There’s no settling into 2021 for Colorado College hockey. Nineteen hours into the new year, Denver will be on the Tigers’ fresh ice at The Broadmoor World Arena.

“No better start, I guess, than our biggest rival,” CC coach Mike Haviland said.

In a six-game series this season instead of the usual four, Colorado College will try to reclaim the trophy they handed back last season. The Tigers held the tiebreaker in the Battle for the Gold Pan as the defending champions, but went 0-3-1 against Denver.

It’s an intense way to begin the travel schedule, but a sign of what’s ahead. Every game from here on out is against a team that’s currently ranked.

Except for two games pushed outside the pod due to a positive COVID-19 test and the ensuing quarantine, CC plays the rest of its schedule against the West Division consisting of No. 14 Denver, No. 3 North Dakota and No. 11 Omaha.

Denver tumbled from No. 4 during a 3-6-1 showing in the pod. The Pioneers lost three games by a goal and dropped their last matchup against St. Cloud State 3-1 with an empty-netter.

“I thought they had a lot of games that could have gone either way,” Haviland said.

Sophomore Bobby Brink (one goal, one assist in two games against CC last season) is still in Edmonton playing for the U.S. in the preliminary round of the World Junior Championship. He was the team’s player of the game in a 7-0 win over the Czech Republic on Tuesday.

That gives Denver some international attention, but doesn’t help this weekend. However the Pioneers are still deep and dangerous without him.

Colorado College (2-4-2) is the only unranked West Division team and did not draw any votes in Week 8’s USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll. The Tigers have seemed encouraged by their pod performance, though, which saw a relatively green lineup quickly gain experience.

“I thought we created a lot of confidence in our guys throughout the pod,” senior team captain Zach Berzolla said at the conclusion. “We’ve got to take that momentum and try to get some wins against Denver here, against a good team.”

“Our freshmen had to grow up pretty quick,” Haviland added.

“I thought we played pretty good for a young team down the stretch. I think obviously we’ve got things to work on, and that’s the special teams for sure.”

One more experienced area was goaltending, but that’s now an evolving situation.

Sophomore Matt Vernon struggled at times in three starts, though of course the two losses weren’t all his doing. Haviland called Vernon a “pretty honest man” and said they spoke after his benching.

“When he gets his call, I know he’ll be ready to go,” Haviland said. “He’s just doing his business and working.”

Freshman Dominic Basse (.914 save percentage, 2.21 goals-against average, 2-1-2 record) became CC’s talk of the pod and the league has seen his calm demeanor under pressure.

Vernon has the experience, having been in the net during all four games against Denver last season. He took the three losses and came in in relief during the draw.

Haviland declined to name a starter for Friday’s game.

“I think a little competition there is a great thing,” he said.

The Gold Pan

Colorado College and Denver will meet again in The Battle of the Gold Pan on Friday. This is the 28th season of the trophy being awarded. Former CC coach Don Lucia and then-Denver coach Frank Serratore, now the coach at Air Force, added a new element to the rivalry that dates back to 1950.

The winner of the regular season series takes home the trophy. In the event of a tie, the previous winner holds onto it. Denver has it now after going 3-0-1 against Colorado College in 2019-20.

The original trophy isn’t up for grabs. The first, a rusty relic from Cripple Creek, vanished under unknown circumstances while in Denver’s possession in 2003-04. The Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mine provided a replacement in 2005.