Weekend winnings

There are numerous things at stake in this weekend's series against DU. For starters, the often forgotten Gold Pan is on the line for the winner of the regular season series. DU has won in the past 3 years but CC has the edge this season by virtue of their 2 game sweep earlier this season. CC needs to simply get one point (TIE) over the weekend to win the pan. Of course we would all prefer that the Tigers do better and get the 4-0 season sweep!

Another important aspect of this game, and probably much more important that a mining pan, is the seeding for the WCHA playoffs that start next weekend. DU has already clinched home ice but CC can clinch home ice with at least a win. Michigan Tech trails the Tigers by 2 points and could still take the final home ice spot if the Tigers get swept (let's hope the Tigers can turn it around, back-to-back sweeps are never a good motivator for the WCHA tourney). Other fun facts about the game are listen on the CC website and look over all the records and history between the two teams. One fun thing to note is that 12 members of the Tigers' 1957 National Championship team will be at the game Saturday to celebrate the 50yr anniversary. It's too bad there aren't any more between then and now because certain DU fans mark this date as "50 years without a title"...I won't mention any names...

How come everything is out of date??!

As most of you know, I'm always looking around the internet for videos and updates about the Tigers and college hockey. I have noticed a sad trend in the things I've been looking for and that is that things are horrible out of date. The INCH recruiting page is over a year old, the WCHA has a recent news section with the 4th headline about CC being swept by Minnesota (two weeks ago). On YouTube, the only videos are either old or low quality about the east coast teams. Another thing about the WCHA site is that they have the Ohio State logo flashing across as one of the members of the conference. Either I'm blind and stupid or thats an error. Is OSU part of the conference or have they ever been? If anyone knows anything about that, please let me know! I would love to be able to click on a site and see highlights and pics from the game, not 10 select photos from a year ago like the Gazette. When I see how old and out of date the few college sites are, it makes me realize just how much college hockey needs to do before it will be considered a major college sports.

One suggestion that I have heard is that I could set up something called a Flickr account which would allow people to upload pics and videos to the site from their cell phones while at the game! I think this is something we should seriously consider because it would be awesome to see people's experiences at the games: both the game itself and their experience in the crowd.

Power Rankings

The Tigers recent slide is reflected in the current INCH Power Rankings. The Tigers fell out of the top 20 this week but still remain "bubble-licious" and can get back into the rankings with a strong (read:winning) effort this weekend. On the opposite bench for this weekend, DU is sitting comfortably at the number 7 position, one ahead of their past opponent North Dakota. DU also clinched a home spot in the first round of the WCHA playoffs, CC is still up in the air and can get that spot if they can get the wins this weekend. CC really needs to get their confidence up for the run at the WCHA title and hopefully the I25 Rivalry will give them a chance to bring it all. Last home game of the year, we want to make sure the arena is full of gold for the game!

On a related note, here is a fun quote from INCH about our upcoming opponet...

"For nearly 20 years, we’ve had to correct people and say, “It’s the University of Denver, not ‘Denver University,’ even though that’s what their initials would have you believe.” Frankly, we’re tired of it. So to the folks at Magness Arena, we say this: “If you want people to get your name right, stop calling yourselves 'DU.'"

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

The free-fall continues

CC entered this weekend with a lot on their side. They were facing a team with a less-than-impressive record, they were coming off back-to-back 3-2 losses to Minnesota and were in a perfect position to get 4 points and move into 3rd or 4th place in the conference. Instead, the Tigers let two extremely important games slip away and dropped into 5th place in the conference and only 1 point ahead of Michigan Tech with the showdown vrs. DU looming on the horizon. The Tigers are probably going to lose the chance to host a first rounder at home for the conference playoffs and may have just been swept out of NCAA tourney selection. Tonight was especially tough since things started out so well. The Tigers held Minnesota State without a shot in the first 12 minutes of the game, had a 5-3 advantage and came up 1 goal just 2 minutes into it. However, the Mavericks used a flurry in the late 2nd and 3rd periods to break it open with 5 goals and win 6-4. The Tigers have struggled of late getting goals and it's shown with an 0-5-1 record in the past 3 weeks. I just hope that this doesn't hamper recruiting because we need some top players to come in and give this team a shot of adrenaline for next season. As for next week, I'm hoping we will pull it together for the I25 Rivalry and use the rivaly aspect to get some motivation and determination for those games.

A few interesting links from the Gazette before the game

Yea I know they are just links and I would much rather write my own story but oh well. Here's is an interesting piece on Billy Sweatt and the upcoming NHL Draft, an update on recruit Mike Connolly (he bailed on us), and a few other notes from the week.

Quick Overview for this Weekend's Games

The Tigers head up to Minnesota State Friday and Saturday to take on the Mavericks. This game is important for the Tigers in both the Pairwise and the final WCHA standings as this is the second-to-last weekend of the season. CC swept the Mavericks earlier in November and will hopefully do the same and get all 4 points this weekend. Minnesota State (you may also know them as Mankato) is currently 11-17-6 which translates into a winning percentage of .412 and they are 5-8-3 at their home arena. MS plays on an Olympic size ice sheet just like the Tigers so lack of skating room shouldn't be a problem for CC. MS is one of three teams in the WCHA that is eliminated from contention for home ice advantage in the conference playoffs. They are tied with Michigan Tech for the #7 position in the conference with 21 points.

CC is currently 16-13-3 overall and sits in a 4th place tie with North Dakota with 26 points. The Tigers have a less-than-impressive road record of 4-6-2. This game is extremely important because CC could, theoretically, jump into second place behind leader Minnesota but that is highly unlikely. More likely is that they could pass DU who only holds 3rd place by 1 more point than the Tigers and Sioux. The Tigers take on DU next weekend so these points are vital to a 3rd place finish in the conference.

Here is a look at the standings with points, WCHA record and Overall record. GO TIGERS

		WCHA						Overall
	Team	GP	W-L-T	Pts.	GF-GA			GP	W-L-T	GF-GA
1	Minnesota	24	17-4-3	37	80-51			33	25-5-3	127-70
2	St. Cloud State	24	12-6-6	30	74-56			30	18-6-6	99-64
3	Denver	24	12-9-3	27	64-59			34	20-11-3	95-76
4	Colorado College	24	12-10-2	26	65-60			32	16-13-3	94-81
	North Dakota	24	11-9-4	26	77-66			32	17-11-4	107-86
6	Wisconsin	24	11-11-2	24	54-46			32	14-15-3	73-66
7	Michigan Tech	24	8-11-5	21	57-55			32	13-14-5	75-71
	Minnesota State	26	8-13-5	21	72-93			34	11-17-6	94-119
9	Alaska-Anchorage	26	8-17-1	17	60-93			32	12-17-3	83-106
10	Minnesota-Duluth	24	6-15-3	15	55-79			32	10-18-4	87-109
Switch to Winning Percentage order

Tigers Fall in Polls

Post-season possibilities update
The Tiger Den at Gazette.com

World Arena Followup

Last week I wrote a little bit about the old Broadmoor World Arena. This week I found out just a little bit about the current World Arena. Most of us will remember the bumper stickers that were prevalent in the area in the years leading up to construction. They had the artist rendition of the structure and read "Just Build it". Finally all the plans went through and in 1997 the arena was completed. The Tigers played host to the Wisconsin Badgers for the first game. For the actual arena and the ajacent to the Ice Hall, it cost $58.8 million. For the Tigers' home games, the capacity is 7,343 fans. One thing that is somewhat unique for this arena and the Tigers is that the ice sheet is Olympic size. This means the playing surface measures 200x100ft, compare this with the "regular" NHL size ice sheet that measures 200ft long but only 85 feet wide. AFA and DU use the NHL size ice.




Special thanks to this World Arena Page for the pic of the ticket

2 fun stories from the weekend

The Tiger Den at Gazette.com
A little bit about Don Lucia and Kellen Briggs, the Gophers goalie from CS

The Clock is Ticking

The Tiger Den at Gazette.com
Here is an article from the Gazette about the end of the season by David Ramsey

Radio Link

So after some complaining and searching I finally found something to help me with the games. I found out that the team website does actually have a link for listening to the games live, and it works with all major audio players. I guess I didn't give the athletics site enough credit because it's been there all along. It's basically a link for 103.9 The Eagle which carries the games and coaces show, but it's a start. Now that I have found this, I want to see if I can get those broadcasts to be put onto itunes in a podcast format. There are a few schools that have their own channel so we could create one ourselves, it's free and simple. I also found out this weekend that ESPN does have a live-updating scoreboard of the games, you just have to hunt for it. Again, if anyone knows where to find video of the games (either highlights or the full game), let me know!

Weekend swept away

The only positive that can come out of this weekend was that Minnesota is probably the best team in the country, however, being swept at home is never ever a positive thing. The Tigers held it to 0-0 until near the end of the 2nd period when they let in 2 goals in under 5 minutes. However, the Tigers scored 2 quick goals in the first 8 minutes of the 3rd period to tie it but Minnesota got the win with a goal 22 seconds later that proved to be the game winner. It's too bad that CC missed a chance to gain points this weekend. A win against Minnesota would have given them a quality win and better placement in the PairWise rankings but instead they are now facing the strong possibility of not making the NCAA tournament. We are going to need nothing less than a sweep this next weekend against Minnesota State or we can kidd the post season goodbye. The Tigers are now (16-13-3).

As far as attendance and my goal of creating fan interest: the Arena had 7809 fans tonight which is a good jump over the 7790 the night before (both were sellouts so it's nice to see it over capacity). I need to do some digging into season tickets since it looks like Saturdays are consistently higher in number which alludes to Sat. only packages. The one thing I'm worried about is how many of these fans were Gopher fans. I've been to games against those teams from the North and have often felt outnumbered. If anyone has any stories from the game I would love to hear em! (either side)

Followup to PairWise rankings

I would love to try to explain all the rankings and the details that go into the selection for the national tournament but I found a great explanation of how it all works and where everything is headed. As of today, CC is a No. 3 seed playing in Rochester for the first games. This weekend's games against Minnesota are extremely crucial as CC is in a prime position to move up in the rankings...of course, they can move way down just as easy.

Something fun to think about

Here is an interesting story about the college hockey rivalries in Colorado. With the conclusion of the BeanPot tournament and all it's exposure, I figured this was appropriate. It also goes along with my idea of the I25 rivalry, this time with 3 teams!
Let's Go DU - Denver Hockey (ignore the title and just read the article!)

In Case you haven't seen: current PairWise rankings

CC is currently sitting the the 11th spot in the rankings and, if the season ended today, would probably, be in the national tournament. However, there are bonus points for beating quality teams that have not been factored in. These could help CC because of a 2-game sweep of Michigan State, but the Spartans currently sit at 12th. Because of automatic bids recieved by the winners of each conference, it is important for the Tigers to remain above number 11 to be considered "safe" when selection time comes. However, nothing is for sure but two wins this weekend against Minnesota (#2polls, #2PairWise) will certainly boost the Tigers in the polls.
http://www.uscho.com/rankings/pwr.php

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.

Monday work

As you can see I've given the site a bit of a cosmetic makeover. I was hoping that the left justified links would help with readibility since my entries are ragged on the right. I went hunting for CC videos on both google video and youtube and didn't find a thing. Even the cstv site didn't have anything CC, their college hockey highlight video had Air Force but no CC, what the heck?! As you know, I'm on a mission to find video of the Tigers so I'm still hunting. I did find a cool video about Marty Sertich from a few years ago hidden in the video highlights from USCHO, but the highlights are all over the place, no real nightly recaps. I did, however, find a fun video of a cheap goal by ND against the Gophers. Granted, it's not CC in the video, but hey, maybe it could happen this weekend!

Sunday quickie

Probably the worst way to tie a game is to blow a "safe" leaf in the third period, which is what happened to the Tigers Saturday night. At least they got one point out of the weekend but it would have been great to pass DU in the conference standings, but I suppose it will be sweeter to beat them at the end of the season to gain the next spot up. I don't have much of an update today but I have an entire class tomorrow devoted to working on this project so I will probably have numerous updates tomorrow afternoon. I'm going to work on looking for video for iTunes. I did notice that the Minnesota game Friday is on FSN so that will be fun, I hope it's national and not just FSNRM. As always, if there are any topics or questions you all want me to address, let me know!

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!