Colorado College senior wing Brett Sterling has not scored a goal in his past five games. To most players, a similar scoreless streak would not even be considered a drought.
But to Sterling, it’s a career-high slump made noticeable because he’s a goal shy of 100 for his career.
“People are making a far bigger deal than I think it is,” Sterling said of becoming the fifth CC player to score 100 goals. “Yeah, it’s going to be great if I get it, it’ll be an honor. But at the same time I just need to get my shot down. It’s an accuracy thing right now, and that’s all I’m focused on.”
Sterling, whose previous career-long goal drought was four games during his sophomore season, hasn’t scored since Jan. 13. But he still sits atop the NCAA goal-scoring list with 22, tied with Nebraska-Omaha’s Bill Thomas. Sterling needs 13 goals to catch Ron Hartwell’s program record of 112 (1949-52). Dave Delich (1975-79), Bruce Aikens (1978-82) and Jay McNeill (1992-96) also scored 100 goals for the Tigers.
Owens locked in
CC coach Scott Owens signed a seven-year contract extension Monday that will keep him under contract through the 2012-13 season, the school announced.
Owens, who has a 171-87-19 record in six-plus seasons and owns the most victories in program history, has led the Tigers to two Western Collegiate Hockey Association regular-season titles and four NCAA Tournament berths, including last year’s Frozen Four appearance.
Owens, a former CC goalie who graduated in 1979, said, “I’m obviously very pleased to know that I’ll be able to continue to work at such a great institution and lead this program for years to come.”
Owens has coached 10 All-Americans, including two Hobey Baker Award winners – forwards Peter Sejna (2003) and Marty Sertich (2005).
Footnotes
Denver, idle last weekend, begins a two-game WCHA series Friday against visiting Minnesota State. The Mavericks (12-14-4) represent DU’s final below-.500 opponent of the season. MSU is 7-3 in its past 10 games and outshot Michigan Tech, 40-13, in a 3-2 loss last Saturday. … DU is riding a five-game winning streak. St. Cloud State, which hosts CC twice this weekend, has won six in a row and is 10-1-1 in its past 12 games.
Mike Chambers can be reached at 303-820-5453 or mchambers@denverpost.com.
