Milo Bryant Takes a Look at the Win

Anchorage Pushes CC to Limit
Milo Bryant

The Colorado College Tigers hadn't been to St. Paul and the Final Five since a loss to Denver in the finals of the 2005 tournament.

Only this team's seniors and its coaches have tasted that atmosphere.

With a diving shot 2 minutes 58 seconds into overtime, a sophomore, Mike Testwuide, made sure this season's Tigers got their trip.

Testwuide, who scored the game-tying goal against Alaska-Anchorage, got the 3-2 overtime game winner on a shot that zinged over Jon Olthuis' left side and into the net.

"You know, I blacked out to be honest with you," Testwuide said, attempting to describe how he scored the goal. "Bill (Sweatt) made a good play up the boards. I made a nice little play through a guy's legs. And I kind of held the puck. Waited a little bit. A guy dove I think. And I don't really know what happened after that.

"Seriously, I kind of blacked out."

Many sitting in the World Arena had to be wondering what was happening to the Tigers through the first 35 minutes of the game.

The Seawolves appeared to be bent on inflicting punishment. The hits were legal. But there were times it looked as if the Seawolves gave up the smarter play to get the big hit.

Then again, it looked like the big hits were an equally big part of the game plan. And it was working.

Too often during the first period and parts of the second period, the Tigers actually skated as if they were leery of those hits.

"They rattled us a little bit," Testwuide said. "They slowed our game down. Our game is pretty much all speed, and they figured out a way to slow us down."

Saturday's Tigers' team isn't the team the World Arena is used to seeing. Like Friday's game, the Seawolves outworked and outhustled the Tigers.

There have been several teams who have come to World Arena with a passion to hit, to take the fight to the Tigers. Each time though, the Tigers did what good teams are supposed to do. They got punched, took it and punched back with more ferocity.

Down 2-1 in the third period, the crowd waited for the same to happen Saturday.

The fans knew as well as the players what was at stake. Nobody wants to play a Game 3 in a best-of-three series against a cellar dwellers.

The Seawolves had nothing to lose. After all, the Tigers had beaten the Seawolves four consecutive times - by a score of 16-4. Add Friday's victory, and that total increases to 20-5.

Maybe it was the ease of the victories that elicited Saturday's lethargic play.

"There was a lot of continuation," Tigers coach Scott Owens said. "But part of it was them. They were difficult to play against. We didn't step it up and play with the grit that we need in playoff hockey."

The Tigers know they're good. They have no problem playing against teams they think are stellar opponents. It's the cellar dwellers that give the Tigers trouble.

Saturday, it took an Anchorage turnover, or fortunate stick work by the Tigers, to get CC back into the game mentally and physically.

Testwuide took a third-period pass from Chad Rau, back-skated in front of the goal near the right faceoff circle. Biding his time, Testwuide beat Olthuis stick side.

Success must beget success. Either that or it makes a team work harder.

Testwuide's goal infused the Tigers. Had the Tigers skated the first two periods the way they skated the last 15 minutes of the third period, the final score wouldn't have been close.

It wouldn't have been as difficult to get to the next step on this journey.

Tigers Sweep in OT Thriller

Photo by Kevin Kreck


Sorry about the delay to all of you who faithfully hop onto the site after the games. I had to abandon the game after the second period and head over to Meadow Muffins (in that random freak blizzard) to hang with some old co-workers. Thankfully, I ran into Roger at the bar who was sporting a really old school Tigers' jersey and hat, so I moseyed on over to inquire about what I thought would be news of a close loss and tried to contain my look when he said they had won in OT thanks to a goal by Mike Testwuide (Roger, thanks for all the fun hockey info and for proudly sporting that sweet throwback-times-2 jersey!). This team has all the makings, and luck, of a championship team. I remember I wrote about it after we swept Minnesota to start the season. Roger and I talked about how sweet it would be for the Tigers to get all four trophies this season (McNaughton, Gold Pan, Broadmoor and National Championship) and they have a great chance. From the 40 minutes I heard of Ken Landau's assessment of the game, the Tigers played much better than last night; it was the Seawolves goalie Jon Olthuis who pulled a Patrick Roy act tonight to almost steal a victory. Box Score here
The Tigers now get to rest an extra day as the rest of the league decided to battle it out longer, with the exception of DU. The Pioneers swept Minnesota Duluth with a 1-0 win to complete the series against a team that has the worst luck scoring of all 10 teams. Just like how last night had a theme of home teams winning, tonight was OTs. Aside from DU, every game went extra time. Minnesota took out Mankato 2-1, St. Cloud swept Wisconsin (St. Cloud could be a scary opponent in Minnesota next weekend) and the biggest surprise was Michigan Tech getting a win over North Dakota. Now with the game threes, anything can happen. Can you imagine the Final Five being CC and DU with St. Cloud, Mankato and Michigan Tech?? Sounds odd but it could happen. Tomorrow night will be crazy and extremely fun to see what happens. As for our Tigers, they will play March 21 at 6:07MT against the lowest seed.

CC Athletics Game Summary
Testwuide powers CC to overtime victory
Thanks in no small measure to sophomore wingers Mike Testwuide and Bill Sweatt, Colorado College is returning to the WCHA Final Five for the first time since 2005. Testwuide’s second goal of the game, at 2:58 of overtime on Saturday, lifted the Tigers to a 3-2 sudden-death victory over the University of Alaska Anchorage at the World Arena that completed a two-game sweep of their best-of-three first-round playoff series. The dramatic tally capped a come-from-behind effort that saw CC rally twice from one-goal deficits, tying the game on red lighters by Sweatt at 4:22 of the second period and by Testwuide at 5:54 of the third. Unlike Friday’s 4-1 triumph, in which the last-place Seawolves finished with a 28-20 advantage in shots on goal, CC was able to create a number of scoring opportunities throughout Game 2 of the series. But Alaska Anchorage, which got 27 saves from netminder Jon Olthuis, used a pair of nice goals from Kane Lafranchise and Josh Lunden to build its 2-1 lead after 40 minutes of play. Testwuide, who combined with Jimmy Kilpatrick to set up Sweatt’s goal, took a pass from Chad Rau and beat Olthuis low on the short side to pull the Tigers even for the second time. He then took Sweatt’s feed from along the right boards in overtime, cut into the slot from the left side and ended the game with a quick wrist shot just inside the far post. Colorado College will play in one of two WCHA semifinals on Friday at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn., against an opponent yet to be determined, starting at 7:07 CDT.

Tigers Survive Despite UGLY Start

From 2007 Tiger Ho...

The Tigers scored a mere 37 seconds into the game and then got stuck in the mud. The whole team looked like they were skating, passing and stick handling in the mud through the first 2 periods. Luckily, UAA looked like a team that has only 3 conference wins, 1 in 08. Scott Owens and Ken Landau both said UAA came out tough but to most of us in the stands, the Tigers looked like crap. CC mustered only 5 shots in the first period and could hardly pass or skate without falling down, getting the puck lost in their skates, or simply fanning on shot attempts. The third period looked much more like the Tigers we know and love, it was like the ice suddenly widened and the Tigers decided to get out of the mud. The looked faster, crisper and had more determination. It was most obvious when Scott McCulloch battled for a lose puck in front of the UAA bench, got hit, tripped, and finally got loose and nailed an empty-netter, as if to say "I'm going to end this stupid game and get to tomorrow".
Bachman was solid in net, facing almost all of the Seawolves shots in the first 2 periods, he held his ground, literally. Bachman was run over 4 times throughout the first 40 minutes, none of which were called-a theme that was common all night. Once again, Marco Hunt was the head official and once again, did an absolutely TERRIBLE job of officiating. He rarely called anything and so the physical game picked up. When a Tiger was leveled going into the UAA zone, he was greeted with a white elbow to the face in a wicked check-no call. One odd penalty was called on Gannon when we was put into a 20 second long headlock, fell down with the Seawolf clutching his neck, and was called for holding. Holding? At least call something believable like roughing or interference. Horrible job, which was rewarded with an extremely loud "F**K you!" from a fan as the men in stripes exited after the game.
All in all, the Tigers were simply a better team. UAA looked like they didn't know what to do when they got the puck in the offensive zone. They usually just passed it around the boards, then around again, and around again. A couple times the puck handler just stopped and stood there. A better team would have had this game 5-3 in their favor. Thankfully the Tigers season work has given them a first round opponent not capable of doing too much damage. Tomorrow night should be a wild game. I would expect an extremely physical game with the Tigers skating fast. Look for something like a 4-2 game, with the Tigers explosive offense being the difference.
(pics from tonight are in the game pics on the left)

In the other WCHA playoff games, it went pretty much as expected. ALL of the home teams won, with the only anomaly being Mankato beating Minnesota 1-0 in 2 OT. Normally this would be a giant upset, but the Gophers are the lower seed and on the road. Still, it's a little weird seeing them as the "worse" team.
North Dakota blanked Michigan Tech 4-0 (if anything, the score was merciful)
DU beat Duluth 6-3 (The Bulldogs can score! and DU got more than 4!)
St. Cloud knocked off Wisconsin 3-0 (must have been a dog fight)

Teams I'm picking to finish off the series tomorrow night: CC, North Dakota and DU
CC is too good for UAA, likewise with ND over Tech, and I don't think the Bulldogs can score so DU will have a 2-0ish win.
The Gophers will rebound, but lose Sunday, Wisconsin will even it up but also lose Sunday.

Rundown of the WCHA First Round Matchups-Tigers Move to Next Goal

From 3-8-08 CC vrs...

If you haven't taken a look at the Alaska Anchorage Fan Blog yet, DON'T! I swear the guy who writes that is either drunk or high when he writes. Yesterday featured a pic of an unflushed toilet (I'm assuming it was his work featured) and a rant about why Colorado Springs sucks. I guess that comes from being a fan of a basement team. I have respect for the team, I'm sure they will be a handfull this week, but this guy represents them and he, uh, well he's an idiot ;)

Theresa Spisak takes a look at this weekend's matchups in the WCHA. She generally does a good job of covering everything but sometimes has a few obvious factual errors. Regardless, it's a good overview and it should be a great weekend in WCHA action! The Tigers play tonight at 7:37PM and 7:07 PM Saturday. Should there be a game 3, it will be Sunday night at 7:07PM.

This Week in the WCHA: March 13, 2008
by Theresa Spisak/WCHA Correspondent
The Rundown
Last Week's Games

Last week Friday
CC 5, DU 2
SCSU 1, UND 1
MSU, M 5, MTU 2
Minnesota 4, tUMD 1

Last week Saturday
CC 3, DU 1
SCSU 2, UND 2
MTU 3, MSU, M 2
tUMD 3, Minnesota 2
Last Week's Predictions

3-2-3. Not horrible.

Elliot went 2-3-3 — got the Huskies/Mavericks split on the wrong nights. I don't know how that feels or anything ...
Season's Predictions

103-66-25, which translates to a .659 winning percentage/success rate. Take that, ECAC writer!
This Week's Predictions

For in-depth insight, please see the column. For short blurbs with predictions and marginal babbling, please continue reading.

Alaska Anchorage @ No. 3 Colorado College
The Seawolves may be a tough playoff team and I see them taking one of these games to overtime (maybe), but CC is dominant. Tigers sweep.

Michigan Tech @ No. 2 North Dakota
The Sioux are awesome in the second half of the year, but the Huskies are tenacious. Still, I'm going to say Sioux in three.

No. 18 Minnesota-Duluth @ No. 8 Denver
Hm, stupid tough series. I say each game goes multiple overtimes and eventually, Denver will prevail in three.

No. 15 Minnesota @ No. 10 Minnesota State
Do I pick the streaking Mavericks or the improved Gophers? The Mavericks are a better team this year than anyone expected, but it's the playoffs and the Gophers. Minnesota in three.

No. 13 Wisconsin @ No. 9 St. Cloud State
Wisconsin did better in the playoffs, but as far as I can tell, St. Cloud does better in the postseason. I'm inclined to think the week off will hurt Wisconsin a bit, but ultimately, the Badgers have more to play for. Badgers in three.

March 13 — We’re talkin’ ‘bout playoffs this week.

While I have a lot to say this week, I think Denver’s George Gwozdecky sums it up best — “The first round playoffs are going to be as close and competitive as they’ve ever been in this format.”
Red Baron Pizza WCHA Players of the Week

Red Baron WCHA Offensive Player of the Week: Chad Rau, CC.
Why: Scored two goals and one assist to help his Tigers clinch the MacNaughton Cup as well as sweep archrival Denver last weekend. Rau also had eight shots on goal and was a plus-3.

Red Baron WCHA Defensive Players of the Week: Jean-Philippe Lamoureux, UND; Jase Weslosky, SCSU.
Why: Both goaltenders played their way to overtime ties against the other last weekend. Lamoureux stopped 48 of 51 shots on goal in the series for a .941 save percentage on the weekend while Weslosky stopped 57 of 60 for .950.
Also Nominated: Jack Hillen, CC; Geoff Kinrade, MTU; Alex Stalock, UMD.

Random Notes (and Commentary!) From Around the League

CC — Congratulations on winning the Gold Pan this year — you deserved it.

UM — Congratulations on winning the DQ Cup. Though, with all I’ve heard about it being a curse, maybe I should offer my condolences …
Reader Mailbag

There ended up being quite a bit of discussion on the penalty-minute thing, so I did some more research — look at the end of the column for that.

I did, however, get some e-mails from still-bitter Badger fans about the no-goal incident in Denver earlier this year. Given how close the WCHA has been this year and how close the final standings were, I’m not surprised — Wisconsin could well have gotten home ice had the outcome of that game been different.

Still, guys? I know you’re upset, but one game does not a season make. I know it’s easy to look at that one particular incident, but the Badgers had a lot of other very close conference games. Win any one of those and you can forget about Denver (or try to).
Match-Ups By the Numbers … on Steroids

Since the match-ups this week are a little more important, I’ve tweaked how I normally do this section.

Alaska Anchorage @ No. 3 Colorado College; 10 vs. 1

Records After Regular Season: UAA — 7-19-8 (3-19-6 WCHA). CC — 26-9-1 (21-6-1 WCHA).
Overall Head-to-Head: CC leads, 43-11-3.
Playoff Head-to-Head: CC leads, 6-1.
Regular Season Head-to-Head: CC won the series, 4-0.
Top Scorers: UAA — Josh Lunden (13-11-24). CC — Chad Rau (27-13-40).
Goaltenders: UAA — Jon Olthuis (30 gp, 6-15-8, 2.89 GAA, .886 sv %). CC — Richard Bachman (30 gp, 23-6-1, 1.77 GAA, .934 sv %).

Random Notes: Both goaltenders can (literally) stand on their heads to make saves. I’ve seen both turn cartwheels in the crease to stop a puck. CC’s top line of Rau, Bill Sweatt and Mike Testwuide can be deadly and defenseman Jack Hillen is one of the best in the nation. CC may be getting back forward Derek Patrosso for this series.

Coaches’ Thoughts: “I think we’re going up against the best team in the country,” said Seawolves’ coach Dave Shyiak. “[CC is a] very talented, very fast hockey team; don’t have many weaknesses to their game. Obviously we have to be good in all three zones and be smart with the puck.

“But CC right now to us is not only the best team in the league, but probably the best team in the country and obviously that will be a challenge for us.”

“UAA has not had a lot of success winning games the second half of the year, but they’re always a dangerous team this time of year,” said Tigers’ coach Scott Owens. “They’re a good playoff team, their history has been such the last four years (4-7 in playoffs), their style of play goes hand in hand with playoff-type hockey and I know it’s going to be a difficult task.

“They’re physical, they’re hardworking; they just haven’t scored a lot this half of the year.”

Michigan Tech @ No. 2 North Dakota; 9 vs. 2

Records After Regular Season: MTU — 13-18-5 (9-15-4 WCHA). UND — 23-8-4 (18-7-3 WCHA).
Overall Head-to-Head: UND leads, 131-88-8.
Playoff Head-to-Head: UND leads, 10-8-2.
Regular Season Head-to-Head: UND won the series, 3-1.
Top Scorers: MTU — Peter Rouleau (12-16-28). UND — T.J. Oshie (14-21-35).
Goaltenders: MTU — Michael-Lee Teslak (22 gp, 7-9-4, 2.14 GAA, .920 sv %). UND — Jean-Philippe Lamoureux (24 gp, 22-8-4, 1.66 GAA, .934 sv %).

Random Notes: Some Tech fans mused last week during Friday’s game that Teslak may have mailed it in after supposedly announcing he was going pro after the season ended thanks to the wonder that is Facebook … but then Tech put in a better performance on Saturday, earning the split. The question is, which Teslak will show up?

As for the Sioux, Evan Trupp is out with a broken leg, Chay Genoway may play and everyone’s hoping Oshie just had the flu last week and is not more seriously injured. The Grand Forks Herald reports that both Genoway and Oshie have been on the ice this week.

Coaches’ Thoughts: “It’s certainly going to be challenging,” said Huskies’ coach Jamie Russell. “The team hasn’t lost in [17] games and [is] a highly-ranked team that doesn’t have a lot of weakness; strong defensively, very good goaltending, high-skill offensive talent, a team that plays physical.

“We won a playoff series on the road last year. We have had success in that building — we were able to sweep North Dakota in Grand Forks last season — so we need to be aware of what North Dakota does, but our focus needs to be on playing good, solid Michigan Tech hockey.

“We’re going to have to play a great weekend of hockey,” he continued. “We’re a good team defensively, we’ve got good goaltending — we’re a tough team to play against.”

No. 18 Minnesota-Duluth @ No. 8 Denver; 8 vs. 3

Records After Regular Season: tUMD — 13-15-6 (9-14-5 WCHA). DU — 22-12-1 (16-11-1).
Overall Head-to-Head: DU leads, 99-69-9.
Playoff Head-to-Head: DU leads, 12-7-2.
Regular Season Head-to-Head: The two teams split, 1-1.
Top Scorers: tUMD — MacGregor Sharp (7-10-17). DU — Tyler Bozak (15-15-30).
Goaltenders: tUMD — Alex Stalock (34 gp, 13-15-6, 2.28 GAA, .917 sv %). DU — Peter Mannino (25 gp, 21-13-1, 2.31 GAA, .914 sv %).

Random Notes: Even though Denver leads Duluth in terms of the playoffs and overall, tBulldogs have done better as of late. That, and the Pioneers have had some issues making the Final Five since their title runs.

It also depends what Pioneers’ team shows up. No one on the inside will make excuses, but everyone wonders what life would be like if Brock Trotter were still around.

Also, it looks like Jason Garrison may return for tDogs.

Coaches’ Thoughts: “I think this series, along with two other series, are going to be extremely competitive,” said Pioneers’ coach George Gwozdecky.

“I think we’re one of those three series that’s going to be very competitive. Duluth is, I’ve got to hand it to them — they did a great job last Saturday night, playing their archrival on their archrival’s home ice and winning a big, big game. I think their goaltending is very strong and they’ve probably had some issues creating offense just like we have had, so I think this series is going to be very even, very competitive.”

No. 15 Minnesota @ No. 10 Minnesota State; 7 vs. 4

Records After Regular Season: UM — 15-14-9 (9-12-7 WCHA). MSU, M — 18-14-4 (12-12-4 WCHA).
Overall Head-to-Head: UM leads, 25-2-5.
Playoff Head-to-Head: UM leads, 4-0.
Regular Season Head-to-Head: UM swept the season series, 2-0.
Top Scorers: UM — Blake Wheeler (15-17-32). MSU, M — Trevor Bruess (8-20-28).
Goaltenders: UM — Alex Kangas (24 gp, 8-7-9, 2.13 GAA, .923 sv %). MSU, M — Mike Zacharias (33 gp, 17-11-4, 2.21 GAA, .920 sv %).

Random Notes: The Gophers have been an enigma for much of this season. Everyone picked them in the top of the league given historical precedent — it’s rare to see Goldy struggle. Still, Lucia knew that the loss of over 100 points on the blue line would hurt — and it has, especially when the team lost Kyle Okposo to early departure and Ryan Stoa to injury early on. However, they’re never a team to count out, especially since they’ve been playing better down the stretch.

The Mavericks, meanwhile, seem to be cooling marginally since they went on their seven-game winning streak. They’ve still been one of the hottest teams in the WCHA in the second half and I’m sure they’d like to continue on that path. They’ve also done better than any of us predicted. I’ll admit it — I had them finishing eighth.

Coaches’ Thoughts: “They’ve obviously had a great year and they’re a balanced team, good goaltender and they’re not the type of team you can key on any one player,” said Minnesota coach Don Lucia. “They’re the type of team where a different guy seems to chip in every night.

“We’re good enough to beat anybody and anybody’s good enough to beat us and for us; obviously goaltending’s important this time of the season. We’ve been better lately because our specialty teams have been better and that’s obviously important this time of the season.

“We’ve had good success against Mankato and hopefully that will continue this weekend.”

“They’re playing well right now and I think it’s like any other playoff series,” said Mavericks’ coach Troy Jutting. “The team that gets the goaltending and the team that takes advantage of the bounces they get will be successful. Obviously it’s an important weekend for both hockey teams with where both teams are in the PairWise right now.”

No. 13 Wisconsin @ No. 9 St. Cloud State; 6 vs. 5

Records After Regular Season: UW — 15-14-7 (11-12-5 WCHA). SCSU — 17-14-5 (12-12-4 WCHA).
Overall Head-to-Head: UW leads, 39-21-8.
Playoff Head-to-Head: SCSU leads, 4-3.
Regular Season Head-to-Head: UW won the series, 3-1.
Top Scorers: UW — Kyle Turris (11-20-31). SCSU — Ryan Lasch (23-25-48).
Goaltenders: UW — Shane Connelly (33 gp, 14-14-5, 2.39 GAA, .914 sv %). SCSU — Jase Weslosky (29 gp, 14-11-2, 2.14 GAA, .929 sv %).

Random Notes: The Badgers get to face the last team they faced in the regular season — the St. Cloud State Huskies. They’ve been off and on all season (as evidenced by their record); with the better play arguably coming in the season A.D. (After Denver). They’ve also had a week off to rest while the Huskies are coming off a tough series with North Dakota — rest which might be to their advantage.

St. Cloud, after a few disappointing months, also has had a good run to end the season, particularly the last month, going 6-2-2 since the start of February. Having the league’s leading scorers doesn’t hurt, either, in Lasch, Garrett Roe (41 points) and Andreas Nodl (41 points).

Coaches’ Thoughts: “I think if you read some of their comments last weekend, they felt that they were playing better without the puck,” said Wisconsin coach Mike Eaves in his weekly press conference. “They felt that way themselves, which is usually the case as you go into the second half of the year; you get used to the way you want to play. When you start losing some games and you’re giving up chances, the coach is going to make you aware of those things.

“Bobby Motzko is a smart man. He understands their strength lies in their ability with the puck with some of their guys, but if they want to be a championship-caliber team, they’re going to have to learn to play better with the puck and their own comments were they felt they were doing that.”

“No matter what, you want home-ice advantage,” said St. Cloud State coach Bob Motzko, before admitting, “I don’t know if it’s an advantage or not in our league.

“It sets up a pretty even series; our two records are almost identical. We’ve played four times this year and though we’re one and three in those games, every game was one goal, we had a couple third period leads that we let evaporate early in the year and the numbers kind of play out very similar so we’re probably looking at one monster of a battle this weekend for both squads.

“It’s going to come down to the smallest of errors and the smallest of successes for someone to find two wins.”
On Brawling, Fighting and General Mischief — Redux

As I mentioned earlier, this topic generated a lot of interest so I decided to research it a bit further … and went through every conference game box score from the 2005-2006 season. That season had the largest number of penalty minutes the league has had in the past six years — a whopping 5,343.

Of course, you need the breakdown:

• 13 fighting majors with corresponding game disqualifications
• Five extra game DQs (for cross-checking, kneeing, etc.)
• 71 total five-minute majors
• 96 total 10-minute penalties
• 40 double-minors for roughing
• 390 total roughing minors
• 60 unsportsmanlike conduct minors
• 31 penalties given at the ending mark of a period
• 5,343 total penalties

Of course, we need to do the percentage game again. Fighting (plus game disqualifications) goes up and down as the years go by, apparently. The percentage varies from 3.6 percent two years ago to 6.6 last year to 2.0 this year. Two years ago, one also saw a few extra game disqualifications called for various stuff.

The number of penalties called after a final buzzer keeps going up — 31 to 42 to 59 — as does the percentage of roughing calls — 14.6 percent to 15.2 to 17.6 — and the percentage of unsportsmanlike conduct calls — 2.2 to 3.0 to 4.5. However, the percentage of double-minors for roughing varies — 3.0 percent to 2.6 to 4.0, as does the percentage of plain old 10-minute misconducts — 14.6 to 11.5 to 13.1.

In case you’re playing along, the final numbers for this year were …

• six fighting majors with corresponding game disqualifications
• 32 total five-minute majors
• 64 total 10-minute penalties doled out (misconducts, game misconducts, DQs)
• 44 double-minors for roughing
• 388 total roughing minors
• 99 unsportsmanlike conduct minors
• 59 penalties given at the ending mark of a period (20:00 or 5:00 in the case of overtime)
• 4414 total penalty minutes

Besides the discussion on the column’s thread in the Fan Forum, I got one e-mail I’d like to share from Mark Fjelde:

“From your box score comparisons, you could also conclude that the games were called tighter last year (hence, more PIMs), which ought to minimize the number of times emotions go beyond the boiling point; therefore, fewer fights. Stated differently, the reduction in penalties this year could mean greater frustration over clutching, grabbing, borderline checks, etc., which in turn leads to more fighting.”

Okay, but why, when penalty minutes go down, do fights vary? That point makes sense with roughing calls, unsportsmanlike conduct calls and calls after the final buzzer of a game/period, though.
That Should Be Good

I think you have enough to read this week now

Something in the air in Anchorage

The UAA Blogger has been rambling on about how much he hates the Tigers, Colorado Springs, and how we are going to get swept this weekend. I'm not sure what he's been smoking, but we all need to say away from it. I'll spare you the details, but check it out here

WCHA Round 1 Storylines

Rau earns another WCHA weekly honor
Junior center Chad Rau, who stuck a dagger into DU’s heart last Friday with a pair of third-period goals just 12 seconds apart, has been named WCHA Offensive Player of the Week for the third time this season. After helping Colorado College to a 5-2 victory in the series opener in Denver, Rau added an assist in Saturday’s 3-1 triumph at the World Arena as league-champion CC completed its weekend sweep of the Pioneers. The Tigers have secured the coveted MacNaughton Trophy, as well as the Gold Pan, but now must re-focus on a new set of goals. Their next target is a WCHA playoff title and the Broadmoor Trophy, and the quest begins this weekend in a best-of-three playoff series at home against the University of Alaska Anchorage. Winner of the first-round match-up advances to the WCHA Final Five in St. Paul, Minn., next week, with selections for the NCAA tournament scheduled to be announced on Easter Sunday (March 23). Rau, one of three All-America candidates on CC’s roster, leads the team in scoring and is fourth among WCHA players overall with 40 points in 35 games. He ranks second in the country with 27 goals, including a nation-best six shorthanded.

This Week’s Storylines
• After clinching two coveted pieces of hardware – the Gold Pan and MacNaughton Trophy – with a pair of emotional victories over archrival Denver last weekend, the Tigers need to re-focus on a new opponent and set of goals. Their next target is a WCHA playoff championship and the Broadmoor Trophy, which CC has never claimed, and the mission starts with a best-of-three playoff series against Alaska Anchorage.
• Winner of the first-round match-up advances to the WCHA Final Five in St. Paul, Minn., preceded next week by the league’s annual awards banquet and followed by NCAA tournament selections on Sunday, March 23.
• Colorado College swept both regular-season series against the 10th-place Seawolves, prevailing twice at Sullivan Arena in December and twice more at the World Arena in January. UAA has won only once – a 5-4 overtime victory last season – in 20 all-time appearances at the CSWA, where the Tigers are 16-2 in 2007-08.

Tigers Hope Home-Ice Mastery Over UAA
Continues in First-Round Playoff Series

Post-Season Under Way: Colorado College opens its “second” season at home this weekend when the league champion and top-seeded Tigers play host to 10th-seeded University of Alaska Anchorage in a best-of-three, first-round Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoff series. Faceoff at the World Arena (7,343 seating capacity) is 7:37 MDT on Friday, 7:07 p.m. MDT on Saturday and, if a third game is necessary, 7:07 p.m. MDT on Sunday.

For the Record: CC, which finished 21-6-1 in conference play, is 26-9-1 overall after sweeping archrival University of Denver last weekend. The Tigers won the series opener, 5-2, at DU’s Magness Arena on Friday, then thumped the Pioneer by a 3-1 count at home on Saturday...Alaska Anchorage, which was idle last weekend, finished 3-19-6 in WCHA play and is 7-19-8 overall.

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. All broadcasts can be heard worldwide via the Internet, from a link at CCTigers.com. Game 2 (Saturday) of this week’s playoff series with Alaska Anchorage can also be heard in metropolitan Denver on KKFN 950 AM and KJCD 104.3 FM. Landau also is host of the Tiger Hockey Coach’s Show, which airs from 6:30 until 7:30 p.m. (MT) Tuesdays, on The Eagle…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...This week’s playoff games against UAA will not be televised, Fox Sports Net North will produce four of five games at next week’s WCHA Final Five from the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. Local coverage in Colorado Springs is yet to be announced.

In the Rankings: The Tigers have climbed to No. 3 in this week’s national polls conducted by U.S. College Hockey Online/CSTV and USA Today/American Hockey Magazine. CC is tied for first in the Pairwise computer rankings and has regained the No. 2 spot in InsideCollegeHockey.com’s (INCH) power rankings.

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 221-118-25 (.641) in 364 games behind the bench, including a 23-7-1 (.741) mark against Alaska Anchorage, and has guided the Tigers to five NCAA playoff berths in his previous eight campaigns. Dave Shyiak (Northern Michigan ‘93) is in his third season as head coach at UAA, where he owns a record of 26-67-14 (.308).

The All-Time Series: Friday marks the 60th all-time contest between Colorado College and UAA, in a rivalry that started on Jan. 5, 1984. The Tigers lead the overall series by a 45-11-3 margin, including a 30-2 record in Colorado Springs and a 19-1 mark at the World Arena, where CC swept the Seawolves, 6-1 and 5-2, in mid-January after winning twice (1-0 and 4-1) earlier in Anchorage. The teams have met in seven previous post-season games, with Colorado College sweeping first-round series at home in 1995, 2002 and 2003. UAA won the play-in game at the WCHA Final Five in 2004.

Scouting the Seawolves: Alaska Anchorage’s top three scorers – all sophomore forwards – are Josh Lunden with 24 points (13g,11a), Kevin Clark with 23 (7g,16a) and Paul Crowder with 22 (7g,15a). Clark and Crowder each have struck for a pair of game-winning goals, while Lunden and freshman forward Craig Parkinson share the team lead with three power-play tallies apiece. Sophomore goaltender Jon Olthuis is 6-15-8 in net with a 2.89 GAA and .886 saves percentage.

Recapping the DU Series: While CC’s upperclassmen stepped up to help the Tigers clinch the MacNaughton Trophy at Magness Arena on Friday, it was the sophomore class stealing the spotlight in Saturday’s rematch. Junior center Chad Rau (Eden Prairie, MN) struck for a pair of goals just 12 seconds apart early in the third period in the series opener, breaking open a tight game that saw senior left wing Scott Thauwald (Rochester, MN), senior defenseman Jack Hillen (Minnetonka, MN) and senior right wing Jimmy Kilpatrick (New Prague, MN) stake the Tigers to leads of 2-0 and 3-1. Second-year players picked up the slack at home a night later, as right wingers Mike Testwuide (Vail, CO) and Matt Overman (Bloomington, MN) scored within 1:40 of the opening period and left wing Bill Sweatt (Elburn, IL) added a tally in the middle frame. Sweatt also had an assist in the game, while sophomore forwards Addison DeBoer (Spring Lake Park, MN) and Brian McMillin (Roseau, MN) teamed up to set up the game winner by linemate Overman. Junior forward Eric Walsky (Anchorage, AK) collected a pair of assists in Friday’s victory, when freshman goalie Richard Bachman (Highlands Ranch, CO) made 28 saves. Junior Drew O’Connell (Anchorage, AK) got the call between the pipes on Saturday, and also responded with 28 stops in the 3-1 triumph.

Tradition of Success: This year’s regular-season championship is Colorado College’s third in the last six seasons, sixth in the last 15, and ninth overall in the program’s 70-year history...The Tigers own an impressive winning percentage of .663 (387-186-43) dating back to the 1993-94 campaign, when they claimed their first league title since 1957...CC, which is hosting a first-round playoff series for the 15th time in the last 17 years, has advanced to the WCHA Final Four or Final Five on 10 of the previous 14 occasions, and is eyeing the program’s 11th NCAA playoff bid since 1995.

Road to the Frozen Four: With the NCAA West Regional scheduled for Friday and Saturday, March 28 and 29, at the World Arena, the Tigers will enjoy the home-ice advantage in their quest to reach the Frozen Four at the Pepsi Center in Denver two weeks later. The entire 16-team field for the NCAA tournament, including the other three schools participating in Colorado Springs, will be announced on Easter Sunday (March 23). CC also hosted a regional in 2004 but did not qualify for the tournament that year.

Stellar Between the Pipes: Bachman, who last week was named National Rookie of the Month by the Hockey Commissioners’ Association for the second time this campaign, finished the regular-season with a winning percentage of .780 (19-5-1), saves ratio of .937, and four shutouts in league play – all WCHA bests. The All-America candidate gave up one or fewer goals in 13 of his 25 conference starts, and has allowed two or fewer in 22 of his 30 assignments overall, posting a 1.77 GAA, .934 saves ratio and .783 winning percentage (23-6-1) including non-league outings. He’d played in 12 straight prior to last Saturday.

Milestone for Rau: Rau, who has scored eight goals in the last six games, now has lit the lamp twice or more in a contest on nine occasions this season. His second tally in last Friday’s victory at DU earned him membership in Tiger Hockey’s elite “Century Club” for players with 100 or more career points. The All-America candidate continues to lead the nation with six shorthanded tallies this season. His career-high 27 red lighters overall and 23 in league play rank No. 1 among all WCHA players. He added an assist on Saturday, giving him 19 points (13g,6a) in 12 career appearances against Denver.

Blue Line Warrior: Hillen, whose power-play goal just 20 seconds into last Friday’s victory over the Pioneers at Magness Arena improved his career-high total to 33 (6g,27a) for the season, continues to rank in a tie as the nation’s top-scoring defenseman. One of just five CC players to appear in every game this season, the All-America candidate has collected 18 points (3g,15a) in the last 14 outings. He also ranks No. 1 among all WCHA players with his 27 assists, leads the Tigers with 18 points (3g,15a) on the power play and is a key member in Colorado College’s nation-best and league-leading penalty killing efforts, which succeeded on 10 of 11 DU power plays last weekend.

Turning the Tables: The Tigers, who finished with a league-best 92.9-percent penalty-killing ratio in WCHA play (104 for 112) to go with their 91-percent mark overall (131 for 144), have held their opponent scoreless on the power play in 15 of the last 18 outings, as well as in 25 of 36 for the season. While allowing only 13 PPG all season, including just eight in 28 conference games, CC has scored 10 shorthanded goals including eight in league play.

When It Counts Most: Kilpatrick, who was credited with his fourth game-winning goal of the season last Friday, now has factored in on a team-high eight GWG for the season and 24 overall during his four years as a Tiger. He’s scored four and and assisted on four in 2007-08. The senior winger tied with teammate Hillen for ninth place among WCHA scoring leaders in league play, each with 23 points. More than 22 percent of Kilpatrick’s 107 career points at CC have come at the expense of Alaska Anchorage.

Tiger Bites: With last week’s sweep, Colorado College retained possession of the Gold Pan, which is awarded annually to the regular-season series winner between CC and Denver. The Tigers have claimed the trophy nine times in its 15 years of existence...Colorado College is 14-3-1 in its last 18 outings overall during the months of January, February and March...Hillen’s PPG last Friday marked the fifth time this season that CC has scored in the opening 25 seconds of a period...The quick goals by Rau that night marked the fourth time in 2007-08 that Colorado College has scored twice within a minute. Including a 10-1-1 record in exhibition games, the Tigers are 168-59-8 (.732) in 235 all-time appearances at the World Arena since opening the facility a decade ago.

Official Overview's of the weekend sweep

CC Athletics below, USCHO Friday and Saturday recaps

Tigers sweep UAA with 5-2 victory
Powered by the familiar duo of Jimmy Kilpatrick and Chad Rau, Colorado College kept rolling on Saturday. Kilpatrick scored the game-winning goal and added a pair of assists, while Rau tallied twice including an empty netter with 14 seconds remaining, leading the Tigers to a 5-2 victory over Alaska Anchorage and a series sweep at the World Arena. With the triumph, in which 11 different players recorded at least one point, fourth-ranked and league-leading CC widened it lead to six points over archrival Denver in the WCHA standings after the Pioneers lost 7-2 at home to Wisconsin. Once again, as in Friday’s 6-1 win, Colorado College and UAA entered the second period scoreless. And, once again, the Tigers responded with three goals – by Rau, Brian McMillin and Kilpatrick – to take command heading into the final 20 minutes. Kilpatrick’s three points gave him seven (2g,5a) in the series and 99 (33g,66a) for his collegiate career. Rau, the WCHA scoring leader, extended his point-scoring streak to 15 consecutive games. Bill Sweatt also clicked on a power play early in the third period, when the Seawolves finally dented freshman goalie Richard Bachman for a pair of late tallies. Bachman finished with 19 saves.

Kilpatrick, Walsky power CC last Seawolves
Jimmy Kilpatrick has enjoyed a glittering career against the University of Alaska Anchorage. Eric Walsky is following suit with a pretty impressive season vs. his former team. The two veteran forwards combined for three second-period goals on Friday, including a pair just eight seconds apart, to spark Colorado College to a 6-1 victory over the Seawolves at the World Arena. Junior forward Walsky struck for the first two tallies of the game, at 6:03 and 12:33 of the middle frame, and now has been credited with the game winner in two of the Tigers’ victories over UAA this season, his first at CC. Senior right wing Kilpatrick, who added three assists in the victory, now has collected 21 of his 96 career points in 11 all-time outings against the same team. With the victory, the WCHA-leading Tigers maintained their four-point spread over second-place Denver in the league standings and improved their home-ice record to a perfect 8-0. Senior left wing Scott McCulloch, junior center Chad Rau and freshman center Tyler Johnson also scored in the third period. Rau collected a pair of assists while extending his point-scoring streak to 14 consecutive games. McCulloch, who helped set up Walsky's game winner, recorded his second straight multiple-point outing. Freshman goaltender Richard Bachman made 21 saves, allowing only a second-period goal by Seawolves sophomore Josh Lunden that came 81 seconds after Kilpatrick gave Colorado College a 3-0 cushion at 12:41.

Tiger Sweep Alaska

The Tigers continued their offensive roll as they swept UAA this weekend with a 5-2 victory tonight. In other news directly related to the Tigers, DU was crushed by Wisconsin 7-2 tonight as Wisconsin got it's first road victory of the season. This gives the Tigers a little more breathing room at the top of the WCHA standings (though DU has 2 more games left more that the Tigers) and could easily bump CC to #2 in the national polls. We will see how the voters respond. Either way, great weekend by the Tigers and it's great to see them continue their strong season.

UAA blogger's reaction to the game last night

At this moment, CC is continuing their destruction of their Alaskan counterparts with a 3-0 lead in the 2nd period. My google alerts sent me an interesting blog from a UAA blogger who, in his poorly written summary of the game, kept talking about the Black Bears beating the Seawolves last night. Not sure where he got CC Black Bears from, must be from his obvious familiarity with the sport (insert extreme sarcasm here). Anyway, he bashes our logo on the jumbotron plenty and our just-there-to-be-seen crowd so be sure to leave him some love from the land of year-round sunshine and good hockey!
Read it all here

Tigers Crush Alaska Anchorage 6-1

It was a great homecoming for a Tiger team that had been away from the high altitude confines of the World Arena since November 23rd. The game started slow and was 0-0 after one. In the second, the Tigers got one and added two more back to back (about 5 seconds apart) toward the middle of the period and finished the game off with 3 more in the third. It was methodical beat-down that felt a little closer than the score, but hey, let's not get too picky ;)
Here's the box score if you're interested.
I have plenty of multimedia from the game that I will be posting tomorrow (Saturday) including pics and 4 videos!

Game Day Material

The CC Athletics site takes a look at their stories from the week, including goalie Richard Bachman winning another WCHA Defensive player of the week award and the Tigers finally returning home.

David Ramsey has a good column about the Tigers dealing with adversity with all the suspensions this season

This week in the WCHA by the USCHO highlights the Tigers sweeping through their off-ice problems and gearing up to put a wooping in UAA.

The puck drops tonight at 7:37 at the World Arena, and the Tigers will try to remain undefeated at home and keep their chances strong to play at home in the regionals this spring.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This week in the WCHA by by Theresa Spisak/WCHA Correspondent, USCHO

Jan. 10 — Doth the new year kill the column jinx? After I talk about possible troubles concerning the Gophers and the Tigers, both teams swept their weekend series.

After talking with Coach Scott Owens last week, I felt the Tigers might be okay, but held off judgment until the weekend series, where they went ahead and swept the Badgers — screwing with my predictions.

As for the Gophers, I’m not going to say they have turned it around just yet — not to disrespect Wayne State, but they’re not the WCHA. Still, Don Lucia’s squad accomplished a few of the goals we discussed last week — the team scored one more goal a game (in fact, five each night), didn’t really allow a soft goal (well, at least on Friday — caught that one on TV) and scored both power play AND short-handed goals.

In other words, things are looking up at the U, if only for a weekend.

Red Baron Pizza WCHA Players of the Week

Red Baron WCHA Offensive Player of the Week: Ryan Duncan, UND.
Why: Had two goals and two assists in the Fighting Sioux’s road split at St. Cloud State, as well as had 10 total shots and was a +2.
Also Nominated: Chad Rau, CC; Peter Rouleau, MTU; Evan Kaufmann, UM.

Red Baron WCHA Defensive Player of the Week: Richard Bachman, CC.
Why: Helped CC to its first two-game conference road sweep of Wisconsin since 1995-96, had five shut-out periods and stopped 43 of 44 shots on goal.
Also Nominated: Brent Solei, UM; Joe Finley, UND.

Red Baron WCHA Rookie of the Week: Deron Cousens, MTU.
Why: The defenseman had three assists and was a +4 in the Huskies’ sweep of Mercyhurst.
Also Nominated: Aaron Marvin, SCSU.

Battle of the BCHL Superstars

This week’s series between Wisconsin and Denver features the two players who battled it out all season last year for the British Columbia Hockey League’s scoring crown — the Badgers’ Kyle Turris (66-55—121 for Burnaby) and the Pioneers’ Tyler Bozak (45-83—128 for Victoria), the eventual victor.

That’s all well and good, but how are the two doing this year?

In the battle of WCHA rookies, St. Cloud State’s Garrett Roe (United States Hockey League product, 11-17—28) is leading the pack. After that, however, we have Bozak (10-11—21) and Turris (7-12—19).

The Badger is better overall per game (1.17 points per game, good for 3rd nationally), yet he has played in four fewer games, thanks to the Wisconsin’s schedule and his time at the World Junior Championships. The Pioneer, on the other hand, is averaging just 1.05 points per game.

However, keep this in mind: Turris scored 12 of his 19 points in the first four games of the season and hasn’t had a multi-point game since Robert Morris on Oct. 20. . Bozak, meanwhile, got off to a slower start, but in general, has been a little more consistent.

If you look at the stat lines per game, Turris has, in 16 games, gone five games without a point and has had three multi-point games. Bozak, in 20 games, has had six games without a point but five multi-point games. Bozak arguably has more offensive talent surrounding him while Turris is leading his team in points.

“I wanted to beat him more than anything [last year] and I’m sure he wanted the same thing,” said Bozak, when asked about their rivalry last year. “I know he’ll be coming in wanting to outplay me this weekend like every time we played last year.

“I’m sure he’s going to come in and it’s going to be a good battle for us and more, so I hope our team gets the win and we get the sweep.”

While I couldn’t get a hold of Turris to get his thoughts, thanks to his different travel schedule resulting from World Juniors, I’m sure he feels similarly.

Random Notes (and Commentary!) From Around the League

UAA: The Seawolves will gain a new player for the second half of the season — Jeff Carlson. The defenseman spent last year with the NAHL’s Southern Minnesota Express, establishing him as the Express’s top-scoring defenseman (15-24—39).

DU: The Pioneers have started the “Mannino for Hobey” campaign to promote senior netminder Peter Mannino. Mannino is a legit candidate this year, but we’ll see if Damien over at LetsGoDU (http://letsgodu.blogspot.com) can provide backing like they did with Danny King

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.

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.