Behind freshman goalie Joe Howe and other surprising contributions throughout its lineup, the so-called rebuilding Colorado College Tigers managed to produce one of college hockey’s best records in October. They ended the month 4-1-1 and unbeaten (3-0-1) in Western Collegiate Hockey Association play.
Picked to finish eighth in the 10-team WCHA and unranked nationally to begin the season, CC is tied with rival Denver atop the WCHA and climbed to 12th in the U.S. College Hockey Online/CBS poll.
“I’m surprised a little bit at the 4-1-1 record, considering one of those (two-game) trips was at Wisconsin, but I’m not totally surprised,” said CC coach Scott Owens, whose team begins a two-game series tonight against No. 20 Minnesota-Duluth at the Colorado Springs World Arena. “There is some talent, but there were a lot of question marks, starting in goal and who was going to do the scoring for us. But it was a great October and we were able to come back a couple times when we were down by two goals.”
CC has used 12 underclassmen but has nine seniors on the roster.
Howe, a 19-year-old from Plymouth, Minn., is 4-0-1 with a 2.16 goals-against average and .935 save percentage. Classmate Rylan Schwartz (two goals, seven points) has made an immediate impact offensively, and senior Bill Sweat (team-high 10 points) and junior Tyler Johnson (eight points) are enjoying their best seasons.
If nothing else, CC is bound to improve.
“We have enough youthfulness and a good work ethic that I think we will improve,” Owens said. “We’re going to have some growing pains, but we’re going to keep the big picture in mind and continue to play a lot of guys and maintain our enthusiasm.”
Things aren’t quite as bubbly at nearby Air Force. The Falcons sit atop the relatively weak Atlantic Hockey Association but are struggling to play the up-tempo game that will enable them to compete out of conference. The three-time defending AHA playoff champions have gone 3-1 in league games since beginning 0-4, but they’re still having difficulty replacing three defensemen following their third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance last season.
“We’ve got to get better defensively,” Air Force coach Frank Serratore said. “I’m hoping we can slug our way through Atlantic Hockey but I don’t think we have the defensive corps to play with the big boys yet.
“We’re trying to get our defensemen to play the way we want them to play. We’re forcing them out of their comfort zone. A lot of them have a stay-at-home mentality, but that’s not the way we want to play. It’s going to take the first half of the season to figure it out.”
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
