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.

A quick look at the next games

As most of you know, the Tigers are taking on the rival Minnesota Golden Gophers this coming Friday and Saturday nights. Of course coaching is the underlying theme of this series since Minnesota's Don Lucia was the Tigers coach from 1993-1999. In that time the Tigers won the regular season WCHA title 3 times (his first three seasons). After Don's first season, the Tigers made the NCAA tournament every year for the rest of his tenure, they finished 2nd in 95/96 and 3rd in 96/97. The second place finish was the heartbreaking loss to Michigan. He has had even better success at the helm in Minnesota as the Gophers won the national title in 00/01 and again in 01/02. They have reached the NCAA tournament in all but his first season as head coach and have also won the WCHA tournament 02/03 and 03/04. Only this past season has he won the regular season title with the Gophers. Currently, the Gophers are riding a 2-game win streak after sweeping Alaska Anchorage 8-2 and 2-1. According to the USCHO poll, Minnesota is currently #2 in the nation with a record of 23-5-3. The Tigers dropped to 14th after coming off a 1 point weekend but do have the leagues best home record on their side. As far as conference standings, Minnesota is #1 with 33 points, followed by St. Cloud with 29, Denver with 27 and CC with 26. This weekend's games are extremely important in both the Pairwise rankings as well as the conference race for the MacNaughton Cup.