Tiger hockey fans witnessed an exciting start to the season last Saturday, Oct. 3, when Colorado College defeated the University of Calgary, 6-2, in an exhibition game.
“[Calgary] is an older team,” said Head Coach Mike Haviland. “Most of them were 24- to 25-year-old men. They had nine guys that played pro hockey for a couple years. So, it was probably a bigger challenge than the fans would have seen it as since it’s not a North Dakota or a BC or a Denver… I was a little nervous going in, and I think the guys were nervous…I thought they handled it well and did an amazing job. It was really nice to get off to a good start with a win.”
CC opened the scoring in the first period with a goal by freshman forward Trevor Gooch. Only three minutes later, CC increased their lead with a goal by junior forward and captain Sam Rothstein. Rothstein is the first junior to be named captain since 2004.
“I think it is important to try to keep everyone on the same page and working towards the same goals while portraying confidence,” said Rothstein when asked how he would lead the team this season.
With only a few minutes left in the period, freshman defenseman David Radke made a power-play goal, sending CC into the second period with a 3-0 lead. Radke’s goal would actually end up being the game-winner.
“We do everything together and are all best friends,” said junior goalie Derek Shatzner. “Honestly I would say what makes our team so special is how close we are. Being able to play side by side with your brothers and knowing that they would do anything for you is what I think will make our team so good this year.”
After a successful first period, the Tigers went on to make another three goals in the second period. First-year forward Westin Michaud tallied two at the 2:26 mark and 14:28 mark. Both goals were made during power plays. The Tigers capitalized on four of their 12 power-play opportunities against Calgary.
Just seconds after Michaud’s second goal, Calgary finally scored, moving swiftly to pass CC’s defense. But Calgary never had a chance of closing the gap. At the 15:59 mark, senior forward Hunter Fejes scored CC’s final goal of the game, bringing the score to 6-1 at the end of the second period.
In the third period, Calgary fought back, managing to score once more, but they couldn’t overcome CC’s explosive opening lead. CC now has a 6-3-1 all time record against Calgary. This is the first time CC has played Calgary since 2009, when CC won 4-2.
Each of CC’s three goalies played one period. Junior Tyler Marble made seven saves in the first period. Shatzner made eight saves and was scored on twice. The game was Shatzner’s first career action since joining the Tigers. Lastly, first-year Jacob Nehama made four saves in the third period.
“I have been working towards my first game ever since I came to CC, so honestly I’m glad I was able to play so well and prove myself my first time out there,” said Shatzner. “However, it was the student section that made it such a special moment. It was pretty cool to have such an awesome crowd out supporting us for our first game, and to be able to play that well in front of them made it that much better.”
The Tigers open their regular season with two Homecoming Weekend games against University of Massachusetts on Oct. 9 and 10 at the Broadmoor World Arena.