A new era began with the drop of the puck on Oct. 9, when former Colorado College goaltender Scott Owens officially began his reign as Tigers coach. Owens accepted the position at his alma mater last spring when Don Lucia departed for Minnesota.
Colorado College won its first game under Owens, defeating Michigan State 4-1 in the U.S. College Hockey Faceoff Classic. But a three-goal win isn’t going to be enough to convince Tigers faithfuls that their program will remain a powerhouse.
In his first season, Owens has a lot to compete with. Lucia rebuilt the Tigers program, a run which included NCAA tournament appearances for the past five seasons.
“You know that kind of goes with the territory,” Owens said. “Personally, I’d much rather come into a situation like that than have to come in at the bottom and take years and years to build it back it up.”
Colorado College skated to a 20-8-0 WCHA record last season, good enough for a second-place finish in conference standings. The preseason poll indicates a similar finish this year.
Although the offense will be something to tinker with this season, Owens isn’t questioning his defense (veterans Dan Peters and Paul Manning return to the blue line) and overall style of attack. Owens said he had no reason to argue with the success of his mentor Lucia.
“I learned a lot of my hockey from Don,” Owens said. “A lot of beliefs that we share are for an uptempo, skilled style of play and I don’t think we’re going to vary very much from that.”