OPENING FACE-OFF
Colgate opens the new calendar year in the Shillelagh Tournament at the Sears Center in Hoffman Estates, Ill., where a first-round meeting with Notre Dame is on tap. The opening face-off for the January 2 clash is set for 6:05 p.m. CST.
Once the puck drops against the Fighting Irish, it will be the 19th different state Colgate has played at least one game in. This will be the first-ever time Colgate has played in the state of Illinois. It will also mark the second time the two schools will square off on the ice with Colgate holding a 1-0 advantage overall. 
Depending on the outcome, the Raiders will then play either Niagara or North Dakota in the second round on January 3. The time is already slated for a 3:05 CST face-off. 
This weekend will mark the second consecutive season in which Colgate has played on January 2-3.  The Raiders went 0-1-1 at last year's Catamount Classic in Burlington, VT with a 6-4 loss to Vermont and a 3-3 overtime draw with Ferris State. Colgate comes into 2010 off a 7-6 overtime loss to Canisius, December 20.

MEET THE HEAD COACH
Don Vaughan is in his 17th year at the helm of the Colgate Raiders. The 1984 graduate of St. Lawrence enters the campaign as the program's all-time winningest coach with a 276-259-63 mark.  On February 16, 2008, he became the all-time winningest coach with his 252nd victory as Colgate blanked Union 8-0.  On November 11, 2007, former Colgate President, Rebecca S. Chopp, announced the creation of the Donald F. Vaughan Endowed Coaching Chair for Men's Hockey.

THESE DATES IN COLGATE HISTORY
The Raiders are 3-7-1 overall in games played on January 2 and 6-7-4 overall in match-ups on January 3.  Colgate is 1-5-1 in its last seven games on January 2, while four of the last five games on January 3 have gone into overtime.

January 2, 2005  (Colgate 3, Air Force 0 in Denver, Colo.) – Joey Mormina posted a goal and dished out an assist to lead 12th-ranked Colgate to a 3-0 shutout of Air Force in the consolation game of the Denver Cup.  Ben Camper gave the Raiders the lead for good 2:54 into the first period.  Liam Huculak scored the third goal, an empty netter with 34 seconds left.  Colgate outshot the Falcons 41-13.  Steve Silverthorn turned aside all 13 shots in the win.

January 3, 1999 (Colgate 4, Clarkson 3 in Potsdam, N.Y.) – Andy McDonald netted two goals, including the game winner at 4:17 in overtime as Colgate escaped Cheel Arena with a 4-3 victory.  The Raiders battled back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits.  Trailing 3-2, Clarkson evened the game at 3-3 with a shorthanded goal at 6:20 of the third.  The line of Tim Brokaw, Bob Vandersluis and Darryl Campbell gave Colgate its first lead at 3-2 with back-to-back goals from Brokaw 32 seconds apart.  Shep Harder posted 51 saves in the victory for the Raiders, including 17 in the opening 20 minutes.

STRANGE WEEKEND HAPPENINGS
January 2-3, 1993 was interesting as Colgate and Kent State squared off for a pair of games at Starr Rink.  Both games ended in a 5-5 overtime deadlock.

THE SERIES RECORDS
Colgate holds the all-time series advantages against everyone in the field.  The Raiders are 2-0 against Notre Dame; 1-0 against North Dakota and 5-4-2 versus Niagara.

Colgate and Notre Dame squared off twice in 1985.  The Raiders downed the Fighting Irish 13-4 on January 5, 1985 at the Phoenix Mutual Classic in Hartford, Conn.  Months later, the two met at the Syracuse Invitational with Colgate prevailing 8-7 on December 17, 1985.

Colgate defeated North Dakota 3-2 on December 30, 1983 in Syracuse for the only victory in the series.

A meeting with Niagara in the second round would make it the third this season between the two schools.  Including a 1-0-1 record against the Purple Eagles thus far, Colgate leads the all-time series 5-4-2.  Eight of the 11 meetings have been determined by one goal or less and four of them have gone into overtime.

NOTRE DAME IN BRIEF
The Fighting Irish head into the contest sporting an 8-8-4 overall mark and the 20th ranking in the most recent USCHO poll.  Notre Dame has won two of its last three games, including a 2-0 victory over Michigan in South Bend, December 13.  Among its other victories includes a 4-0 victory at top-ranked Miami, December 5.  Eleven of their 20 games have been determined by one goal or less.  Notre Dame has six players with 10 or more points.  Billy Maday (16 points on four goals and 12 assists), Callie Ridderwall (15 points on 11 goals and four assists), and Ben Ryan (14 points on three goals and 11 assists) are the top point producers at this juncture.  Seven of Ridderwall's goals have come on the power play.  While Notre Dame's scoring offense ranks 53rd in the country (2.05 gpg), the Fighting Irish have one of the stingiest defenses in the land – ranking third in scoring defense (1.95 gpg).  Freshman goalie Mike Johnson has been impressive thus far with a 1.70 goals against average and a .940 save percentage, which ranks third and first respectively in the country.  Notre Dame's roster has nine NHL draft picks.

NORTH DAKOTA IN BRIEF
The Fighting Sioux are 9-6-3 overall, 6-6-2 in the WCHA at this point and rank sixth in the most recent USCHO national poll.  North Dakota is 0-2-1 in its last three contests, including a 4-3 loss to league rival Wisconsin, December 12 in Grand Forks.  The U.S. Under 20 team downed the Fighting Sioux 4-2 in an exhibition game December 19.  The roster features a litany of NHL draft picks, 15 to be exact.  UND possesses a balanced scoring attack with eight players having 10 or more points.  Freshman Danny Kristo (6-10-16) and junior Evan Trupp (4-12-16) along with Chris VandeVelde (5-10-15) pace the scoring through 18 games.  Sophomore Brad Eidsness has played the majority of time between the pipes for the Sioux and ranks 18th nationally in goals against average (2.24).  North Dakota is 20th nationally in scoring offense (3.22 gpg) and seventh in scoring defense (2.17 gpg). Kristo is competing for the United States at the 2010 World Junior Hockey Championships in Saskatoon. He is unlikely to suit up for the Sioux given the fact the quarterfinal games are played on January 2.

NIAGARA IN BRIEF
The Purple Eagles are 3-10-2 overall, but have posted wins in three of their last five outings including a 3-2 decision at RIT December 12.  Niagara's offense has three players with 10 or more points, and centers around seniors Chris Moran (3-15-18) and Ryan Olidis (9-6-15).  Two of the Purple Eagles' three short handed goals this season have come at the expense of Colgate.  Adam Avramenko has played the majority of time in net for Niagara and sports a 3.28 goals against average and a .898 save percentage.  Eight of the Eagles games thus far have been determined by one goal or less.

THIS YEAR AGAINST THE PURPLE EAGLES
Colgate is 1-0-1 versus Niagara during the 2009-2010 campaign.  In the season opener, the Raiders rallied from a 4-1 deficit in the middle stages of the second period to post a 4-4 tie at the Dwyer Center October 9 to continue their consecutive overtime streak to eight consecutive.  Wade Poplawski forced overtime with his first of the year with 1:21 left in the third period.  In the second meeting, Colgate scored the final three goals of the game in a 4-2 victory at Starr Rink, October 31.  Austin Smith scored the game winner at 6:50 of the third.  Colgate is 1 of 9 on the power play versus Niagara this year, while the Purple Eagles are scoreless in nine tries.

LAST TIME OUT
Canisius rallied from a two-goal deficit with less than seven minutes left in regulation to post a 7-6 overtime victory over the Raiders on December 20 at the Buffalo State Sports Arena.  The Golden Griffins got the game winner with 52 seconds left in overtime from Jason Weeks.  It marked the first time Colgate had dropped a decision to Canisius in five meetings.
•    Brian Day posted a career-high four points on a goal and three assists.
•    Austin Smith established career highs point total with four assists.
•    Matt Firman tallied his first multi-goal and point game of his career with two goals and an assist
•    Jeremy Price tallied his first multi-goal game with two power play goals.  He became the first Colgate defenseman to score a pair of goals in the same game since Jason Fredricks netted two in the Raiders' 5-4 overtime victory over Lake Superior State January 8, 2009.
•    It was the second time this season in which two Raiders posted multi-goal games in the same contest.  In the 5-4 overtime victory against Princeton, Francois Brisebois and David McIntyre each posted two goals against the Tigers.
•    Colgate went four of six on the power play.  It marked the highest amount of power play goals in a single game since Colgate went six of 16 in a 9-0 victory over Canisius October 24, 2006.  The last time the Raiders posted three in a game was on February 16, 2008 in an 8-0 victory over Union at Starr Rink.
•    The Raiders successfully killed off all five Canisius power play opportunities.  It's the first time Colgate has shut the opponents' power play down since a 3-2 victory over Dartmouth on November 7.  Opponents had tallied at least one power play goal in seven consecutive games.
•    The six goals in a game was the highest total in a loss by the Raiders since an 8-6 loss at Union back on November 5, 1999.
•    The game was Colgate's sixth overtime game of the year.  The Raiders had six overtime appearances at this same juncture last year after 17 games in their national record setting 19 overtime appearances.
•    The overtime loss was the first suffered by Colgate since a 4-3 loss in the third and deciding game of a best of three series at Quinnipiac in the opening round of the 2009 ECAC Hockey Tournament,

HIGHEST TWO-GAME OUTPUT
Colgate has scored 11 goals in its lat two games versus Rensselaer and Canisius.  It's the highest two-goal output since the Raiders outscored Rensselaer and Union 12-0 at home February 15-16, 2008.  It's the highest two-game scoring output away from Starr Rink since the 2003-04 season, December 12 and 28th when Colgate posted 11 goals at Sacred Heart and against Northeastern in the first round of the Rensselaer Holiday Tournament in Troy, N.Y.

THINGS TO WATCH FOR
Charles Long could reach a milestone of sorts this weekend, if he is called upon to play.  Long is 16 saves away from hitting 1,000 for his career.  He would become the 17th goalie in the program's history to reach that plateau. Long is currently ranked in a tie for 14th among goalies in the country in win percentage (.667).

LENDING A HELPING HAND
The Raiders have two players ranked among the top 12 nationally in assists.  With his four-assist effort versus Canisius, Smith moved into seventh nationally averaging 0.94 assists per game.  The sophomore has six assists in his last two games.  McIntyre posts 0.88 helpers per outing, which ranks 11th.  They are the top two assist leaders in ECAC Hockey.

POINT PER GAME SMITTY
Well, if you want to get technical, Austin Smith averages 1.0185 points per game in his career.  With his four-point outing at Canisius, the sophomore has posted 55 points thus far in his 54 game career.  As a freshman, he had 17 goals and 14 assists in 37 games.  Currently, he leads ECAC Hockey in assists and is tied for second in points – one point out of first.

IN 11 of LAST 12
In 11 of the last 12 games, Colgate has posted at least one power play goal.  The Raiders had gone nine consecutive games with at least one power play goal until Union successfully killed off both Colgate power play opportunities.  CU posted a goal in six man advantage situations in a 5-3 victory in Troy, December 5 and then was successful in four of six power play opportunities in the 7-6 loss at Canisius.  The Dutchmen also snapped a streak of nine consecutive games in which at least one member of the squad posted a multi-point outing.  Before the meeting with Union, 23 multi-point games were tallied by 12 different Raiders.  Colgate started a new streak as Francois Brisebois (1 goal, 1 assist) and Austin Smith (2 assists) had multi-point games versus the Engineers.

•    Army – Kurtis Bartliff (2 assists)
•    Niagara – Austin Smith (2 goals), David McIntyre (2 assists), Nick Prockow (1 goal, 1 assist)
•    Harvard – David McIntyre (1 goal, 3 assists), Thomas Larkin (1 goal, 1 assist), Austin Smith (two goals, 1 assist)
•    Dartmouth – Brian Day (1 goal, 1 assist), Austin Smith (2 assists)
•    Brown – Austin Smith (1 goal, 1 assist), Brian Day (1 goal, 1 assist), Corbin McPherson (1 goal, 1 assist)
•    Yale – Jason Williams (1 goal, 1 assist)
•    Quinnipiac – Brian Day (2 goals), Wade Poplawski (2 assists), David McIntyre (2 assists)
•    Princeton – Nick Prockow (1 goal, 1 assist), Francois Brisebois (2 goals, 1 assist), Robbie Bourdon (2 assists), Jeremy Price (2 assists), David McIntyre (2 goals, 1 assist), Austin Smith (2 assists).
•    Cornell – Thomas Larkin (2 assists).
•    Union – None
•    Rensselaer – Francois Brisebois (1 goal, 1 assist), Austin Smith (2 assists).
•    Canisius – Jeremy Price (2 goals), Matt Firman (2 goals, 1 assist), Brian Day (1 goal, 3 assists), Austin Smith (4 assists).

PASSING THE CENTURY MARK
With his career-high four-point evening versus Harvard, David McIntyre became the 48th player in the program's history to surpass the 100-point milestone.  He heads into the Shillelagh Tournament with 111 career points, which stands tied for 37th on the all-time list with former standout Cory Murphy.  He needs only one point to move into a three-way tie for 34th with Robert Meehan, Jon Smyth, and Earl Cronin; two points to tie Tim Loftsgard for 33rd with 113 points and three more to move into a tie for 32nd with current Ottawa Senator Jesse Winchester, who amassed 114 points in his career.

STREAKING RAIDERS
The 2009-2010 season has seen the Raiders either continue old streaks or put together new ones.
•    Went into overtime in the season-opener at Niagara to continue streak dating back to last season of eight consecutive overtime appearances.
•    First three games were determined by a goal or less to increase the consecutive streak to 14 consecutive dating back to last season.
•    Had a six-game unbeaten streak from October 30-November 20 going 4-0-2.
•    Posted three goals or more in nine consecutive games from October 23-November 24.
•    Had a power play goal in nine-consecutive games from October 30-December 4
•    Had a streak of nine consecutive games in which at least one Raider posted a multi-point game from October 30-December 4.

FRENCH CONNECTION 2.5
While not exactly Gilbert Perreault, Rene Robert and Rick Martin, Colgate's trio of Francois Brisebois, Nick Prockow and Robbie Bourdon has faired very well during the last five games.  All three – either natives of Montreal, or the suburbs, played for the first time together in the Raiders' 5-4 overtime victory over Princeton on November 24.  Including that game against the Tigers, the threesome has combined for six goals and 16 points.  Brisebois (5-2-7) has two game-winners in this span (versus Princeton in overtime and at Rensselaer), while Prockow (1-3-4) and Bourdon (0-5-5) assisted on both of Brisebois' game winning scores.

WHAT DAY IS IT?
Aside from the members of Colgate's version of the French Connection, no one on the Raiders roster is hotter than Brian Day.  The senior has 13 points in his last eight games, seven of those in the form of goals.  He has at least one point in seven of his last eight appearances.

NATIONALLY SPEAKING
As of December 26, Colgate had a strong presence in national statistical categories as six skaters were ranked among the top 50 in the country.   They are as follows …

•    Austin Smith – seventh in assists per game (0.94), T10th in points per game (1.41); T11 in shorthanded goals (1),T20 in game winning goals (2), and T47 in goals per game (0.47),
•    Brian Day – ninth in goals per game (0.73), T15 power play goals (5), and T36 in points per game (1.13),
•    Thomas Larkin – T20 in points per game for a defenseman (0.71) and T28 in points per game for a rookie (0.71)
•    David McIntyre – 11th in assists per game (0.88) and T29 in points per game (1.19)
•    Francois Brisebois – T20 in game winning goals (2) and T47 in goals per game (0.47).
•    Jason Williams – T11 in shorthanded goals (1)
•    Robbie Bourdon – T36 for points per game by a rookie (0.62).

STANDING THIRD
Defending national overtime champion and all-time single season record holder Colgate is tied for third this year with six overtime appearances.  ECAC Hockey rival Union has appeared in eight extra sessions this season while Miami ranks second with seven.  The Raiders and Alaska are knotted at six each.

FRESHMEN IMPACT
After 17 games, the Colgate freshmen have integrated themselves rather well as far as posting points. The freshman class is averaging nearly 2.29 points per game with a combined 39 points (13 goals, 26 assists) thus far. Earlier, there was a four-game stretch where a freshman collected his first collegiate goal of his career. Kurtis Bartliff netted his first goal in the 1-1 tie with nationally ranked Nebraska-Omaha, while Christian Long found the back of the next the following night against the Mavericks. Against UMass-Lowell, it was Robbie Bourdon's turn to light the lamp and then it was Jeremy Price opening the scoring versus Army.  Bourdon (4-6-10) and Thomas Larkin (1-9-10) lead the class with points, while Bartliff (2-5-7) is only three points behind.

POWER PLAY HEATING UP
After starting the season, 1 of 26 on the power play, Colgate has scored on 15 of its last 58 attempts (.259) since the Army game.  The Raiders have posted at least one power play goal in 11 of their last 12 games including cashing in on two of four opportunities against the then second-ranked penalty kill unit in the land – Cornell.  It was the first time the Raiders had multi-power play goals in a single game since a 4-2 loss at St. Lawrence on January 30, 2009.  Colgate got its second multi-power play game of the year with four at Canisius, December 20. Brian Day leads the squad with five power play goals, which is tied for 15th nationally.

54th IS GOOD IN THIS INSTANCE
Usually, when talking about being ranked nationally, the lower number is better.  In the case of penalty minutes, it's just the opposite.  Colgate ranks 54th nationally out of 58 schools in fewest penalty minutes per game (10.7 pmpg).  Alaska still remains the least penalized team in the land averaging 8.3 penalty minutes per outing. In contrast, North Dakota tallies 21.4 penalty minutes per game and is the most penalized team in the nation.

EVIN SAYS NO SOUP FOR MV-T
In Colgate's 3-1 loss at Union, Alex Evin stopped Mario Valery-Trabucco on a penalty shot in the second period.  It was the first penalty shot against Colgate since March 19, 2004 when former Raider standout Steve Silverthorn stopped Clarkson's Chris Blight in an ECAC Hockey semifinal match-up.  The opposition has only scored three times in nine tries against Colgate goalies – the last coming on January 4, 2003 as Randy Jones beat Silverthorn in a 6-0 Raider loss.

RPI OUTBURST
Colgate's five-goal outburst was the most goals scored by the Raiders against the Engineers since a 5-4 victory at Starr Rink back on February 18, 2000.  The performance also served as the most goals scored by Colgate at Rensselaer in close to 15 years.  The Raiders posted a 6-3 win at Houston Fieldhouse on January 16, 1995.

40 SOMETHING ON SATURDAYS
In back-to-back Saturday performances against Yale (11/14) and Princeton (11/21), Colgate goalies posted 40 or more saves.  On November 14, Charles Long saved a career-high 41 shots in a 3-3 tie with the then 11th-ranked Bulldogs.  The following Saturday, Alex Evin bested his former career-high of 41 set last season with a 43-save performance in a 5-4 overtime victory against the Tigers at Starr Rink,  In the opening Saturday of league play, Long tallied 38 saves in a victory over Dartmouth (11/7).

DOUBLE BIG MAC
For the second time in three weeks, Colgate's David McIntyre was named as the ECAC Hockey Player of the Week on November 23.  The senior posted two goals and three assists on the weekend versus Quinnipiac and Princeton.  On November 9, he was honored with the recognition for the first time this season after tallying a five-point weekend in a sweep of Harvard and Dartmouth.  In the opening game that weekend, McIntyre posted a career-high four-point outing (a goal and three assists) as Colgate overcame a 4-1 third-period deficit to down the Crimson 5-4.  He scored a goal the following evening in a 3-2 win over Dartmouth.  That same day, teammate Thomas Larkin was named the league's rookie of the week.  He posted two points on the weekend, both coming versus Harvard (one goal, one assist).  It was his first multi-point game of his career.

FIRST WEEKEND SWEEP IN A WHILE
When Colgate downed Harvard and Dartmouth to open its 2009-2010 ECAC Hockey slate, it was the first four-point weekend since February 15-16, 2008 when the Raiders blanked Rensselaer 4-0 and Union 8-0.  Colgate's last non-conference weekend sweep was over Robert Morris on December 1-2, 2007.
 
HOLIDAY DRIVE A SUCCESS
Ethan Cox's canned food and toy drive from November 21st's clash with Princeton was a major success.  The senior spearheaded a dual drive for the first time and raised over 1,000 pounds of food, 150 toys, and $650, which will go along way in providing holiday cheer to families in the greater Hamilton Area.  The food items will help restock the supply at the Hamilton Food Cupboard, while the toys will be given to the Holiday Interfaith Council.  Last year's drives raised 350 pounds of food, 200 toys and $1,007 in cash over two separate weekends.

A RECAP OF THE OVERTIME STREAK
Colgate entered the 2009-2010 campaign having played seven consecutive overtime games, which dated back to the end of 2008-09 season.  The Raiders went 3-2-2 down the stretch in these games – the two losses coming to Quinnipiac in a best of three series in a first round ECAC Hockey Tournament clash in Hamden, Conn.  The streak began at home with a 2-2 tie versus Union on February 20.  Colgate would go on to beat Rensselaer (2-1); tie Brown 3-3 in Providence and then upset #11 Yale (3-2) in front of a national TV audience in New Haven all before the meetings with the Bobcats.  Quinnipiac won the opener 3-2; then Colgate rallied from a two-goal deficit late in the game for a 5-4 victory to force a third game.  The Bobcats prevailed 4-3 in the final game of the series.  The Raiders stretched the streak to eight with a 4-4 tie at Niagara last Friday evening, but was broken the following night in a 3-2 regulation victory at RIT. It was Colgate's first regulation victory since a 1-0 defeat of Dartmouth on Valentines Day at Thompson Arena.

SHOULD OVERTIME HAPPEN
If it happens, eyes need to focus on two of Colgate's best ever goal scorers in overtime in David McIntyre and Austin Smith.  McIntyre is tied for second all-time with three overtime game winners.  He needs one more to tie Jon Smyth for first.  One of McIntyre's goals lifted Colgate by Clarkson in the third and final game of an ECAC Hockey quarterfinal as the Raiders advanced to the Final Four as the seventh seed.  Smith is tied for sixth having scored two overtime winners as a freshman last season versus Lake Superior State and Quinnipiac.  McIntyre has six overtime points (3 goals, 3 assist) and five of them came last season.  The only game he didn't record a point in a game winner in overtime was Colgate's 5-4 victory over Quinnipiac in the second game of the three-game series.

PRESEASON HONORS
David McIntyre has been named a pre-season first team all-ECAC Hockey honoree by the coaches and media.  In addition, the senior has been named as a preseason first team all-American by Inside College Hockey and once again named to the all-College Hockey News first team.  In 2008-09, McIntyre finished with 21 goals and 43 points, both ranked among the leaders nationally.  His point total was the highest for a single season since Andy McDonald's 58 in 1999-2000.  He was a first team all-league honoree; a finalist for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, a first team AHCA/Reebok Eastern All-American, a first team all-American by Inside College Hockey and was a selection to the all-College Hockey News team.  In addition, McIntyre is one of 20 candidates for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award for men's ice hockey.

GETTING DRAFTY
Colgate has six NHL draft picks on its 2009-2010 roster.  David McIntyre was drafted in the fifth round of the 2006 Draft by the Dallas Stars.  Last year, his rights were traded twice in two months and now stands property of the New Jersey Devils.  Corbin McPherson (New Jersey, 3rd, 2007), Brian Day (New York Islanders, 6th, 2006), Austin Smith (Dallas Stars, 5th, 2007), Jeremy Price (Vancouver Canucks, 4th, 2009), and Thomas Larkin (Columbus Blue Jackets, 5th, 2009) round out the Raiders' draft picks.

BLUELINE SHUFFLE
Colgate will have a revamped defense for the 2009-2010 season.  Don Vaughan's squad lost five defensemen to graduation that combined to play close to 600 collegiate games.  With the return of Corbin McPherson, Wade Poplawski and Kevin McNamara, the Raiders have 132 games of collegiate experience.  Newcomers will need to make an impact on the blueline this season.

OH BROTHER
Charles and Christian Long are the first set of brothers to play for Don Vaughan at the same time.   They hail from Cleveland Heights, Ohio and played junior hockey for the Brockville Braves of the CJHL.  Charles and Christian have played three years together at different levels including helping St. Edwards High School to an Ohio State High School title.