College Hockey   CC Tigers and USAFA Falcons Hockey

Colorado College sophomore goalie Joe Howe is hopeful he can play this weekend against No. 3 Denver despite suffering an unspecified lower body injury Saturday against No. 5 North Dakota.

“I hope I do but it is all dependent on how treatment goes tomorrow, and the next day and when I can start skating,” Howe said after Monday’s practice. “Like I said, it is day to day.”

Howe was one of nine Tigers that did not participate in practice. It is not unusual for players to sit out of Monday’s session, which is often not held at all after long road trips.

Howe suffered the injury during a collision with North Dakota’s Brad Malone and a CC defender with 17:35 left in Saturday’s 6-0 loss.

Howe, who had made 24 saves, was helped off the ice and into the training room where he remained after the game. Freshman Josh Thorimbert made two saves in relief.

Howe suffered an upper body injury against Denver in the regular-season finale last March but was able to play in the playoffs series loss at Minnesota-Duluth, recording a shutout.

The monthly radio show with coach Scott Owens will be held from 6:30-7:30 p.m. Tuesday at McCabe’s Tavern in downtown Colorado Springs.

Gazette online chat is Wednesday

Join Gazette sports writer Joe Paisley for a live, hour-long online chat at noon Wednesday at gazette.com to talk about Air Force and Colorado College hockey.

Colorado College’s split with North Dakota left the Tigers in the No. 20 spot in the U.S. College Hockey Online poll this week. CC remains unranked in the USA Hockey poll.

This week’s opponent, Denver, stayed at No. 3 in the USA Hockey poll and moved up to No. 2 in the USCHO rankings. CC dropped into a tie for 18th with Miami in the Pairwise rankings.

USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine

Team (1^st-place votes)              Rec.     Pts.     Prev.

1. Boston College (26)           18-6-0             497      2

2. Yale (3)                                17-4-0             448      1

3. Denver (2)                            16-5-5             445      3

4. Minnesota-Duluth (3)            17-5-3             407      4

5. North Dakota                       19-8-2             393      5

6. New Hampshire                   15-5-4             325      8

7. Wisconsin                             19-8-3             272      7

8. RPI                                      17-6-3             259      10

9. Michigan                              17-7-4             258      6

10. Notre Dame                       16-9-5             197      9

11. Union                                 18-7-3             189      12

12. Merrimack                         15-5-4             147      14

13. Miami                                 14-9-5             95        13

14. Boston U.                           12-7-7             41        NR

15. Maine                                 11-7-6             39        11

Others receiving votes: Western Michigan 37; Dartmouth 16; Princeton 10; Nebraska-Omaha 4; Robert Morris 1.

U.S. College Hockey Online

Team (1^st-place votes)              Rec.     Pts.     Prev.

1. Boston College (41)             18-6-0             988      2
2. Denver (6)                          16-5-5 922      3
3. Yale (2)                                17-4-0             881      1
4. Minnesota-Duluth (1)        17-5-3  840     5
5. North Dakota                     19-8-2  813     4
6. New Hampshire                   15-5-4             745      7
7. Wisconsin                           19-8-3 670      8
8. Michigan                              17-7-4             629      6
9. RPI                                      17-6-3             594      10
10. Notre Dame                       16-9-5             549      9
11. Union                                 18-7-3             507      13
12. Merrimack                         15-5-4             436      14
13. Miami                                 14-9-5             427      11
14. Boston University   12-7-7             314      16
15. Maine                                 11-7-6             289      12
16. Western Michigan   14-6-8             274      17
17. Dartmouth              12-6-3             177      18
18. Nebraska-Omaha            14-10-2 161     15
19. Princeton                            14-6-1             157      19
20. Colorado College             15-12-1 80       20
Others receiving votes: Alaska-Fairbanks 10, Providence 10, Robert Morris 7, Minnesota 4, Northeastern 4, Ferris State 3, Ohio State 3, Minnesota State-Mankato 2, Rochester Institute of Technology 2, Niagara 1, Quinnipiac 1.

After three games as the seventh defenseman, aka a healthy scratch, some media are speculating that Boston may consider former Tiger Mark Stuart as a trade possibility.

I doubt it because you need a good seventh if the top six get hurt or need a night off.

A blogger grades thee Bruins defense.

Let me know.

For details:

http://daveramseysez.freedomblogging.com/

Alaska-Anchorage 1, Minnesota 0

MINNEAPOLIS — Freshman forward Matt Bailey scored the lone goal  and freshman goaltender Chris Kamal recorded 30 saves as Alaska Anchorage shut out Minnesota, 1-0, at Mariucci Arena on Saturday night.

Alabama-Huntsville 2, No. 15 Nebraska-Omaha 1 OT

OMAHA — Sebastien Geoffrion scored 29 seconds into overtime and Clarke Saunders made 58 saves as Alabama-Huntsville stunned the UNO Mavericks 2-1 on Saturday night at the Qwest Center.

No. 9 Wisconsin 4, Michigan Tech 2

HOUGHTON — Senior forward Patrick Johnson scored a goal and added two assists to help Wisconsin earn a sweep of a weekend series at Michigan Tech with a 4-2 victory on Saturday night at John MacInnes Student Ice Arena.

MSU-Mankato 6, St. Cloud State 2

ST. CLOUD — Junior forward Michael Dorr scored two goals and Andrew Sackrison and Rylan Galiardi added a goal and an assist each as Minnesota State picked up a 6-2 win against St. Cloud State on Saturday night at National Hockey Center. The loss ends a seven-game unbeaten streak for the host Huskies and an 0-5-2 league skid for the Mavs.

No. 5 North Dakota 6, Colorado College 0

North Dakota   1          4          1          –6

Colorado College         0          0          0          –0

First period – 1. North Dakota, Nelson (Marto) 5:03. Penalties – ND, LaPoint (high sticking) 10:17; Guentzel (interference) 10:54; CC, Boivin (slashing) 12:03; ND, Blood (slashing) 16:29.

Second period – 2. North Dakota Hextall (Knight, MacWilliam), 2:21; 3. North Dakota, Rowney (Kristo) 4:31; 4. North Dakota, Frattin (Malone, Trupp) 18:35 (PP); 5. North Dakota, LaPoint (Nelson, Kristo) 19:30. Penalties – CC, Leaverton (tripping) 6:09; CC, Schultz (cross-checking) 9:38; CC, Lowery (holding) 18:05.

Third period – 6. North Dakota, Gleason (Kristo) 2:03. Penalties – CC, R. Schwartz (tripping) :46; ND Rowney (holding) :51; ND, Frattin (interference) 4:34; ND, Kristo (interference) 12:12; CC, Collett (holding the stick) 12:12.

Power play – North Dakota 1-6; Colorado College 0-4. Shots on goal – North Dakota 9-19-4-32; Colorado College 2-6-13-21. Saves-minutes – North Dakota, Dell 2-6-13—59:30; Colorado College, Howe 8-15-1—42:25, Thorimbert 2-17:35. Attendance – 7,492.

Mixed bag on special teams

Colorado College’s aggressive penalty kill proved effective against the North Dakota power play until late in the second period on Saturday by using speed to come out to pressure the puckhandler.

The Tigers recorded their 15^th game without allowing a man advantage goal (0-for-3) on Friday and was on its way to a 16^th before allowing a power-play goal (1-for-6) on Saturday.

Colorado College’s power play struggled, going 1-for-10, which included a Division I-worst eighth shorthanded goal allowed on Friday.

“That’s been our Achilles heel this season,” Tigers coach Scott Owens said.

Let’s get physical

North Dakota’s larger roster is known for playing a physical game as evident by a few crushing checks along the boards in both games this weekend. That aggressive style, combined with an effective forecheck, held CC to only two shots in the first period on Saturday after allowing 41 in Friday’s win.

The smaller Tigers held their own on Friday, laying out a few hard checks of their own.

Colorado Springs connections

One area connection for the Sioux is third-string goalie Tate Maris of Denver, who did not travel with the team. Maris is a former Junior Tiger with the Colorado Springs Amateur Hockey Association. … Tigers coach Scott Owens said earlier this week that both his parents attended North Dakota.

CC lucky to trail 1-0 after one

The Sioux out shot the host Tigers 9-2 in the first and had two near-misses or it could have been over even earlier. Joe Howe squeezed the puck against the post for a save with 6:46 left and a bad rebound in front was swatted away with 5:02 remaining.

Tigers show some life in third

CC came close to breaking Sioux goalie Aaron Dell’s shutout bid during a power play midway through the third period but the goal was waved off since the whistle was blown before the puck crossed the line as a Tigers forward barreled into the netminder.

The Tigers also came close with 10:22 and 2:02 left but Dell made one of his 21 saves each time to preserve the goose egg.

Sioux notes

North Dakota is 26-1-2 wearing their black alternate road jerseys with the only loss coming in the 2007 Frozen Four. … North Dakota senior Chay Genoway, who suffered an apparent left knee injury on Friday will be examined by team doctors in Grand Forks on Monday. … Air Force senior forward Jacques Lamoureux’s brothers made the trip to Colorado Springs and the siblings, all from Grand Forks, met up Saturday. Mario Lemieux is a junior center for the Sioux while Pierre-Paul is an assistant video coordinator. Their father and grandfathers were both standout goalies for the Sioux.

There would be no fast start, only a resounding defeat for Colorado College on Saturday night. And the loss may prove more costly than league points with goalie Joe Howe injured early in the third period of the 6-0 loss.

No. 5 North Dakota dominated the first period and blew the game open with four goals during the second period to down the host Tigers before an announced crowd of 7,492 at World Arena.

Howe was injured during a collision in front of the CC net with North Dakota’s Brad Malone and a CC defender with 17:35 left in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association game. No penalty was called.

No. 5 North Dakota dominated the first period and blew the game open with four goals in the second period to lead 5-0 headed into the third.

UND had managed only a 1-0 lead on a wraparound goal by Brock Nelson against Colorado College.

The Sioux out shot the host Tigers 9-2 in the first and had two near misses on goals or it could have been much worse for Tigers fans.

CC sophomore Joe Howe squeezed the puck against the post for a save with 6:46 left and a bad rebound in front was swatted away after a second with 5:02 remaining.

But UND would not let up in the second and CC was unable to respond as it did on Friday. The Sioux lead 28-8 in shots.