Gophers Prevail

University of Minnesota photo















The Tigers will take on Minnesota Friday night in a rematch of the Tigers season-opening sweep. UM knocked off St. Cloud in front of a whopping 19,232 fans. Even though Minnesota is coming on strong, I personally feel more comfortable facing them than the Huskies, a team that beat us twice and smothered us in our first home loss of the season. The battle between the WCHA #1 and #7 will begin at 6:07 Mountain Time Friday night with radio coverage on 103.9FM and a special treat, on TV local NBC affiliate 5/30 in the Southern Colorado viewing area.

St. Cloud-Minnesota Box Score Here

UM official recap here

Tigers Mauled

The streak was good while it lasted but all good things come to an end. St. Cloud used a stifling defensive presence in front of their own net and scored 2 of their 3 first period goals on defensive breakdowns to hand the Tigers their first home loss of the season, 4-2. The Tigers came out flying in the first period but quickly ran out of gas the rest of the game (maybe Scott Owen's flu bug is going around). The Tigers did manage 40 shots but many were harmless as the Huskies had 4 defensemen in front of their net as soon as the Tigers crossed the blue line. It was frustrating to watch the Tigers struggle to get set up as they tried desperately to get a rebound chance. The only good thing that comes out of this is a bye week (time for tonights injuries to heal) and the fact that it's better to lose now than in the West Regionals at home. The Huskies always play us tough and were the better team tonight. After this one, I don't expect the Tigers to lose again at home this season.
~PCO

CC Athletics
Home-ice magic runs out for CC
A shaky first period proved costly on Saturday as Colorado College’s home-ice winning streak came skidding to an unceremonious end. The Tigers surrendered three goals in the opening 20 minutes and never could claw their way back, falling 4-2 to St. Cloud State University in the finale of their two-game WCHA series at the World Arena. The Huskies got a pair of goals from Garrett Roe, including the game winner at 17:55 of the initial frame, and four assists from Matt Hartman to earn a split of the weekend set despite being outshot by a 40-30 margin. They also overcame a disallowed goal and a five-on-three CC power play for 1:39 in the third period before clinching the victory with an empty-net tally by Andreas Nodl with 34 seconds left to play. Freshman Tyler Johnson and junior Eric Walsky scored for the league-leading and fourth-ranked Tigers, who entered the contest with a 14-0 record at home. Johnson also assisted on Walsky’s goal. Sophomore goalie Jase Weslosky made 38 saves for SCSU, including 16 in the third period. Colorado College’s Richard Bachman finished with 26 stops.

Huskies Split Tigers, End Home Winning Streak
Roe, Hartman and Nodl Combine for Eight Points
by Theresa Spisak/WCHA Correspondent

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Feb. 9) — Not everything is meant to last forever.
Just ask the Colorado College Tigers who saw their 14-game home ice winning streak end at the hands of the St. Cloud State University Huskies, 3-2, Saturday night at World Arena.

“You don’t think too much about [the streak] , but yeah, this was a game we had hoped to get to continue our march on first place,” said CC coach Scott Owens. “Yeah the streak ends, but we certainly had opportunities to tie the game or win it.”

Instead, a Huskies team arguably better than its record gained a much-needed win.

“We came out here this weekend with the, well, we wanted to get a win, obviously, but we wanted to get back in the hunt,” said SCSU coach Bob Motzko. “We don’t know what we’re chasing, but at least we’re back in the hunt right now and that’s what we wanted to get back into and play good hockey.”

The Huskies started off the scoring nine minutes into the opening frame. Nate Dey dumped the puck into the Tiger zone, Matt Hartman picked it up and tipped it to David Carlisle who fired a blast from the point for his first career goal.

We got the puck deep again and that’s how we forced a little turnover there and it got out to him and I’m sure the guy would like that one back,” said Motzko. “It’s got to hit the net to go in, so it was a good goal for [Carlisle] .”

Just 37 seconds later, the Huskies went up 2-0 on the strength of a Garrett Roe goal. Hartman won a battle in the left corner and threw the puck in front of the net where Roe tipped it in behind Tiger netminder Richard Bachman (26 saves)

CC cut the lead to one with about three and half to play in the frame when Tyler Johnson tipped a Jack Hillen blast from the point past St. Cloud goaltender Jase Weslosky (38 saves).

However, the Huskies would regain their two-goal cushion a minute later when Hartman and Roe once again connected on a goal; this time, Hartman tapped the puck across the crease to Roe to catch a relatively out of position Bachman.

“It happened so fast; it’s just exciting for me,” said Hartman, about his three assists within the span of seven minutes. “It’s just kind of the puck” it happens sometimes in hockey. I guess I was on the better hand of that tonight and it just happens once in a while and just fortunate we got off to a lead and were able to finish it off. That was nice. Obviously the assists were a bonus for me.”

“Matt stepped up tonight and that’s what we talked about in our meeting today,” said Motzko. “We needed some guys that hadn’t stepped up, hadn’t been on the film, to do that.”

Eric Walsky cut the SCSU lead once again 2:32 into the middle period for the only goal of the frame. The former Alaska-Anchorage Seawolf took a diving pass from Johnson and slid it five-hole on Weslosky to make it a 3-2 game.

“I thought [that line] gave us some good energy and some opportunities so it was nice to see that,” said Owens. “Jack Hillen continues to play great for us.”

It looked like the Huskies’ Andreas Nodl made it a 4-2 game 1:32 into the third period, but it was ruled that the puck that scored the goal was initially knocked down by a high stick.

Scott Thauwald went down with a concussion halfway through the period after being elbowed in the head by Roe” an incident that was not penalized by the officials. However, the Tigers were awarded the first power play” and two-man advantage” about a minute later as arguable make-up calls. However, the Huskies and Weslosky thwarted all Tiger attempts.

“That was major,” said Motzko. “Our penalty killers and our goalie did a great job there killing that off and that saved the game for us.”

“I thought St. Cloud played well,” said Owens. “I thought their D corps dug in well, especially on that five-on-three and it just wasn’t meant to be for us tonight.”

CC pulled Bachman to get the extra attacker, but the Huskies were able to seal the deal with an empty-net goal. SCSU came down on a three-on-two and Hartman hit Nodl” the one man uncovered by defense” to give him back his goal from earlier in the frame.

“You spot a team three goals in the first period, you’re asking for trouble,” said Owens. “That being said, we had 30 minutes to score a goal and had an opportunity off a waived-off goal to get some energy and a five-on-three so we have nobody to blame but ourselves.

“We should have at least tied that game in the third period, we didn’t.”

“Hopefully this is another step to move us forward,” said Motzko.
The Huskies next travel to Alaska-Anchorage for a two game series against the Seawolves while the Tigers get a bye week

McCulloch's hat trick sparks victory over SCSU

CC Athletics
With Mike Testwuide and Scott McCulloch continuing their torrid pace, Colorado College now is one victory away from clinching home ice for the WCHA playoffs. Testwuide got the Tigers rolling early with his sixth goal in five outings, and McCulloch recorded his third career hat trick on Saturday, powering CC to a 5-3 triumph over St. Cloud State University in the opener of their two-game series at the World Arena. The league-leading and fourth-ranked Tigers, who improved to 21-7-1 overall, now have 33 points (16-4-1) in the conference standings, four more than second-place North Dakota and eight ahead of third-place Denver. By winning Saturday’s rematch, despite six games yet to play, they can ensure themselves of finishing no lower than a tie for fourth. Senior left wing McCulloch scored once in each period, striking for the game winner on a shorthanded breakaway set up sophomore defenseman Nate Prosser’s clearing pass off the boards just 24 seconds into the middle frame. Freshman goaltender Richard Bachman, who finished with 18 saves for the night, also assisted on the red lighter. The goal gave Colorado College, which got tallies from Testwuide at 3:49, McCulloch at 9:00 and sophomore blue-liner Kris Fredheim at 12:18 of the opening stanza, a comfortable 4-1 lead. But the visiting Huskies crept back on goals by Ryan Lasch and Andreas Nodl less than a minute apart late in the second period. The score remained 4-3 until McCulloch, who has collected 11 points (8g,3a) in his last six games, picked up an errant SCSU pass in the neutral zone and slapped the puck into an empty net with 31 seconds left in the contest

Game Day Reading

Tigers Are Getting Net Results From Freshman
David Ramsey-Gazette

Colorado College’s hockey team is ripping along with eight wins and a tie in 10 games, a two-point lead atop the Western Collegiate Hockey Association standings and the nation’s No. 4 ranking.

The road to Denver and the April 10-12 Frozen Four looks clear and inviting, a relatively easy ride including a regional at the World Arena.

Why all the optimism?

There are a few dozen reasons, but the biggest is Richard Bachman. He’s a mere freshman. He’s also one of the nation’s best goaltenders.

The Tigers’ most-troubling question mark prior to the season — who would succeed Matt Zaba in the net — has transformed to an exclamation mark.

Coach Scott Owens leaned back in his office chair Thursday afternoon, a few minutes before taking the ice for practice.

He was pondering where the Tigers would reside without Bachman. This isn’t a favored subject for the coach, and he was frowning.

“Where would we be?” Owens said, shaking his head. “I hate to say. We certainly wouldn’t be where we’re at. He’s been consistent. He’s been timely. He’s given us a chance to win.”

He sure has.

Bachman leads the WCHA in goals-against average (1.71) and save percentage (93.7). He leads the nation in win percentage with his 18-4-1 record.

He’s been steady and dependable but has also delivered glimpses of Patrick Roy-style theatrics with an assortment of sprawling robberies.

He’s durable, eager to play in back-to-back games. Owens was nervous about using Bachman in both wins over Clarkson last weekend.

“But he looked sharper on Saturday than he did on Friday,” Owens said.

Owens won’t confirm Bachman will play both games this weekend against St. Cloud State.

“We’ll see,” the coach said with a slight smile. “These are big games. Can’t give too much away.”

Despite Owens’ attempts to be coy, expect Bachman to play Friday and Saturday, in part because the Tigers are off the following week.

“I feel great,” Bachman said Thursday. “I’m ready to go both games.”

One of Bachman’s best qualities is his confidence. He declined to waste time wondering if he, as a freshman, was worthy to do battle against college hockey veterans.

He just skated in front of the net and started snuffing shots.

And he refuses to let himself get depressed despite enduring nights that could have pushed him to hockey sorrow.

On Jan. 26, he suffered through a long night at Michigan Tech, surrendering five goals on only 19 shots. He often looked befuddled, and so did his fellow defenders.

He refused to gripe about his lack of support, and he declined to let one poor game rattle him.

“You’re bound to hit a bump on the road every once in a while,” he said, “and you might as well get it over with.”

He was smiling, which makes sense. Not many bumps appear on his — or his team’s — horizon.

Columnist David Ramsey can be reached at 476-4895 or david.ramsey@gazette.com. Check out David's blog, David Ramsey Says What? at daveramseysez.blogspot.co

This Week’s Storylines (CC Athletics)
• Colorado College will try to shut down three of the WCHA’s top five scoring leaders this weekend when the league-leading Tigers play host to St. Cloud State University in a pair of key games at the World Arena. It’s the first of just four remaining regular-season series for CC, which is in position to clinch home ice for the first round of the WCHA playoffs.
• The Huskies return to the CSWA for the first time since eliminating Colorado College in a best-of-three playoff series almost two years ago. The teams split a series in St. Cloud earlier this season.
• The Tigers, 8-1-1 in their last 10 outings overall, remain perfect at the CSWA, where they have won 13 consecutive games (15 including a pair of exhibition victories) this campaign. They stay home for five of the remaining eight regular-season dates, as well as potentially five more in the league and NCAA playoffs.

Tigers Looking to Pad WCHA Lead
In Rematches With St. Cloud State

Return to League Play: With the non-conference portion of its regular-season schedule completed, first-place Colorado College launches its 2007-08 stretch drive with a crucial Western Collegiate Hockey Association series at home this weekend against St. Cloud State University. Faceoff between CC and the Huskies 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 20-7-1 overall after last week’s home-ice sweep (5-2, 6-1) of ECACHL leader Clarkson University, the Tigers are 15-4-1 in WCHA play with a two-point lead over second-place North Dakota in the league standings. They do have two games in hand with UND, which is idle this weekend...St. Cloud State, which hasn’t played since losing both games (5-3, 5-3) of a home-and-away series with Minnesota State University on Jan. 25 and 26, is 11-12-3 overall and 6-10-2 in league play. The Huskies currently are ninth in WCHA standings, but are just five points out of third and have games in hand with all but two of the teams ahead of them.

In the Rankings: The Tigers have climbed back to No. 4 in this week’s national polls published on Monday by U.S. College Hockey Online/CSTV and USA Today/American Hockey Magazine. CC is a strong second in the power rankings conducted by InsideCollegeHockey.com (INCH). St. Cloud State continues to receive votes in the polls, but is not ranked in any of them.

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 215-116-25 (.639) in 356 games behind the bench, including a 17-13-2 mark (.563) against St. Cloud State, and has guided the Tigers to five NCAA playoff berths in his previous eight campaigns.

The All-Time Series: Friday marks the 72nd meeting between Colorado College and St. Cloud State. CC leads the rivalry by a 39-28-4 margin after splitting with the Huskies at the National Hockey Center in mid-December. The Tigers won the series opener, 3-1, but dropped a 4-2 decision the next night. They’re 10-8-1 (.553) in 19 previous games against SCSU at the World Arena.

A Look at the Huskies: Former University of Minnesota assistant Bob Motzko (St. Cloud State ‘87) is in his third season as head coach at his alma mater, where he owns a record of 54-36-14 (.649). Also on the SCSU staff is former Colorado College captain (1995-97) and assistant coach (2004-05) Eric Rud, who joined the Huskies prior to the 2005-06 campaign. The team’s top scorers, all forwards, are sophomore Ryan Lasch (18-18–36), freshman Garrett Roe (15-19–34) and sophomore Andreas Nodl (12-18–30), who rank first, second and fifth, respectively, in overall points among all WCHA players. Sophomore goalie Jase Weslosky is 8-9-0 between the pipes, with a 2.46 goals-against average and .918 saves percentage.

Recapping Last Week: Sophomore right wing Mike Testwuide (Vail, CO) scored a pair of goals in each game, including the game winner midway through the first period on Saturday when he also added an assist, to fuel CC’s seventh series sweep of the season. Senior left wing Scott McCulloch (Lacombe, Alta.) struck three times against the Golden Knights, including twice on Friday, while senior defenseman Jack Hillen (Minnetonka, MN) collected a pair of assists in both games. Clarkson led twice (1-0 and 2-1) in the series opener, before McCulloch’s power-play tally at 17:16 of the middle frame put the Tigers ahead to stay. Senior forward/team captain Scott Thauwald (Rochester, MN) capped the night’s scoring with a shorthanded goal at 13:31 of the third period. Senior right wing Jimmy Kilpatrick (New Prague, MN) and sophomore left wing Bill Sweatt (Elburn, IL) joined Hillen in logging two assists apiece in the 5-2 victory. An unassisted goal by sophomore defenseman Brian Connelly (Bloomington, MN), who set up Thauwald’s SHG a night earlier, staked Colorado College to an early lead on Saturday before Testwuide got rolling. Sweatt and freshman center Tyler Johnson (Cloquet, MN) also scored in the 6-1 triumph, while sophomore defenseman Nate Prosser (Elk River, MN) helped set up two goals. Freshman goalie Richard Bachman (Highlands Ranch, CO) made 15 saves on Friday and 21 more on Saturday before giving way to freshman Tyler O’Brien (Stowe, VT) with 5:35 left. O’Brien stopped all four shots he faced in his CC debut.

National Recognition: Testwuide’s performance last week earned him accolades as INCH (Inside College Hockey.com) national Player of the Week. With the five-point, he nearly doubled his season total of six (2g,4a) heading into the series. He now has 11 (6g,5a) in 20 games, surpassing his production as a freshman last season when he finished with 10 (8g,2a) in 29 outings. He is the only Colorado College player this season to score four goals in a series.

Winning Habit: The Tigers have reached the 20-victory plateau for the 13th time in the last 15 seasons. Starting in 1993-94, when they went 23-11-5 overall and won the first of three consecutive WCHA regular-season championships, they have posted a winning record of 381-184-43 (.662). They’ve earned 10 NCAA playoff bids during the stretch.

Stock Keeps Rising: Hillen, whose career-high 23 points overall (3g,20a) this season leads all WCHA blue-line specialists, continues to strengthen his case as an all-league and potential All-America candidate. One of just six CC players to appear in every game this season, he has collected eight assists in the last six outings and has at least one in seven of the last eight, including four straight heading into this week’s series with St. Cloud State. He and Prosser, whose 15 points (3g,12a) also represent a career high, each have assisted on three game-winning goals in 2007-08 after combining to set up Testwuide’s on Saturday. Connelly, who has 13 points (3g,10a) altogether, has assisted on a team-leading five GWG. The three defensemen have combined for nearly 21 percent (51) of Colorado College’s 243 points this campaign. Hillen also leads the Tigers with 12 points (1g,11a) on the power play.

One Hundred and Counting: Kilpatrick improved his career points total to 102 (34g,68a) with his two assists last Friday, when he and sophomore center Andreas Vlassopoulos (Los Angeles, CA) combined to set up McCulloch’s game-winning goal late in the second period. Kilpatrick, who became the 70th member of Tiger Hockey’s elite “Century Club” a week earlier at Michigan Tech, now has factored in on 22 game winners during his four years at CC. He’s had a hand in six GWG this season, one less than junior center Chad Rau’s (Eden Prairie, MN) team high of seven, having scored three and assisted on three.

Special Teams Update: The Tigers have held their opponent scoreless on the power play in 19 of 28 games this season, including both last weekend when Clarkson went 0-for-3 on Friday and 0-for-1 on Saturday. They’ve given up only 11 PPG overall in their 28 games, and rank third nationally with a penalty killing proficiency of .902 (101 of 112) including a .966 (28 of 29) mark over the last 10 outings...Colorado College’s own power play now has clicked for at least one goal in a season-best eight consecutive outings. CC went 3-for-12 last weekend, and is a sizzling 11-for-33 (.333) during its current eight-game streak.

This and That: By out-shooting Clarkson by a 42-17 margin in Friday’s 5-2 victory, the Tigers established a season high for shots on goal as well as a season low for SOG allowed in a game. Their 75 shots on goal overall in the weekend series also were their most against any opponent in 2007-08...CC, now 9-0-1 all-time against the Golden Knights, is an impressive 52-10-3 (.823) vs. non-WCHA opponents at the World Arena. With a 10-1-1 record in exhibition games, which includes two additional victories last October, Colorado College is 165-57-8 (.735) in 230 all-time appearances at the CSWA since opening the facility a decade ago.

Tiger Bites: Last Saturday marked the 10th time this season, including twice in a 6-1 victory over Alaska Anchorage on Jan. 11, that CC has scored three or more times in a period. The Tigers are 8-1 in those games...Testwuide is the ninth different Colorado College player to score a game-winning goal in 2007-08, as well as the 19th to factor in on one...Bachman, who improved his record to 18-4-1 with the two victories last weekend, has given up two or fewer goals in 18 of his 23 starts. He’s held CC’s opponent to one or fewer in 13 of them...McCulloch, who sat out the previous four outings with an injury before returning to the lineup last Friday, takes a personal five-game point-scoring streak into this week’s action. He’s doubled his season total with seven points (5g,2a) during the stretch...The Tigers are 14-1 this season when leading after two periods and 3-2-1 when tied after two.

Tigers have big weekend, without setting foot on the ice

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

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!!

Gophers come back to spoil Falcons upset bid

Air Force came out in full force in their first ever NCAA Tournament appearence and almost got away with a win against the Minnesota Gophers at the Pepsi Center Saturday. It looked like it may happen when AF took a 3-1 lead 5 minutes into the 3rd period until the Gophers woke up and scored three goals to finish off the Falcons and avoid a 2nd straight 1st round loss in the NCAA Tournament, nonetheless to another AHA team. This was an interesting game for a fan of CO hockey simply because it pitted a home town team against the WCHA powerhouse from the north. Personally, I would have liked to see AF win since it was their first time ever in the tourney, but I really like to see the WCHA do well, even if Minnesota has dominated almost everyone this year. At least it's not DU right?!

In other conference news, St. Cloud State was eliminated in the first round, falling 4-1 to the Maine Black Bears on Friday night, leaving the WCHA with 2 surviving teams. When I wrote this entry, North Dakota was up on evil Michigan 7-5 early in the 3rd period.

Work ahead

CC seems to have lost it's scoring identity lately as the Tigers have struggled to score. This past weekend dropped them into 5th place in the WCHA. This coming weekend is extremely important for several reasons, all of which revolve around the opponet. CC will play a home-and-home with DU in the I25 Rivalry and it could be a battle for 3rd place in the conference. CC currently has 26 points and DU with 29. If the Tigers sweep the series (which of course we would love!), they have a chance to pass the Pioneers. However, if North Dakota wins just one of their games, then it would be a tie at 30 points. They take on 2nd place St. Cloud State. CC and ND split both series' this season and, therefore, split the season series 2-2. As the week goes on, I will try to have different things surrounding the upcoming I25 Rivalry.

WCHA
		WCHA						Overall
	Team	GP	W-L-T	Pts.	GF-GA			GP	W-L-T	GF-GA
1	Minnesota	26	17-6-3	37	84-61			35	25-7-3	131-80
2	St. Cloud State	26	14-6-6	34	84-60			32	20-6-6	109-68
3	Denver	26	13-10-3	29	68-65			36	21-12-3	99-82
4	North Dakota	26	12-10-4	28	83-70			34	18-12-4	113-90
5	Colorado College	26	12-12-2	26	71-69			34	16-15-3	100-90
6	Michigan Tech	26	10-11-5	25	63-57			34	15-14-5	81-73
	Minnesota State	28	10-13-5	25	81-99			36	13-17-6	103-125
8	Wisconsin	26	11-13-2	24	56-52			34	14-17-3	75-72
9	Minnesota-Duluth	26	8-15-3	19	63-81			34	12-18-4	95-111
10	Alaska-Anchorage	28	8-19-1	17	62-101			34	12-19-3	85-114
Switch to Winning Percentage order

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.

World Arena History

Well, the weekend series against #4 St. Cloud State didn't start off as well as hoped. It's funny how mental lapses can ruin a game. Fortunately, CC didn't lose any ground in the standings and hopefully can rebound tonight. I just remembered today that my first CC games was a loss against St. Cloud up at Clune arena. I remember clearly because I was wondering why the opposing team was wearing Montreal Canadiens jerseys, haha. I was just looking over some of the history of CC and came across some nice pics of the old Broadmoor World Arena/ Broadmoor Ice Palace. I remember walking there in elementary school for field trips. I never did see a CC game there but my parents always talked about the traffic in the Broadmoor neighborhood after the games. This place was one of the premier centers in the country with Cheyenne Canyon in the background. It hosted the NCAA championship 11 times between 1948 and 1969. I really wish The Springs still had something like that, something nationally known, especially for the hockey team. It seems like college hockey is seen (on a national scale anyway) and an east coast sport. Teams like Boston, Maine and UMass seem to get all of the national attention. Even when the WCHA had all final 4 teams, there was not too much in the way of national attention. It's too bad people have so many preconcieved notions about certain things. For example, people here in Nebraska (for the most part) think that it always snows in Colorado and we all go skiing all the time, even though those of us in the Springs know that its usually 50 degrees in the winter. This is probably off the hockey topic but its something that makes me mad. National exposure=top tier recruits and money and fans. If only College hockey could be more known as a national sport, rather than a sport with good east coast teams. That just seems like the way it is. Anyway as for tonight, GO TIGERS!

Wednesday update

Hey I just wanted to say thanks to all who have written comments and posted links, I'm glad I can finally get this thing going and we can make a difference. My goal this week is to write a bit about the games coming up this weekend, hopefully I can get some time tomorrow afternoon. It's pretty exciting to see that people are actually reading this and I hope you all can start giving me input and we can start a local "grassroots" style campaign to help out CC. (nothing like the Boston/cartoon network fiasco though, haha). I was not aware of the season ticket total so that is good to know, but I'm not sure it's good or bad . It's good because the Arena holds 7532 so 6000 is pretty darn close but it's bad because, well, there were not anywhere close to 6000 at the two games I went to (the ND fans were louder than us!!...and notice the purple in the darkness). Maybe an online ticket exchange would make things easier for people to get their tickets used and not have the hassle of trying to sell them out front before the games. Also, I am really, really interested in the podcast/vodcast idea for the games, especially now that I see at least one other commenting fan is away from the Springs. Anyone with connections let me know, I would love to be able to watch this weekend's games at St. Cloud (I had a professor that was from there).
On a random note, here in Lincoln they have a team called the Stars which plays in the USHL. I never really knew much about it or the team but it's a big deal here. Turns out they are younger players (16-20 years old) who then get recruited out of these teams for college. I have always known that hockey has some "non traditional" means of development but I confess I never knew about a local team full of hs kids. Anyway, the cool thing about this was that two of the players are slated to play for CC and one for DU (yea boo but "it's" our conference...). I read the article in the paper and saw it mentioned the powerhouse teams with CC right in the mix!