Testwuide honored as INCH Player of the Week

CC Athletics
With just six points in 18 games prior to last weekend, Mike Testwuide wasn’t exactly setting the world on fire offensively. But things changed once Clarkson University rolled into Colorado Springs. Testwuide terrorized the Golden Knights, scoring twice in both games of CC’s 5-2, 6-1 sweep, and on Tuesday was named national Player of the Week by Inside College Hockey.com (INCH). The sophomore right winger added an assist in Saturday’s victory, when he was credited with the second game-winning goal of his collegiate career, to finish the series with five points. Now playing on the team’s top line with Chad Rau and Bill Sweatt, he will try to stay hot as the league-leading Tigers play host to St. Cloud State University in a key WCHA series this Friday and Saturday at the World Arena.

INCH
His Statistics: 2 Games, 4goals, 1assist—5points

His Impact: If asked to name Colorado College's most dangerous offensive player, Mike Testwuide would probably not immediately come to mind. That's no knock on Testwuide, a serviceable sophomore forward who entered last weekend's non-conference series against Clarkson with two goals and four assists in 18 games this season.

The Golden Knights certainly know his name after the Vail, Colo. native scorched them in the Tigers' back-to-back thrashings at World Arena. Testwuide's two goals Friday were biggies. The first midway through the second period — the first of four unanswered goals CC would score — evened the score at 2-2. The second came on a power play less than two minutes in the third to give the hosts a 4-2 lead.

In Saturday's 6-1 romp, Testwuide notched the eventual game-winner 12 minutes into the first period with a power-play goal, then scored just under five minutes into the second to stretch the lead to 3-0. He also set up teammate Bill Sweatt's second-period goal that gave the Tigers a 4-0 edge.

Throwback Blowout

The Tigers took any fight out of Clarkson early tonight en route to a 6-1 thrashing of the ECAC leaders. The Tigers weren't completely cruel as they gave Clarkson their only goal when Prosser knocked a dump in past Bachman by complete accident. It was great to see him just look at Bachman like "oh sh*t!". The shutout was lost on that play but not much else. Clarkson looked competitive for the first 5 minutes of the game and it was all Tigers after that, and it seemed like the entire 3rd period was played in the Clarkson end.
Even freshman goalie Tyler O'Brien got to play for the first time as a Tiger in the last 8 minutes of the game. He had a couple pucks shot his way and was mobbed by teammates after the game, good stuff.
As for the throwback jerseys, they were freakin sweet. The picture in the Gayzette Friday made them look ugly and boring. Very sweet and if you were willing to shell out $100 bucks, fans could have gotten one with the 70th Anniversary patch put on along with their choice of number, right there at the merch. stand. Sweet deal. Except that Clarkson had the same yellow on their shoulders and at first glance you could never tell what team the puck handler was passing to. Maybe that's why Clarkson was stomped to bits this weekend?
Pics will be coming shortly. We got several shots of plays seconds before a goal and some good shots of the sweet unis. Great weekend for the Tigers. Oh and if you're keeping track, DU was swept by Minnesota State tonight.

Here's the USCHO recap
by Theresa Spisak/WCHA Correspondent

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Feb. 2) — On a night alumni from the 70 years of Colorado College hockey wore throwback jerseys to celebrate Tigers’ hockey, the Tigers put on a show of yore, scoring six goals to defeat the Clarkson University Golden Knights 6-1 Saturday night at World Arena.

“It feels real good to [win] at home, and alumni weekend, with the special occasion jerseys, you always want to come out and put on a good show when you got former players in the stands,” said CC coach Scott Owens.

“It was [exciting] ,” said sophomore forward Mike Testwuide. “Those jerseys, they look really snazzy, I mean, we look really good, I’m not going to lie, and having all them here, the tradition they put forth for Colorado College, we wanted to show them a good time and we did that.”

The Tigers started off the scoring good times 11 minutes into the first period when Brian Connelly caused a Clarkson turnover, skated down the right side boards, cut in towards the net and flipped a wrist shot over David Leggio’s (9 saves) right shoulder.

CC went up 2-0 three minutes later on their first power play of the game. Mike Testwuide tipped in a Jack Hillen blast from the top of the ice after a pretty tic-tac-toe passing play.

“[Testwuide] was fluid, moving, he had confidence,” said Owens. “He’s a big rig and once he gets going, he can move pretty well.”

4:45 into the middle frame, Testwuide scored again to get his second goal of the game and put his Tigers up 3-0.

“[It was] a weird bounce as they tried to clear the zone,” he said. “[Chad] Rau picked it up, went wide, and Billy [Sweatt] was driving to the net, he took the ‘D’ with him and Rau gave me a really nice pass in the slot and I shot it five-hole.”

“They’re opportunistic,” said Clarkson coach George Roll. “The third goal; we got an odd-man rush going one way, it hits the glass funny and goes in our net. But they earned it; they were certainly the better team this weekend.”

About four minutes later, Testwuide fed Sweatt, who walked through three Knights en route to the front of the crease and deked Leggio for the 4-0 lead. Scott McCulloch added another goal to the lead on a power play two and half minutes later, chasing Leggio from the net in favor of back-up goaltender Tim Potter [18 saves] .

“David wasn’t on his game tonight,” said Roll. “At that point, Timmy’s worked hard and deserved the opportunity.”

The Golden Knights managed to get on the board less than a minute into the third when the Tigers’ Nate Prosser deflected a Tyrell Mason dump past Richard Bachman [21 saves] .

CC got the goal back eight minutes later as Tyler Johnson knocked in a rebound past Potter, padding the Tigers’ lead.

Both teams suffered a rash of penalties starting eight minutes into the third, but neither team converted on any of the man-advantages.

With about five and half to play, Colorado College put in their third-string goaltender, freshman Tyler O’Brien, for his first game action all year [4 saves] .

“It’s kind of a reward for him,” said Owens. “He works hard in practice and it’s tough being the role that he’s at and it was a good situation there to get him six minutes. Even though it’s six minutes, it’s still a nice situation for him as a reward. You saw the way the team kind of rallied around him and he had to make two or three saves, so that was kind of nice too.”

Despite the sound defeat, Roll was still relatively optimistic after the contest.

“I actually thought we played better tonight than last night,” he said. “I thought we did a better job of limiting their grade A’s.

“I thought they got bounces tonight, but I’m proud of our effort tonight. I thought we competed for 60 minutes against a very good team.”

As for the Tigers, the weekend gives them confidence going into the WCHA home stretch.

“We got off the schneid in scoring, so we got other people involved and we’ve gone through those three straight games where we only scored two goals and we were able to get other people involved in the scoring so I think it helps us a little bit,” said Owens. “It was a positive.”

The Tigers host St. Cloud State next weekend for a pair of games, while the Golden Knights head home for a pair of games against Cornell University.

Offense Returns-Big Win Ensues

The Tigers regain their offensive form with a 5-2 win over Clarkson Friday night. Tigers total a ridiculous 42 shots on goal. Unofficial stats here, more to come as it's posted.

In the chase for the WCHA lead, DU lost 5-1 to Minnesota State and North Dakota beat Minnesota in OT 2-1.








Colorado College Crushes Clarkson
Testwuide, Sweatt Combine For Four Points
by Candace Horgan/Contributing Editor USCHO

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Feb. 1) — After a disappointing weekend last week at Michigan Tech, the No. 6 Colorado College Tigers looked to regroup at home. Coach Scott Owens mixed up his lines, and a new top line of Mike Testwuide, Chad Rau and Bill Sweatt lead the Tigers to a 5-2 win over the No. 10 Clarkson Golden Knights. Testwuide had two goals and 11 shots on goal, while Sweatt had two assists.
Clarkson: Team Page | Schedule
Colorado College: Team Page | Schedule

“It was nice to get back home on the big sheet, and it was very nice to score five goals,” said Owens. “It was even nicer to have the puck in their end most of the time. I think that Billy has the outside speed and can open things up, Chad’s just a solid player, and Testwuide, as long as he’s doing things like a power forward, he’ll be effective. They were able to sustain very well.”

The game started slowly, with both teams feeling each other out on the ice. The Golden Knights pounced first on a crazy bounce. Adam Bellows took a slap shot from the right point that hit a Tigers’ skate in front of the net. The puck came right to Chris D’Alvise in the slot, and D’Alvise took one stride to his left and fired it top corner stick side at 1:58.

“I thought we had a good start to the game,” said Golden Knights’ coach George Roll. “We had some real good chances in the first, but they wore us down. Offensively, we haven’t seen a team like that that cycled the puck as well as they did.”


The Tigers absorbed that blow however, and started peppering Golden Knights’ goaltender David Leggio. At 10:48 of the period, Tyrell Mason was whistled for slashing when Mike Testwuide got behind the defense on a breakaway and cut across the crease. Mason’s slash disrupted Testwuide just enough that he couldn’t get his backhand past Leggio.

As the ensuing power play ended, the Golden Knights failed on a clear and the puck came to Jimmy Kilpatrick in the left corner. Kilpatrick passed it to Eric Walsky at the bottom right of the left circle, and Walsky fed it cross-crease to Scott McCulloch alone on the far post. McCulloch fired it into the empty net at 12:49.

The Tigers built on that momentum, and spent most of the rest of the period keeping the Golden Knights bottled up in their zone with an aggressive forecheck. However, despite firing 14 shots on net in the period, twice that of the Golden Knights, they were unable to grab the lead.

The second period opened up a little more. Bryan Rufenach made a nice defensive play with his stick to break up a Tigers’ two-on-one chance early.

Clarkson regained the lead at 4:03 when Brandon DeFazio sprung David Cayer on a breakaway. Cayer skated low, cut to his backhand and lifted it top corner stick side.

“We’re just not used to playing on that ice,” said Roll. “We tried to stay inside in the dots, but I think the biggest problem with us was the transition game. We threw a lot of pucks up the middle of the ice, and against them, that’s where they burn you. We have to do a better job of keeping the game along the wall.”

The Golden Knights couldn’t build on that momentum however, as the Tigers quickly used their speed to start generating more chances.

“We used the width of the ice,” said Testwuide. “Tonight we were using both sides of the ice.”

At 8:31, Bill Sweatt came flying down the left side. As he cut to the net, he fell to the ice, but still slid the puck on net. Leggio tried to poke check it away, but it came right to Testwuide at the bottom of the left circle, and he backhanded it in along the ice.

“The bounces were there tonight,” said Testwuide. “Billy made an unbelievable rush. He has such great speed wide and he got a shot to the net, and I went five-hole on my backhand.”

Buoyed by the goal, the Tigers started flying all over the ice. Scott Thauwald had a chance from down low, but got tied up by a Clarkson defender. Leggio made two huge saves with his glove, one on a laser from Andreas Vlassopoulos from the left circle, and a highlight reel save when Sweatt came flying down the left side and fed it to Testwuide coming down the right side. Leggio somehow managed to scoop up Testwuide’s tip-in try from the slot.

“We finally got to turn it into a big sheet game, and I think that was key for us,” said Owens. “We had a lot of people chipping in.”

It seemed to be only a matter of time at that point, and the Tigers struck late. Kilpatrick picked up the puck low on the left side and banked a pass behind the net to Vlassopoulos in the right corner. Vlassopoulos one-timed a pass to McCulloch in the slot, and McCulloch lifted it top corner stick side at 17:16 to give the Tigers the lead heading into the third.

“I thought he (Leggio) kept us in the game and gave us chance to win,” said Roll. “It was a barrage against him tonight.”

The Tigers continued forechecking and got a power play opportunity at :32 of the third. Sweatt and Testwuide quickly capitalized. Sweatt skated down the right side and cut hard to the net, then threw it into the crease, where Testwuide stuffed it past Leggio at 1:49.

“It was a relief to get the fourth goal,” said Owens. “Their sticks are so good; they’re very opportunistic. You’re sitting there at 3-2, and even though you’re outshooting them, you’re worried about it, so that was a big goal for us.”

Tigers’ forwards continued to buzz for chances. Thauwald had an open net from the low slot, but his shot dribbled wide when Dan Reed got him tied up. Leggio continued to come up big, robbing Rau on a one-time chance and making a big glove save on Tyler Johnson’s chance after a giveaway by Rufenach.

With just over seven minutes left, the Golden Knights got their first power play and looked to close the gap. Instead, the Tigers nabbed a shorthanded goal. When a Clarkson forward couldn’t handle a pass at the bottom of the left circle, Brian Connelly came racing up and grabbed the puck and skated down the right side. He skated low before passing the puck through the slot to Thauwald, who backhanded it into the near side at 13:31.

“I thought he (Thauwald) played well all night long,” said Owens. “Maybe a fresh look on his line, and he gets on that shorthanded situation, he’s a different player; he plays like a big skill guy out there. It’s nice to see him get rewarded.”

The two teams faceoff again Saturday night at 7:05 p.m.

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.