Saturday, Oct. 7, Tiger Hockey had their first chance to show what fans can expect in the coming season as CC took the ice at Robson Arena in an exhibition game against Simon Fraser University.
“We’re obviously excited about the strength of our roster, but now it’s our job to prove it,” Kris Mayotte, CC Hockey Head Coach said before the game. “We’re looking forward to starting this journey.”
And it was a decent start for what is projected to be a very strong season for CC. The Tigers finished the night with a 6-3 win over the Red Leafs.
Just over eight minutes into the game, CC got their first goal, and only goal of the first period, off the stick of Senior Forward Tyler Coffey.
SFU got their first goal less than a minute into the second period on a power play. This was followed by a goal from CC’s Logan Will and another from Noah Laba. After just 1:52 into the third period, first-year Defenseman Tyler Dunbar scored his first ever goal for the Tigers.
Unfortunately, penalties, and player frustrations, did begin to pile up and eventually got the best of some of the Tigers. With less than five minutes left in the game, a fight on the ice led to Will and Tristan Cross each getting a penalty. Laba was assessed a five-minute major penalty and game disqualification. This disqualification most likely means that he will miss Friday’s regular season opener against Union.
With a crowd in the penalty boxes, the Red Leafs took advantage, getting their second goal on a 5-4 power play and their third quickly after. Thankfully, the Tigers were able to hold off a run, scoring another goal and celebrating a win with the final buzzer.
Mayotte was optimistic after the game, highlighting the strength of his returners and the promise and hockey-sense of his first-year players.
“I think we got a glimpse tonight of what this can really become,” said Mayotte. “What it comes down to is how quickly can we get to our structure and really find our identity.”
And there is a lot of potential here. The Tigers showed strength and solid teamwork for the majority of their time on the ice. It was the need for less time in the penalty box that proved to be the main takeaway from this exhibition.
“The point of the exhibition game is to find a way to get up to game speed. We did that,” said Mayotte. “The biggest thing we need to clean up is the penalties. But we’ll get there. That will be addressed.”
The Tigers play their season-opening series against Union College this Friday and Saturday (Oct. 13-14) at Robson Arena during Homecoming and Family Weekend.