The 2022–23 Colorado College Tigers men's ice hockey season was the 83rd season of play for the program and the 10th in the NCHC conference. The Tigers represented Colorado College in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season and were coached by Kris Mayotte, in his second season.

Season With coach Mayotte continuing the program's overhaul, Colorado College started the year with less-than-stellar results. Since neither Matt Vernon nor Kaidan Mbereko had managed to earn the job outright, the Tigers alternated between the two netminders in the first month of the season. Both were inconsistent early, however, after a 5–0 blanking of Minnesota Duluth, Mbereko was able to establish himself as the starter and remained in that role for the balance of the season.

On the offensive side, the team saw a little improvement in the first half but they were still carried by scoring of Hunter McKown. The Tigers would only go as far as McKown could take them as he accounted for more than a quarter of CC's goals. Unfortunately, he was unable to lift the team on his own. Colorado College was able to post a respectable record in the first half of the season despite their hit-or-miss offense and were able to get themselves up to .500 once they returned from the winter break.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, the second half of their season was littered with ranked teams. After January 1, CC only played teams who were either ranked at the time or finished the season in the top 20. They were able to get a win from St. Cloud State in mid-January but then proceeded to go winless over the next 13 games. No matter which opponent they faced, the story was the same. CC's defense could put forth a solid defensive effort but the offense could not score. Colorado College averaged exactly 1 goal per game in that stretch with Hunter McKown accounting for more than half of their goals. The Tigers' offense was particularly bad at even strength, garnering just 48 goals for the season.

The losses sent CC tumbling down the standings and the Tigers ended the regular season in 7th place. They began postseason play having to face tournament-bound Western Michigan, who possessed one of the top offenses in the nation, and were a heavy underdog when the series began. Their defense kept CC in the game and the team entered the third period down by just a goal. With only a small hill to climb over, the Tigers produced a shocking outcome when they scored three times in under a minute to take the lead and eventually the game. In the rematch, CC kept the momentum on their side and stymied the Broncos, allowing just 2 goals while adding a pair themselves. Overtime was a furious affair with 7 shots being recorded in just 3 minutes. Luckily for the Tigers, the last came from the stick of Matthew Gleason and was the game winner.

After the improbable win, CC headed to Saint Paul and had to take on long-time rival Denver in the conference semifinal. The Pioneers had swept the season series and, despite missing their starting goaltender, were expected to continue that trend. The Colorado College defense, however, had other ideas; the Tiger defenders shut down Denver's attack all game, limiting the Pios to just 23 shots on goal, all of which were stopped by Mbereko. McKown's power play marker in the second was all that CC could muster but it was all they needed and the Tigers advanced to the title game with a 1–0 shutout.

Colorado College now found itself just 1 win away from the NCAA tournament and only St. Cloud State could stop them. Colorado College got only 17 shots on goal while the Huskies only gave the Tigers' just 1 opportunity. Their loss put an end to the Tigers' run and the team would have to wait for another year.

Departures Dominic Basse Goaltender Transferred to St. Cloud State Jordan Biro Forward Transferred to American International Hugo Blixt Defenseman Graduation (signed with Almtuna IS) Cooper Fensterstock Forward Transferred to Geneseo State Brian Hawkinson Forward Graduation (retired) Jackson Jutting Forward Transferred to Bemidji State Marc Pasemko Forward Left Program (retired) Jackson Ross Defenseman Graduation (retired) Brian Williams Forward Graduation (retired)

Recruiting Cade Ahrenholz Forward 19 Lakeville, MN Ryan Beck Forward 19 Linden, MI Nikolai Charchenko Defenseman 21 Victoria, MN Noah Laba Forward 19 Northville, MI; selected 111th overall in 2022 Kaidan Mbereko Goaltender 19 West Bloomfield, MI Noah Serdachny Forward 19 Edmonton, AB Ethan Straky Defenseman 19 Walnut Creek, CA Gleb Veremyev Forward 19 Monroe Township, NJ

Roster As of August 1, 2022.

Standings

Schedule and results

!colspan=12 style=";" | Exhibition

!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular Season

!colspan=12 style=";" |

Scoring statistics C 38 21 7 28 30 C 35 11 11 22 48 C 38 6 14 20 18 D 38 1 14 15 4 D 37 2 12 14 14 C 38 2 11 13 14 F 33 5 7 12 12 F 37 8 3 11 8 C 35 4 6 10 40 D 38 2 8 10 8 D 38 1 6 7 25 C 14 2 5 7 18 D 34 1 6 7 22 F 27 3 4 7 2 RW 38 3 3 6 2 C 36 2 4 6 22 D 34 0 6 6 8 C 22 1 3 4 13 F 30 1 3 4 6 C/RW 19 2 1 3 2 F 33 1 2 3 8 D 11 0 1 1 4 G 1 0 0 0 0 D 1 0 0 0 0 D 1 0 0 0 2 G 12 0 0 0 0 RW 14 0 0 0 7 G 30 0 0 0 0 Total 79 137 216 335

Goaltending statistics 1 1:22 0 0 0 0 1 0 1.000 0.00 32 1644:40 9 16 2 63 782 4 .925 2.30 12 629:45 4 6 1 27 258 2 .905 2.57 Empty Net - 29:31 - - - 9 - - - - Total 38 2305:18 13 22 3 99 1041 6 .913 2.58

Rankings

PollWeekPre12345678910111213141516171819202122232425 26 27 (Final) USCHO.comNR-NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR-NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR-NR USA TodayNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 1, 13, or 26.

Awards and honors Kaidan Mbereko NCHC Second Team Kaidan Mbereko NCHC Rookie Team Bryan Yoon NCHC All-Tournament Team Hunter McKown

Players drafted into the NHL 2023 NHL entry draft 6 166 Carsen Musser † Arizona Coyotes 7 204 Owen Beckner † Ottawa Senators 7 212 Zaccharya Wisdom † Seattle Kraken † incoming freshman

References