Former Colorado College senior goalie Kaidan Mbereko got his first taste of professional hockey Wednesday.  

Though the netminder out of Aspen was not in goal, his Cincinnati Cyclones, the ECHL affiliate of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, did pick up a 2-1 win against the Bloomington Bison.

He signed a standard player contract earlier this week, both Cincinnati and CC announced.  

“I am just incredibly grateful to have the opportunity to be where I am right now because so many people would kill to be here too,” Mbereko said of joining the Cyclones. “I’m so lucky to start my career in such an amazing city and organization and I get to work with incredible people, coaches and players again. I have a lot of work to do, but still get an opportunity to try and get to the NHL!”

The Tigers’ captain finished a historic collegiate career at CC when he set the record for most games played by a goalie in program history with his 128th appearance March 6 at Western Michigan.

Unfortunately, Mbereko left that game early with an injury, but he said all is well following the season-ending series with the Broncos. 

Burkholder back on the ice

The Tigers’ other captain this season was junior defenseman Max Burkholder, who suffered a season-ending injury in the second weekend of the 2025-26 campaign.

CC coach Kris Mayotte confirmed that the Chaska, Minnesota, blueliner returned to skating during the second half of the season and was frustrated at not being able to help a Tigers team that struggled to win consistently despite coming close so many times. This past season, CC had 13 contests go into overtime and led the National Collegiate Hockey Conference in ties with six.  

“He’s the ultimate competitor. He sits in the video room with a scowl on his face,” Mayotte said last week. “So you imagine how that was, having to sit out all year and watch this team play and see how close we were to winning consistently. It was eating at him that he couldn’t be out there and helping us win because I think to a man, in our locker room, guys believed in what this team could be and how good we could be when we were playing our game.”

Nevertheless, Mayotte said Burkholder handled the adversity well. He stayed around his teammates, traveled with them and was always smiling. 

His work ethic is tied to his belief in the program, Mayotte said. 

“The year was hard for him because he had no control and the way he’s wired is to compete,” he said. “He really, again, believes so much in this program and what it can be. He takes a lot of pride and, quite honestly, gets pretty frustrated when people don’t see it a certain way. A lot of his motivation is proving people wrong.”