Hockey's Future Q&A with Sterling

Click here to read an interview that was conducted by Hockey's Future with former Colorado College Tigers star Brett Sterling, who started the year playing for the Atlanta Thrashers but was recently sent back to the Chicago Wolves of the AHL. Sterling led the AHL in goals last season with 55.

NTDP defenseman Marciano commits to CC

According to Kate Crandall's blog, U.S. NTDP Under-18 defenseman Joe Marciano has committed to Colorado College for the fall of 2008. The Alta Loma, Calif. native was also considering Harvard. Prior to joining the NTDP, Marciano, who stands at 6-foot-1, 194-pounds, played for Shattuck-St. Mary's in Fairbault, Minn.

Tuesday @ The Rink: CC head coach Scott Owens

Colorado College head coach Scott Owens participated in CSTV's "Tuesday @ The Rink" online chat. Click here to see what the Tigers' head coach had to say on the heels of his team's sweep of Minnesota.

St. Clair commits to Colorado College

As noted on the Western College Hockey blog, PF Changs U18 forward Colton St. Clair has verbally committed to Colorado College for the fall of 2010, according to The Scouting News. The PF Changs team was in Colorado Springs this weekend, and the team attended both CC victories over Minnesota.

Four CC players suspended

Colorado College's senior captain Scott Thauwald, sophomores Andreas Vlassopoulos and Brian Connelly, and freshman Brett Wysopal were all suspended for two weeks and not allowed to participate in hockey team activities for "wearing blackface and costumes of characters in a TV show about a black family," according to an article in the Colorado Springs Gazzette.

UPDATE: The players will be allowed to play this weekend versus Minnesota. LetsGoDU will have continuing coverage as the story develops.

According to the story, the incident occurred at the team's preseason golf outing. The team divided itself into groups, which each group picking a different television show to represent. Groups chose “Baywatch,” “Entourage,” “WWE,” “Scrubs” and “The Office." The group of Thauwald, Vlassopoulos, Connelly, and Wysopal chose to dress up in wigs and makeup as members of the "Family Matters" show.

From the article:

The punishment included two weeks without hockey team activities and disciplinary probation for the rest of the school year. The players were required to meet with members of the local branches of the NAACP and the Urban League, and participate in a campus forum at the school’s multicultural residence, Glass House, with members of the Black Student Union.

“The intent was to have good costumes,” Thauwald said. “We realize now, even though there was no racial intent, that what we did was wrong. We’ve all learned a lot through the last couple of weeks, and we’ve apologized to the school and the people we directly affected, and I feel like a lot of the students were pretty welcoming to our apology. We made a mistake.”

2007-08 Team Preview – Colorado College

Official Roster
Full Schedule
2006-07 Team Statistics

Top 5 Returning Scorers

1. F – Jimmy Kilpatrick – Senior – 7 G, 25 A – 32 points
2. F – Chad Rau – Junior – 14 G, 17 A – 31 points
3. F – Bill Sweatt – Sophomore – 9 G, 17 A – 26 points
4. F – Scott McCulloch – Senior – 18 G, 6 A – 24 points
5. D – Brian Connelly – Sophomore – 2 G, 15 A – 17 points

Key Losses From Last Season

F – Brandon Polich – 4 G, 15 A – 19 points
F – Braydon Cox – 7 G, 9 A – 16 points
D – Lee Sweatt – 9 G, 15 A – 24 points
G – Matt Zaba – 15-13-4, .917 save percentage, 2.39 GAA

2006-07 Scoring By Class

Senior 21 18.92%
Junior 42 37.84%
Sophomore 17 15.32%
Freshman 31 27.93%

Non-Conference Schedule

2 at New Hampshire – Oct. 26-27
1 vs. RPI – Saturday, Dec. 29 – Lightning College Hockey Classic, Tampa, FL
1 vs. UMass or Notre Dame – Sunday, Dec. 30 - Lightning College Hockey Classic, Tampa, FL
1 vs. Bemidji State – Jan. 18
1 vs. Air Force – Jan. 19
2 vs. Clarkson – Feb. 1-2

Incoming Freshmen

F – Tyler Johnson (Cloquet High School) / 18
F – Stephen Schultz (Lincoln – USHL) / 19
D – Ryan Lowery (Lincoln – USHL) / 19
D – Brett Wysopal (Tri-City – USHL) / 19
G – Tyler O’Brien (St. Paul’s Prep School, Concord, N.H.) / 19
G – Richard Bachman (Cedar Rapids – USHL) / 20

Average Freshman Age: 19.17

USHL: 4
U.S. High Schools: 2

Breakdown of Current Roster

Freshmen – 6
Sophomores – 10
Juniors – 5
Seniors – 5

NHL Draftees

D – Kris Fredheim – Sophomore – VAN
F – Chad Rau – Junior – TOR
F – Scott McCulloch – Senior – CHI
F – Bill Sweatt – Sophomore – CHI
G – Richard Bachman – Freshman – DAL

2006 Season Recap

After getting off to a 3-4-1 start, many questions whether Colorado College would have a real down season after going 24-15-2 the year before bowing out to Cornell in the first round of the NCAA tournament. However, Tigers’ head coach Scott Owens turned his team around after that sub-par start, as the Tigers went 14-6-1 over their next 21 games and appeared headed to another NCAA tournament birth.

However, with youth comes inconsistency, and the wheels fell off down the stretch. CC lost a pair of one-goal games to Minnesota at home, and then dropped a pair at Mankato State by a total of three goals. They rebounded nicely to take three of four points from Denver to close out the regular season, but were defeated – at home – in three games by Michigan Tech in the first round of the WCHA playoffs. Because of this, their chances of making the NCAA tournament were dashed and the Tigers’ season came to a close.

2007 Season Preview

The Tigers appear to be on the way up in the WCHA. They lose just 21 goals – or just under 19 percent of their total goals scored – from last year’s team, and many key players return. Up front, sophomore Billy Sweatt, who missed time last year due to a bout with mono, should excel in his second season in Colorado Springs. Senior Jimmy Kilpatrick will be out until November with an injury, but he should provide a nice spark upon his return. Junior Chad Rau is poised for a breakout season after registering 14 goals and 17 assists last year. Leading goal-scorer Scott McCulloch (18) also returns.

The Tigers also bring is some fire-power up front in the form of freshmen Tyler Johnson from Cloquet, Minn., and Alaska-Anchorage transfer Erik Walsky. Johnson had some injury issues last season but if he can stay healthy, he could be the next in a long line of little guys (he’s just 5’8”) to excel for the Tigers. Walsky, a junior, posted 15 points in 35 games for the Seawolves in 2005-06, and should prove to be a nice addition.

Seniors Lee Sweatt and Brandon Straub will be missed on the blueline, but CC has a nice core of young talent ready to step up and replace them. Sophomore Kris Fredheim should emerge this season, while fellow sophomore Brian Connelly will look to build on his 17-point freshmen campaign.

Matt Zaba, who played in 33 games as a senior last year, is now gone, leaving the duties to junior Drew O'Connell and freshman Richard Bachman. O’Connell, who posted a 2.90 goals against average and a .886 save percentage in eight games last year, will likely get the bulk of the work this year.

Key Question

Zaba was a rock between the pipes for CC over the last few years, so will the O’Connell / Bachman combination be enough for the Tigers? The Tigers have built a nice string together of very solid goaltending, starting back with Jeff Sanger, who handed the reigns off to Curtis McElhinney and then Zaba. There’s no reason to expect things to fall off, but neither 2007-08 candidate has proved that they can excel at the D-I level. They’ll get put to the test early this year, with the Tiger’s first six games coming with two each against Minnesota, New Hampshire, and North Dakota.

WCHA Blog Prediction:

Third Place, NCAA tournament birth

Previous Team Previews

Alaska Anchorage

CC's Kilpatrick out until November

Colorado College forward Jimmy Kilpatrick will be out until November because of a torn labrum, according to Colorado Springs Gazette writer Kate Crandall's blog entry. The senior led the Tigers in scoring last year with seven goals and 25 assists in 37 games.

Tigers' coach Scott Owens hopes to have the New Prague, Minn. native back in the lineup around Thanksgiving.

CC adds recruit for 2008

According to the Western College Hockey blog via Chris Heisenberg's recruiting website, forward Tim Hall has committed to Colorado College for 2008. Hall had 31 points in 56 games last year to lead the Ohio Jr Blue Jackets of the USHL in scoring during their first season in the league. He'll play for the Jackets again this season before joining the Tigers.

Hall is the sixth player (all forwards) to verbally commit to the Tigers for 2008 or 2009.

WCHA Roadtrip Town No. 3 – Colorado Springs

About one month ago, the WCHA Blog kicked off its list of which WCHA towns make for the best roadtrips. For my list, I’m basing this off five criteria (Access, Bars, City Experience, Hotels, and Ticket Cost / Availability). For a detailed list of what these five items mean to me, click here.

Here is a list of the cities the preview has previously covered up until today:

10. Houghton
9. Grand Forks
8. Mankato
7. St. Cloud
6. Madison
5. Anchorage
4. Minneapolis

This week, its city No. 3: Colorado Springs, Colo., which is home to the Colorado College Tigers.

Access

Most fans that visit the Colorado Springs area will likely need to fly. The city of Colorado Springs does have an airport, but I’ve always found that flights directly to the Springs are generally pretty expensive, and that flying into Denver’s international airport is often a better option.

If you’re flying from the Twin Cities to Denver, you can usually find a flight for less than $250, which is a pretty affordable rate for airfare. Denver’s airport is easy to get around and it’s on the outskirts of the city, so you’re not dumped into a traffic mess as soon as you land. It’s also very easy to head south to Colorado Springs right when you leave the airport, although make sure you have change with you, since it’s quicker to take the toll-road as opposed to cutting through the city of Denver.

Regardless, you’ll travel south on I-25 for a majority of the trip if you fly into or come from Denver. As of last spring, there is some construction on the road the closer you get to Colorado Springs, which does result in some pretty heavy traffic. But, the speed limit for most of that stretch is 75 MPH, so you can make some pretty good time. It’s about 70 miles from Denver to the Springs.

Bars

Downtown Colorado Springs features several cool bars and restaurants. My personal favorite is the Jack Quinn Irish Ale House, which is located in the heart of downtown and near several other popular establishments. As the name would suggest, it’s an Irish bar that features some unique beer choices and also has a great food menu.

Just down the street from Jack Quinn’s is Sam’s, which claims to be the world’s smallest bar. And, after seeing the place in person, I can’t argue with them. It could probably hold about six people comfortably, and even that may be pushing it. There are several pictures on the wall of various visitors to the bar. If you visit downtown Colorado Springs, this is a must see.

If you want to stay close to the World Arena (which isn’t in downtown), there are a few options, but nothing special. The two most popular pre and post-game hangouts – an Outback Steakhouse and a Carrabba's Italian Grill – are adjacent to the World Arena. These places will fill up very quickly before and after the games, so make sure you get there early.

City Experience

This is one area where Colorado Springs really excels, as its right up there with Denver and Anchorage in terms of WCHA cities with the best “touristy” things to do. My personal favorite is the Air Force Academy, which is an awesome thing to see. It’s very easy just to drive through the base, although you should make sure you have I.D.’s on-hand for as many people in your group as possible, since they are somewhat inquisitive when you first enter the base.

Once you get in though, the scenery is great, and there are plenty of items that are worth seeing, including the football stadium, the hockey rink (nothing special, but worth checking out since you’re presumably a hockey fan), and the Cadet Chapel, which I haven’t personally seen up close yet but plan on doing that in October.

The U.S. Olympic Complex is located near the Colorado College campus which is a little north of the World Arena, and this is another good thing to see. They have a solid gift shop and lots of historic pictures, along with the actual facilities where Olympic athletes have trained in the past.

Finally, you can also make the drive up into the mountains and head toward Pike’s Peak. You can drive up towards the top, but this drive is, not surprisingly, not meant for those who are afraid of heights. There isn’t much between your car and the side of the mountain. Even if you didn’t want to make the drive all the way to the top, just driving in the general area of Pike’s Peak will give you plenty of photo opportunities.

Click here to visit Colorado Springs’ visitor’s guide.

Hotels

There is several lodging options right next to the World Arena, which makes for a great setup. Three hotels – a La Quinta Inn, a Fairfield Inn, and a Residence Inn – are located right next to the restaurants I mentioned earlier. They are solid options, but I usually stay at the La Quinta since it’s generally a bit more affordable that the other two options. Regardless, I highly recommend that you stay at one of these three places, since they are so close to the arena and won’t crush your wallet.

Ticket Cost / Availability

Unless you are going to watch CC play Denver, tickets are pretty easy to get for a Tigers game, although you should probably be online or calling when single game tickets go on sale to ensure that you get seats. Most of the lower bowl at the World Arena is made up of season ticket holders, and some of the seats in the upper-level get kind of crappy the more up in the corners you get. If you plan on flying to make a trip though, you should do yourself a favor and make sure you get good seats to watch your squad.

Tickets are about $18-25 each.


Summary

Along with Anchorage, this is another trip that all WCHA fans should try and make at some point. The hockey is always solid, since CC is generally a very good team, but even if there was zero hockey on the trip, it’s just such a great town and area to see. There are lots of fun bars / restaurants and lodging in downtown and near the World Arena, and the city experience is right up there with Anchorage in terms of scenery and fun things to do.

Overall Grade: A

Former CC netminder Zaba signs with Rangers

Former Colorado College goalie Matt Zaba signed with the New York Rangers on Saturday. He was an eighth round pick of the Los Angeles Kings in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, but was not signed by the Kings after completing his senior year this past season. Zaba won 55 games over his four seasons in Colorado Springs.

Lessard, Niskanen, and Sertich featured on NHL.com

Former Minnesota Duluth players Junior Lessard and Matt Niskanen, along with former Colorado College player Marty Sertich, are featured in an NHL.com article today about some of the Dallas Stars' top prospects. Both Lessard (2004) and Sertich (2005) are former Hobey Baker award winners.

WCHA Arena No. 7 – World Arena

Three weeks ago, the WCHA Blog kicked off its list of which WCHA arenas are the best. I'm basing my list off of three criteria (Arena, Atmosphere, and Crowd). For a detailed list of what these three items mean to me, click here and scroll down a bit.

Here is a list of the arenas that I've already covered:

10. Sullivan Arena - Anchorage, AK
9. John MacInnes Student Ice Arena – Houghton, MI
8. Alltel Center – Mankato, MN

This week, its arena No. 7: the World Arena, which is home to Colorado College Tigers.

Arena

For hockey games, the World Arena holds just shy of 7,800 people, making it one of the larger arenas in the WCHA. Because it holds that many people, the arena features seating on all four sides of the ice. Most of the seats are very good, although some of the seats that are high in the corners on the “long sides” of the ice are almost behind the goal-line, which makes for tough viewing at times. It’s often tough to secure seats in the lower bowl because of the Tigers’ strong season ticket base, but any seat in that level is very good.

There is plenty of parking for those attending a game at the World Arena, as the facility features a large parking lot right in front of the arena. This lot is big enough to hold everyone for the game, which is key in this case because there are not many other options nearby aside from some side streets.

The World Arena does offer a nice mix on in-arena entertainment, including a bubble-hockey table. There is also a nice arcade area, which may be nice for those traveling with youngsters. The arena also offers a nice gift-shop just inside one of the main doors, and it offers a good deal of merchandise, including official WCHA game pucks, which make for a great collectible.

Atmosphere

I have only been to the World Arena for games where the University of Minnesota has taken on the Colorado College, and in those cases, it’s been a packed house each and every time. Because of that, I feel as I’ve experienced about as good of an environment as the World Arena can offer outside of a CC vs. DU matchup.

That being said, the arena doesn’t offer the greatest atmosphere. The ceiling in the arena is very high, which tends to give it a cavernous feel. It’s a multi-purpose facility, which tends to hurt the overall vibe the arena puts out.

The World Arena also relies heavily on piped-in rock music, which to me is a mark against it. Arenas like the Kohl Center (Madison) and Mariucci Arena (Minneapolis) are two examples of arenas that incorporate a band and for that get higher marks in this category than the World Arena does.

Crowd

The person that makes up most of the crowd for Tiger games tends to be a bit on the older side, which can lead to a quieter crowd than the (usually) high number of people in the building would indicate. If the fans in the World Arena had even half the passion of the fans that fill the Kohl Center on a nightly basis, this arena would be much higher on the list.

There is an above-average student presence, which is located on the end of the arena that the visiting team defends twice. They aren’t the most vocal group of students in the WCHA, but if the Tigers get rolling, the students can make their voices heard.

Summary

The World Arena is a step above the three arenas that come before it on my list. Its’ ranking of No. 7 is more because of the high-end quality of some of the arenas ahead of it on the list, and not because the World Arena is poor.

The atmosphere and crowd aren’t the greatest, but they certainly aren’t the worst. And the arena itself is very solid, especially when you consider it’s not a hockey-only facility.

Overall Grade: B-

National Junior Evaluation Camp begins today

The 2007 USA Hockey National Junior Evaluation Camp started today in Lake Placid, N.Y. The camp runs from today through Saturday, Aug. 11. This camp helps USA Hockey choose which players will represent the U.S. at the 2008 IIHF World Junior Championship, Dec. 26, 2007-Jan. 5, 2008, in Pardubice and Liberec, Czech Republic.

Here is a list of all the players with WCHA ties that will be at the camp. Players with a * after their name were on last year's team.

Cade Fairchild - D (Minnesota)
David Fischer - D (Minnesota)
Jamie McBain* - D (Wisconsin)
Ryan McDonagh - D (Wisconsin)
Trent Palm - D (Minnesota Duluth)

Mike Carman* - F (Minnesota)
Ryan Flynn - F (Minnesota)
Blake Geoffrion* - F (Wisconsin)
Kyle Okposo* - F (Minnesota)
Rhett Rakhshani - F (Denver)
Tyler Ruegsegger - F (Denver)
Jordan Schroeder - F (Minnesota recruit)
Bill Sweatt* - F (Colorado College)
Patrick White - F (Minnesota)

Click here to view the entire camp roster.