RAMSEY: Bends in the road are not ends in the road for Tigers

If you want to start a spirited discussion with a Colorado College hockey fan, the best question might be this one:

When was the Tigers' worst moment in the first half of this season?

Trust me, there are plenty of nominees.

The 7-4 home loss Dec. 6 to Minnesota-Duluth.

Or, maybe the worst moment was, the 2-2 home tie Dec. 19 to the Sacred Heart Pioneers, who would be thrilled to be described as mediocre.

Or - and this is my pick - the 4-1 smack-upside-the-head Nov. 28 by Air Force at Cadet Arena. The game ended with Falcons fans shouting with joy and CC fans seeking ways to become invisible.

But, as I said after the AFA loss, I didn't come here to bury the Tigers.

There's no reason this team can't dominate. There's no reason this team can't travel to the Frozen Four.

The Tigers boast the talent, the experience and the coaching required to be mighty.

And the humiliations of the first half could fuel a Tigers surge. CC ends a three-week layoff tonight against Minnesota State-Mankato at World Arena.

Goaltender Richard Bachman smiled when thinking about the bad times of this season.

"It makes you a stronger team," he said. "It brings you together when you have those kind of nights."

In 2007-08, the Tigers skipped to one of their grandest regular seasons in school history and then crashed in their final three games.

This season, the Tigers have done their spectacular crashing early and - who knows? - maybe purged the bungling from their system.

The pieces are there. Bachman, despite a couple of horrendous nights this season, remains an elite college goaltender, and Chad Rau ranks among the nation's most dangerous offensive weapons.

Maybe not getting it together for a few weeks will help this team put all those pieces together.

"The pieces are there," Bachman said. "Definitely, I agree with you 100 percent about that. We definitely have the pieces.

"Hopefully, it's just a matter of time before everything starts clicking and then we can be scary out there. We can be a scary team to play once we get everyone going."

Two obstacles stand between the Tigers converting from underachieving to frightening.

First, the team must become more generous. Last season, the team's offense surged because of sharing. This season, the Tigers are a bit too selfish. A lack of trust weakens the squad.

Second, the Tigers must become more properly violent. The more socially acceptable term is physical.

When Air Force, for instance, tried the rough stuff against CC, the Tigers wilted. Finesse is fun to watch, but finesse won't carry the Tigers in the most crucial games of the season.

Coach Scott Owens enjoys pointing out the Tigers have lost only six of 22 games. They remain a respectable third in the Western Conference Hockey Association and still fly among the nation's top dozen teams.

"We're not in great shape, but we're not in horrible shape," Owens said.

And, yes, he does see the benefit of his team hitting the bottom, or close to it, during the first half.

"Yeah," Owens said, "it could help instill a work ethic in us for the rest of the season. It could help humble us."

Hitting the bottom, in sports and in life, can serve as a great inspiration because once you've descended to the gutter, you don't want to return.

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Contact the writer: Columnist David Ramsey can be reached at 476-4895 or david.ramsey@gazette.com. Check out David's blog at daveramseysez.freedomblogging.com