News and Notes for the week

The Tigers return home once again and put their undefeated record on the line against Clarkson. After two less-than-stellar weekends, the Tigers look to get back on track. Although the Tigers have only lost once in the past 8 games, last weekend felt like losing expert. Blame it on their own success that we have jaded expectations now. Teams are going to go through tough stretches, it's how they come out of them that will determine what they are truly made of.
And if your as uni-obsessed as I am Saturday night will be a treat. The Tigers will be wearing a throwback uni to celebrate their first game ever back in 1938. Look for some close-ups Sunday of the ancient replicas.

If you believe media hype, today's INCH will get a rise out of your blood pressure. They tout Miami's goaltender as if he's the greatest thing ever "Jeff Zatkoff of Miami is the nation's leader among goaltenders in winning percentage and save percentage". Up until Michigan Tech shelled Bachman Saturday night, he had been riding that title for some time, no mention of that on their site. INCH also has the Tigers as the team with their stock falling and looking to get knocked out of their own regional after losing their top spot in the WCHA to DU and North Dakota. Seems awfully far-fetched after only losing once. I guess if I was paid to sensationalize sports and get fat making people mad, I would.
DU should have at least tied UW and got pounded the next night, rose in the polls without playing last weekend and are touted as a national contender. I'm not saying they aren't, but the logic of these predictions is odd and mis-informed (see previous fat-writer statement). Although I can't shake this feeling of fear with North Dakota. They have a recent history of having blazing finishes, should be a crazy stretch run!
~PCO

Here's the Storylines from CC Athletics

This Week’s Storylines
• Celebrating the 70th anniversary of its hockey program, Colorado College plays host to Clarkson University in a two-game non-conference series between nationally ranked league leaders at the World Arena. While CC remains first in the WCHA standings, five points ahead of North Dakota and six ahead of Denver (which has four games in hand), the Knights own a five-point cushion in the ECAC Hockey League.
• The Tigers, 3-3 against non-WCHA opponents so far in 2007-08, are a perfect 11-0 at home (13-0 including a pair of exhibition victories), where they will play seven of their remaining 10 regular-season games.
• After the series with Clarkson, CC launches into its annual “stretch drive” with just four weekends of league play left before the first round of the WCHA playoffs. With the NCAA West Regional being held at the World Arena, the Tigers could be home for as many as 10 more outings in all.

Icers Aim to Regain Winning Form
In Non-League Series vs. Clarkson

Return to League Play: Colorado College takes one final break from its Western Collegiate Hockey Association schedule this weekend with a two-game series at home against Clarkson University. Faceoff between the Tigers and ECAC Hockey League-leading Knights at the Colorado Springs World Arena (7,343 seating capacity) is 7:37 p.m. MST Friday and 7:07 p.m. Saturday.

For the Record: Now 15-4-1 in WCHA play after tying (2-2) and losing (5-2) at Michigan Tech last weekend, Colorado College is 18-7-1 overall heading into this week’s action against the Knights...Clarkson, which skated to a pair of conference victories over Rensselaer (5-2) and Union (3-2) at home last weekend, is 15-7-2 overall and 10-3-1 in the ECACHL. The league-leading Knights are five points ahead of second-place Princeton in their standings.

In the Rankings: The Tigers have slipped to No. 6 in this week’s national polls published on Monday by U.S. College Hockey Online/CSTV and USA Today/American Hockey Magazine. CC also is sixth in the power rankings conducted by InsideCollegeHockey.com (INCH), which rates Clarkson as No. 9 this week. The Knights are No. 10 in the other two polls.

Coach’s Corner: Scott Owens (Colorado College ‘79), who has recorded more victories than any head coach in the history of Tiger Hockey, is in his ninth season at the helm of his alma mater. Owens is 213-116-25 (.637) in 354 games behind the bench, including a 3-0-1 mark (.780) against Clarkson, and has guided the Tigers to five NCAA playoff berths in his previous eight campaigns...George Roll (Bowling Green ‘86), currently in his fifth season at Clarkson, is 84-70-17 (.541) with the Knights and 208-148-34 (.577) in 12 years overall as a collegiate head coach.

On the Air: All CC games this season, home and away, are broadcast live throughout Southern Colorado on KYZX (103.9 FM The Eagle), featuring Ken Landau with the play-by-play. Pre-game shows start 17 minutes before faceoff. Landau also is host of the weekly Scott Owens Coach’s Show, which airs from 6:30 until 7:30 p.m. (MT) Tuesdays, on The Eagle. All broadcasts can be heard worldwide via the Internet, from a link at CCTigers.com…Live video streaming of all Tiger home games this season is available, courtesy of B2 Networks, via a link at CCTigers.com. Cost is $6 per game. Neither of this week’s games against Clarkson University will be televised. The next scheduled telecast is the regular-season finale against the University Denver on March 8, when CET (Comcast Entertainment Television) will carry the game live in Colorado Springs and Denver.

The All-Time Series: Friday’s series opener marks just the ninth meeting between Colorado College and Clarkson in a rivalry dating back to March 14, 1957, when the teams played each other in the semifinals of the NCAA playoffs at the old Broadmoor Ice Palace. CC, which won that game (5-3) en route to claiming its second national championship, is 7-0-1 all-time against the Knights including a two-game sweep (6-1, 3-0) at the World Arena in November 2001. The Tigers won (3-2) and tied (4-4) at CU’s Cheel Arena in October 2003. They also beat Clarkson in NCAA tournament play in 1997 (5-4) and 1998 (3-1).

Scouting the Opposition: The Knights are led up front by senior Steve Zalewski (15g,7a) and junior Chris D’Alvise (8g,14a), who have 22 points. The two veteran forwards have combined for eight power-play goals and five game winners, while junior Shea Guthrie has scored four GWG. Senior Nick Dodge ranks among the national leaders with three shorthanded tallies. Senior goaltender David Leggio is 15-6-2 between the pipes, with a 2.07 GAA and .926 saves percentage. Clarkson is 13-0-1 when allowing two or fewer goals in a game.

Recapping Last Week’s Games: A power-play goal by sophomore right wing Mike Testwuide (Vail, CO) at 12:02 of the third period got CC even on Friday, and some clutch goaltending by freshman Richard Bachman (Highlands Ranch, CO) preserved the 2-2 tie in the series opener at Michigan Tech. Testwuide redirected a shot by sophomore center Andreas Vlassopoulos (Los Angeles, CA) with 7:58 left in regulation after the Huskies took their first lead of the night at 4:01 of the third frame. Bachman, who finished with 31 saves, made 16 in a scoreless second period and four in the five-minute sudden-death session, including three from point-blank range. Freshman winger Stephen Schultz (Westbury, NY) scored his fourth goal of the season 6:27 into the contest. The Tigers out-shot MTU by a 35-19 margin in Saturday’s 5-2 loss, when they got tallies from sophomore defenseman Nate Prosser (Elk River, MN) and senior right winger Jimmy Kilpatrick (New Prague, MN). Prosser also added an assist on Kilpatrick’s power-play tally with that pulled Colorado College to within 3-2 in the final minute of the second period. Senior defenseman Jack Hillen (Minnetonka, MN) helped set up a goal in each game.

Thorn in CC’s Side: The Tigers now have beaten Michigan Tech only once in the last seven meetings between the teams, going 1-4-2 and scoring only nine goals against the Huskies dating back to January 2007, when they also tied (2-2) and lost (1-0) in Houghton. In addition, Tech prevailed in a best-of-three playoff series at the World Arena last March, blanking Colorado College (1-0) in the decisive Game 3 after winning a 2-1 overtime decision in Game 1.

Bittersweet Milestone: Not only did the Huskies end CC’s season-best seven-game (6-0-1) undefeated streak on Saturday, but they also spoiled an otherwise special night for Kilpatrick, who became the 70th member of Tiger Hockey’s elite “Century Club” with his career-best 12th tally of the season. Among Kilpatrick’s 100 points (34g,66a) during his four seasons at Colorado College have been eight game-winning goals, including three this campaign. He’s also assisted on 13 more GWG. He’s logged six multiple-point games so far 2007-08, and currently ranks ninth among WCHA scoring leaders with 18 points (9g,9a) in league play.

Offense From the Blue Line: Colorado College’s defensive corps continues to be a major contributor to the team’s offensive production after combining for five points (1g,4a) in last week’s series at MTU. The six regulars have accounted for 24.2 percent (9g,43a) of the team’s 215 (85g,130a) total points this season. Hillen now leads the Tigers with his career-high 16 assists for the season. He’s collected five in the last six games. Hillen’s 19 points overall this season tie him for second place among all WCHA blue-line specialists. He’s logged at least one in 15 of 26 outings. He and Prosser, who recorded his fourth multiple-point game of the season on Saturday to bump his ‘07-08 total to 13 (3g,10a), rank fourth and sixth, respectively, among the team’s scoring leaders. Sophomore Brian Connelly (Bloomington, MN) who also helped set up Kilpatrick’s goal on Saturday, is tied for eighth with 11 (2g,9a) including assists on five game winners.

Special Teams Update: Last Friday’s 2-2 tie at Michigan Tech marked the seven consecutive contest and 17th game overall this season in which CC held its opponent scoreless on the power play. Although the Huskies snapped the streak with a PPG at 13:56 of the opening period on Saturday, the Tigers continue to lead the WCHA with a 92.5-percent (74-for-80) success rate for penalty killing in league play. Their 89.9-percent (98-for-109) mark overall also is the league’s second best, and ranks in a tie for third nationally...Colorado College’s own power play, which went 2-for-7 last weekend, has clicked at least once in a season-best six consecutive games as well as in 19 of 26 for the season. It ranks second among WCHA teams in league play (18.8 percent) and overall (20.4 percent) after going 8-for-26 (30.8 percent) during the current six-game streak.

This Week’s Festivities: The Tigers will wear throwback jerseys for Saturday’s game with Clarkson to commemorate CC’s first-ever hockey game in January 1938. On Friday, the Center Ice Club will hold a luncheon at the Colorado Springs Country Club, 3333 Templeton Gap Road, starting at 11:45 a.m. Special guests will include former players such as Bob Bartlett, goaltender for the inaugural 1937-38 team; Hall of Famer Art Berglund (1960-63); All-American Peter Geronazzo (1992-1996); Bob McCusker (1956-58), who earned All-America honors and scored four goals as the Tigers defeated Michigan, 13-6, for the 1957 NCAA championship; goaltending legend Marty Wakelyn (1982-86), CC’s all-time leader in saves with 3,630 stops; and Milo “Mike” Yalich (1947-50), captain of the 1950 NCAA Championship team that beat Boston University, 13-4, for the national title.

Tiger Bites: Colorado College is 163-57-8 (.732) in 228 all-time appearances at the World Arena, where it played for the first time on Jan. 23, 1998. That includes a 50-10-3 mark (.817) mark against non-WCHA opponents...Senior left wing Scott McCulloch (Lacombe, Alta.), who hopes to return to the lineup this week, has missed the last four games with an injury after appearing in 103 consecutive outings...CC has outscored its opponents, 33-19, in third-period play over the course of the season...The Tigers lost last Saturday despite out-shooting MTU by a 35-19 margin. Their 17 shots on goal in the middle frame represent a team season high for a single period, and their 65 SOG overall in the weekend series also were their most against any opponent in 2007-08...Eight different CC players have been credited with at least one game-winning goal this season, while 18 have factored in on one. Including last Friday’s 2-2 tie in Houghton, Colorado College is 3-2-1 this season in games that have been deadlocked after 40 minutes of play. The Tigers are 3-4 when trailing after two periods and 12-1 when ahead after two.