Grand Junction Times

Colorado College wraps up the 2022-23 regular season this weekend with a home-and-home series against No. 3-ranked University of Denver. The first game of the series on Friday, March 3, at Magness Arena is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. (MT). Saturday night's game will begin at 6 p.m., at Robson Arena, and CC's six seniors will be honored in a post-game ceremony. 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 nationally on CBS Sports Network with Alex Heinert, Dave Starman and Shireen Saski on the call, and 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. Saturday's contest will be televised on AT&T SportsNet and streamed on NCHC.tv.

Last Time Out
Colorado College and North Dakota played a pair of overtime games last weekend at Robson Arena ... On Friday, Jackson Blake scored his second goal of the game 29 seconds into overtime to lead North Dakota to a 2-1 victory. The Fighting Hawks won the opening faceoff in the extra period and never relinquished possession before Blake scored on a wrist shot from the bottom of the right circle that snuck past CC goalie Kaidan Mbereko. The Tigers jumped out to a fast start, outshooting UND, 8-3, in the first 20 minutes, including a shot off the pipe by Tyler Coffey. Blake opened the scoring for North Dakota at the 2:15 mark of the second period. He deflected a pass by Riese Gaber past Mbereko right in front of the net. Gaber also collected a helper on Blake's game winner. The Tigers answered at 5:54 of the middle frame when freshman Ethan Straky scored his second goal of the season with a wrister from the right circle that cleanly beat UND netminder Drew DeRidder. Chase Foley and Ryan Beck assisted on the play. North Dakota collected 30 shots in the final two periods, while CC attempted just 10. Mbereko finished with 32 saves and DeRidder had 17. Neither team found the net on the power play as UND, which entered the game leading the nation in power-play percentage (31.1%) and power-play goals (41), and the Tigers had three ... On Saturday, the teams battled to a 0-0 draw and UND's Tyler Kleven scored the only goal in the shootout. CC's Matt Vernon and DeRidder each finished with 26 saves in the 65 minutes of regulation and overtime. It marked the second 0-0 game ever in Colorado College history and Vernon, who started in place of the injured Kaidan Mbereko, is responsible for both. The other came last year at Minnesota Duluth. Ryan Beck, Hunter McKown and Noah Serdachny each had his shootout attempt saved by DeRidder, while Vernon made a great save on Gaber, then Blake did not get a shot off before Kleven scored. Vernon, whose last start came on Dec. 31 against Princeton, made some spectacular saves to preserve the shutout, including one on Dylan James to thwart a 3-on-1 shorthanded rush by North Dakota nearly three minutes into the second period. Mark Senden rang a shot off the pipe behind Vernon three minutes later. In the third period, DeRidder stoned CC's Tyler Coffey on a clean breakaway attempt at the 7:40 mark and Vernon made another tremendous stop on Ethan Frisch with 21.6 seconds remaining in overtime. For the second straight night, the Tigers held the nation's leading power-play unit scoreless on four opportunities and allowed just four shots playing a man down.

For The Record
Colorado College is 10-19-3 overall and 6-13-3 in the NCHC. The Tigers are in seventh place in the league standings ... Denver is 26-8-0 overall and 17-5-0 in league play after sweeping Western Michigan last weekend to win the NCHC regular-season title and the Penrose Cup. The Pioneers have clinched the No. 1 seed in the NCHC playoffs.

Up Next
The Tigers will travel for the first round of the NCHC playoffs. The best-of-three sereis will begin on Friday, March 10. Colorado College will play Omaha, Western Michigan or St. Cloud State.

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 … David Carle is in his fifth season as head coach at Denver. He led the Pioneers to the NCAA Division I title last season. Carle served as an assistant coach for the Pioneers the previous four and a half seasons following a season and a half as an assistant coach with the Green Bay Gamblers.

Previous Meetings
Colorado College and Denver have met 334 times, with the Pioneers holding a 192-121-21 advantage in the series, including a 110-52-11 record in Denver. The Tigers have lost nine straight games to the Pioneers and are 1-13-1 since sweeping Denver to close the 2018-19 regular season, the last time CC won the Gold Pan. The Pioneers defeated CC, 2-0, at Ball Arena on Jan. 27, and 4-1 at Robson Arena on Feb. 4. The 334 games played between CC and DU are the second most among two schools in college hockey history. Michigan and Michigan State have played each other 337 times.  

Tiger Tales
Hunter McKown is tied for the national with 11 power-play goals and tied for 20th overall with 17 goals ... Kaidan Mbereko is second in the country among freshmen and tied for ninth overall with a .923 save percentage, and is fourth among first-year players with a 2.44 goals-against average ... The Tigers are 19th in the country in penalty kill percentage (82.1%) ... In conference games only, CC leads the NCHC in penalty kill pct. (85.7%) ... Noah Laba's 10 goals are the most in one season by a freshman since Grant Cruikshank had 11 in 2018-19 ... Laba is sixth in the NCHC in faceoff pct. at 54.9% ... Friday's game against Denver will be the 162nd career contest for graduate student Bryan Yoon, tying him for eighth on the all-time games played list at CC with Trent Clark (1989-02).

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.

Senior Night on Saturday
Saturday night will be Senior Night at Robson Arena, with six Tigers playing their final home game. Bryan Yoon, Chad Sasaki, Patrick Cozzi, Connor Mayer, Noah Prokop and Matt Vernon will be honored in a post-game ceremony. Yoon has been with the TIgers for five years, Sasaki, Cozzi, Mayer and Vernon for four, while Prokop (Omaha) tranferred to CC prior to his junior season.

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.