Ramsey: CC changed its fortunes with intensity

Coach Scott Owens and his Colorado College Tigers were picked to finish seventh in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.

And, yes, the Tigers are seventh.

In the nation.

“Yeah, I’m a little surprised,” said a relaxed and jolly Owens at his World Arena office. “I’m surprised by the amount of scoring and the consistency. But I’m not shocked.”

Last season, Owens endured a different kind of surprise. The Tigers, expected to be mighty, were mediocre, and that was on their good days.

The Tigers lacked intensity and chemistry, which led to a long, strange season.

This season’s team is, in Owens’ words, “lighter” and “fresher” and, maybe best of all, “younger.” The players listen intently and play with more focused effort as they follow the lead of no-nonsense captain Mike Testwuide.

Best of all, the Tigers lead the WCHA, which makes them look very good while preseason voters look very bad.
Does Owens like this team more than he liked last season’s edition of the Tigers?

He smiled a little nervously.

“Yeah, I do,” he said. “I do. I know I’ll get bad e-mails, but …”

He leaned forward in his chair. A lightly regarded team is playing superb hockey, and coach obviously is thrilled.

“We’re a little more team-oriented and a little more hard-working,” Owens said.

Now, I was laughing.

A little more?

"That’s all I can say,” Owens said, politely closing the door on 2008-2009.

It’s understandable Owens wants to concentrate on the present tense. Nearly everything is going his way, at least for the moment.

After goalie Richard Bachman’s abrupt, and premature, exit to the pros, Owens had no idea who would lead the Tigers’ defense.

But freshman Joe Howe has been a solid, if not spectacular, replacement for Bachman.

Howe serves as an apt symbol for this season’s team. He wasn’t burdened by great expectation. Come to think of it, he wasn’t burdened by any expectation.

He spent the second half of last season sitting on the bench for the Waterloo Black Hawks of the United States Hockey League after losing his confidence, his edge and his starting job.

“Joe was just waiting for something good to happen,” Owens said. “And it did.”

Owens also wondered about scoring goals. No one ever doubted Billy Sweatt’s talent, but he was one of the players whose underachieving ways doomed last season’s team.

But that was last year. Sweatt now leads a dangerous Tigers attack. CC is scoring 3.62 goals per game, tied for best in the WCHA, while Sweatt leads the WCHA in points.

Owens could sense this summer a breakout season was ahead for Sweatt. The senior forward worked tirelessly and obsessively on his game, giving special attention to shooting and strength.

“Billy is playing like a man, instead of always like a kid who graduated a year early from high school,” Owens said.
“He was always young, young, young and a little immature. Now he’s mature and strong.”

Yet even as Owens explains and enjoys this season’s refreshing early surge, he’s wise enough to avoid jump-up-and-down optimism.

Right now, Owens and his team are soaring, but the coach knows all about falling.   

Still, he’s enjoying this happy jolt of a surprise.

“Maybe the lower expectations give me more energy,” Owens said.

Maybe the lower expectations give everybody more energy.