# 2023–24 Colorado College Tigers men's ice hockey season

The 2023–24 Colorado College Tigers men's ice hockey season was the 84th season of play for the program and the 11th in the NCHC. The Tigers represented Colorado College in the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, played their home games at the Ed Robson Arena and were coached by Kris Mayotte, in his 3rd season.

## Season

After narrowly missing out on a surprise conference championship the year before, there was a sense of renewed hope for the program. With the goaltending situation presumably taken care of, thanks to returning starter Kaidan Mbereko, the biggest task for CC was to fix its scoring woes. Having had one of the worst offenses in the nation in '23, Colorado College entered this season by losing it top scorer and more than a quarter of its goals. The Tigers would need to see improvements from across the board if they wanted to end their decade-plus of losing hockey and that's exactly what they received. Noah Laba, who had finished second in scoring the year before, took over as the primary threat for the Tigers and became a 20-goal scorer for CC. The team also got a huge boost from Gleb Veremyev who looked to be completely recovered from a torn ACL.
The team looked strong in October, beginning the season 5–0 for the first time since 2005. However, the next month proved that the team still had some problems to fix. The Tigers slumped over a 9-game span, only managing to win two games against Miami, the worst team in the conference. Mbereko was a little shaky during the stretch but it was the lack of offense that doomed CC. In the six games they played against ranked teams, the Tigers managed just 5 goals and were shutout twice. If Colorado College had any pretentions of being a contender for the NCAA tournament they would have to find a way to win against good teams.
Just before the winter break, CC travelled up to face North Dakota who was then the #1 team in the country. Defying their recent struggles, Colorado College overcame a 2-goal deficit to win in overtime thanks to Laba's 7th of the season. The Tigers appeared to be strengthened by the win and fought even harder in the rematch, this time with Veremyev netting the winning goal. As the team headed into its mid-season vacation, the road sweep of the Fighting Hawks completely altered the fortunes of the Tigers. Upon the team's return to the ice, Mbereko found a new level and become one of the top goaltenders in the nation. From mid-January through early March, Mbereko allowed more than 2 goals in just two games and his stellar play enabled the team to go 9–2–2 in that span.
CC rocketed up the rankings and at the end of the regular season, they were sitting 11th in the PairWise. With the club all but guaranteed a spot in the NCAA tournament, all the Tigers needed to do was win their semifinal match against Omaha and they'd make their first postseason appearance since 2011. However, the Mavericks were also playing for the lives and played desperate in the first game. CC found itself down by 3 goals in the second period but a stellar game from their special teams enabled the Tigers to tie the game and win it in overtime. After Omaha countered with a win in the rematch, the season came down to the deciding game three. Klāvs Veinbergs got CC a lead in the first but the rest of the offense was silent in the game. Despite a strong defensive effort, Omaha took the lead in the third and Colorado College was unable to respond.
Despite the loss, the Tigers still had a chance to make the NCAA tournament. They had dropped to 14th in the PairWise but that was still good enough to receive an at-large bid if events broke their way over the final weekend. All the Tigers needed was for either Quinnipiac to win the ECAC Hockey title, North Dakota to win the NCHC title, or Boston College to lose in the Hockey East championship game and, so long as there were no other upsets, the Tigers would make the field of 16. Unfortunately, none of those events came to pass. Both Quinnipiac and North Dakota lost in their respective semifinal games while Boston College won their championship. The final rankings put Massachusetts .0004 points ahead of CC for the last spot in the tournament and left the Tigers out in the cold.

## Departures

| Player | Position | Nationality | Cause |
| Cade Ahrenholz | Forward | United States | Transferred to Alaska |
| Brett Chorske | Forward | United States | Transferred to Colgate |
| Patrick Cozzi | Forward | United States | Graduation (retired) |
| Matthew Gleason | Forward | United States | Transferred to St. Thomas |
| Hunter McKown | Forward | United States | Signed professional contract (Columbus Blue Jackets) |
| Noah Prokop | Forward | United States | Graduate transfer to St. Thomas |
| Chad Sasaki | Defenseman | United States | Graduation (retired) |
| Nate Schweitzer | Defenseman | United States | Transferred to Lake Superior State |
| Matt Vernon | Goaltender | United States | Graduation (signed with Reading Royals) |
| Bryan Yoon | Defenseman | United States | Graduation (signed with Utah Grizzlies) |

## Recruiting

| Player | Position | Nationality | Age | Notes |
| Max Burkholder | Defenseman | United States | 20 | Chaska, MN |
| Tyler Dunbar | Defenseman | United States | 19 | Sault Ste. Marie, MI |
| Antonio Fernandez | Defenseman | United States | 19 | San Jose, CA |
| Bret Link | Forward | United States | 21 | Anchorage, AK |
| Drew Montgomery | Forward | United States | 20 | Grand Forks, ND |
| Riley Stuart | Forward | United States | 21 | Phoenix, AZ |
| Klāvs Veinbergs | Forward | Latvia | 20 | Riga, LAT; selected 224th overall in 2022 |
| Evan Werner | Forward | United States | 20 | Flower Mound, TX |
| Henry Wilder | Goaltender | United States | 22 | Needham, MA; transfer from Boston College |
| Zaccharya Wisdom | Forward | Canada | 19 | Toronto, ON; selected 212th overall in 2023 |

## Roster

As of July 24, 2023.

## Standings

2023–24 National Collegiate Hockey Conference Standingsvte :
| | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record |
| | GP | W | L | T | OTW | OTL | SW | PTS | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| #8 North Dakota † | 24 | 15 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 49 | 87 | 67 | 40 | 26 | 12 | 2 | 151 | 105 |
| #1 Denver * | 24 | 15 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 45 | 110 | 80 | 42 | 30 | 9 | 3 | 198 | 119 |
| #18 St. Cloud State | 24 | 11 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 41 | 77 | 74 | 38 | 17 | 16 | 5 | 121 | 114 |
| #15 Colorado College | 24 | 14 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 41 | 66 | 56 | 37 | 21 | 13 | 3 | 111 | 93 |
| #12 Omaha | 24 | 13 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 40 | 68 | 74 | 40 | 23 | 13 | 4 | 117 | 112 |
| #14 Western Michigan | 24 | 11 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 35 | 78 | 64 | 38 | 21 | 16 | 1 | 136 | 97 |
| Minnesota Duluth | 24 | 8 | 14 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 28 | 65 | 80 | 37 | 12 | 20 | 5 | 103 | 125 |
| Miami | 24 | 1 | 21 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 44 | 100 | 36 | 7 | 26 | 3 | 78 | 135 |
| Championship: March 23, 2024 † indicates conference regular season champion (Penrose Cup) * indicates conference tournament champion (Frozen Faceoff Championship Trophy) Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll Updated: April 1, 2024 |||||||||||||||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date | Time | Opponent$^#$ | Rank$^#$ | Site | TV | Decision | Result | Attendance | Record |
| Exhibition ||||||||||
| October 7 | 6:00 pm | Simon Fraser* | | Ed Robson Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado (Exhibition) | | | W 6–3 | | |
| Regular Season ||||||||||
| October 13 | 7:00 pm | Union* | | Ed Robson Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado | SOCO CW | Mbereko | W 7–3 | 3,607 | 1–0–0 |
| October 14 | 6:00 pm | Union* | | Ed Robson Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado | | Mbereko | W 6–2 | 3,611 | 2–0–0 |
| October 20 | 7:00 pm | Long Island* | | Ed Robson Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado | SOCO CW | Mbereko | W 3–2 | 3,412 | 3–0–0 |
| October 21 | 6:00 pm | Long Island* | | Ed Robson Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado | | Mbereko | W 4–2 | 3,407 | 4–0–0 |
| October 27 | 7:05 pm | at Air Force* | | Cadet Ice Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado (Rivalry) | | Mbereko | W 6–2 | 2,701 | 5–0–0 |
| October 28 | 6:00 pm | Augustana* | | Ed Robson Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado | SOCO CW | Mbereko | L 3–4 | 3,407 | 5–1–0 |
| November 3 | 7:00 pm | at #2 Denver | | Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado (Rivalry) | | Mbereko | L 1–6 | 7,021 | 5–2–0 (0–1–0) |
| November 4 | 6:00 pm | #2 Denver | | Ed Robson Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado (Rivalry) | SOCO CW | Mbereko | L 1–5 | 3,749 | 5–3–0 (0–2–0) |
| November 10 | 5:00 pm | at Miami | | Steve Cady Arena • Oxford, Ohio | | Mbereko | W 5–1 | 2,107 | 6–3–0 (1–2–0) |
| November 11 | 5:00 pm | at Miami | | Steve Cady Arena • Oxford, Ohio | | Mbereko | W 4–1 | 2,431 | 7–3–0 (2–2–0) |
| November 17 | 7:00 pm | #16 Western Michigan | | Ed Robson Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado | SOCO CW | Mbereko | L 1–3 | 3,407 | 7–4–0 (2–3–0) |
| November 18 | 6:00 pm | #16 Western Michigan | | Ed Robson Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado | | Mbereko | L 0–4 | 3,410 | 7–5–0 (2–4–0) |
| December 1 | 7:00 pm | #12 Arizona State* | | Ed Robson Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado | SOCO CW | Mbereko | T 2–2 $^{OT}$ | 3,519 | 7–5–1 |
| December 2 | 6:00 pm | #12 Arizona State* | | Ed Robson Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado | | Mbereko | L 0–2 | 3,463 | 7–6–1 |
| December 8 | 6:07 pm | at #1 North Dakota | | Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, North Dakota | Midco, SOCO CW | Mbereko | W 3–2 $^{OT}$ | 11,569 | 8–6–1 (3–4–0) |
| December 9 | 5:07 pm | at #1 North Dakota | | Ralph Engelstad Arena • Grand Forks, North Dakota | Midco | Mbereko | W 3–2 $^{OT}$ | 11,673 | 9–6–1 (4–4–0) |
| December 29 | 7:00 pm | Minot State* | #20 | Ed Robson Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado (Exhibition) | | Wilder | W 7–1 | 3,416 | |
| January 7 | 4:00 pm | at #10 Minnesota* | #20 | 3M Arena at Mariucci • Minneapolis, Minnesota | Fox 9+, BTN+ | Mbereko | W 6–4 | 9,490 | 10–6–1 |
| January 8 | 6:00 pm | at #12 Minnesota* | #17 | 3M Arena at Mariucci • Minneapolis, Minnesota | Fox 9+, BTN+ | Mbereko | L 2–6 | 7,369 | 10–7–1 |
| January 12 | 6:07 pm | at Minnesota Duluth | #17 | AMSOIL Arena • Duluth, Minnesota | SOCO CW | Mbereko | L 2–3 $^{OT}$ | 5,671 | 10–8–1 (4–5–0) |
| January 13 | 6:07 pm | at Minnesota Duluth | #17 | AMSOIL Arena • Duluth, Minnesota | | Mbereko | W 3–2 $^{OT}$ | 6,246 | 11–8–1 (5–5–0) |
| January 19 | 7:00 pm | Miami | #18 | Ed Robson Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado | SOCO CW, CBSSN | Mbereko | W 2–1 | 3,474 | 12–8–1 (6–5–0) |
| January 20 | 4:00 pm | Miami | #18 | Ed Robson Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado | | Mbereko | W 4–2 | 3,454 | 13–8–1 (7–5–0) |
| January 26 | 5:00 pm | at #12 Western Michigan | #16 | Lawson Arena • Kalamazoo, Michigan | | Mbereko | W 2–1 $^{OT}$ | 3,611 | 14–8–1 (8–5–0) |
| January 27 | 4:00 pm | at #12 Western Michigan | #16 | Lawson Arena • Kalamazoo, Michigan | | Mbereko | W 2–1 $^{OT}$ | 3,710 | 15–8–1 (9–5–0) |
| February 2 | 7:00 pm | #16 St. Cloud State | #14 | Ed Robson Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado | SOCO CW | Mbereko | L 1–2 $^{OT}$ | 3,640 | 15–9–1 (9–6–0) |
| February 3 | 6:00 pm | #16 St. Cloud State | #14 | Ed Robson Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado | SOCO CW | Mbereko | W 5–3 | 3,687 | 16–9–1 (10–6–0) |
| February 16 | 7:00 pm | #2 North Dakota | #15 | Ed Robson Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado | SOCO CW | Mbereko | W 7–1 | 3,503 | 17–9–1 (11–6–0) |
| February 17 | 6:00 pm | #2 North Dakota | #15 | Ed Robson Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado | | Mbereko | W 6–2 | 3,585 | 18–9–1 (12–6–0) |
| February 23 | 6:00 pm | at #19 Omaha | #10 | Baxter Arena • Omaha, Nebraska | | Mbereko | L 0–3 | 7,802 | 18–10–1 (12–7–0) |
| February 24 | 6:00 pm | at #19 Omaha | #10 | Baxter Arena • Omaha, Nebraska | | Mbereko | T 1–1 $^{SOL}$ | 7,802 | 18–10–2 (12–7–1) |
| March 1 | 7:00 pm | Minnesota Duluth | #11 | Ed Robson Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado | SOCO CW | Mbereko | T 2–2 $^{SOL}$ | 3,602 | 18–10–3 (12–7–2) |
| March 2 | 6:00 pm | Minnesota Duluth | #11 | Ed Robson Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado | SOCO CW | Mbereko | W 4–1 | 3,600 | 19–10–3 (13–7–2) |
| March 8 | 7:00 pm | #4 Denver | #10 | Ed Robson Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado (Rivalry) | SOCO CW, CBSSN | Mbereko | W 4–3 | 3,912 | 20–10–3 (14–7–2) |
| March 9 | 6:00 pm | at #4 Denver | #10 | Magness Arena • Denver, Colorado (Rivalry) | | Mbereko | L 3–4 | 7,033 | 20–11–3 (14–8–2) |
| NCHC Tournament ||||||||||
| March 15 | 7:07 pm | #12 Omaha* | #10 | Ed Robson Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado (Quarterfinal Game 1) | | Mbereko | W 4–3 $^{OT}$ | 3,410 | 21–11–3 |
| March 16 | 6:07 pm | #12 Omaha* | #10 | Ed Robson Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado (Quarterfinal Game 2) | | Mbereko | L 1–3 | 3,425 | 21–12–3 |
| March 17 | 6:07 pm | #12 Omaha* | #10 | Ed Robson Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado (Quarterfinal Game 3) | | Mbereko | L 1–2 | 3,416 | 21–13–3 |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Mountain Time. Source: ||||||||||

## Scoring statistics

| Name | Position | Games | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM |
| Noah Laba | C | 36 | 20 | 17 | 37 | 27 |
| Gleb Veremyev | C | 37 | 15 | 13 | 28 | 55 |
| Zaccharya Wisdom | RW | 33 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 22 |
| Ryan Beck | C | 34 | 3 | 17 | 20 | 26 |
| Evan Werner | F | 37 | 6 | 13 | 19 | 10 |
| Logan Will | F | 37 | 7 | 11 | 18 | 12 |
| Nicklas Andrews | D | 37 | 3 | 14 | 17 | 29 |
| Chase Foley | D | 32 | 2 | 14 | 16 | 6 |
| Max Burkholder | D | 37 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 6 |
| Bret Link | RW | 35 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 6 |
| Stan Cooley | C | 37 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 14 |
| Jack Millar | D | 37 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 24 |
| Drew Montgomery | F | 35 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 12 |
| Klāvs Veinbergs | C/LW | 19 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 10 |
| Tommy Middleton | F | 36 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 8 |
| Ray Christy | F | 36 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 15 |
| Ethan Straky | D | 37 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 16 |
| Tyler Coffey | F | 24 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 10 |
| Connor Mayer | D | 37 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 24 |
| Riley Stuart | F | 19 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 11 |
| Danny Weight | C | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Tyler Dunbar | D | 17 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| Antonio Fernandez | D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Henry Wilder | G | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kaidan Mbereko | G | 37 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Noah Serdachny | F | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Total | | | 111 | 176 | 287 | 361 |

## Goaltending statistics

| Name | Games | Minutes | Wins | Losses | Ties | Goals Against | Saves | Shut Outs | SV % | GAA |
| Kaidan Mbereko | 37 | 2227:17 | 21 | 13 | 3 | 89 | 959 | 0 | .915 | 2.40 |
| Henry Wilder | 4 | 18:30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 0 | .923 | 3.24 |
| Empty Net | - | 15:19 | - | - | - | 3 | - | - | - | - |
| Total | 37 | 2261:06 | 21 | 13 | 3 | 93 | 971 | 0 | .913 | 2.47 |

## Rankings

| Poll | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 (Final) |
| USCHO.com | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | 20 | – | 20 | 17 | 18 | 16 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 15 | – | 15 |
| USA Hockey | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | 20 | 20 | – | 18 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 10 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 13 | 15 | 15 | 15 |
Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 11 and 25. Note: USA Hockey did not release a poll in week 12.

## Awards and honors

| Player | Award |
| Kaidan Mbereko | AHCA West First Team All-American |
| Noah Laba | AHCA West Second Team All-American |
| Kaidan Mbereko | NCHC Goaltender of the Year |
| Noah Laba | NCHC Defensive Forward of the Year |
| Noah Laba | NCHC Three Stars Award |
| Kris Mayotte | Herb Brooks Coach of the Year |
| Kaidan Mbereko | NCHC First Team |
| Noah Laba | NCHC First Team |

## 2024 NHL Entry Draft

| Round | Pick | Player | NHL team |
| 7 | 208 | Fisher Scott $^†$ | Detroit Red Wings |
† incoming freshman