No. 4 CC 2, St. Cloud State 4 (final)

Less than 3 minutes into the second period of CC’s first loss at World Arena this season, it looked like the Tigers were poised to make yet another comeback.

But CC just couldn’t make enough happen, even with two big calls in the third period to swing momentum in its favor.

Most of CC’s shots were from the perimeter as St. Cloud State had three, four and, at some points, five players clustered in front of the net. Saturday’s game called for a bit more grittiness around the net than the Tigers gave. You can see it in the shot chart.

Before St. Cloud State took a two-goal lead with two goals in 27 seconds midway through the first, CC was doing a decent job of keeping the puck below the circles and maintaining pressure. Defenseman David Carlisle’s slap shot from the blue line ricocheted off goaltender Richard Bachman‘s pads and into the net. Bachman was trying to go into a butterfly to make the save, but Carlisle’s shot was simply too hard. Then, St. Cloud State’s Matt Hartman fed Garrett Roe from behind the net and Roe knocked it in for the quick two-goal lead.

Five minutes later, CC drew within a goal when defenseman Jack Hillen ripped a shot from the high slot near the blue line. Center Tyler Johnson tipped it past goaltender Jase Weslosky for his fourth career goal. But 1:23 later, Hartman passed behind Bachman to Roe, who finished into the net.

CC scored 2:32 into the second when Johnson made a scrappy play and centering pass before being pancaked by Carlisle. Eric Walsky scored for his first goal since Jan. 11.

You can read about the third-period opportunities Sunday at www2.gazette.com/tigerden.

–Don’t forget about Sunday’s Skate with the Tigers at Sertich Ice Center from 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Game day: No. 4 CC 6, Alaska-Anchorage 1 (final)

How it happened:
After settling for outside shots in a scoreless first period, Colorado College honed in on high-percentage shots in the second and third periods. All six goals came from beneath the tops of the circles, and all three second-period goals were scored from goaltender Jon Olthuis‘ doorstep.

Of the 10-3 margin in shots after the first period, center Eric Walsky said: “Those were really more perimeter shots. We weren’t really getting any good opportunities or using our speed. We were kind of lackadaisical.”

Fun stats:
–Right wing Jimmy Kilpatrick, who had a goal and three assists tonight, has 21 career points (7 g, 14 a) in 11 games against Anchorage.
“I’ve had success in the past and you feel good playing teams like that,” said Kilpatrick, who has had a point against Anchorage in nine of 11 career games.
Kilpatrick has had three three-point nights and two four-point nights against the Seawolves.
Kilpatrick’s best series against Anchorage came in his freshman year at Sullivan Arena, when he chalked up a goal and two assists in a 6-1 win Friday and followed up the next night with four assists in a 7-2 win.

–CC now has scored three goals in the third period of four of the last five games (say that three times fast). In three of four games entering tonight, the Tigers were held scoreless in the first 40 minutes. But against Anchorage, the Tigers chipped in three second-period goals.
“That’s something that we’ve been focusing on for quite a few games now since we’ve been having such slow starts,” Walsky said. “Tonight, we finally put it into action a little better than in previous nights.”

–CC hasn’t scored a first-period goal since taking a 2-0 lead after a period in a 5-4 overtime loss to UMass on Dec. 30.
In the second period, “we made a point to come out hard because we had another slow first period,” Walsky said.

–Goaltender Richard Bachman has kept opponents scoreless in seven of the last nine periods played. In the last three games, Bachman has saved 69 of 70 shots for a paltry 0.66 goals against average and a 0.980 save percentage.

–Of the nine goals Walsky has scored this season, three have come against Anchorage, which he transferred from after the 2005-06 season.
Asked if the Seawolves bring out the best in him, Walsky said:
“No, I think I just got some bounces. If that were an ordinary game, they would have all hit the post or something. But tonight I had bounces going my way. It felt good.”
No extra spark, really?:
“No, there really isn’t. I try to take every game as seriously as the next. But it definitely feels really good against my ex-team and teammates. It’s a little bit of a pride issue. But I don’t think I play any differently against them than any other team.”

–After not scoring in his first 16 games, center Tyler Johnson has two goals in three games….Left wing Scott McCulloch, who led the Tigers with 18 goals last season, has two goals in two games to bring his season total to four.

In case you miss it in tomorrow’s paper (www2.gazette.com/tigerden):
Former CC goaltender Matt Zaba (2003-07) was reassigned from the Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL) to the Idaho Steelheads (ECHL). He’ll join Colorado Springs native Kellen Briggs, who played from 2003-07 at Minnesota, in the goaltending rotation.

Johnson Listed By NHL Central Scouting

Colorado College center Tyler Johnson, 18, is listed among the NHL Central Scouting’s NCAA players to watch released today. Denoted as “Limited Viewing,” Johnson (2 assists) is on the scouts’ radar, but they just haven’t seen enough of him to make a judgment call.

Johnson’s high school teammate, goaltender Reid Ellingson, who now plays for Northern Michigan, is also on the list as a ‘C’ goaltender. That’s pretty amazing: two players from Cloquet, Minn., a town of 11,500.

Other WCHA players on the list include Wisconsin defenseman Cody Goloubef (1 goal, 4 assists) and Alaska-Anchorage forward Brad McCabe (1 goal, 2 assists).

See the rest of the list here.

Game day: CC 3, North Dakota 1 (end of 2nd period)

Goals:
2. Colorado College 1, North Dakota 1: Matt Watkins (Joe Finley), 5:52.
Joe Finley slung a pass from the Sioux’s left corner all the way to Matt Watkins, who caught it at the blue line. Watkins had CC defenseman Ryan Lowery beat when he got the pass and took goaltender Richard Bachman one-on-one, beating him inside the right post.

3. Colorado College 2, North Dakota 1: Scott McCulloch (Brian Connelly, Cody Lampl), 9:54, pp.
Eight seconds into the Tigers’ second power play of the night, Brian Connelly‘s knee-height slap shot from the blue line was tipped past goaltender Jean-Philippe Lamoureux by Scott McCulloch. It could be McCulloch’s second game-winning power-play goal at Ralph Engelstad Arena in as many seasons (his redirect gave CC a 4-3 win in the last minute on Nov. 24, 2006).

4. Colorado College 3, North Dakota 1: Eric Walsky (Tyler Johnson, Bill Sweatt), 10:43.
For once, CC answered its own goal within a minute. Bill Sweatt made a centering pass out of the right corner, which Tyler Johnson redirected across the crease. Eric Walsky was there and ready to knock it inside the left post, past defenseman Taylor Chorney and Lamoureux.

• Bachman has 23 saves on 24 shots.
• CC outshot North Dakota 10-6 in the second period.
• Checking on the three keys:
• 1. Limit North Dakota to two goals or less. Through two periods, mission accomplished.
• 2. Score two even-strength goals. Halfway there.
• 3. Score first. Done and done.

I would add that the Tigers need to be wary of the precarious two-goal cushion, which has given them a false sense of comfort in the past (New Hampshire). CC needs to show it can put a game away and play a strong third period (New Hampshire, both games). I’m adding a fourth key, which would be score first in the third period.

Game day: CC 0, New Hampshire 0 (end of the 1st period)

Goals:
No scoring.

Shots/power plays:
CC has a 12-6 advantage in shots on goal and has two power plays to New Hampshire’s one.

First period analysis:
A muggy night in Durham has perhaps contributed to the soft ice at Whittemore Arena tonight. Players are sliding everywhere and are having trouble making quick changes of direction and stopping on a dime. Both goalies have made some clutch saves to keep the game scoreless.

CC’s goaltender Richard Bachman made a point-blank save with less than five minute left in the period on a shot from center Peter LeBlanc. New Hampshire backup Peter Foster shut down a three-on-two rush by the McCulloch-Johnson-Walsky line after Walsky created a neutral-zone turnover.

The Tigers are doing a much better job of possessing the puck out of their defensive zone tonight and aside from LeBlanc’s shot, have limited the Wildcats to outside shots.

Gameday: CC 3, New Hampshire 5

Goals:
First period
Colorado College 1, New Hampshire 0: Eric Walsky (Tyler Johnson), 2:12. Johnson put the puck on net from the left circle, making goaltender Kevin Regan stop it with his body first. Walsky slid the puck under Regan as he tried to smother it with his body.

Colorado College 2, New Hampshire 0: Jimmy Kilpatrick (Chad Rau), 9:40. Less than 30 seconds into a four-on-four situation, Rau wins the puck in the neutral zone and Kilpatrick joins for a two-on-one rush. Kilpatrick catches Rau’s pass in the slot and slings the puck over Regan’s blocker, just inside the left post, to score on his first shot of the season.

Colorado College 2, New Hampshire 1: Bobby Butler (Brad Flaishans, Mike Radja), 9:48. On the subsequent face-off, won by Mike Radja, Flaishans collected the puck and passed to Butler, who caught O’Connell moving and finished with a low wrist shot. The announcer had not finished saying the previous scoring line, marking the second time this season the Tigers have given up a goal within a minute of scoring.

Colorado College 3, New Hampshire 1: Jack Hillen (Bill Sweatt), 15:10, pp. CC earned its second power play of the game when New Hampshire defenseman Craig Switzer flipped Kilpatrick, who was posted up in front of the Wildcats’ net. Just 32 seconds into the man-advantage, Sweatt passed to Hillen on the point. Hillen leaned as if he would make a pass to Nate Prosser at the left circle, but got the New Hampshire penalty kill to shift and ripped a wrist shot past Regan.

Second period
Colorado College 3, New Hampshire 2: Matt Fornataro (James vanRiemsdyk, Flaishans), 0:15. Flaishans created a turnover at the blue line, passed to vanRiemsdyk who found Fornatero in the right circle. On the first shot of the second period, Fornatero had plenty of time to pick his spot. His wrist shot sailed in over O’Connell’s glove hand to draw the Wildcats within a goal.

Third period
Colorado College 3, New Hampshire 3: Jerry Pollastrone (Butler, Peter LeBlanc), 9:45. Walsky’s pass out of the defensive zone went straight to Pollastrone, who ripped a shot through traffic from the top of the slot to tie the score.

Colorado College 3, New Hampshire 4: Pollastrone (LeBlanc, Butler), 17:29, pp. With 21 seconds left in the Wildcats’ third power play of the night, LeBlanc banged the puck hard off of the back wall and Pollastrone backhanded it through O’Connell’s legs. The puck hit the left post and bounced out, prompting a video review, but it was ruled it crossed the goal line, upholding the original call.

Colorado College 3, New Hampshire 5: Fornataro (unassisted), 19:50, en. CC was only able to pull O’Connell for the last 20 seconds because the Wildcats had pinned them in so well with their forecheck. Fornataro created a turnover and finished in the empty net.

Inside the stats:
–The Wildcats did not allow a shot over the final 10 minutes.
–CC had the edge in face-off wins, 34-32. Chad Rau led the Tigers, winning 15 of 25 attempts.
–UNH goaltender Kevin Regan, who will be replaced tomorrow with sophomore Brian Foster, coach Dick Umile said, allowed three goals on eight shots in the first period.

Non-stop

When practice wrapped at 10:30 Tuesday night, Colorado College junior Cody Lampl had some words for the players stretching around him.

“That was awesome,” he said, exhaling and prompting nods from the rest of the team.

Coach Scott Owens had 16 skaters and three goaltenders dripping with sweat after the high-intensity workout.

For the first time, the Tigers were organized into lines, which I’ll put below. But I wouldn’t place too much significance on them, considering that forwards Andreas Vlassopoulos, Chad Rau, and Tyler Johnson were not at practice. Defensemen Jake Gannon and Ryan Lowery also did not show.

Until October 6, the date of CC’s season-opening exhibition against Calgary and the first official day of practice, players are not required to attend the thrice-weekly workouts. Usually, the only reasons the players will miss practice is for an academic purpose or for medically mandated rest.

Those who did attend participated in offensively minded drills, including the “three-goal” drill, in which one goal is placed at center ice and two are placed in the corners. The team is divided into two and the drill promotes offensive creativity and vision. If one net is clogged, players who go to the open space are often rewarded with breakaway and 2-on-1 situations. Some of the highlights of the three-goal drill were freshman goaltender Richard Bachman, who continues to impress with his saves, and sophomore wing Mike Testwuide, who said his left knee (partial tear of the medial collateral ligament) is healed, looked quicker to the puck than last year.

Testwuide said he focused on increasing his leg strength and speed in the off-season. When I asked Testwuide if he was planning on being involved more in cycling the puck than just sitting in front of the net, he assured me, “No, no, I’ll be there.”

[in no particular order]
Red McCulloch–Thauwald–Testwuide
White Sweatt–Walsky (not enough players to complete line)
Gold Overman–McMillin–Lampl
Blue DeBoer–Schultz–Patrosso

Defensemen: Wysopal, Fredheim, Hillen, Connelly, Prosser
Goalies: O’Connell, O’Brien, Bachman
***
Assigned to Manchester (AHL) Tuesday night, former Tiger Richard Petiot will not return to the Centennial State when the the Kings play the Avalanche in a 7 p.m. preseason tilt.

Tiger Tracks and Practice Notes

After watching classmate Brandon Straub compete Sunday at Avalanche rookie camp in Centennial, former Colorado College goaltender Matt Zaba boarded a plane bound for New York on Wednesday. According to Newsday’s New York Rangers beat writer, Zaba is displaying his Tiger pride at Rangers training camp.

Former Tiger Mark Cullen (1998-02) signed a one-year contract with the Detroit Red Wings in July. He’s one of 68 players on the Red Wings’ training camp roster.

This is a little old, but better late than never: Tyler Liebel, a right wing who played for CC from 2000 to 2004, will return to the Wichita Thunder of the Central Hockey League this season.

***

Some notes from captain’s practice (Tuesday, Sept. 11)

The Tigers didn’t scrimmage, aside from a chippy game of continuous 3-on-3 hockey at the north end of the rink. Freshman Tyler Johnson, who is listed as 5-foot-8, 155 pounds, caught some glass-bending checks from junior defenseman Jake Gannon. Johnson’s hands are as quick as advertised. A few of Johnson’s shifty moves to goal prompted ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ from the onlooking players, so maybe Gannon was hoping to toughen Johnson up for significant minutes this season. I will look into this at the next practice.

Aside from the 3-on-3, CC did tons of skating, shooting and conditioning drills. I happened to be sitting at the south end of the rink during one round of 4-on-goal. Freshman goaltender Richard Bachman stopped eight or nine shots and rebounds during one impressive succession, which left some of the forwards shaking their heads in disbelief. The drill was not intended to be a “goalie success” drill.

Injured alternate captain Jimmy Kilpatrick (hip labrum) appeared in sweats and watched practice from behind the glass with trainer Jason Bushie and strength coach Mark Stephenson. The practice was scheduled from 9:15-10:15, but Stephenson put the Tigers through a few extra conditioning drills at the end.

Lastly, it took me about 10 minutes to figure out that sophomore forward Addison DeBoer was on the ice because I simply did not recognize him. In a few months time, DeBoer is taller, his neck is thicker and his shoulders are broader — all indications that some hard work occurred over the summer. After the skate, I spoke with him about his summer training regimen.

In addition to skating “a lot” and training six days a week, DeBoer also worked 40 hours a week for the City of Spring Lake Park (Minn.), his hometown, picking up trash, landscaping and working on other public works projects.

DeBoer added at least 10 pounds and “an inch or so,” which puts him at 6-foot, 190 pounds, he said.

“It was bound to happen sooner or later,” DeBoer said of his growth spurt.

He said he can tell the difference on the ice. So can I.

***

Other notes:
–Some might have missed the audio slideshow that Gazette photographer Todd Spoth and I produced about Straub’s experience at Avalanche rookie camp. Check it out here.

–For those of you that will be out of the area over the Thanksgiving weekend, it might behoove you to know that Denver’s new Webcast service will carry the Nov. 24 CC-DU matchup at Magness Arena. It’ll cost you $8.95, but you know how the Visa commercials go.