Familiar foe, similar styles sets stage for historic Omaha-Colorado College NCHC playoff series

By Joe Paisley

Omaha is going to look familiar to Colorado College fans, and not because the teams played each other just three weeks ago.

The fifth-seeded Mavericks are a physical team that uses in-your-face defense to create turnovers and generate transition offense with enough offensive talent to capitalize on those chances.

Omaha (20-10-4) is one of the better faceoff teams in men’s Division 1 and uses that to gain puck possession to build offensive pressure in the opposing zone or alleviate it in their own end.

Sound familiar, Tiger faithful? Those are some of the reasons this NCHC home quarterfinal playoff series for fourth-seeded CC (20-11-3) promises to be a tight one.

“They pressure pucks really well,” CC coach Kris Mayotte said “The physical attributes are much the same. Because we are similar, that is why it will be such a good battle.”

“They do a good job keeping three guys above you,” he added. “Their D corps is big, strong and mobile so you have to find a way to get inside the dots against them.”

One reason Omaha went 1-0-1 against the Tigers three weeks ago was by denying lanes to get the puck behind the Mavericks to set up the forecheck, a key to CC’s 200-foot defensive structure. As a result, UNO had CC hemmed in for five of that weekend’s seven periods (including Saturday’s overtime).

“We learned a lot from that series,” Mayotte said. “It is easier to take lessons sometimes when you lose. We didn’t have the right game plan, It’s a different game plan this weekend.”

It may be a different environment too for the first postseason games between the two teams.

The atmosphere for the first home playoff series for CC in 12 years and inaugural postseason games at Ed Robson Arena, which set a record of 3,912 (3,407 capacity) against Denver last Friday, could be electric. That would prove beneficial for the Tigers, who started taking advantage with a 11-6-2 home record this season after a 5-4-1 first half.

“Our guys have a real comfort factor with how our game plays at our rink,” Mayotte said. “It’s a place that can get really loud and that feeds how we play. We are a forechecking team. We are a hard-to-play-against team. It fits the identity of our building. We want to use that energy and apply that and play a style that makes a team feel like they have no time and space. That is crowded and things are happening fast. We have found that in the second half. Now we just have to go out and execute.”

This series also features some of the league’s best at key positions.

This weekend’s best-of-three playoff series features unanimous league first team goalie honoree and sophomore Kaidan Mbereko, a former Team USA netminder at the world junior championships, taking on former Slovakian world juniors and NCHC honorable mention sophomore goalie Simon Latkoczy.

“He’s a tremendous goalie,” Mbereko said. “He has accomplished a lot. You come here to compete against the best and that is the opportunity this weekend.”

“There’s never a dull moment in the NCHC,” he said. “You are going to get everyone’s best. It will be a good challenge for our group. Hopefully we can come out on top.”

Challenging Latkoczy will be the CC forward group, paced by leading scorer Noah Laba, a first-team NCHC honoree like Mbereko.  The NY Rangers draft pick is confident the Tigers will be ready.

“We have been playing playoff hockey here for the last 10 games or so, so not much is going to change this weekend but we have a special opportunity to secure our spot in the NCAA Tournament as well as play for the NCHC (tournament title) so we’re excited and looking forward to it,” Laba said.

The Tiger’s scoring depth, led by the now-experienced underclassmen, is paced by Laba (35 points, 19 goals), sophomores Gleb Veremyev (25, 14 goals) and Ryan Beck (20, team-high 17 assists), freshman Zaccharya Wisdom (18, 10 goals), senior captain Logan Will (18, 11 assists) and freshmen Max Burkholder (16, seven goals) and Evan Werner (16, 10 assists). Eight Tigers have at least 10 assists, the most since the 2018-19 season (eight).

Omaha has its own standout forward in all-rookie teamer Tanner Luedtke, a third-round Coyotes draft pick, who led the Mavs with 25 points (10 goals) in 34 league games, He led a strong supporting cast including graduate forward Jack Randl (24, 12 goals) and juniors Victor Mancini (plus-10 defenseman), Zach Urdahl (20, 10 goals) and Ty Mueller (24, 15 assists). That scoring depth is why Omaha enters this weekend on a 9-1-2 tear since Jan. 26, including a home sweep of NCHC regular-season champion North Dakota last weekend.

“We’re just trying to prepare the same way we have the last 2 1/2 months,” UNO coach Mike Gabinet said. “We have a lot of positivity to build on. The guys have built some confidence going into this weekend.”

The same can be said for the Tigers, who remember dropping five of six possible standings points that weekend in Omaha, making the path to home playoff ice that much more difficult.”

“Our guys are excited,’ Mayotte said “We remember how we felt leaving that place. It is still in our locker room. We are looking forward to the challenge.”

Ice chips

CC leads the nation by winning 55.6 percent of its faceoffs, led by Will’s 59.9 percent, while Omaha is at 54.7 percent, second in the NCHC and fifth in the nation. … The last time CC hosted a home playoff series was in March 2012 when the Tigers were swept by Michigan Tech at the Broadmoor World Arena in the former men’s WCHA. ,,, UNO leads the all-time series 28-14-7 with a 12-9-1 mark in Colorado Springs. … CC’s 11 home wins ties that 2011-12 team while the 9-5-1 road mark matches the nine recorded by the 2007-08 team, the last squad to have multiple first-team league honorees.

NCHC Playoffs 

Best of three series, 7 p.m. Friday, 6 p.m. Saturday, 6 p.m. Sunday (if necessary)

No. 8 seed Miami (7-24-3) at No. 1 North Dakota (24-10-2)

No. 7 Minnesota Duluth (12-18-5) at No. 2 Denver (24-9-3)

No. 6 Western Michigan (20-13-1) at No. 3 St. Cloud State (15-14-5)

No. 5 Omaha (20-10-4) at No. 4 Colorado College (20-11-3)

No. 19 Omaha prevails in shootout after No. 10 Colorado College musters up only one goal in weekend road series

By Joe Paisley

No. 10 Colorado College entered the weekend flying high and No. 19 Omaha brought them back down to earth despite a strong performance from Tigers sophomore goalie Kaidan Mbereko.

The sixth-place Mavericks dominated the final two periods to eventually force overtime and later prevailed in the shootout to garner five out of a possible six standings points in a 1-1 tie Saturday to conclude the National Collegiate Hockey Conference series.

After scoring 13 goals in a home sweep of North Dakota, the fourth-place Tigers (18-10-2, 12-7-5-2-0, 34 points) were held to one goal on the weekend in Omaha, a Bret Link wrister just 3:25 into Saturday game. Ryan Beck and Jack Millar picked up the assists.

Mbereko almost made 1-0 lead hold up, making 41 saves on the night, until Omaha’s Nolan Sullivan scored with 2:55 left in regulation to tie the game at 1-1. Mbereko gave up only three goals in 123-plus minutes this weekend to go 0-1-1 despite a superb effort.

“We are lucky we have him, especially with how he played tonight,” CC coach Kris Mayotte told KRDO Radio. “He didn’t get many breathers. The puck was in our zone for two straight periods.”

Like Friday, Omaha swarmed the Tigers over the final 45 minutes. CC was unable to get the puck behind the UNO defenders and set up a forecheck that generates the offensive-zone turnovers that spark the Tigers.

“It is not a good feeling when they are on their toes and winning battles and hunting,” Mayotte said. “We kept putting (the puck) in spots where they won the first touch.”

CC, which entered the weekend as the best faceoff team in men’s Division 1, lost that stats battle 32-25 on Saturday and chased the puck most of the game.

“You end up spending so much time chasing the puck in your own zone,” Mayotte said. “I give them a lot of credit. We didn’t have our mojo this weekend and that’s a shame because we had an opportunity after last weekend.”

Colorado College returns home next weekend to take on seventh-place Minnesota Duluth, which was swept 6-0 and 4-2 this weekend in Grand Forks by league-leading North Dakota.

Second-place St. Cloud State garnered a home split with fifth-place Western Michigan to keep pace with UND and keep CC three points ahead of the Broncos (30 points) with four regular-season games remaining and home playoff to be determined for the Tigers.

The 0-1-1 weekend dropped the Tigers from 11^th in the Pairwise rankings down to 15^th and on the NCAA Tournament bubble with the 16th berth slated for the Atlantic Hockey postseason champion.

Third-place Denver overtook CC in the standings with an 8-1 home win over last-place Miami to garner five standings points, pulling ahead by two points (35-33) with a home-and-home series to end the regular season that may determine home playoff ice for one of both teams.

Tigers freshman Zaccharya Wisdom scores four goals, three on power play, to lead rout of No. 2 North Dakota

By Joe Paisley

The only person happier than Tigers freshman Zaccharya Wisdom and the Colorado College fans might have been his mother, Mairri McConnell, who was at Ed Robson Arena to witness a special night for her son and the Tigers.

Wisdom scored four times, three while on the power play, to propel 15^th-ranked Colorado College to a 7-1 home rout of No. 2 North Dakota Friday night.

 “It feels good to make her proud,” said the first-year winger, who credits his mother’s example while growing up in a rough part of Toronto.

“Four goals … He is just around the net whether he was planted there or driving there, it was going for him tonight,” CC coach Kris Mayotte said. “You are not surprised. When he is getting those types of looks, he is going to score.  That is what he does.”

“To put together a performance like he did was absolutely incredible and was obviously a huge lift for us.”

The win moved CC up from No. 16 to 15 in the Pairwise rankings which help determine NCAA Tournament seeding.

Wisdom scored twice with the man advantage during a decisive three-goal second period that put CC ahead 5-1 entering the third, with his third man-advantage goal and hat trick coming with 15:25 left in Game 1 of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference series opener.

He scored his fourth goal about eight minutes later, knocking in his own rebound for one more joyous salute from the home fans. Wisdom scored the final three goals of the game.

The Toronto native, who had six goals entering Friday’s contest, also set up the eventual game-winner by sophomore Gleb Veremyev, who scored with 1:58 left in the first period. A forechecking Wisdom forced a UND turnover in the far corner and found the sophomore power forward alone in front of the Fighting Hawks net for a 2-1 lead.

“The confidence went up, getting a turnover like that and a scoring chance like that feels good and I felt good the rest of the game,” Wisdom said.

“He is a worker,” Mayotte said. “That line in general was really good for us tonight.”

The win secured the season series for CC (17-9-1, 11-6-0-5-2-0, 30 points) after a historic road sweep in December in Grand Forks, and moved the Tigers into third place past idle No. 13 Western Michigan. Fifth-ranked Denver downed Minnesota-Duluth 5-4 in overtime Friday to stay in fifth (28 points) behind the fourth-place Broncos (29 points).

The win assured the Tigers of their first winning regular season record since the 2011-12 campaign.

The four power-play goals by the Tigers, which entered the game among the worst of the 64 Division 1 teams while on the man advantage, were the most since recording four in an 8-0 home win over Air Force on Oct. 28, 2022.

“We kind of got sick and tired of not putting anything in the back of the net,” Wisdom said. “We were like at what 10 percent at one point? The guys got sick and tired and we are just that much more motivated.”

Wisdom played a large role in the power play’s success. While not the biggest, the 175-pounder made room for himself to work down low.

“He is so good on the goal line on the power play,” Mayotte said. “He is very comfortable there. He wins retrievals. He breaks pressure and again he is really good around the net.”

CC freshman Klavs Veinbergs scored the opening goal while on the power play about eight minutes into the game, in which the Tigers never trailed against league-leading North Dakota (20-7-2, 11-5-1-1-4-0, 37 points)

UND would answer just 1:28 later when Riese Gaber scored his 15th to make it 1-1 and set up a strong of two more UND power plays. A quick whistle negated another power-play goal for UND that kept it tied until Wisdom forced that turnover.

After that North Dakota spurt, CC dominated play. CC sophomore Ryan Beck recorded a career-high four assists while Veinbergs added a career-best four points, including three assists.

“It was a big-time effort,” Mayotte said. “He wasn’t the only guy who had a big-time night. Becker had a big-time night. Klavs had a big-time night. We had a lot of guys have a big-time night.” 

“We were moving our feet tonight,” Mayotte said. “We got a little bit away from that when they made their push in the first. We were reaching a little bit but when (Wisdom) is going, he is electric.”

Tyler Coffey scored during the three-goal second period for CC off an assist by Noah Laba.

Ice chips

Wisdom’s four goals is the most by a Tiger against North Dakota since Eric Walsky on Nov. 8, 2008 (7-4 CC victory). That was the last time CC scored seven against UND. … Wisdom’s four goals in league play were the only the seventh time in NCHC history and first time this season. … Wisdom is the first Tiger with four goals in a game since Feb. 23, 2019 (Ben Copeland vs. Western Michigan) and his five points were the most since Noah Serdachny on Dec. 30, 2022 vs. Princeton. … The six-goal margin was the largest against UND since the Tigers won 8-2 and 6-0 Oct. 29-30, 1994. … It is only the fourth time in program history that CC has won three-straight games against North Dakota since Thanksgiving weekend 1995. … It was UND’s first regulation loss in league play this season and ended a 21-game streak dating back to Nov. 3. … The Tigers won three in a row against UND in 1991, 1993 and 1995. … UND owns a 173-87-12 all-time series lead against CC with 173 victories the most against any one program in North Dakota history.  … UND is now 61-61-4 all-time in Colorado Springs. … The Tigers matched their best season win total since going 17-20-4 during the 2018-19 campaign . 

Surging Hawks, Tigers back for rematch of pivotal December series as playoff race heats up

By Joe Paisley

The December National Collegiate Hockey Conference series between Colorado College and North Dakota could be viewed as the turning point for both programs’ seasons as they jockey for playoff position entering this weekend’s rematch.

The Tigers pulled off a historic road sweep, the school’s first at Ralph Engelstad Arena and the first since Thanksgiving 1993 in Grand Forks, to reinvigorate the team, winners of nine of their last 12 games (8-2 league), that pushed them into fourth place in the NCHC and the NCAA Tournament hunt.

It cemented a growing team confidence, further solidified by a subsequent road win at Minnesota when the second half of the season began. In short, this year’s CC team is a good one and they garnered the results to prove it to themselves and others.

“That weekend definitely added something to us,” said sophomore Gleb Veremyev. “Coming out of there with two wins gave us the belief that we can win those hard games and win against anyone.”

“Every win you get reconfirms and allows you to believe in it a little more,” CC coach Kris Mayotte said. “The way we played Saturday (against North Dakota) showed that (confidence) was growing. College hockey is so good, winning one game somewhere happens all the time. Your ability to stack wins is really about belief, confidence and good play.”

Which sets the stage for a highly anticipated league series between two teams playing good hockey when the second-ranked Fighting Hawks take on the No. 15 Tigers (16-9-1) this weekend at Ed Robson Arena.

That December series result, hard as it was to swallow for the team and its fans, proved beneficial for North Dakota (20-6-2), judging from subsequent results, with an 8-1-1 record since to vault into first place in the league.

“That was a good punch in the face. That’s something we needed,” defenseman Bennett Zmolek said during UND’s weekly media conference.

“We learned a lot as far as ourselves and a lot about what (CC) brings to the table as well,” said coach Brad Berry who recorded his 200^th win at UND earlier this month. “They are a patient team. They try to capitalize on miscues or errors. Puck management (will) be a key. You have to force them into bad situations.”

The series pits strength against strength with a fast-skating Hawks offense looking to punch holes though CC’s frustrating defensive structure, which has it as the top-ranked defensive team in NCHC play (2.44 goals per game) with just 12 allowed in the last seven games.

A major reason behind CC’s surge is the foundation of that team defense — sophomore goalie Kaidan Mbereko, who became the NCHC’s lone semifinalist for the Mike Richter Award on Wednesday. The Aspen native stopped 54 of 58 shots (.931 saves percentage) against UND in December and is now 16-9-1 (2.52 goals against, .912 saves) overall and even better in NCHC play (2.25 goals, .924 saves).

He has more offensive support this season thanks to sophomore center Noah Laba’s breakout season (24 points, 15 goals, 7 game-winners) and linemate Veremyev (18, nine goals), who ended an eight-game scoreless streak in a home series split against second-place St. Cloud State two weeks ago.

Overtime bodes well for CC. Laba has four of the team’s five OT game winners with Veremyev collecting the fifth at UND in December. UND has gone 21-straight games without a loss in regulation (Nov. 3 at Boston University) but own a 3-5 record when playing the extra period.

To get there, the Tigers will need their secondary scorers to produce timely goals. That group is led by senior captain Logan Will (17, 11 assists), sophomore Ryan Beck (15, team-high 12 assists) and 12 points each from junior Stanley Cooley (eight assists) and freshman Evan Werner (eight assists).

The CC defenseman corps is producing as well, led by freshman Max Burkholder (11, three power-play goals) and seniors Nicklas Andrews (11, eight assists) and Jack Millar (10, seven assists). Freshman forward Bret Link is the 10th Tiger in double figures with 11 points (eight assists).

The Fighting Hawks are paced by Jackson Blake with team-highs in Points (39), goals (17) and assists (22) as part of a 10-game points. UND also has 29 points each from Cameron Berg (15 goals) and Owen McLaughlin (20 assists) and a solid goaltender in Miami transfer Ludvig Persson (17-6-2, 2.38 goals, .907 saves), especially behind an improved defensive corps paced by Alaska transfer Garrett Pyke (22, 19 assists).

Ice chips

UND owns a 173-86-12 all-time series lead against CC with 173 victories the most against any one program in North Dakota history.  … UND is 61-60-4 all-time in Colorado Springs. … The Tigers are one victory away from matching their best season win total since going 17-20-4 during the 2018-19 season. Those 16 wins are the best after 26 games since the 2007-08 season (started 18-7-1). … CC’s five OT wins are the most since the 1979-80 season (six).

Tigers miss on too many chances, fall 2-1 in overtime to second-place St. Cloud State Huskies

Photo courtesy Center Ice View

By Joe Paisley

This game had everything but the result Tigers fans wanted.

St. Cloud State’s Verner Miettinen scored with 12.7 seconds left in overtime and Huskies goalie Dom Basse recorded a career-high 44 saves to down the 14^th-ranked Colorado College, 2-1, Friday night.

It was a night of missed opportunities for both teams but the ones that went awry for Colorado College had the announced sellout crowd of 3,640 at Ed Robson Arena groaning as the Tigers out shot SCSU 45-24.

“We had a lot (of chances), including a 5 on 3 at the end of the game and in overtime but we weren’t able to get it,” Tigers coach Kris Mayotte said. “We had some bouncing pucks where we kind of had empty nets that just didn’t go our way. But that is hockey sometimes.”

“We talked about our Saturday game at Western (Michigan) and at that one maybe we didn’t deserve the extra point and we got it. Tonight, we probably deserved the extra point and didn’t get it.”

Two SCSU penalties in the final 36.4 seconds of the third period put the No. 16 Huskies down two men for the first 1:24 of overtime, but the Tigers were unable to capitalize.

It got even more frustrating for CC fans when Tigers sophomore Noah Laba, who has four OT game-winners this season, including two last weekend, broke free on a breakaway but fired his backhanded attempt over the Huskies net with 1:39 left to keep the Huskies alive.

They took advantage when Miettinen fired a shot past CC sophomore goalie Kaidan Mbereko’s glove attempt to win it. 

The OT loss, alongside Denver’s win over WMU Friday, dropped CC into fourth place. But the Tigers were not hanging their heads.

“I liked how we played,” Mayotte said. “I like especially that we built momentum through the second period and we stayed on it through the third period which I really liked. We have to rest up and be ready for tomorrow.”

A second-period goal by Stanley Cooley was negated by a goalie interference after a SCSU coach’s challenge with 4:33 left that would have tied it. But that sustained midgame surge by the Tigers who dominated the final 6:54 of the second period and continued to play well in the third.

“That line sparked it for us and we got to work after that,” Mayotte said.

Colorado College would break through when freshman Zaccharya Wisdom tied it with a power-play goal.

Wisdom, who plays bigger than his 175 pounds might suggest, stopped, fended off a Huskies defender and forced the puck in under Basse to tie the National Collegiate Hockey Conference series opener with a short-range tally with 11:28 remaining. It was a surprising way to tie the game, if only because CC came into the game with clicking at a paltry 10.9 percent (10 for 92) success rate with the man advantage.

Ryan Beck and Chase Foley picked up the assists, giving Beck a career-high and team-leading 12 assists.

“(Wisdom) is good in that area,” Mayotte said. “Him and (Bret) Link know how to hang out there. It was great for our power play to get one. He is consistent emotionally so I pulled him off the top line (for Evan Werner) for a couple shifts and he goes right back to work. That is a huge goal for us and big for him.”

Kyler Kupka opened the scoring for the second-place Huskies (12-8-5, 8-3-4-1-1-2 NCHC, 30 points) on the first shot of the game for the visitors, wristing a waist-high shot past a screened Mbereko for a 1-0 lead with 16:39 left in the opening period. It spoiled what had been a good start to the first period by the Tigers (15-9-1, 9-6-0-5-2-0, 24 points) which included a shot off the SCSU goal post by Werner just 23 seconds before Kupka’s tally.

The win snapped a 0-3-3 league run for the Huskies, who have not lost in Colorado Springs since Feb. 22, 2013. The loss ended CC’s five-game winning streak.

Ice chips

Entering this weekend, CC’s 15-8-1 record is its best after 24 games since the 2007-08 season (18-6 start). … Jan. 27 was the earliest CC has reached 15 wins since that season (Jan. 11, 2008). … The Tigers are 12-1 when scoring three or more goals and 14-4-1 when allowing three or less. … The underclassmen have now accounted for 49 of the team’s 73 goals, including 28 of the last 39.

Tigers winger Ryan Beck’s sophomore development one reason why CC enters this weekend’s series against Huskies on win streak

By Joe Paisley

Tigers sophomore Ryan Beck learned perhaps the most important lesson a talented forward can absorb in college hockey.

Controlled defensive tenacity leads to more offensive chances. Understanding that has paid off for the Colorado College winger, who surpassed his first-year offensive output (13 points, 11 assists) by mid-January (14 points, 11 assists) already.

The Michigan native plays at a consistent high level alongside freshman linemate Bret Link (11, eight assists) and senior captain and center Logan Will (17, 11 assists), who is enjoying a strong season of his own.

“Ryan Beck is playing the best hockey he has played since being here,” CC coach Kris Mayotte said. “I think Link is doing the same. You can see his confidence growing every game. Becker the same thing. His desire to create turnovers and his ability to create turnovers just keeps getting better and better because he is a dynamic stick.”

Beck’s improvement started in practice and video sessions.

“There is always something when you watch it back where I could have done better in that area or this area,” Beck said. “I do feel like I have taken strides in different parts of my game, especially defensively, and kind of earned the trust of the coaches, more so this year.”

It’s a good sign for a successful college career when an offene-oriented freshman learns to be a two-way player, typically by or during their sophomore season. It’s vital to do so in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference.

“Everyone plays hard-nosed hockey,” Beck said. “You can’t get away with anything. That first year was a big learning year. This year, things started to click, especially with the line that I am on. They know how to play that style of game very well, which helps me out, helps me fit in more. It’s really my linemates and the coaches helping me through that this year.”

Mayotte credited Beck’s improved game management. That often comes with experience and better familiarity of the CC systems you expect from a sophomore.

“Ryan Beck is probably as talented guy as we have with the puck on his stick,” Mayotte said. “He uses it in the right moments. He knows when it is time to hang onto it for the extra second. He knows when it is time to try and beat a guy to the inside. He knows when it is time to just advance the puck and move forward.

“That’s where he has really grown, which is allowing him to get the points and be the impact player that he is becoming.”

Thanks to that simple lesson.

“When you don’t cheat for offense. you actually get more offense,” Beck said. “That’s been the biggest learning curve and that has paid off the most.”

The Link-Will-Beck line are one of the reasons not named Noah Laba or Kaidan Mbereko why the 14^th-ranked Tigers (15-8-1, 9-5-0-5-1-0, 23 points NCHC), tied for third with Denver, are on a five-game winning streak.

This weekend’s home series against second-place St. Cloud State (11-8-5, 7-3-4-0-1-2, 28 points) is the only one scheduled between the league foes this regular season.

The talented Huskies started off NCHC play 7-0-1 but have since come down to Earth — in large part due to the weekly grind of the NCHC schedule. SCSU has not won a league game in regulation in 2024 with former Tigers goalie Dom Basse looking to rebound from a rough personal stretch (0-3-1, 4.67 goals against, .835 saves percentage).

Regardless, the 16^th-ranked Huskies are more than capable of sweeping the Tigers, who are 6-5-1 at Ed Robson Arena.

“They are good defensively,” Mayotte said. “Their D corps has changed a lot. They have some younger guys back there, but they play such good team hockey that it is hard to create advantages. It’s going to come off of our structure and our pursuit to create turnovers and putting our guys in spots where we can attack off of those.”

The importance of each game grows as the NCHC playoffs near. CC shows signs of developing into a team built for the postseason, including the NCAA Tournament, which the program has not reached since NHLer Jaden Schwartz led the Tigers to the 2011 West regional final.

The Tigers are 6-1 this season in tied games when entering the third period, supported by an improved offensive output with 21 goals scored in the last eight games, in contrast with the 8-game run CC ended last season on when they managed just 10.

“We are building the characteristics of teams that win down the stretch,” Mayotte said. “But what we have done has no bearing on what is ahead of us. This team has a good focus, a good hunger and a good drive, so I trust we will be ready to play.”

No. 16 Tigers’ scoring depth has CC heading to No. 12 Western Michigan for series with considerable home playoff ice implications

By Joe Paisley

No. 16 Colorado College’s improved scoring depth is one of the reasons the fifth-place Tigers are on the hunt for home playoff ice as they head to No. 12 Western Michigan, currently fourth in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference standings, this weekend.

It is the improved play of seniors such as Jack Millar, building off a core of offensively talented underclassmen (44 of the team’s 68 goals), that helped put CC in this position.

For Millar, the difference is as much mental as physical. Recovering from offseason surgery to repair a torn hip labrum kept the 6-foot-5, 220-pounder off the ice for 5-plus months, giving him to time to reflect.

“This was probably the longest going without skating since I began playing hockey, so it was difficult from that aspect but good for me to set myself apart from hockey and look at where I wanted to improve,” he said. “I did a lot of video with our D coach (associate head coach Peter Mannino) and we noticed that an area of great improvement would be for me to get more inside the dots to release shots.

“That has allowed me to be a little more effective in the offensive zone,” Millar added. “That was really good for me to do this summer.”

As a result, the Westminster, Colo. native matched a career-high eight points (career-best three goals) in 22 games this season after recording eight (college-best seven assists) in 39 games last season. He recorded his first career game-winner on Saturday against Miami.

The uptick in offensive production complements his abilities as shutdown defenseman on the 13-8-1 Tigers’ No. 1 defensive pairing alongside Nicklas Andrews.

“It’s the amount of minutes that he can eat and the match-ups (against top forwards) that he can take,” Mayotte said earlier this season. “The way he impacts a game isn’t something that shows up on a stat sheet and isn’t greatly appreciated, maybe, by the average fan but the amount of plays he breaks up with his stick, especially on the penalty kill.”

It’s those tough minutes that Millar and the rest of the CC defensive corps must absorb against a potent Western Michigan squad that came into Ed Robson Arena last November and swept the Tigers.

Those home losses, the start of an 0-3-1 dip ended by a road sweep of then-No. 1 North Dakota, proved valuable for CC, winners of six of its last eight games.

“We learned a lot from that series,” Mayotte said. “Them taking it to us Saturday night here was the point where we did some deep reflection. We think we have been a pretty good hockey team since.”

“Now, it is just continuing to build,” he added. “Our Monday video session wasn’t about Saturday’s win but more about how we aren’t good enough still in some areas and about continuing to get better. When you play really good teams, they have the ability to expose what you don’t do very well. Last time we played them, they certainly did.”

WMU controlled play by dominating the Tigers, currently second (.533) in men’s Division 1, on faceoffs and winning most of the individual battles for loose pucks everywhere else.

“Too often they came out with the puck and we didn’t,” Mayotte said. “Your ability to have the puck and hang onto it is imperative (in smaller rinks like Lawson Ice Arena). We have to make sure that is our mentality going into it.”

If the Tigers win their share of 50/50 battles, that bodes well with strong goaltending from CC sophomore Kaidan Mbereko and an offense that can produce points in tight games due to that scoring depth and top-line players like sophomore top-line center Noah Laba (19 points, 11 goals), senior second-line center Logan Will (17 points, 11 assists),  and sophomores Gleb Veremyev (16, eight goals) and Ryan Beck (14, 11 assists).

That allows CC to roll with four lines with junior Stanley Cooley (11, eight assists) centering the third line and a dynamic freshman forward like Evan Werner (10, six assists) in the bottom six.

“We have a freshman class that knows how to score,” Mayotte said. “It is an asset that stands out and we have upperclassmen who continue to get better, like Logan Will. Our D corps we have seven goals all year and we have 10 this year, which is a big piece. We simply have more guys who can do it and it tests the other teams’ depth.”

“The last 12 games in the NCHC down the stretch, goals are at a premium,” Mayotte added. “Our hard offense needs to continue to develop. We need to get bodies to the net and make sure they are staying there.”

CC defenseman Max Burkholder’s career-best three points propels No. 18 Tigers to series and season sweep of Miami RedHawks

By Joe Paisley

Colorado College freshman defenseman Max Burkholder ended a four-game pointless streak with a career-high three points to help the 18th-ranked Tigers pull away for a 4-2 win over Miami.

“Our team is going on all cylinders and I was just lucky enough to be a part of those chances,” Burkholder said.

He played a larger role than that.

“When he is playing well and he is dynamic offensively he is playing with a lot of poise,” Tigers coach Kris Mayotte said. “We saw a lot of that early in the year on the nonconference stuff. I think he got his feet moving again with pucks instead of being just a distributor, he attacked and was smart about it.”

“It was part of our game plan on how we wanted to build our line rushes and build our entries and I thought he was a big-time contributor to our execution,” he added.

The two home wins this weekend secured the four-game season sweep of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference foe and extended the Tigers’ streak against the last-place RedHawks to 11-0-2 since January 2020.

The Tigers scored the eventual game-winner with 5:29 left in the second period, pulling ahead 3-1 on a goal by senior defenseman Jack Millar. The Tigers kept up the pressure which led to a scrum behind the Miami net and a slashing call on CC’s Zaccharya Wisdom, much to the dismay of the announced sellout crowd of 3,454 at Ed Robson Arena.

The boos for a referee were loud, frequent and energized the Tigers, who shut down Miami then and during another power play that started just 15 seconds after the first man advantage ended.

“They were super loud and that is so nice to have,” Burkholder said. “That brings energy right to our bench. It was super big for us and it showed on the ice.”

“It was a huge moment and you had to execute,” Mayotte said. 

That second MU power play extended into the third, which CC dominated, much as the fifth-place Tigers (13-8-1, 7-5-0-3-1-0 NCHC) did in Friday’s 2-1 victory. The Tigers out shot the RedHawks 17-6 in the third and controlled play for the rest of the game.

The Tigers clinched the win when Wisdom knocked in a rebound after a Burkholder power-play drive and shot to the Miami net, making it 4-1 with 8:49 left. Burkholder’s drive was set up by senior captain Logan Will. The freshman from Toronto made his presence felt throughout the evening with his skill, speed and physical play.

“To win hockey games you have to be a team that can finish,” Mayotte said. “On back-to-back nights, we had two really good third periods but we have to find a way to get 60 (minutes). We are still not quite there.”

It was a breakout game for CC freshman Klavs Veinbergs as well. The big Latvian recorded two assists for his first points as a Tiger. 

The second assist — the primary on Millar’s goal that put CC ahead for good at 3-1 – showed why Tiger fans should be excited to watch him develop in 2024. 

The 2022 Tampa Bay draft pick showed good vision, making a pass from his knees from below the goal line out to Millar, who fired a low shot past Miami goalie Bruno Bruveris (28 saves) for a two-goal lead with 5:29 left in the second and the eventual game-winner.

Veinbergs flirted with his first college goal, missing out on three opportunities Saturday. You have a sense that college first may come soon.

“He has such a good shot that our entire bench is begging him to shoot the puck,” Mayotte said. 

Just as they did on Friday, the last-place RedHawks (7-13-2, 1-10-1-0-0-0 NCHC) jumped out to a 1-0 lead when PJ Fletcher knocked in a power-play rebound after a shot by Ryan Sullivan. Miami led just 2:13 into the game but CC was quick to respond.

In the first period, Tigers leading scorer Noah Laba (19 points, 11 goals) scored 4 1/2 minutes later, jamming in a rebound on the second try to tie the game at 1-1. Six seconds earlier, Laba had ripped a shot off the crossbar that bounced away harmlessly, but the Tigers won the faceoff in the Miami zone, setting up his tying tally.

Burkholder made a highlight-reel play of his own, skating behind the Miami net and around before firing a shot high glove side that beat Bruveris midway through the first for a 2-1 CC lead. He later assisted Laba’s goal and Wisdom’s tally to account for his three points.

Ice chips

Will now has 11 assists (17 points) to move into a tie for the team lead with sophomore Ryan Beck (14 points). … CC is now 12-1 when scoring three or more goals with the lone defeat a 4-3 home loss to Augustana, which recorded its first win over a ranked team Friday (5-4 at No. 16 Arizona State). … The Tigers are 12-3-1 when allowing three goals or less. … CC’s 13-8-1 record after 22 games is the best since the 2011-12 team started 13-8-1. … CC now leads the all-time series versus the RedHawks 21-11-4. … The CC underclassmen have recorded 44 of the Tigers’ 68 goals this season.

No. 18 Tigers come home, face improved Miami RedHawks

By Joe Paisley

Expect an improved, more confident Miami squad when the No. 18 Tigers host the RedHawks this weekend.

The last-place RedHawks broke through for their first National Collegiate Hockey Conference win this season, knocking off longtime rival Western Michigan on Saturday, capping off an upward trend for Miami (7-11-2, 1-8-1-0-0-0) despite losing their starting goalie Logan Neaton to injury recently. Freshman backup Bruno Bruveris of Latvia is now 1-1 in his place.

“Everyone is just sick of losing,” MU coach Chris Bergeron said in his weekly media conference. “We have played better hockey than our league record indicates. Full marks to our opponents for that.

“I don’t see how that can’t give us a little momentum, at least internally,” he added. “When we do things right, we give ourselves a chance.”

Miami’s top centers are expected to be in the lineup with graduate forward Albin Nilsson of Sweden playing in his third game since returning from an injury that sat him for the first half of the season. He previously played for Providence and Niagara.

“It was huge having him back,” said junior center Raimonds Vitolins of Latvia. “He made a big impact (one goal, one assist) for us already in his first two games.”

Nilsson or Vitolins did not play in November which CC coach Kris Mayotte says makes Miami a deeper and more difficult team to play against for the fifth-place Tigers (11-8-1, 5-5-0-3-1 NCHC).

“They are a much different team with those guys in their lineup,” Mayotte said. “They get players back. They get a big win at home against Western. They are going to come in feeling like this is very different than last we saw them.”

“They are as good an offensive rush team as we have seen,” he added. “They are playing with confidence, for sure.”

The key for CC will be maintaining puck possession to avoid those rushes and keep the top forwards from starting on offense before needing a line change.

That can be accomplished since CC is tied for first in the Division 1 on faceoffs with a .551 percent team win percentage (668-544) with Michigan and Quinnipiac.

“That means the other team has to spend energy trying to get it back,” Mayotte said. “We want to be a team where we can wear teams down. It plays really into the kind of team we want to be.”

Logan Will leads CC with a 206-142 record followed by Noah Laba (185-143). Mayotte credited the work of assistant Andrew Oglevie and the effort of the wingers and defensemen to collect the puck after the scrum on the faceoff dot.

“Our guys are confident and have multiple ways to win,” Mayotte said. “They are winning on their forehands and the backhands which is great for me because I can roll lines instead of picking the dot based off hand.”

The RedHawks are paced by Matthew Barbolini (20 points, team-high 12 assists), who is averaging a point per game with support from P.J. Fletcher (18 points, team-best nine goals)s

For the Tigers, entering their second weekend in a row as the higher-ranked team, it’s about playing to their capabilities, knowing they can battle back despite uneven performances. That also means playing well the entire game and avoiding lengthy letdowns that have kept CC from winning league games in regulation, which costs league standings points.

“It’s about that 60-minute effort,” Mayotte said. “If we play for 60 minutes, we do trust we will get those regulation wins. Right now, we are not playing a full 60, other than Sunday against Minnesota, in the last few games. That’s the key.”

Miami will not overlook the Tigers who swept the RedHawks in Oxford in November to lead the all-time series 19-11-4.

“I see a team whose confidence is growing all the time,” Bergeron said. “Their confidence is something they have earned. They are young. They are hungry and someone we are trying to emulate. It will be a tough series.

“They compete really hard and they have confidence against us, which they should,” he added. “(CC sophomore goalie Kaidan) Mbereko is a really good player. They have good players everywhere.”

Mbereko is fresh off his third NCHC Goaltender of the Week award, two in the past three weeks, while Miami’s Dylan Moulton garnered the league defenseman accolade.

The Tigers are paced by sophomores Laba (16 points, team-high nine goals) and Gleb Veremyev (15, eight goals), senior captain Will (15, nine assists), sophomore Ryan Beck (14, team-leading 11 assists) and junior Stanley Cooley (11, eight assists), who recorded two goals and an assist to spark the Tigers in Duluth.

Freshman Bret Link had a big series at Minnesota earlier in that road trip to enter this weekend with 10 points (seven assists).

Ice chips

Friday night’s game will be televised on CBS Sports Network. … Miami is winless in the last 11 meetings with the Tigers and looking for its first victory in Colorado Springs since Jan. 10, 2020.

Noah Laba clinches Colorado College comeback in OT thriller over Minnesota-Duluth

By Joe Paisley

The Tigers showed a flair for the dramatic Saturday night in Duluth.

Colorado College sophomore Noah Laba scored just 1:39 into overtime to upend Minnesota-Duluth and give the 17^th-ranked Tigers a 3-2 win in Amsoil Arena. The visitors garnered three out of a possible six road points against the Bulldogs and concluded a challenging four-game road trip.

Laba stole the puck and started a 2-on-1 breakaway with Bret Link during the 3-on-3 overtime, gathering speed in transition before firing the puck past UMD goalie Zach Stejskal to end the game and give CC its only lead this weekend.

“That was a big-time release,” Tigers coach Kris Mayotte told KRDO Radio. “It was a good job by him recognizing that Duluth likes to dive to block shots so he didn’t make the crossing pass into the defender. Then he picked his corner, that’s for sure.”

“Having that defender in the middle gave me the opportunity to pull and shoot,” Laba said of the shot that went in under the cross bar.

It was the N.Y. Rangers draft pick’s second OT winner this season, all coming during a run of four-straight National Collegiate Hockey Conference games reaching OT with the Tigers prevailing three times. The win moved the Tigers (11-8-1, 5-5-0-3-1, 13 points) back into sole possession of fifth place ahead of the Bulldogs (7-10-4, 3-6-1-1-2-1, 12 points) and seventh-place Omaha (11-7-2, 4-5-1-3-0-1, 11 points), which lost at No. 4 North Dakota earlier.

Almost as dramatic was CC senior defenseman Nicklas Andrews’ goal with 0.2 seconds left in the second period that tied the game at 2-2.

The senior defenseman fired a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle that found its way through traffic and past Stejskal (29 saves) and hit twine with just 0.2 seconds left to tie the game at 2-2. Andrews’ one-timer came off a pass from the corner by Gleb Veremyev with the second assist to Laba.

Saturday’s win came after Minnesota Duluth dominated the final 6:51 of the third period but CC sophomore goalie Kaidan Mbereko (17 third-period saves, 34 game) was up to the challenge. He made five saves during the Bulldogs’ only power play of the game and added four more stops, stoning Darian Gotz with 30 seconds left in regulation to force extra time.

It was arguably his finest period of the season so far, coming in his fourth start in seven days. The poised Tigers were tired mentally by the lengthy road trip, Mayotte said, and it showed with UMD keeping CC hemmed in most of that period.

“A big part of what looks like poise is when you have a goaliw who can bail you out in those situations,” Mayotte said. “We just found a way to keep the game going.”

The sixth-place Bulldogs pulled ahead 1-0 late in the first period, outshooting CC 3-0 during a Tigers power play, recording a shorthanded goal by Carter Loney.

The scoring spurt continued early in the second period with both teams scoring goals 34 seconds apart. CC’s Tyler Coffey scored off an assist by Stanley Cooley, his third point this weekend, just 2:20 into the second period to tie it at 1-1 only to see UMD’s Kyle Bettens cash in a CC turnover on the next shift for a 2-1 lead.

“I am proud of the resiliency of the team and their ability to get this one done when we weren’t very good,” Mayotte said. “The guys are ready to get back home and obviously this is a good way to end the road trip.”

Next weekend, CC hosts last-place Miami, which recorded its first league win this season, 4-2, over No. 10 Western Michigan earlier Saturday.

Ice chips

Sophomore Ryan Beck’s team-high 11^th assist Friday night gave him 14 points, already surpassing his freshman year production (13 points, 11 assists). He was one of only two Tigers freshmen (defenseman Ethan Straky) to play in every game that season.