Weekend preview: Tigers, Falcons to close 2011 at home

The Tigers: vs. Air Force, 7:37 p.m. Friday; vs. Union, 7:07 p.m. Saturday

The Falcons: at CC, 7:37 p.m. Friday; vs. Denver, 6:05 p.m. Saturday

On the radio: CC on 103.9 FM RXP; Air Force on 1300 AM The Sports Animal

Air Force-CC tickets: There are less than 100 reserved seats available, all $20 apiece and all in the upper deck. There are more than 300 general admission seats available, all $17 apiece, with half in the lower bowl and half in the upper deck. Reserved seats can be purchased at the World Arena box office starting at 10 a.m. Friday, at www.cctigers.com or by calling 719-576-2626. General admission seats can be purchased only at the box office.

Denver-Air Force tickets: All reserved seats and general admission seats are sold out. Standing room-only tickets are $15 for adults and $9 for kids, and they can be purchased only at the Cadet Ice Arena box office, which opens at 5 p.m. Saturday.

The series: CC is 58-7-2 all-time against Air Force in a series that dates to 1969, having won 42 of the past 45 meetings, including all nine at World Arena. The Tigers prevailed 6-4 last season at the academy, making four of the past five games between the teams decided by two or fewer goals. Union never has defeated CC, with the Tigers sweeping the Dutchmen in 2004 and beating them in 2005. Denver holds a 30-3 advantage against Air Force in a series dating to 1972. The Falcons have lost three games in a row to Denver and 12 of 13 at Cadet Ice Arena, their lone victory at the academy in 2008.

CC update: The No. 5 Tigers (11-5, 9-5 Western Collegiate Hockey Association) have enjoyed a 12-day break for final exams and the holidays, last playing Dec. 16-17, when they swept Minnesota State-Mankato to move into third place in the WCHA. … CC is 8-1 on Olympic-size ice sheets, with a 6-1 record at World Arena. … LW Jaden Schwartz won’t return until next weekend because he’s captaining Canada at the world junior championships in Calgary and Edmonton, but RW Scott Winkler is back after missing the Mankato trip to play for Norway at a tournament in Slovenia. … C Rylan Schwartz leads CC with 23 points, 16 goals, six power-play goals and three game-winning goals, having scored 20 times in his past 18 games. … In goal, expect Josh Thorimbert (6-1 with a 2.76 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage) to receive his fourth straight start over Joe Howe (5-4 with a 3.44 GAA and a .883 save percentage) after Thorimbert raised his winning percentage to a national-best .857 by stopping 61 of 64 shots in Mankato. … The Tigers lead the country with an average of 4.19 goals and they’re third-best nationally on the power play at 27.3 percent, however, they’re in the bottom third nationally in scoring defense (3.12 goals) and penalty killing (77.8 percent) and they’ve allowed six shorthanded goals, tied for the second-most in the nation. … CC has scored twice in less than two minutes on 10 occasions, and it’s 9-0 when leading after two periods.

Air Force update: The Falcons (9-4-2, 8-2-1 Atlantic Hockey Association) haven’t played since a Dec. 2-3 sweep at American International that enabled them to maintain their hold on first in the AHA. … The nine victories by Air Force before the holiday break tied for the second-most in school history. … In goal, Jason Torf (0-1 with a 3.15 GAA and a .875 save percentage) will be available after missing the past 13 games because of a strained groin, but Air Force coach Frank Serratore said he “would be shocked” if Stephen Caple (9-2-2 with a 2.10 GAA and a .912 save percentage) doesn’t start against CC. D Alex Halloran and LW Ryan Timar remain sidelined with injuries. … LW Kyle De Laurell leads Air Force with 22 points and 11 goals, carrying a six-game scoring streak. D Tim Kirby has 12 points in his past 11 games. RW Cole Gunner is the nation’s highest-scoring freshman with 18 points. C Chad Demers has five goals in his past eight games. D Scott Mathis has 10 points in as many games. … The Falcons are seventh in the country in scoring offense at 3.53 goals, and they’re 13th nationally in scoring defense at 2.4 goals. They’re clicking at 20.5 percent on the power play, boasting a 7-for-26 clip in the past five games. They’re 10th nationally on the penalty kill at 87.3 percent, not relinquishing more than one power-play goal in a game. They’re averaging 36.5 shots, while their opponents are averaging 23.5 shots. … Since the 2006-07 season, Air Force has won 77 percent of its games at 2,470-seat Cadet Ice Arena, where it’s averaging 2,489 fans through seven dates, with sellouts in 39 of the past 53 outings.

Denver update: The No. 15 Pioneers (8-7-3, 6-5-3 WCHA) split their previous two series, on the road against Bemidji State and St. Cloud State, to move into fifth in the WCHA before a 12-day break. … LW Jason Zucker, the WCHA Preseason Player of the Year, will miss the weekend while captaining the U.S. at world juniors, while RW Beau Bennett (wrist), G Sam Brittain (knee), G Adam Murray (groin) and D John Ryder (knee) are still injured. Without Bennett, Denver is 2-4-2 and it’s averaging 1.75 goals. … C Drew Shore shares the team lead in points (24) and power-play goals (four) with Zucker, and he leads Denver with 15 assists and four game-winners. C Nick Shore has 16 points, and he’s Denver top faceoff man at 54 percent. Joey LaLeggia has 13 points, tops in the country among freshmen defensemen. Juho Olkinuora (3-5-2 with a 2.41 GAA and a .914 save percentage) will receive his eighth consecutive start in goal Friday against Union. RW Dustin Jackson leads Denver with 78 hits, and D David Makowski has blocked a team-high 27 shots. … The Pioneers are averaging 3.28 goals, and they’re giving up 3.06 goals. They’re last in the WCHA on the power play at 18.5 percent, and their penalty kill hits at 78.7 percent. … George Gwozdecky is 406-246-58 in his 18th season at Denver.

Union update: The No. 10 Dutchmen (9-3-5, 3-2-2 ECAC) entered a 12-day break on a six-game unbeaten streak that included a road victory against No. 7 Merrimack and vaulted them into a fourth-place tie in the ECAC. … Union is 2-1-2 against ranked teams, and it’s 7-1-3 on the road, but it’s 8-21-6 all-time against WCHA opponents. … D Mike Ingoldsby hasn’t played all season because of post-concussion syndrome. … C Kelly Zajac paces Union with 18 points. C Jeremy Welsh leads with 12 goals, including six power-play goals, tied for the third-most in the country. LW Daniel Carr and D Mat Bodie have 14 points apiece. … In goal, Troy Grosenick (8-2-2 with a 1.71 GAA and a .932 save percentage) likely will start against CC over Colin Stevens (1-1-3 with a 2.10 GAA and a .921 save percentage) as long as he doesn’t struggle against Denver. … The Dutchmen are 11th nationally in scoring offense at 3.35 goals, and they’re third nationally in scoring defense at 1.88 goals. Their power play ranks ninth in the country at 23.6 percent, and they’re 9-0-2 when marking with the man advantage. They’re 14th nationally on the penalty kill at 86.5 percent. … Welsh has won 65 percent of his faceoffs, and as a team, Union has won a majority of the draws in 14 of 17 games. … The Dutchmen have outscored their opponents 25-12 in the first period. … Rick Bennett is in his first season as coach after serving as an assistant at Union the previous four years.

Quoting CC coach Scott Owens: “Air Force is a skilled team that works very hard, and they get around. They skate well. … Union is one of the top three or four teams in the country defensively. They don’t really have any weaknesses.”

Quoting Serratore: “When you play teams like CC and Denver, your goalies better be good, and you better be sharp on the special teams. These are good games for us. We’ll find out where we sit on the food chain a little bit, and it will set the tone for us for the rest of the season. … We’re probably looking forward to playing them a whole lot more than they’re looking forward to playing us.”

Contact Brian Gomez: 719-636-0256 or brian.gomez@gazette.com. Facebook: Brian Gomez. Twitter: @gazettehockey. Google+: Brian Gomez. YouTube: Colorado College Hockey, Covered by The Gazette. For the CC hockey homepage, visit www.gazette.com/sections/sports/cchockey. For the CC hockey blog, visit http://cchockey.freedomblogging.com.