Grand Junction Times

Colorado College plays the North Dakota Fighting Hawks for the first and only time during the 2022-23 regular season in a weekend series, Feb. 24-25 at Ed Robson Arena. Live streaming and live stats links for the game can be found on the CC Hockey schedule page at CCTigers.com.

Getting Started
This season marks the 84th year of varsity ice hockey at Colorado College and 10th season as a member of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. CC was a charter member of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (1951-52) for 62 seasons before joining the NCHC with seven other schools prior to the 2013-14 campaign.

How To Watch / Listen
Friday's game will be televised live on AT&T SportsNet with Josh Howe and Kyle Huson on the call. Boith games this weekend will be broadcast in the Colorado Springs area and Southern Colorado on KRDO NewsRadio 105.5 FM / 95.5 FM / 1240 AM with the 'Voice of the Tigers' Ken Landau, and streamed live on NCHC.tv.

Last Time Out
Colorado College lost a pair of games at No. 8 Western Michigan last weekend in Kalamazoo, Mich. ... On Friday, Jason Polin scored twice and Cameron Rowe stopped 24 shots in a 4-1 WMU victory. Stanley Cooley put the Tigers on the board with a power-play goal at the 4:38 mark of the first period. A shot by Nicklas Andrews was knocked down in front of the net and Cooley gathered it, then beat Rowe from the slot. Polin, the nation's leading goal scorer, evened things up with a power-play goal of his own at 13:17 of the opening frame. He took a cross-ice pass from Ryan McAllister and sent a wrister from the left circle past Tiger netminder Kaidan Mbereko (17 saves). The Tigers dominated the second period, outshooting Western Michigan, 15-7, but couldn't put the puck past Rowe and the game remained tied at 1-1 after 40 minutes. The Broncos put the game away with three goals in the third period, starting with Jack Perbix's game winner at the 9:14 mark. Perbix took a pass from Zak Galambos and beat Mbereko from the high slot to make it 2-1. Chad Hillebrand extended the lead at the 11:49 mark of the final frame and Polin sealed it with an empty-netter in the final minute ... On Saturday, the Broncos scored twice within a 22-second span in the third period and rallied to win, 2-1. CC, which wrapped up a stretch of 10 straight games against ranked teams, scored first for the second straight night as Hunter McKown notched his team-high 17th goal of the season at the 11:30 mark of the second period. Following a WMU turnover, the puck was loose just inside the blue line. McKown gathered the puck, turned and fired a shot that beat Rowe. Thanks to a solid defensive effort, especially by Mbereko, the Tigers held on to the lead until Tim Washe evened the score at 13:25 of the third period. Washe took a cross-ice pass in front of the net from Zak Galambos and deflected the puck past Mbereko. Daniel Hilsendager scored 22 seconds later with a wrister from the high slot to give the Broncos the lead, then the home team survived the final six minutes, including 90 seconds with Mbereko on the bench in favor of an extra attacker. Mbereko was outstanding once again with 35 saves as Western Michigan outshot the Tigers, 37-31. Rowe finished with 30 saves. Each team was 0-for-2 on the power play.

For The Record
Colorado College is 10-18-2 overall and 6-12-2 in the NCHC after losing a couple of games at No. 8 Western Michigan last weekend. The Tigers are in seventh place in the league standings ... North Dakota is 13-13-5 overall and 7-10-3 in league play after playing a couple of overtime games against St. Cloud State last weekend. UND won in overtime on Friday and loist in a shootout on Saturday. The Fighting Hawks are in sixth place in the NCHC.

Up Next
The Tigers wrap up the 2022-23 regular season with a home-and-home series against No. 3 Denver next weekend. The game on Friday, March 3, will be played at Magness Arena and start at 8 p.m., and the game will be televised on CBS Sports Network. The following night, the teams will play at Ed Robson Arena, beginning at 6 p.m. That will be Senior Night and the game will be broadcast on AT&T SportsNet.

The Coaches
Kris Mayotte is in his second season at the helm of the Tigers. He came to Colorado College after serving two years as an assistant coach at the University of Michigan. Mayotte was an assistant coach for Providence College when the Friars won the NCAA Division I title in 2015. In addition, he has won a pair of gold medals and a bronze in four stints as an assistant coach with Team USA at the World Junior Championships … Brad Berry is in his eighth season as head coach at North Dakota. Berry was an assistant coach at the school for nine seasons before taking over the helm in May of 2015. He became the first person in the history of NCAA Division I men's hockey to lead his team to a national title in his first year as head coach.

Previous Meetings
Colorado College and North Dakota have met 267 times with UND holding a 172-84-11 advantage in the series. Each team has a 60-60-3 mark in Colorado Springs. The Fighting Hawks have won the last 13 games against the Tigers, dating back to a 3-1 CC victory the Broadmoor World Arena on March 1, 2019.

Tiger Tales
Hunter McKown is tied for the national with 11 power-play goals and tied for 16th overall with 17 goals ... Kaidan Mbereko is second in the country among freshmen and tied for 12th overall with a .922 save percentage, and is sixth among first-year players with a 2.46 goals-against average ... The Tigers are 21st in the country in power-play percentage (21.7%) ... In conference games only, CC leads the NCHC in penalty kill pct. (83.9%) ... Noah Laba's 10 goals are the most in one season by a freshman since Grant Cruikshank had 11 in 2018-19 ... Laba is seventh in the NCHC in faceoff pct. at 54.8% ... Last Saturday's game at No. 8 Western Michigan was CC'S 10th straight against a ranked team, the longest such streak since playing 13 ranked teams in a row during the 2020-21 season ... Saturday's loss at Western Michigan was the first this season when the Tigers led after two periods ... This Friday's game against North Dakota will be the 160th career contest for graduate student Bryan Yoon, tying him for 10th on the all-time games played list at CC with Tim Budy (1985-89) and Steve Strunk (1988-92).

McKown and Mbereko Nominated For Hobey Baker Award
Junior forward Hunter McKown and freshman goaltender Kaidan Mbereko are among 82 student-athletes nominated for the 2023 Hobey Baker Award. The Hobey Baker Award is presented annually to the collegiate hockey player who best demonstrates strength of character both on and off the ice, contributes to the integrity of his team and displays outstanding skills in all phases of the game. Consideration is given for scholastic achievement and sportsmanship. Colorado College has had two winners since the first Hobey Baker was awarded in 1981, Peter Sejna (2003) and Marty Sertich (2005). McKown, an assistant captain from San Jose, Calif., leads the Tigers so far this season with 21 points (16g,5a), while Mbereko from Aspen, Colo., was the NCHC Goaltender of the Month for November and December.

Mbereko Named NCHC Goaltender of the Week
Freshman Kaidan Mbereko earned his third KJ Branding NCHC Goaltender of the Week award after posting 76 saves in two games at No. 16 Omaha last weekend. Mbereko had 36 saves, including 18 in the third period and overtime, in a 3-2 loss, then equaled his career high with 40 stops in the 2-2 tie on Saturday. He stopped both Omaha shots in the shootout, which the TIgers won, 2-0.  

Seven Future Tigers Sign National Letter of Intent
Seven future Tigers have signed a National Letter of Intent to attend and play hockey at Colorado College. Owen Beckner (Salmon Arm Silverbacks - BCHL), Philippe Blais-Savoie (Tri-City Storm - USHL), Tyler Dunbar (Lincoln Stars - USHL), Ryan Koering (Eden Prairie High School - MN), Gavin Lindberg (Waterloo Black Hawks - USHL), Fisher Scott (Dubuque Fighting Saints - USHL) and Riley Stuart (Dubuque Fighting Saints - USHL) will don the black and gold in coming years.

Tigers Picked Sixth in NCHC Preseason Poll
Colorado College was picked eighth in the 2022-23 NCHC Preseason Poll.
1.    Denver – 180 points (19 first-place votes)
2.    North Dakota – 160 (4)
3.    Minnesota Duluth – 136
4.    St. Cloud State – 115
5.    Western Michigan - 86
6.    Colorado College – 64
7.    Omaha - 59
8.    Miami - 28

Mbereko, Laba Played For Team USA at World Junior Championship
Freshmen Kaidan Mbereko and Noah Laba were selected to the 2023 U.S. National Junior Team and represented their country at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship in Moncton, New Brunswick, and Halifax, Nova Scotia. The tournament began on Dec. 26 and concluded on Jan. 5. Team USA claimed a bronze medal with an 8-7 overtime victory over Sweden after falling to Canada, 6-2, in the semifinal. Mbereko appeared in two games during the tournament, including the third period and overtime frame against Sweden. Laba made his tournament debut in the bronze-medal game.

CC Lands League-High 20 Players on NCHC All-Academic Team
The NCHC announced that 20 Colorado College student-athletes were named to the league's Academic All-Conference Team for outstanding achievement in the classroom. The Tigers tied with North Dakota for the most players on the list. Overall, the league placed 117 student-athletes on the team.Earning a spot on the team this season (minimum 3.0 GPA)are graduate student Bryan Yoon; seniors Patrick Cozzi, Connor Mayer, Noah Prokop, Chad Sasaki, and Matt Vernon; juniors Nicklas Andrews, Jake Begley, Ray Christy, Tyler Coffey, Chase Foley, Matthew Gleason, Hunter McKown, Jack Millar, Danny Weight and Logan Will; and sophomores Brett Chorske, Stanley Cooley, Tommy Middleton and Nate Schweitzer. In addition, 15 Tigers were named as Distinguished Scholar-Athletes, the most of any team in the NCHC. Andrews, Begley, Chorske, Christy, Coffey, Cooley, Foley, Gleason, Middleton, Millar, Prokop, Sasaki, Schweitzer, Weight and Will were among of 62 NCHC student-athletes honored for achieving a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or better. Sasaki earned the award all four years, while Andrews, Begley, Foley and Will are on the list for the third season.

Original source can be found here.