Wednesday notes

Colorado College has scored only two goals in each of its past three games. At Michigan Tech last weekend, the Tigers were limited to four goals in a weekend for the first time this season.

Michigan Tech and Air Force, which the Tigers beat 2-1 Jan. 19, are very defensive-minded, meaning they protect the slot and area in front of the crease above all else. Michigan Tech is also one of the more physical teams CC has played, featuring a little more of an old-school clutch-and-grab style. Because of Michigan Tech’s discipline, though, the Huskies managed to avoid penalties. And thanks to scoring first both nights, Michigan Tech could afford to play an extremely defensive style.

CC players are wary of a second-half slide, especially with only a five-point lead over streaking North Dakota and a tenuous seven-point lead over third-place Denver, which has played four fewer games — so too, it seems, are the coaches. Several drills in Wednesday’s practice centered on getting the puck to the net, including 1-on-1s to goal, in which the players had to fight past another player to get a shot on net.

Against Clarkson this weekend, an Eastern College Athletic Conference team which likely will resort to a defensive style to slow CC’s fast-paced transition game on the Olympic sheet (the Golden Knights’ first game on an Olympic sheet this season), the Tigers will try some brand-new groupings.

From Wednesday’s practice:
Sweatt–Rau–Testwuide
McCulloch–Vlassopoulos–Kilpatrick
Thauwald–Johnson–Walsky
DeBoer–McMillin–Schultz
Overman–Quilico

As you can see, McCulloch is expected to be back in the lineup after a four-game hiatus.

On Clarkson
You might be wondering about Clarkson. Located in Potsdam, N.Y., Clarkson has an enrollment of 3,000 (as compared with CC’s ~1,950). The Golden Knights made the NCAA Tournament last season after winning the ECAC tournament and lead the ECAC standings this season. Clarkson and CC have played eight times and the Tigers own a 7-0-1 record. The most significant meeting between the schools was in 1957, the year of CC’s last national championship, when CC defeated Clarkson to advance to the NCAA title game against Michigan. The past four meetings have been in regular-season series, with the most recent in October 2003. The Tigers met Clarkson in the 1997 and 1998 NCAA Tournaments.

Tiger Tracks
At 29 years old, Toby Petersen won the speed skating competition at the 2008 AHL All-Star Game with the fastest time in a decade. Petersen also scored on the first penalty shot in All-Star Game history…Brett Sterling and Brian Salcido also scored for Team USA in the All-Star Game…James Brannigan had a goal for the Augusta Lynx in an 8-6 win over the Gwinnett Gladiators (ECHL)…Recruit Nick Dineen had a goal Tuesday in the USHL All-Star Game…Rookie Colin Stuart got his second call-up this week to the Atlanta Thrashers…Even though he was demoted from the Calgary Flames in favor of goaltender Curtis Joseph, the other Curtis — Curtis “CuMac” McElhinney – is the “closest” to being NHL ready, Flames’ Western pro scout Ron Sutter said.

Bachman recognized…again.

In case you missed it, goaltender Richard Bachman picked up his third Defensive Player of the Week honor from Western Collegiate Hockey Association Tuesday, the fifth time he has received recognition from the league. The Tigers remain ranked fourth in both weekly polls.

Start clicking
Think Colorado College has a candidate for the Hobey Baker Award? Want to throw your weight behind Air Force’s Eric Ehn, who was a top-three finalist last season? Go to hobeybaker.com and follow the ‘Vote for Hobey’ links.
**I tried it Thursday afternoon to see if I could give more instruction, but it didn’t seem to be active yet.

Sign of things to come?
Bemidji State, which plays CC at World Arena on Jan. 18, will present its case to WCHA officials for admittance into the 10-team league on Jan. 13. With the demise of the Wayne State program, which is playing its final season this year, the five-team College Hockey America conference shrinks to four programs and the future of programs at BSU, Robert Morris, Niagara and Alabama-Huntsville looks bleak. Because a conference with fewer than six teams is not permitted to receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, the ability of CHA schools to recruit and be competitive would be extinguished. The CHA, which was started to help new programs make the transition to Division I, was granted an exception in 2005 that ends after this season.

Tiger Tracks
NHL:
It’s nothing new for long-time Tigers fans who watched Mike, Colin and Mark Stuart come through the ranks, but it’s still neat to think about what Colin’s recent call-up to the Atlanta Thrashers means to his family back in Rochester, Minn.

A look at the downside of being a back-up goaltender in the NHL gives Curtis McElhinney a shout-out for his work in 131 minutes of play this season.

AHL:
Former Colorado College center Brett Sterling was named a starter for the 2008 AHL All-Star game’s U.S. team, announced Thursday. The game will take place January 28 in Binghamton, N.Y. He’ll be joined by fellow CC alums Toby Petersen (Iowa Stars) and defenseman Brian Salcido (Portland Pirates).

ECHL:
Would-be senior James Brannigan, who departed CC in the summer only to be released by the Augusta Lynx (ECHL), got a belated Christmas present. Depleted by the call-up of former CC teammate Aaron Slattengren (who enjoyed a brief stint with the Manitoba Moose (AHL)), the Lynx signed Brannigan to a player try-out contract (a 25-game agreement) on Dec. 27. On Slattengren’s first night back in Georgia, Brannigan scored his first professional goal on former teammate Matt Zaba, who stopped 35 of 41 shots in the Charlotte Checkers’ loss.

Meanwhile, Trevor Frischmon could play his last AHL game Friday, when his PTO contract expires.

USHL/Recruiting Front:
Recruit Nick Dineen, who is slated to join the Tigers this fall, was named to the 2008 USHL Top Prospects/All-Stars game, to be played Jan. 29 in Green Bay, Wis.