After a disappointing 2020-21 season that ended with a short-handed team taking a run at St. Cloud State in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff quarterfinals in Grand Forks, Colorado College experienced, um, a handful of changes.
–> Leading scorer Josiah Slavin turned pro.
–> Captain Grant Cruikshank transferred to Minnesota.
–> Forward Ben Copeland transferred to Penn State.
–> Forward Troy Conzo transferred to Sacred Heart.
–> Head coach Mike Haviland was let go.
–> The Tigers played their last game at the Broadmoor World Arena.
The big change was at the top, where Haviland — who went 67-153-22 in seven losing seasons at the helm — left the school and was replaced by longtime college assistant coach Kris Mayotte. The native Pennsylvanian has coached with some prominent programs, sporting stints at places like Union, Providence, and Michigan on his resume.
The Tigers visit Duluth this weekend for a two-game series against UMD, the teams’ only meetings this season. It marks, strangely, the second year in a row where UMD and Colorado College will only play twice, as the schools were placed in opposite “divisions” for the shortened 2021-22 campaign and only were supposed to meet at the NCHC Pod in Omaha.
(Of course, Colorado College’s COVID issue that happened pre-Pod meant one of those scheduled games happened in Duluth.)
Don’t think for a second that UMD head coach Scott Sandelin has forgotten about either of those games.
“They beat us twice last season,” Sandelin said this week, referring to a 4-1 Colorado College win in the pod, followed by a 2-1 win in Duluth in February. The game in Duluth marked CC’s only win in its last 14 games (1-13). On that night, the Bulldogs outshot the Tigers 43-14, but Colorado goalie Matt Vernon made 42 saves and the Tigers scored twice on five shots in the third period. The pod meeting was UMD’s third game in four days, and the Bulldogs had little in the tank after emotional games against North Dakota (shootout win) and Denver (regulation win). Dominic Basse made 30 saves for his first collegiate win.
“You’ve got to respect them,” the head coach said in referencing last season. “For us, make sure we play our best, because it’s going to be tough, a tight hockey game. They’ve got some quickness to their game. They compete, they don’t give you a lot of room on the rink.”
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In a league dominated by older players, Colorado College has succeeded largely on the backs of its youth. It’s not something lost on Mayotte, and it surely does offer promise of better days ahead for the Tigers.
“The exciting part is the young guys, and the growth that is ahead of us,” Mayotte said this week. “If you look at it as ‘Hey, we’re really young, so imagine the kinds of steps we can take this year,’ that’s kind of how we’ve decided to look at it.
“I think our youth excites our staff, because we want to grow.”
Seven of the Tigers’ top eight scorers (the exception being senior co-captain Bryan Yoon) are either freshmen or sophomores. The sophomores include skillful Minnesota native Matthew Gleason, who has nine points (3-6-9) in ten games. Sophomores Logan Will (three goals) and Jordan Biro (five goals), along with freshman Stanley Cooley (one goal) all have seven points.
Basse has played every second in net so far, posting a 2.48 goals against and .907 save percentage. The 6-6 Chicago draft pick is a tough nut to crack when he plays to his size, which is happening at an increased rate as he gains more experience.
Mayotte is optimistic about what he’s seen so far, and a lot of that credit goes to Yoon and co-captain Brian Hawkinson, whom Mayotte points out is on the fourth head coach of his college career (he was at Miami before transferring west). He’s played for Rico Blasi and Chris Bergeron at Miami, and now Haviland and Mayotte at Colorado College.
“He’s been around,” said Mayotte of Hawkinson. “He’s seen a lot, a lot of different experiences.”
The leaders are trying to help Mayotte change the culture around the Tiger program.
“We’re trying to change how people think of CC, what the standards are, what the expectations are,” said Mayotte, who was an assistant under Mel Pearson at Michigan last season. “Like this past weekend, ‘Hey, you guys hung in there against St. Cloud.’ Well, we don’t play to hang in with anybody. We play to win.”
The Tigers won’t play to hang with UMD, either, though Mayotte’s respect level for his team’s opponent this weekend is very high. Remember, he helped Pearson and the Wolverines prepare for UMD last March, in an NCAA regional game that never happened because of the COVID issue that popped up for Michigan on game day.
“When you put on Duluth film, you’re not surprised,” he says of the Bulldogs. “What stands out is how deep they are, how consistent they are, how quick they transition, how hard they forecheck. Every time you watch it, you’re reminded that it’s done at an elite level.
“That’s going to be our challenge. Can we play our style and stick to it for 120 minutes?”
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UMD will again be shorthanded up front this weekend. Junior forward Luke Loheit remains out with an injury, and freshman Kyler Kleven joined Loheit on the injury report. He left Friday’s game early after scoring his first career goal in the second period. Kleven didn’t play Saturday, and Sandelin said he is questionable for this weekend.
Sophomore goalie Zach Stejskal remains out, as well, so Ryan Fanti will make his sixth straight start on Friday night.
While the depth up front has been hit by the injury bug, Sandelin has gotten some quality shifts out of his fourth line, which featured Kleven and Ben Almquist as Carter Loney’s wings Friday, then Jarrett Lee in Kleven’s place on Saturday in Kalamazoo.
No matter who’s on the wings, Loney has continued to impress.
“I think he’s gotten better every week,” Sandelin said of Loney. “He’s a very intelligent player.”
That intelligence and Loney’s high level of consistency through the first part of the season has earned him time on the UMD penalty kill, which ripped off nine straight successful kills after an early power play goal allowed to Western Michigan Friday night. The season percentage shot up over 82 after languishing in the 70s before Saturday.
“They were dialed in,” said Sandelin of the killers on Saturday. “I thought our guys executed some of those little details. We’ve got to keep getting better exits and clears. Still a work in progress, but it was a good weekend for us to take some steps.”
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We’ll have coverage at 6:30 Friday and Saturday on KDAL, here on the website, and via the app (you can also find us on iHeartRadio if you have too many apps and don’t want another radio app).
I’ll be back at some point before the game with the line charts.
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