On Jan. 17, the Simon Fraser University Red Leafs visited the confines of Ed Robson Arena for an exhibition game against the Colorado College Tigers boys in black and yellow, marking their first matchup since the 2023–24 season. The Tigers won handily 8-3.
Despite the game not counting for the record, head coach Kris Mayotte welcomed the opportunity to keep the momentum of a series split against No. 4 North Dakota. Heading into their away matchup against University of Nebraska-Omaha next week, Mayotte said the matchup “felt better than having a bye weekend” and “helped us become a better hockey team.”
It took some time after the puck dropped for CC to find their footing, with SFU dictating the physicality early. Seconds after a Tiger penalty kill, sophomore Owen Beckner’s ‘28 shot was coughed up by the SFU goalie into the lap of Gavin Lindberg ‘28, who deposited it neatly in the back of the net, beginning the scoring 1-0 Tigers. In the waning minutes of the first period, Wilson Björck ‘29 found Bret Link ‘27 open in front of the net, capping off a power play with a clean finish to end the period 2-0 Tigers.
Before the excitement resumed, the first intermission played host to another grudge match, as the Junior Tigers youth hockey team scrimmaged before the zambonis came out. Though the quality of hockey may have been lower, the crowd was no less raucous, as the team wearing black edged out the team in white 3-1.
After the communal merriment, the action was back on. Four minutes into the second period, Beckner widened the gulf to three with a wrister neatly filed in the top of the SFU goal. The Red Leafs would not go down without a fight, though, as a pair of goals in the fifth and 14th minutes would bring the match within one point.
Forward Connor Hvidston ‘29 would score just nine seconds after the second SFU goal, opening the floodgates for the rest of the period. Three minutes later, Link would cash his second check of the match, and a minute after that, Hvidston would light the lamp again off an assist from Brayden Schuurman ‘29, making the score 6-2 and bringing the second period to a close.
Tomas Mrsic ‘29 would take a stick to the face early in the third period, eliciting a power play on an SFU roughing call. He would not be deterred, slicing a pass through the Red Leafs penalty kill unit to Lindberg, who would become the third Tiger of the night to score two goals. With three minutes on the clock, SFU scored a third goal. Not to be outshone in the final seconds, Merril Steenari ‘29 glided down the ice and deposited the puck in the corner of the SFU net with 0.2 seconds remaining. The horn blew as soon as the puck hit the net and the Tigers skated off the ice with an 8-3 win.
The respite from conference play allowed the Tigers to give opportunities to the whole roster. Though the exhibition stats won’t count towards season totals, forwards Steenari and Kozlina tallied their first assist and goal, respectively, of the 2025–26 campaign. Keeper Jackson Unger ‘29 notched his first win of the year as well, accruing seven saves over 55 minutes on the ice.
Looking forward to the final dozen games of the year, CC sits at the bottom of the NCHC, heading this weekend to a beleaguered Omaha team with whom they share last place.
Time is running short for a late-season surge, but Omaha, coming off three consecutive losses, could be just the spark Mayotte and Co. need.
When asked about his plans to close out the season, Mayotte said “Once we get back in the league play, it’s big-boy hockey… Now we’ll just watch the film, get better, and build a plan for next week.”
The Tigers face off against Omaha in Nebraska on Jan. 23 and Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. The games can be watched on NCHC TV.