Gutbuster

Apparently, the five “too many men on the ice” penalties that Colorado College took during the 2006-07 season was five too many.

At Tuesday’s practice, which was sparsely attended because the Tigers are ending their first block of classes this week, strength and conditioning coach Mark Stephenson made a point to address those five penalties.

The players, listed below, started practice with no sticks, which I took as an ominous sign. I was right. Just 15 minutes long, the workout had most of the team doubled over.

White Sweatt
Red McCulloch–Johnson–Testwuide
Blue DeBoer–Rau–Schultz
Maroon Lampl
Gold McMillin–Patrosso
Defensemen Hillen, Lowery, Gannon
Goalies O’Connell, Bachman

It began with a series of sprints from the goal line through the blue line. Then came the bench drills. For the first one, Stephenson divided the team in two and put each group in a box. The players had to clear the boards, skate from goal line to goal line and get back over the boards as fast as possible. The other team would go once the first team had finished and the Tigers did two sets of four or five “suicides.” Then, Stephenson had the players jump over the boards, touch the opposite wall, and get back in the box as quick as possible. Each set took about two minutes, but to the players it was probably an eternity.

After Stephenson was done with the Tigers, they did a few shooting drills and played 3-on-3 in the north end of the rink. In one sequence, goaltender Richard Bachman got caught out of position on the right side of the net and managed to come across the entire face of the goal to rob Bill Sweatt on a wrist shot. Goaltender Drew O’Connell made a nice save of his own less than a minute later, when Jack Hillen skated around the back of the net, planning on stuffing it inside the left post. But O’Connell made a backhanded snag to thwart the score. With the defensemen-plus-red-line team up 2-1, Hillen yelled, “Next goal wins” and Derek Patrosso scored the game-winner, beating Bachman over his right shoulder.

I chatted with Stephenson after practice and he said, of the four CC teams he has coached, this season’s squad is the fittest and also the most focused. Stephenson coached for seven years at Providence College before joining the staff at the National Strength and Conditioning Association’s headquarters next to World Arena.

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The Grand Forks Herald released its annual preseason coaches’ poll and the Tigers were picked no. 3. A closer look at the votes shows that Denver and Wisconsin were just two and three votes behind, respectively, meaning that the Western Collegiate Hockey Association coaches think it will be a dogfight for spots 3-5. A little research by Herald reporter Brad Elliott Schlossman shows that, in the five times CC has won the MacNaughton Cup since the 1990-91 season, the Tigers were not tabbed to finish first place. Look for more in tomorrow’s Gazette.

37th Annual Grand Forks Herald WCHA preseason coaches poll

Rank School Points
1 UND (7) 79
2 Minnesota (3) 74
3 Colorado College 55
4 Denver 53
5 Wisconsin 52
6 St. Cloud St. 43
7 Michigan Tech 41
8 Minn.-Duluth 23
9 MSU-Mankato 19
10 Anchorage 11

Preseason rookie of the year Kyle Turris, UW, 9; Evan Trupp, UND 1
Preseason player of the year Ryan Duncan, UND, 5; T.J. Oshie, UND, 3; Taylor Chorney, UND, 1; Kyle Okposo, Minn., 1

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Tiger Tracks:
Former CC defenseman Brandon Straub began training camp Tuesday with the Lake Erie Monsters (AHL) this week and encountered a familiar face among the defensive corps: Colorado Springs native Preston Briggs, older brother of former Minnesota goaltender Kellen Briggs (who has landed with the Idaho Steelheads (ECHL), by the way).

What are the odds? The Briggs’, Straub and former CC player Scott Polaski are the only Colorado Springs natives I’m aware of who are playing professionally. If you know of more, please drop me a comment or an email at kate.crandall@gazette.com.

UPDATE: Colorado Springs native Luke Fulghum, a former Denver player, agreed to terms with the Stockton Thunder (ECHL). Another Springs product, former Mitchell High student David Hale is a near-lock to make the Calgary Flames’ roster. That brings the grand total of Colorado Springs natives in professional hockey to six players, but please contact me if there are others I am missing.

Straub To Report To Lake Erie Monsters (AHL)

Former Colorado College defenseman Brandon Straub learned Sunday afternoon that he will be sent to the American Hockey League affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche, the Lake Erie Monsters (Cleveland, Ohio).

Once the Avalanche returned from the Burgundy and White scrimmage, held at Cadet Ice Arena in Colorado Springs, a cut list was posted. Straub estimated he was among “four or five” defensemen, one goaltender and “a bunch” of forwards who did not make the Avalanche roster for Monday’s exhibition game at Phoenix, he said.

In his meeting with the Avalanche coaching staff, Straub received positive feedback about his performance during four days of rookie camp, two days of training camp and the scrimmage, in which he had two assists.

“They said they were happy with me, especially because I came out of nowhere as an undrafted free agent,” Straub said. “They thought I was a pleasant surprise.”

Straub’s report was consistent with coach Joel Quenneville’s comments after the game.

“He got our attention in rookie camp,” Quenneville said. “I thought that he’s done a nice job here. Not everybody had that opportunity to come to training camp . . . I didn’t know that much about him but he showed his versatility and he was being active in the game.”

Although he was disappointed that he didn’t make the roster, Straub made a point to stress the positive.

“About a month ago, I didn’t have a camp to go to,” Straub said. “Now, I have a week off and I can go in there with an edge, having gained experience here.”

During Sunday’s scrimmage, Straub was mostly paired with John-Michael Liles, who was also his partner throughout the two-day training camp.

“I thought he did great,” Liles said. “There’s a reason why he’s here.”

Liles said he had to remind Straub not to apologize for mistakes.

“He’s very humble,” Liles said. “I told him, ‘Don’t worry about it.’”

Straub said being paired with Liles helped ease his nerves.

“I could ask him for pointers,” Straub said. “He was really helpful and told me about their systems and where to be on face-offs and stuff like that. . . . With some guys, you’re on edge and afraid to make mistakes. With him, it’s the opposite. He encouraged me to take chances. As long as I was working hard out there, he was happy.”

A contract still hasn’t materialized and the organization can continue to evaluate Straub until the end of the month, per the terms of Straub’s amateur tryout contract.

Straub said he will spend the week in Colorado Springs, training, skating and lifting. Tigers strength coach Mark Stephenson, who was in attendance Sunday, is directing Straub’s lifting program.

When he reflected on the experience of taking the ice at Cadet Ice Arena in an Avalanche uniform, Straub called it “one of the most fun times I’ve ever had playing hockey.”

“I could do it in my hometown and next to NHL players and I was right there playing well and contributing,” he said. “It was very exciting.”

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Former CC defensemen Richard Petiot and Tom Preissing are among 39 players and 13 defensemen left in the Los Angeles Kings’ training camp. Preissing scored a goal for the Kings in Saturday’s preseason game against the Ducks. The Kings play the Avalanche at Pepsi Center at 7 p.m. Sept. 19.

This writer called former CC defenseman Mark Stuart a “virtual lock” to make the Boston Bruins’ final roster.

Former CC forward Aaron Slattengren signed on for another season with the Augusta Lynx (ECHL). Lynx training camp begins October 5 and former CC right wing James Brannigan will be bidding for a roster spot.

CC recruit David Civitarese (Calgary, AB), who is slated to join the Tigers in 2008, scored his first goal of the season Saturday.

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.

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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.

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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.