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.

CC Recruits Face-off In USHL Fall Classic

Want to get a look at some future Tigers? The USHL Fall Classic begins today in Sioux City, Iowa, and will be broadcast online via B2 networks, the same service that will be available on cctigers.com this season. Here’s the link to watch. All times listed are Central.

Games involving recruits are:

Thursday, Sept. 27
10:00 a.m. Omaha Lancers (Dakota Eveland–2009 or 2010) vs. Green Bay
1:00 p.m. Lincoln Stars vs. Ohio Jr. Blue Jackets (Tim Hall–2008)
3:00 p.m. Sioux Falls Stampede (Nick Dineen–2008) vs. Waterloo Black Hawks (Andrew Hamburg–2008)

Friday, Sept. 28
10:00 a.m. Waterloo Black Hawks (Hamburg) vs. Des Moines Buccaneers
1:00 p.m. Chicago Steel vs. Omaha Lancers (Eveland)
4:00 p.m. Ohio Jr. Blue Jackets (Hall) vs. Sioux Falls Stampede (Dineen)

Saturday, Sept. 29
12:00 p.m. Omaha Lancers (Eveland) vs. Ohio Jr. Blue Jackets (Hall)
4:00 p.m. Sioux Falls Stampede (Dineen) vs. Cedar Rapids RoughRiders
7:00 p.m. Sioux City Musketeers vs. Waterloo Black Hawks (Hamburg)

***
With the demise of the Wayne State (Mich.) hockey program announced yesterday, Grand Forks Herald hockey reporter Brad Elliott Schlossman poses an important question: Will Bemidji State join the WCHA in 2008?

***
Tiger Tracks:
Colin Stuart was reassigned to Chicago (AHL), but Brett Sterling made on the Atlanta Thrashers’ roster.

Noah Clarke is still in the hunt for a spot on the New Jersey Devils’ roster.

Curtis McElhinney will start the season as the Calgary Flames’ backup.

***
For those who are curious, the Tigers have a practice scheduled for tonight at 9:15 at Honnen Ice Arena (NW corner of Cascade and Cache La Poudre Streets). I’ll get the rest of the schedule tonight.

Speed, Defensive Systems Are Focuses Monday

With less than two weeks until Colorado College’s first hockey game, coaches Joe Bonnett and Norm Bazin began implementing defensive systems on Monday night. As in seasons past, the Tigers will play a man-to-man defense and minimize switches–when one player trades his defensive assignment to another player–which Bonnett said promotes an aggressive mentality.

During one-on-one defensive drills in the corners, defenseman Brett Wysopal was a standout. Even though he is the shortest player at 5-foot-7, Wysopal uses his lower center of gravity to his advantage. Against left wing Scott McCulloch, Wysopal was a downright pest with his stick and not afraid to check McCulloch whenever possible.

Bazin also had the forwards practice backchecking by having them sprint down the ice, take a shot, and sprint back.

Fitness in the form of cross-ice sprints and serpentine skating patterns was integrated throughout the practice to Bazin’s and Bonnett’s chorus of “speed, speed, speed!” and “go, go, go!”

All together the practice laid out the ingredients of success for the Tigers this season. They’ll be going all-out up the ice, generating shots with their speed. With the forwards backchecking aggressively, they’ll try to create turnovers in the neutral zone and keep the puck from even reaching the young defensive corps and untested goaltender. When the puck gets into the defensive zone, each player will play in-your-face defense with the hopes of never giving their opponents an open look or an easy lane to drive the net.

Of course, all of this is easier said than done.

Only 11 days left until the season-opening exhibition against Calgary and 24 until the first game against Minnesota.

***
Here were Monday night’s lines:
White Sweatt–Vlassopoulos–Walsky
Red McCulloch–Johnson–Testwuide
Blue DeBoer–Rau–Schultz
Gold Overman–McMillin–Patrosso
Maroon Thauwald–Lampl

What are your thoughts about these combinations? Post a comment.

***
An interesting article on the utility of face shields, which features the contrasting stances of Boston Bruin and former CC defenseman Mark Stuart, and his father, Michael Stuart, who is USA Hockey’s Chief Medical Officer. It mentions Stuart’s older siblings and former Tigers, Colin and Mike Stuart.

Tiger Tracks:
–Mark Cullen assigned to Grand Rapids (AHL).
–Marty Sertich reports to Iowa Stars (AHL) training camp.

Coaches Emphasize Precision

With assistant coaches Norm Bazin and Joe Bonnett running practice Monday, the speed was cranked up a notch. Colorado College players spent most of the 90-minute practice split into separate groups: the forwards worked with Bazin and the seven-man defensive unit worked with Bonnett. No special teams work as of yet.

Among the forwards’ focal points were precision passing and toughness. One drill was devoted to taking hits along the glass while protecting the puck.

On the defensive end of things, senior Jack Hillen and junior Jake Gannon took charge, setting a hard-working pace in footwork drills.

Alternate captain Jimmy Kilpatrick (hip) and reserve sophomore Dan Quilico (ankle) watched practice from the bench.

Coach Scott Owens and athletic director Ken Ralph observed practice.

***
Both members of the St. Louis Blues’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Peoria Rivermen, last season, Peter Sejna and Mike Stuart remain on the free agent list. Although I never saw Sejna play for CC, I can’t imagine that many predicted he would be on the outside looking in at 27 years old. See Sejna’s career numbers here. Sejna won the 2003 Hobey Baker Award.

In reference to his bad-luck injury, former CC goaltender Curtis McElhinney says he is still adjusting to the NHL.

Recent CC grad Matt Zaba was released from New York Rangers training camp and will report to Hartford (AHL). Defenseman Brian Salcido will report to Portland (AHL).

Also, Thrashers win 4-3 in OT with two goals from Joey Crabb, one from Brett Sterling and an assist from Colin Stuart. Crabb, one of 13 players reassigned from training camp, will return to Chicago (AHL).

Tiger Tracks

I don’t usually get reader feedback, but every time I’ve written about Colorado College hockey alumni, I always get a ton of emails. So I hope “Tiger Tracks” will keep you informed once a week with current stats or news on CC’s professional hockey players.

—

September marks the start of NHL training camps, which means that hockey season is just around the corner. Several CC alums who played in the American Hockey League last year have a chance to crack NHL rosters this year, including Marty Sertich and Brett Sterling, who both graduated in 2005.

The Dallas Morning News reports that Sertich will not play for the Stars rookie team in an eight-team round-robin tournament, which starts Friday in Traverse City, Mich. Instead, he will be preparing to challenge for a spot on the Stars’ roster starting Sept. 14. The only other Minnesota-native forward on the Stars training camp roster? Former CC left wing Toby Petersen (1996-2000), who played briefly with Sertich on the Iowa Stars (AHL) last season before he was called up to the Edmonton Oilers. Petersen became an unrestricted free agent in the offseason and the Stars signed him to a one-year, two-way contract in July.

Some are calling Sterling a lock to make the Atlanta Thrashers’ roster after he ran away with the AHL scoring title and Rookie of the Year honors last year. Sterling racked up 97 points (55 goals, 42 assists) in 77 games with the Chicago Wolves. Sterling will be joined by fellow CC alums, classmate Joey Crabb and Colin Stuart (2000-04), when camp starts Sept. 14.

Former CC goaltender Curtis McElhinney (2001-05) will be battling for a back-up position on the Calgary Flames after emerging as a starter for Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights (AHL) last season and posting a 2.13 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage along with a 35-17-1 record and seven shutouts.

That’s all for today. If you want to know more about a former Tiger, leave me a comment or drop an email to kate.crandall@gazette.com, and I’ll do what I can to track him down!