Saturday night, the Colorado College Tigers and Air Force Falcons will be opponents on the ice but united in their purpose. 

To compete. 

The Pikes Peak Trophy is once again on the line as both of Colorado Springs’ Division I college hockey programs square off. Puck drop is at 5:05 p.m. at the Falcons’ Cadet Ice Arena.

For the Tigers, who have held the trophy since the 2018-2019 season, consistency is the key to the weekend. In last week’s season-opening series, CC bested then-10th-ranked UConn 4-2 on Oct. 3 and then fell 5-1 the following evening. While coach Kris Mayotte saw the weekend as a positive overall, there were aspects of the second-night performance that weren’t up to standard in the fifth-year coach’s mind. 

“We got confirmation of what we’ve been seeing all preseason. In terms of the type of hockey we can play, the pace we can play with, the detail we can play with, the competitiveness we can play with,” he said. “What you’re capable of is important to know. … The next phase is not about what you’re capable of, it’s what you can do consistently.”

The Falcons meanwhile, are coming off a 3-2 overtime loss in an exhibition at Omaha on Oct. 3. Air Force officially begins the season on Friday against Denver and then hosts CC the following evening. 

Joe Doyle, Air Force’s associate head hockey coach, loved the way his players competed against the Mavericks last week. Down 2-0 entering the third period, Falcons captain and senior defenseman Chris Hedden scored a shorthanded goal and then freshman forward Oliver Genest netted the equalizer to send the game into the extra period. 

“There aren’t any exhibitions. Like I said, whether it’s a small game in practice, we’re playing, we’re playing to win, so our mindset was to get in there, trying to be the best version of ourselves and see where it took us,” Doyle said. “We came out with a very high compete level and it never waned.”

In last season’s series, Air Force competed with CC for 5 1/2 periods. The Falcons sent Game 1 into overtime at the Tigers’ Ed Robson Arena and were within a goal of CC entering the third and final period of the series on the second night. The Tigers prevailed in both moments to keep control of the Pikes Peak Trophy. 

For Doyle, the key to bringing the prize back to Cadet Ice Arena is to be defense first and take the game 5 to 10 minutes at a time. 

“We were even younger last year, we’re still pretty young, and I just think we were for five periods, those absolutely were close teams. Then the third period at our place just kind of got away from us,” Doyle said. “It sounds cliché but we’re gonna have to be good for 60 minutes, but we need to do that in 5-to-10-minute increments. The way we play with those nationally ranked teams over time is to be a defense-first group, take care of the puck in our end and try and, slowly and surely, establish our forecheck and slant the ice.” 

This year, much like two years ago, both Colorado Springs-based teams get just one shot to play their best hockey for the trophy. 

CC won the most recent single-game format of the cross-town rivalry back in 2023, beating Air Force 6-2 at Cadet Ice Arena. But that contest was on the first night of the weekend. This time, the game for all the marbles is played after the Falcons and Tigers host their respective opponents. Air Force will host perennial NCAA title and National Collegiate Hockey Conference title-contending Pioneers at 7:05 p.m., while CC hosts Atlantic Hockey America champion Bentley at the same time. 

Mayotte said he enjoys the urgency of the single-game format but admitted there can be a difference between playing on first or second night.

“That really is college hockey. Friday nights, everybody’s got their preparations, everybody feels good, you go in. Saturday nights, you come into the rink and you either feel good about how it went or you’re not happy about how it went, you’re trying to hit that reset button. So Saturday nights are huge in college hockey. To be a really good team, you gotta know how to win on Saturday nights. So I actually like that there’s a trophy on the line this Saturday,” he said.

The Pikes Peak trophy was created in 2013 in honor of the late John Matchefts who served as head coach for both CC and Air Force. 

The night before 

Friday Night Ice in Colorado Springs 

Bentley (0-0) at Colorado College (1-1), 7 p.m./ Denver (0-0) at Air Force (0-0), 7:05 p.m. 

Quick quotes:

Kris Mayotte on facing the Bentley Falcons

“They had to win their league championship (last year) to get into the NCAA tournament and then they get in as the 16-seed and they play the 1-seed (Boston College) and it’s 1-1 with a minute, 20 left in the game. And the thing that stood out and the thing that I really was impressed with, even when I was watching it live in the spring, was Bentley didn’t sit back and just kind of rope-a-dope BC in that game. They played hockey with them….You have guys in that locker room that have a lot of confidence and belief in how they win hockey games; it was the same thing we were talking about with UConn. So another really good challenge for us to play against a team that was where we want to be.  

Joe Doyle on facing the Denver Pioneers

“Our guys are excited. We know the history up there, the national championship that they’ve won. They’re a top-five team in the country virtually every year, and we respect that but we’re ready to go. We want to get out and see against one of the top teams in the country where we stack up.”