COLORADO SPRINGS — The 2023-2024 college hockey season was a major turnaround for the Tigers program. Posting a 21-13-3 record by the end of the year meant they had secured their first winning season in 12 years.
It was also the year that sophomore Kaidan Mbereko was unanimously selected as the National Collegiate Hockey Conference goaltender of the year.
Mbereko arrived at Colorado College (CC) as a freshman in 2022. He started in 29 of the 30 games he appeared in and led the country among freshmen with his save percentage.
Racking up the accolades and all-conference honors were not enough though as the team finished 13-22-3 overall.
“When we talked about how you build a program and how you change a culture of a program, you need those drivers inside of it. You need those drivers that have so much conviction in what they do and how they prepare and what their future can be,” said head coach Kris Mayotte. “Those are the individuals that really push things forward and that’s what he’s been for us. It’s guys like him that have really pushed this program forward in terms of what the culture is and what it means to be a Tiger.”
Growing up and watching college hockey, Mbereko was more in tune with Denver University. He says it was “a little weird” attending CC and then having to play against Denver, but he found his home with the Tigers because of how they believed in him.
“The coaching staff really believed in me and I believe in them," said Mbereko. "I came to change the culture and right now I feel like we’re all doing that. It’s good to see the progression from where I started to now.”
Not only did coach Mayotte receive a great player and a great leader in Mbereko, but he also believes that he played a huge role in bringing in some of the other star players that have helped to elevate the program.
Mbereko was the number six overall pick in the 2021 United States Hockey League draft. He went to the Lincoln Stars where he teamed up with Noah Laba and Gleb Veremyev.
When Mayotte took over the head coaching job at CC, he began recruiting Mbereko that same summer and that eventually led to the addition of Laba and Veremyev.
CC is now a top-25 program in the country, even cracking the top ten early on in the season. Mbereko mentioned that being apart of this process and watching the culture of the program change is all apart of the legacy he wants to leave behind.
“I’m just hoping to leave it better than when I came in," said Mbereko. "It’s obviously going in a great direction and I’m just super fortunate to be here and enjoy it.”
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Local Colorado Springs School Shut Down Over Unsafe Conditions
The Colorado Springs Fire Department (CSFD) notified Colorado Springs School District 11 of structural concerns at Jenkins Middle School just before the holidays in December.
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