Colorado College hockey gears up for home playoff series vs Omaha in conference tournament
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - The Colorado College Tigers hockey team (20-11-3) will host the No. 12 Omaha Mavericks (20-10-4) this weekend starting March 13, at Ed Robson Arena, with the beginning of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) tournament.
CC earned themselves a #10 ranking in the country thanks to some impressive wins throughout the season, such as then ranked No. 1 North Dakota, No. 4 Denver University and No. 9/10 Minnesota.
In late February, the Tigers and the Mavericks squared off in back to back games, which saw Omaha win 3-0, and tie 1-1. Since then the Tigers have notched wins against Minnesota Duluth, and split games against Denver University.
"I felt like we just couldn't get to our game last time they played hard and shut down the middle of the ice for us. So once we got past that, we actually had a lot of success in like the third period and stuff like that." explained Freshman winger Bret Link on the February matchup.
"[Omaha is] a good face-off team for sure. Nolan Sullivan's really good. A couple of the other guys as well." added Noah Laba, a Sophomore Center for the Tigers. "So that comes with a lot of video and prep, just seeing their tendencies on the draws and being able to counter those is going to be really important."
However the Tigers feel that having the NCHC Quarterfinals at their home rink, Ed Robson Arena, will play a big factor in the opening series.
"You know, we got them home this time, which was would be nice for us. A lot of energy there. But we know they're a good team and it's just about taking their strengths and being able to attack those and attack their weaknesses as well." explained Laba.
CC (20-11-3) has not recorded a 20 win season since the 2010-2011 season, and are coming off a 9 win season just two years ago in 2021-2022. The prospect of making it to the tournament with a talented team, has them:
"Super excited about that. I mean, obviously we had a ton of success during the regular season, but we're starting a new season now." said Link. "Right now we want to keep this thing going as long as we can and yeah, but we're taking it one game at a time."
