Tigers try to solve first-period woes

Colorado College scored in the first 5 minutes against Michigan Tech on Saturday en route to its strongest first-period performance of the season.

The Tigers' strongest period this year has been the second, in which they average about seven more shots than in the first.

Friday nights have been a challenge.

"We came out flat again," coach Scott Owens said of Friday's first period, in which CC didn't muster a shot until more than 12 minutes had elapsed. "It's been a problem for us on those Friday nights. We dodged a bullet. But you get down 1-0 and you get down to them and it's a different game."

The Tigers have a brief pre-game skate Saturday mornings before home games, but don't skate before home games Fridays. On the road, however, CC skates or has a brief dynamic stretching session before each of their games.

"I don't know if it's a factor of that we don't skate at home on Fridays or what the deal is," Owens said. "But we need to come out better or else it's going to start costing us there."

Owens said CC can't skate before Friday home games because of conflicts with class schedules, but he is considering altering the warm-up routine.

Freshmen get a taste
CC had just two freshmen, left wing Tim Hall and defenseman Gabe Guentzel, in the lineup for Michigan Tech on Friday and Saturday, the Tigers' first Western Collegiate Hockey Association series.

"It was a lot faster," Guentzel said. "Guys were coming onto us faster. You had to do everything quicker."