College Hockey   CC Tigers and USAFA Falcons Hockey

Colten St. Clair, a CC recruit committed for 2010, was named to the inaugural roster of the United States Hockey League’s newest team, the Fargo (N.D.) Force. In May’s USHL entry draft, St. Clair was picked in the 13th round (98th overall) by the Force.

Colorado Springs goaltender Cody Campbell and Superior defenseman Jacob Sloat join St. Clair on the roster.

Other CC recruits in the USHL include:

Omaha Lancers: Defenseman Joe Marciano and forward Dakota Eveland
Cedar Rapids RoughRiders: Center Scott Winkler
Chicago Steel: Defenseman John Moore
Tri-City Storm: Forward Andrew Hamburg
Waterloo Blackhawks: Goaltender Joe Howe

The ECHL’s Augusta Lynx has been a major beneficiary of ex-Colorado College players, signing last season’s captain Scott Thauwald on Tuesday.

The Lynx, which became the ECHL affiliate of the Tampa Bay Lightning in July, also features ex-WCHA players Ryan Dingle (Denver), Bobby Goepfert (St. Cloud State), Adrian Veideman (Denver), and Matt Auffrey (Wisconsin).

Beckoned to Augusta by former Lynx coach Bob Ferguson, who took a job in the Anaheim Ducks front office this summer, Aaron Slattengren was the Lynx third-leading scorer last season and Weston Tardy played for the Lynx in 2005-06. James Brannigan also enjoyed a brief stint on the Lynx roster last season.

Recent graduate Derek Patrosso signed with the Fresno (Calif.) Falcons of the ECHL today. The rangy right wing was just hitting his stride last season when a high ankle sprain and a disciplinary measure socked his momentum. Patrosso returned for WCHA playoffs and scored CC’s only goal in the NCAA first-round loss to Michigan State.

Fresno head coach Matt Thomas on Patrosso: “”Derek is a big power forward with soft hands around the net. Everyone we talk to about Derek feels that he will be a big scorer in the pro game. We look forward to him being in our line-up.”

Colorado College now lists former player and Colorado Springs native R.J. Enga as a volunteer assistant coach on its roster. Enga, who has been Colorado Springs Amateur Hockey Association’s director for six seasons, is tied for 36th on the career scoring list (61 goals, 81 assists) and skated in 158 of 159 games in four years for the Tigers (1991-1995). Enga also played for the Colorado Gold Kings, a WCHL team based in Colorado Springs, from 1998 to 2001, scoring 387 points in that span. Enga has coached the Pikes Peak Miners U-18 team.

The Colorado Avalanche will play its Burgundy and White Game at Cadet Ice Arena on September 22 at 6:00 p.m. Tickets go on sale August 18 at 9 a.m. through the AFA box office and prices range from $12 to $20. Proceeds support military families and the Colorado Avalanche youth hockey program. Held at Cadet Ice Arena for the second consecutive season, the Avalanche players will compete in a three-period, intra-squad scrimmage with a shootout at the end of regulation.

Cammi Granato, Brett Hull, Brian Leetch and Mike Richter were selected as the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame’s class of 2008, USA Hockey announced today.

The Hall of Fame Induction Dinner will be held Friday, October 10, at Denver’s Magness Arena. The Pioneers host Notre Dame in the Hall of Fame Game on Saturday, October 11, at 7:07.

Hull, who played for Minnesota-Duluth from 1984 to 1986, scored 52 goals in his final season as a Bulldog and was a Hobey Baker Memorial Award finalist. No college player has scored more goals in a single season since. Hull is third all-time in NHL history with 741 goals.

Richter played two seasons (1985-87) at Wisconsin before embarking on a professional career that included 666 games in 14 seasons, all with the New York Rangers.

Granato is the younger sister of Colorado Avalanche coach Tony Granato.

Colorado Springs native and CC alumnus Scott Polaski will play a fourth season with the five-year-old Colorado Eagles, based in Windsor, Colo. Polaski could see more time at defenseman this season, Eagles GM Chris Stewart told the Loveland Reporter-Herald. Former CC goaltender Ryan Bach will be the Eagles’ goaltending coach this season.

Colorado College assistant coach Norm Bazin resigned last week to accept the head coaching position at Hamilton College, a Division III school located in Clinton, N.Y., which is about an hour east of Syracuse.

The Tigers’ forwards and goaltending coach and recruiting coordinator, Bazin replaces Phil Grady, who coached at Hamilton for 24 years.

Bazin’s departure marks the end of an eight-year tenure at CC, in which he, fellow assistant Joe Bonnett and coach Scott Owens represented the Western Collegiate Hockey Association’s most consistent coaching staff — other schools have had two of three coaches for longer, but not all three.

Bazin, like Bonnett, joined the Tigers staff after Owens’ first season and is responsible for recruiting some of CC’s biggest names — Marty Sertich, Mark Stuart, Curtis McElhinney and Matt Zaba are just a few examples.