODAY

1	University of Michigan	479	(21)	2	16-2-0
2	Miami (Ohio) University	470	(10)	1	14-2-0
3	Colorado College	448	(3)	3	10-4-0
4	University of Denver	424		5	12-4-0
5	Michigan State University	380		4	12-3-2
6	University of Notre Dame	359		6	16-4-0
7	University of North Dakota	269		8	8-6-1
8	Clarkson University	253		9	10-5-0
9	University of Massachusetts	243		10	7-3-5
10	University of New Hampshire	238		7	8-4-1
11	Northeastern University	152		13	7-4-2
12	Harvard University	99		12	6-3-2
13	University of Minnesota	91		NR	9-8-1
14	University of Wisconsin	80		11	7-7-2
15	Boston College	39		NR	5-4-5

Tigers have big weekend, without setting foot on the ice

The CC hockey club could wake up Monday morning to a #1 ranking in the USCHO poll as Miami OH lost to Alaska-Fairbanks Saturday night, leaving the number one ranking up for grabs. As for CC's next series, DU swept St. Cloud this weekend leaving a tough team reeling. It will set up an interesting battle next weekend.

#2 Tigers ready to roll on

The Tigers get an A+ grade on this week's WCHA report card

Here are some other stories from the CC website, including Bachman being the Rookie of the Month

Bachman named National Rookie of the Month
Freshman goaltender Richard Bachman, who backstopped WCHA-leading Colorado College’s six-game winning streak against nationally ranked opponents in November, has been named National Rookie of the Month by the Hockey Commissioners’ Association. He was a unanimous selection for the honor, earning all five first-place votes. Now 9-2 overall for the season, Bachman finished with a 6-1 record, 1.72 GAA and .944 saves percentage in seven starts against North Dakota, Wisconsin, Minnesota Duluth and Denver last month. He won his first eight league outings before finally losing 3-2 to the Pioneers at Magness Arena on Nov. 24. He earlier posted his first career shutout with 34 saves in a 3-0 triumph over UMD on Nov. 10 and has allowed one or fewer goals in seven of his 11 starts. The Highlands Ranch, Colo., native already has earned three Player of the Week awards in the WCHA, including Rookie of the Week recognition twice in November after the Tigers swept Duluth and split with DU. He also picked up a pair of assists – on a key shorthanded tally by Scott Thauwald in a 4-1 victory at North Dakota on Nov. 3, as well as on Chad Rau’s game-winning goal against UMD in a 5-3 home-ice triumph on Nov. 9.

Sweatt to play at World Juniors again
Sophomore left wing Bill Sweatt, who helped the United States claim a bronze medal at last year’s IIHF World Junior Championship, is one of 12 forwards named to Team USA for the 2008 version of the event scheduled for Dec. 26 through Jan. 5 in the Czech Republic. The American roster, which includes 22 players in all. was announced live during Versus’ national telecast of the Detroit Red Wings-Montreal Canadiens NHL game on Tuesday evening. Due to his participation in the tournament, Sweatt will miss CC’s two games at the Lightning College Hockey Classic in Tampa, Fla. (Dec. 29-30) as well as its series at the University of Wisconsin the following weekend (Jan. 4-5). He collected 15 (5g,10a) of his 26 points as a freshman in 2006-07 in 14 outings after returning from the international competition a year ago. A second-round draft choice of the Chicago Blackhawks last summer, he currently ranks second among the Tigers with 13 points (4g,9a) overall this season and is tied for fifth among WCHA players with 11 (3g,8a) in league play.

Tigers climb the ranks again

CC used it's weekend sweep of UAA to jump into the #2 spot in the USCHO polls this week, 98 points behind #1 Miami Ohio. Pretty sweet! The WCHA still holds 7 of the top 20 teams

More from CC Athletics
Tigers climb to No. 2 and No. 3 in polls
Colorado College, which skated to its fourth series sweep of the season with a pair of victories at Alaska Anchorage last weekend, continues to gain plenty of attention from voters in the national rankings. While idle Miami University remained No. 1 in both polls released on Monday, the WCHA-leading Tigers climbed from No. 4 to No. 2 in one (U.S. College Hockey Online/CSTV) and No. 3 in the other (USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine). They are No. 4, behind Miami, Michigan and Michigan State of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, in the weekly power rankings conducted by Inside College Hockey. CC, which leads its own league standings by six points over second-place University of Denver, takes this weekend off before resuming action at St. Cloud State on Dec. 14 and 15.

USCHO

	Team	(First Place Votes)	Record	Points	Last Poll
1	Miami	(48)	13-1-0	998	1
2	Colorado College	( 1)	10-4-0	900	4
3	Michigan	( 1)	14-2-0	886	2
4	Denver		10-4-0	841	3
5	Michigan State		10-3-2	819	5
6	Notre Dame		14-4-0	771	7
7	North Dakota		7-5-1	675	8
8	New Hampshire		8-3-1	668	6
9	Clarkson		10-5-0	532	9
10	Wisconsin		7-6-1	503	13
11	Massachusetts		6-3-5	486	11
12	Northeastern		7-4-1	387	16
13	Harvard		6-2-1	381	15
14	St. Cloud State		7-5-2	361	10
15	Minnesota		8-7-1	286	14
16	Minnesota-Duluth		6-5-3	268	12
17	Boston College		5-4-5	251	19
18	Bowling Green		8-4-0	134	NR
19	Rensselaer		7-5-3	101	18
20	Michigan Tech		6-7-1	100	20

USA Today

1	Miami (Ohio) University	509	(33)	1	13-1-0
2	University of Michigan	453	(1)	2	14-2-0
3	Colorado College	444		4	10-4-0
4	Michigan State University	402		5	10-3-2
5	University of Denver	388		3	10-4-0
6	University of Notre Dame	346		7	14-4-0
7	University of New Hampshire	292		6	8-3-1
8	University of North Dakota	281		8	7-5-1
9	Clarkson University	199		9	10-5-0
10	University of Massachusetts	171		11	6-3-5
11	University of Wisconsin	164		14	7-6-1
12	Harvard University	133		15	6-2-1
13	Northeastern University	126		12	7-4-1
14	St. Cloud State University	74		10	7-5-2
15	University of Minnesota-Duluth	49		13	6-5-3

Tigers win first road series

The Tigers battled the late starts, dark skies and sparse crowds to come out of this weekend with a sweep of Alaska Anchorage and a 6 point lead in the WCHA. UAA was the first team the Tigers have played this season not ranked in the top 15 (they are unranked) and they passed with flying colors. I caught the first 35 minutes last night on the CW but got too annoyed to watch any more. I'm thankful that the Tigers were on TV on the road but oh man, poor coverage. It was UAA's announcing team (which I'm fine with) but they sounded like they were talking through cell phones the whole time with all the static and noise. That was nothing compared to the arena itself...there were ads EVERYWHERE!! Granted, I'm an advertising major but there's a limit, this looked almost as bad as European hockey. There were no less than 8 ads in the neutral zone, at least 4 around the face-off dots in the zones and a HUGE slogan across behind the goalies. If this wasn't bad enough, on every pane of glass all the way around was a 4 inch of so high logo of all the board sponsors. So those who were in the front row got a giant green SUBWAY logo right in their face instead of seeing the ice. From a marketing perspective, this is pretty clever but its so friggen annoying that it might have the reverse effect. If we can see it on TV, there is a problem. Oh and the arena looked virtually empty with bright multi-colored seats showing off their empty glory. I also noticed that, despite all the ads, there was no center-ice logo. Maybe it's because UAA has one of the most hideous logos I've ever seen! Alright, there's my "arena aesthetics" rant. The Tigers head off to St. Cloud this weekend to battle an always tough Huskies team. The Tigers don't return home until January 11 when they again take on UAA. Thank goodness for Bowl Season, otherwise I would be going crazy for the next month-and-a-half!!

Tigers open it up after slow start

The Tigers sweep lowly Alaska Anchorage with a 4-1 win Saturday night.
From CC Athletics:
CC widens league lead with sweep of Seawolves
All the chips fell in Colorado College’s favor on the road Saturday. Fueled by Jimmy Kilpatrick’s two goals and a timely tally by Erik Walsky late in the second period, the WCHA-leading Tigers rallied for a come-from-behind 4-1 victory over Alaska Anchorage that completed a weekend sweep at Sullivan Arena. Combined with second-place Denver’s 3-1 loss to North Dakota, the triumph allowed CC to open up a six-point lead over DU in the league standings. The Seawolves struck first in Saturday’s series finale, snapping a scoreless deadlock on freshman Tommy Grant’s power-play rebound at 4:36 of the middle stanza. But Kilpatrick evened the score just 30 seconds later, unleashing a wicked wrist shot from the high slot after taking a pass from Scott Thauwald. Walsky, an Anchorage native who played for UAA during the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons, added his sixth goal of the season and second game winner with just 33 seconds left in the frame. Kilpatrick and sophomore defenseman Brian Connelly clicked for a pair of power-play goals in the third period as the Tigers improved to 10-4 overall and 10-2 in WCHA play. Freshman netminder Richard Bachman finished with 24 saves while junior center Chad Rau extended his point-scoring streak to eight games with an assist on Connelly’s goal, which Kilpatrick also helped set up.

CC Wins Defensive affair

From CC Athletics:

While Drew O’Connell and Matt Overman have yet to establish themselves as household names, they came through big-time for Colorado College on Friday. O’Connell made 28 saves and Overman scored the only goal of the game at 6:01 of the first period, leading the Tigers to a 1-0 victory over the University of Alaska Anchorage in the opener of their two-game series at Sullivan Arena. Overman’s tally, set up by junior center Chad Rau, was the first of the sophomore winger’s collegiate career. O’Connell, meanwhile, posted his first victory of the season as first-place and fourth-ranked CC improved to 9-2 in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association and maintained its four-point lead over Denver in the league standings. The junior goaltender, an Anchorage native, made key stops in all three periods to frustrate his hometown Seawolves in a contest that saw Colorado College kill six UAA power plays. Rau extended his point-scoring streak to seven games.
Box Score

Game Night!

Alright, the blog is back after some technical issues this week. The goal was to change the actual address of the site but I ran into some complications, SO, I just added another address to the site. You can enter the current address "www.supportcctigerhockey.blogspot.com" OR you can enter "tigerhockey.info". Both will get you to the same place but I will be publicly using the new one, something about it rolling off the tongue easier :).
So, most of you are probably wondering why its 9pm and I'm just now putting up the info for the game, games are usually over in about an hour from now right? Not so tonight. CC is on Alaska Time Zone this weekend which is 2 full hours behind Colorado. I never even knew this existed so I had to go do some research. The game is scheduled to start at 9:37 Mountain time so while you are waiting, here is some reading from the week:

Anything you could ever want to know about the game is found on the CC Athletics site

From the USCHO Week in WCHA
No. 4 Colorado College @ Alaska-Anchorage
Poll Movement: CC — stayed put after splitting with DU. UAA — went from receiving five votes to three after being idle.
Overall Records: CC — 8-4 (8-2 WCHA). UAA — 4-3-3 (1-3-2 WCHA).
Head-to-Head: CC leads the all-time series 41-11-3.
Top Scorers: CC — Chad Rau (9-6-15). UAA — Kevin Clark (5-6-11).
Goaltenders: CC — Richard Bachman (10 gp, 8-2, 1.70 GAA, .944 sv %). UAA — Jon Olthuis (9 gp, 3-3-3, 2.93 GAA, .888 sv %).

From the WCHA blog
Colorado College at Alaska Anchorage
Friday – 10:30 p.m. CST
Saturday – 10 p.m. CST

The first place Colorado College Tigers will look pad their four-point lead over DU for first place in the WCHA as they head north to take on Alaska Anchorage this weekend. They key to these games will be the Seawolves’ ability to slow down CC’s high-octane offense, which is led by the likes of Chad Rau, Jimmy Kilpatrick, and Billy Sweatt. They are averaging 3.6 GPG in WCHA play; the Seawolves have been scoring just 2.17 GPG in conference play, and go up against one of the conference’s best goaltenders in the form of Tiger freshman Richard Bachman, who has been the biggest surprise of the season so far. Expect CC to handle UAA handily in one night, but don’t be surprised if the Seawolves push the Tigers to the limit in one of the two contests.

IMPORTANT BLOG NOTICE!

The blog will be down Tuesday night until Thursday night as it transitions over to its new domain name: TigerHockey.info
For those of you who have the old address bookmarked, don't worry! It will still work and will redirect you to the new name. Nothing will change just the name but I felt it was more appropriate and relevant to the site!

Media Rivalry

If you haven't read it already, Mike Chambers of the Denver Post recently wrote in his blog about the CC-DU series. Naturally, some over sensitive fans got mad about "bias" in his blog and wrote him letters. Naturally, he wrote a response to that in his next blog, saying it's all in perception and of course, the Denver Post is a state wide paper (and the best by far) so they cover everything. Now we have some bickering going on in the comments section (like usual). Great huh? Here is what I have to say about that, so what? It's college hockey! Just sit back and watch. Yea we hate DU and they hate CC, but we all live in freaking Colorado! So hate each other when we play and just sit back and watch and quietly route for the CO teams the rest of the season. There are plenty of other teams to hate for better reasons: michigan just cuz it's michigan and they suck at life, notre dame because they think they are entitled to the world, and any boston area team for any sport because the media loves them and they think they rule. Sorry New Englanders, but I would rather take my 65 degree sunny December's than your crappy humid, wind, dreary, snow-filled winters. So what if your live in Boston, we live in freaking Colorado!

Splitsville, CC 2 DU 3

The Tigers go 1-for-6 on the power play and fall 3-2 as DU rebounds at home Saturday night.

Tigers DUmp Pioneers

The Tigers scoring explosion continued Friday night with a 5-1 stomping of DU at the World Arena. The Tigers were a step ahead all night and took advantage of every opportunity to frustrate and bury their I25 rivals. Chad Rau led the way with 3 goals and Bachman was again stellar in net with 28 saves and lots of help from his teammates. At one point in the second period, the puck was headed for the net and with no more than one inch to spare, it was batted away in mid-air by a CC defender. The game could have been much worse for DU. In the third period, after CC scored goal number 5, Denver lost their class. Fights ensued and the penalty boxes were loaded (at one point DU had 4 in at one time). After the smoke had cleared and the wrestling matches were through, CC came out with a rare 4 on 3 power play. Minutes later, a DU player lost his composure and blasted a Tiger from behind in front of the CC bench and received a 5 minute penalty. CC held the puck in the DU zone almost the entire 5 on 3 portion of that penalty and registered 7 shots on goal with each and every one causing the World Arena crowd to jump to its feet. By this time, "DU SUCKS" was ringing constantly across the arena as the Pioneers desperately tried to get any puck away from a Tiger. No luck as the Tigers played like they had glue on their sticks and skated around and through the men in red. CC looked great all night, especially since they were up against the number 3 team in the nation who was also on a roll. Let's hope the change of venue tomorrow night doesn't change a thing!
USCHO Box Score

Sign of the night: "you can't spell DUmb without DU" held up by a young girl

Sightings of the night:

• Janet Testwuide walked by me twice on the way to the press box sporting her split CC/DU jersey, pretty sweet uni

• I also spotted a Lincoln Stars hat and sweatshirt a few rows in front of me. Of course, that is where current Tiger Steve Schultz played last season (among numerous other WCHA players) and also the team I was watching through college the past 4 years.

• With the DU box overflowing, the fans around the box took to jeering the players. In a rare sighting, the players yelled back. As the play continued, I could see the DU players in the sin-bin looking toward the fans (obviously yelling), the fans would look over and yell back. At one point the entire section stood up and cheered. Wish I could have heard that exchange!

2 hours until the puck drops

Profiles of the DU-CC series by the du blog/RM news and the wcha blog

One step short

The DU blog pokes fun at CC's low moments over the past...well the past. The biggest thing I've noticed is that CC is always good and always has a competitive team, they are always just one step short, ya know, second best. I still remember the loss to Michigan in the 1996 National Championship game, might have been the first game I ever watched (and until I read the actual article the day after, I thought the game was played in Michigan because of all their fans...though we might have had 40 instead of 35 dg, haha). Oh and it should be noted that freakin Marty Turco was the Michigan goalie that year, ya know the stud NHL goalie? Anyway, CC has suffered way too many years (50!) without a title. The remaining alums are all holed up at Village at Skyline now just waiting for the sun to set that one last time (just remember Grandpa, no smoking while you are on your oxygen...)
I remember the game a few years in 05 back against DU in the sweet all WCHA Frozen Four. I skipped class to watch CC finally beat DU after 3 straight losses, a time when it mattered most. Instead, I saw DU score 6 power play goals and embarrass our proud program on ESPN. Yikes.
It's been rough, maybe this year will be the year. Heck, even winning the Broadmoor Trophy would be nice since it was named after the freakin resort they used to play at! Maybe all this waiting keeps us coming back for more, hoping for the Tigers to finally break through and get some national respect (and a big shiny trophy!). Whatever the case, it leaves most of the loyal fans die-hards and keeps the band-wagoners out (Rockies anyone?). 2 days until some amazing WCHA action!!!

DU, CC hit top 5

In the newest USCHO poll, the Pioneers and landed and 3 and 4 respectively setting up a HUGE weekend series this week. DU jumped up one spot while CC jumped three places after sweeping (and kicking the crap out of) Wisconsin last weekend. UW is now 12. The WCHA remains strong with 7 teams in the Top 20. CC and DU are ranked the same in the USA Today poll this week with North Dakota at 5 instead of 6. Miami OH and evil michigan remain 1-2.

Yo Tiger Fans!

CC blog spot
So I was looking through the analytics of my site and realized that, of my season high of visitors yesterday, the majority were referrals from our "fan forums" that were responsible for my first slew of interest late last season when I got started. I'm flattered by all the interest there is out there in TigerLand. Reading all your comments just gives me that much more enthusiasm for keeping this blog rockin! Oh and the song is a remix of Remember the Name by Fort Minor with some DJ/digitizer guy name Maclane that ads the symphony-ness.

You guys all rock! I've been getting tips and compliments from dggoddard my fellow blogger of the DU Pioneers, pretty sweet. We will see how sweet it is this particular week ;) I know that Kate Crandall has a blog as well that provides us that insider prospective while I take the fan perspective. I've been a little disappointed in her printed articles though. Her story about the UW game focused on when the Tigers were scoring (PP vs EVEN), I kinda felt that went completely away from the point that they KILLED the Badgers! Oh well, she's the professional writer and I'm just the amateur ;) I still would like to meet her in person though, ya know, blogger to blogger, haha.

Thanks for spreading the word, the more you do that, the more this blog will bring you!

Tigers bury Badgers 6-1

It was close when first puck was dropped and not much past that. CC dominated Wisconsin en route to a 6-1 blowout Saturday night. About the only thing UW had tonight was more shots. They looked sloppy with the puck and misplayed countless pucks off the boards, which of course can always be attributed to an unfamiliar arena. We were debating after the game whether CC looked that good or Wisconsin was just that bad. I think it was a little bit of both. Wisconsin's star goalie Shane Connelly only lasted 2 periods giving up 5 goals on 22 shots. CC's Richard Bachman looked sharp again making 31 saves and only allowing 1 goal on a quick rush to start the third. Once the Tigers got their 6th goal it turned ugly as Wisconsin tried hard to beat up the Tigers and start a fight after almost every whistle. It was a pathetic display of sportsmanship and after one penalty, Billy Sweatt simple laughed and pointed up at the jumbotron.
We sat behind the student section for the first time at a CC game (I sat there a loong time ago for a Gold Kings game) and I must say it was a blast. With the vertical view of the arena it was easy to see plays develop and open passes. And me being a college student only 6 months removed, it was great to get back in that atmosphere. Good times. Pics will be up shortly

Bathroom quote of the night: While we are all waiting after the second intermission (5-0) in line a Badger fan walks in and a CC fan says "hey, bend over!". Hilarious! and all in good fun, no butts or feelings were hurt.

From the stands: Some obvious new fans were behind us when the CC students chanted their first "Connelly you suck d*ck!". From behind me "what did they say?!", "sounded like "you suck d*ck". I readily confirmed what they had heard and let them know that the opposing goalie is the weekly victim of that chant. They loved it.

Box score from USCHO

In case you missed it

Here are some of the pre-series news, notes and stories for your Saturday afternoon enjoyment.

Wisconsin looks to see what they are made of in The Springs

The Wisconsin Hockey blog looks at the challenges of the Tigers #1 goaltender as well as general notes about the Badger team.

Open ice and thin air are the topics on the Badger Herald

The solid Denver Post blogger Mike Chambers takes a look at the early Hobey Baker possibilities in CC goalie Bachman and DU goalie Mannino

The Tigers go for the sweep tonight in the official BLACKOUT GAME!!!
WEAR BLACK!!!! GO TIGERS!!!!

Tigers win Friday night 4-3

The Tigers use a 2nd intermission pep-talk among players to pull out the first of two against a tough Wisconsin team. CC athletics coverage here and box score here
Official USCHO coverage from the battle Friday night and David Ramsey takes a look at Jimmy Kilpatrick's road to the game winning goal.

Tigers #2 in WCHA Power Rankings, Bachman wins Rookie of the Week

The CC website takes a look at this weeks story lines including Freshman Goalie Richard Bachman and his amazing start to the season. He leads all WCHA goaltenders .962 save percentage and an unblemished 5-0 record. CC brings an undefeated home record into the weekend against a very tough Wisconsin team. The WCHA blog places the Tigers at number 2 in the WCHA power ranks behind DU, one week until that huuuge series.

Tuesday Tiger Stuff

Denver Post writer Mike Chambers has a pretty good blog column on the website about college hockey. Granted, it's mostly about DU (funny how that works...) but heck, I would rather read that then our pathetic libertatian Gazette here in the Springs. Chambers points out that CC and DU have both helped to contribute to Minnesota having the worst start in school history. Looks like we can relate to something....at least until the 23rd....oh and our friend dggoddard from the DU blog has made his mark in the comments section of the blog already :)

In other CC news, I discovered another hockey blog that covers a lot of just general sports, but has a few pieces about the Tigers this season as well as past players Mark Stuart and Brett Sterling. Check it out

New USCHO Polls

The Tigers move up two places to #7 in this week's USCHO poll. Wisconsin comes in at #9 after a weekend split with now #5 North Dakota. This week, the WCHA lands 7 of the top 20 teams in the nation. Not bad eh? Complete rankings here

Tigers sweep Duluth behind Bachman's shutout

CC finished of Duluth tonight 3-0 to improve to 5-3 (5-1WCHA) before a big showdown with Wisconsin next weekend. Freshman Richard Bachman stopped 34 shots to earn the shutout for the Tigers. More to come as the weekend rolls on.
From USCHO: The No. 9 Colorado College Tigers are probably more concerned with wins and standings, and their impressive 3-0 shutout win, coupled with Michigan Tech's loss to St. Cloud State, vaulted the Tigers into sole possession of first in the ever-competitive WCHA. In the process of doing so, Tigers' coach Scott Owens earned his 200th career win.

Tigers fight to 5-3 victory behind explosive 2nd period

The Tigers started the game with two passes in front of their own net that almost resulted in own-goals. The Tiger finished the game fighting off a tough Minnesota-Duluth team to win 5-3. In between those events was a tough, hard-fought game of two teams that seemed to be evenly matched. The Tigers would play sloppy, the Bulldogs would capitalize. The Bulldogs would break down defensively, the Tigers would slam one home. The second period began 1-1 and ended with the Tigers up 5-2. CC scored on a magnificent break-away and a tipped goal that was controversial (at least according to UMD). The crowd seemed fairly relaxed most of the game, probably due to the fact that we don't know a lot about UMD and so they are a virtual no-name. I was impressed with them though, they were tough and very physical and refused to die. They killed off a 5:00 major during the third period and often had a man open outside the crease. Tomorrow night should be exciting as both teams will make their adjustments and go at it again at 7pm. I have numerous fun pictures from this game that I will put up tomorrow night, as well as links from the game as they accumulate! The official recap is here

I need to confess that I was wrong about the "blackout" turns out that the official night is next Friday night against Wisconsin (who beat North Dakota tonight, by the way). However, a number of people wore black tonight which was really cool. Here's an idea that I had last season as well. What if we ALWAYS wore black on Fridays and gold on Saturdays? How cool would that be? Imagine coming to play the Tigers; a top WCHA team, in high altitude, loud crowd and on top of it they can change colors between the 2 games?! It might just be a minor annoyance, but an annoyance none-the-less.

2 Hours before gametime!

In 2 hours from right now the Tigers drop the puck with Minnesota-Duluth. Here's the weekly run-down and quick over view of tonights game. Look for Bachman to be in net and

WEAR BLACK!!!

Black Friday

A fan reminded me of this, WEAR BLACK TONIGHT! The only publicity has been a mini-line in a Gazette ad so here you go, let's black out the World Arena!



WEAR BLACK TONIGHT!!!

Blog Updates

Hey all, as you can see above, I've added a new video box to the blog. I'm trying to have that "ESPN.COM" approach with their SportsCenter Minute and show video on the page. It's just an experiment for now pending the reaction of the regular visitors to this blog. The one flaw in it is that its bigger than I would prefer and I have no control over the videos that get in. I have it set to show hockey, Colorado college, and Colorado-so we will see how it interprets that. Also, I realize that I have fallen down on the job with my "You know your a hockey fan when" piece so, in the meantime, I'm going to put up a poll about some of the best things about CC hockey and see what you all like. Stop by often and vote as many times as it will let you! Hope everyone is having a great week, we hit 6% humidity and 73 degrees here in The Springs today so I can't complain! It's supposed to be over 70 for the next few weeks again; CC hockey Friday and Saturday nights and hitting the trails in between, I LOVE THIS STATE!

Tigers off to a good start

The WCHA blog takes a look at the movement in the Power Rankings this week and the fact that CC is 3-3, 3-1 Conference (first 2 games were exhibition) after playing Minnesota, New Hampshire AND North Dakota...all in the first 3 weeks of the season! I remember back when the schedule was released I wrote about how we will find our very quickly what these Tigers are made of. So far, I would say they are looking very good. Bring on Duluth!

New Rankings and the weekend wrap-up

Not much changed this weekend in the USCHO poll this week for the Tigers as they remained number 9 (same as the USA Today poll as well). Miami Ohio remained in the top spot while North Dakota fell from 2nd to 3rd, with Michigan leap-frogging to that spot. The Tigers opponent this weekend, Minnesota Duluth, is currently ranked 15th in both polls.
The WCHA blog takes a look at the WCHA this past weekend and the importance of the Tigers gaining the split in their "marquee matchup."

Tigers split series with North Dakota

Well, the Tigers went into the North Dakota series after being swept by New Hampshire in their first road series of the young season. Unfortunately, North Dakota was the team that came out flying and pounded the Tigers 6-2 and gave CC a three game losing streak. The Tigers struck back Saturday night and used a strong showing from Bachman in net to gain the split with a 4-1 victory and earned the split with number 1 North Dakota. Of course, we all would have loved to see the Tigers sweep the series, but a win is a win, especially on the road at the number one team in the nation. It's great to see that the Tigers have a stud in net now with their freshman. This was one of the biggest question marks coming into the season after losing Zaba last season. Despite being swept out east, the Tigers are still looking very good for the rest of the season and have some good momentum going into this weekend's home series against Minnesota-Duluth.
Speaking of "out east", New Hampshire was upset by Northeastern on Saturday night for the first time in 20 games. Hats off to NE as they beat the number 3 team in the nation.
Another series that might have been a shocker to some, was DU sweeping Minnesota and leaving the Gophers at 0-4 in the WCHA for the first time....ever. Either CC and DU are REALLY good, or Minnesota is REALLY BAD!

A thanks to those reading the blog

I just wanted to say thanks to all of you who have taken the time to hop over and check out this blog. Wednesday was the highest number of visitors to date this season! I'm hoping this is an indication that the content I'm putting up is of interest to college hockey fans both in Colorado and beyond. It looks like people are spending more than a mere 3 seconds on the site too (2 minute average) so I'm looking to build on that and give you all a great source for Tiger information and D1 college hockey!!
Speaking of outside CO, I noticed that none of my visitors today are from CO, NONE! Most have been from Minnesota today, specifically East Grand Forks. So, instead of looking this up and doing research on this town, I'll throw it out to those of you who paid a visit to the site today, is it treason to be a ND fan in Minnesota, even if you are on the border?!!

Like I've said before, I don't care who your team is, just so long as you love great college hockey and want to see more of it!!

Weekly stories across the blogwaves

The Sioux Sports Talk looks at this weekend's match-up and the team's current profiles and predicts a series split with CC taking Friday and North Dakota coming back and handling the Tigers Saturday night. This article is highlighted by a comment saying that CC will be tamed into submission, do I hear hundreds of annoying responses being thought up at this moment?

The Tigers performance this past weekend was perfect for UNH, as they were awarded the College Hockey News' team of the week. Let's hope the Tigers don't the the "privilege" of causing that to happen again this weekend.

One last important reminder, the CC vs North Dakota game will be on the CW Friday night here in the Springs. The puck will drop at 6:37pm mountain time. I've never watched a game on that channel so I'm interested to see how the coverage will be. The last game that was televised here was the Minnesota series, which FSN beamed us the local Minnesota feed. So be it, at least we get to watch!

Remember this? Soo true

New polls with a new numero uno

Previous number 1 North Dakota finds themselves dropping to number 2 in this week's USCHO/CSTV poll after falling to Teslak and Michigan Tech Saturday night. Miami of Ohio pounded UNO and jumped to number 1. I know nothing about this team (didn't really know they even had a team) so I will have to rely on the USCHO game stories to find out about them. Evil Michigan is number three (and deserves no link). After coming crashing back to reality this weekend, the Tigers find themselves at #9 behind Minnesota and DU at 8 and 7 respectively. Wisconsin rounds out the top 10 leaving the WCHA with 5 of the top 10 in this week's poll. Gotta love the WCHA, maybe we can get an all-conference Frozen Four again this year!!

	Team	(First Place Votes)	Record	Points	Last Poll
1	Miami	(39)	6-0-0	910	2
2	North Dakota	( 4)	3-1-1	833	1
3	Michigan		5-1-0	810	3
4	New Hampshire	( 3)	3-0-0	806	7
5	Boston College		3-1-2	722	5
6	Michigan State		4-1-0	682	8
7	Denver		4-2-0	591	6
8	Minnesota		4-2-0	589	10
9	Colorado College		2-2-0	522	4
10	Wisconsin		3-1-0	501	11
11	Clarkson		4-2-0	436	9
12	Maine		4-2-0	419	13
13	Michigan Tech		4-2-0	356	14
14	Notre Dame		4-3-0	344	12
15	Minnesota-Duluth		4-1-1	308	17
16	St. Lawrence		3-3-0	169	15
17	Rensselaer		5-2-0	134	NR
18	Niagara		4-1-0	83	NR
19	St. Cloud State		3-2-1	82	NR
20	Massachusetts		2-2-2	73	16
Others Receiving Votes: Dartmouth 51, Ohio State 45, Alaska-Anchorage 39, Air Force 36, Cornell 25, Mass.-Lowell 25, RIT 15, Holy Cross 10, Colgate 7, Quinnipiac 7, Vermont 7, Boston University 6, Merrimack 6, Nebraska-Omaha 3, Princeton 3, Northeastern 2, Robert Morris 2, Providence 1

Tigers Swept by UNH

A week after sweeping the highly-ranked Gophers, UNH returned the favor by sweeping the Tigers in their first road series of the young season. The Tigers have fallen victim to allowing a quick goal after their own 3 times already this season and last night was no exception. After CC tied the game at 2 at 9:52 with their second power-play goal of the game, the Tigers surrendered the go-ahead goal a mere 16 seconds later. CC has now lost 5 straight to UNH and will look to rebound this weekend when they travel to North Dakota to take on the Fighting Sioux who lived up to their #1 ranking after demolishing Michigan Tech.

Tigers fall 5-3

In the first road test of the season, the Tigers came out firing with 3 early goals. Unfortunately, UNH was able to withstand the early barrage and get 5 of their own with an 18-1 shot advantage in the 3rd period. The Tigers will look to rebound and get the split tomorrow night.

Connecting Across the Country

A blogger for the UNH Wildcats takes a look at the connection between CC, UNH, and a couple of kids in California.

DU impressed with Tigers?!

The Tigers were being made fun of and mocked by our rival blog LetsGoDU last week due to the whole blackface fiasco. This week, however, dggoddard seemed to be pretty impressed with the Tigers' sweep of the Gophers over the weekend. Could there be a little respect building?? Ha, I doubt it! But at least they have taken notice and realize that we may have something special brewing. How big are the games going to be over Thanksgiving with these guys?!!!

Tigers Jump to #4 in the national poll

The Tigers jump up to #4 in the polls after the weekend sweep and head to New Hampshire this weekend. The Wildcats are coming off an opening weekend win.

Tigers Sweep Minnesota

Chad Rau scores the game winner in OT to complete the sweep of the Gophers

CC flattens Minnesota 3-1

On the first night of the season, the Tigers looked to be ready to start the WCHA tournaments. The Tigers out-skated, out-hit and out-played the Gophers who looked worn out after the first period. Although they struck quickly after the Tigers first score (the PA announcer wasn't even through announcing the goal) they looked over matched the rest of the way. CC has always been know as a finesse, speedy team but there were numerous hip-checks that send gophers flipping faster than Eddi Murphy chase the rodent in "caddy shack". I was impressed with the team all the way around. The only downfall of the night was the World Arena was probably only at 75% capacity. The annoying old Minnesota fans behind me (that kept saying, "c'mon Gophs, SKATE!" something they didn't do well all night) was even surprised-he got his ticket the day they went on sale. Welcome to Colorado Springs, home of individuals. It also doesn't help that we have 2 D-I teams in the same city. But back to the game; by the third period, the Tigers were skating circles around Don Lucia's team...literally! Did anyone keep track of how long the Tigers were in Minnesota's end in that third period?!! Great game, great team, if they keep this up the 07/08 Tigers are going to be something special.

This is why people support the hockey team, not the college...

So I opened the paper today (yes some of us still get it at home) to see 4 CC players were suspended for blackface. WTF is blackface? I read the article and, in my head, it read "4 players were suspended for dressing up like TV characters". Um, what?! I read the story again online and looked up the definition for blackface. Ok, so the initial meaning was derogatory and meant to make fun of people who, basically, weren't the accepted status quo. Nothing wrong with that (the concern of the word, NOT the mocking), but dressing up as TV characters on a team outing away from the public is hardly mocking people. I wouldn't' view it any different than a kid dressing up as Garfield for Halloween. What's next, "look at that kid over there, he's dressed up as BUGS BUNNY! That is SO unacceptable, let's send him to tolerance school for the next 5 years" My reaction to this whole thing is "are you f*cking kidding me?!!!!" Everyone I have talked to today thinks its ludicrous. Most put it more bluntly than I just did, with many many more explicatives. I mean seriously, how the f*ck is this even a story? I read a recent comment that said "its official, the gayzette hates white people". I don't even see how this has anything to do with blacks because, helllo!, color doesn't freaking matter! How many people really walk down the street and think to themselves "uh oh, it's a mexican, I better cross the street" NO. We think, if anything, oh, there's a person walking by me. Who cares!!! So now our hockey players have to go through a laundry list of "diversity" activities to remedy the situation. Or as one poster on the Gazette put "brainwashing". What is CC thinking??? Are they taking the run toward being the number one pot school again too seriously?? First off, pretty sure they are not that diverse of a campus to begin with so why do they care? Of course it shouldn't matter anyway, it's not a freaking issue. And then you get the media jumping all over it and poof! national sensation over a non-issue. Crandall should have thought about how ludicrous this whole thing was before causing a national phenomenon. In the words of Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy "makes me wanna puke"

Season starts in full force

Well the 2 "pre-season" exhibition games are over and now the season starts in full force with national powerhouse Minnesota charging into town for the weekend. Should be a good opportunity to see what our Tigers are made of right out of the gate. Regardless of the outcome, this can't be a disaster for the Tigers, even if they are swept. Having an opponent of this caliber the first week will start them out high and prepare them for the rest of the season. Also, being the first weekend, there is plenty of time for the Tigers to come back if disaster strikes and they don't win a game. It will be a great battle and I'm sure there will be plenty of Minnesota fans descending on the Springs this week. I have never had the opportunity to be at one of these games so it should be a blast, great atmosphere and great hockey!
The Tigers won their two warm-up games and the young kids seemed to do pretty well.
You can find the quick recap of the games at the CC hockey page.

Look for a feature this week regarding the recent history between the Tigers and the Gophers. Thanks for your support of this blog and I'm looking forward to hitting the regular season strong!

Ask an Expert, CC style

Here is a great story from the Western Collegiate Hockey blog regarding the Tigers this season. It's an interview with Kate from the Gazette about the Tigers upcoming season.