NCAA: A Tigers Tale

Chicago Blackhawks second-rounder Bill Sweatt and Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Chad Rau are on the Colorado College Tigers first line and playing in all situations. The Tigers lineup also has Eric Walsky, the eighth-rated prospect on McKeen's Guide to NCAA UFA's. as well as Jake Gannon, who is rated No. 18. McKeen's correspondent Max Giese files notes on all four players along with several other Tigers' prospects.

Bill Sweatt (Chi), LW, Colorado College Tigers

A pure burner that rapidly accelerates to his blistering top gear thanks to his fast and strong strides .. bowlegged, wide-tracked skater that bends his knees properly and keeps the upper half of his body upright .. his bread and butter is chipping the puck off the boards and wheeling around defenders with his speed .. attacks the net at every opportunity, but often he skates himself into dead ends and needs to become more judicious working in space .. does everything at a frantic pace and needs to develop his lower gears .. makes a great F1 on the forecheck because of his speed and willingness to finish his checks with emphasis .. employees his speed on every shift and erodes the opponents time and space with his style of high-pressure, defensive hockey .. doesn't possess NHL-caliber, top-six forward skill and finishing ability, as he projects more as a serviceable third-liner in the NHL because of his speed and two-way play.

Chad Rau (Tor), C, Colorado College Tigers

His ingenious hockey sense has allowed him to conquer his lack of size and speed to emerge as an incredibly productive collegiate athlete .. displays exceptional vision and intelligence with the puck, as he has the uncanny ability to thread the needle with either a pass or shot while executing at full-speed .. his patience on the puck allows him to draw defenders to him before making an accurate pass to his teammates that are now open in the scoring areas .. can be stealthy when away from the puck in the offensive zone and will suddenly reappear in the open ice around the opponents net ready to strike .. an opportunistic player that works equally hard away from the puck and kills penalties .. undersized at 5-foot-11 and 185 pounds, but he is not timid and he maintains a strong stick in traffic while showing no hesitation driving the net ... not a great skater and you wish he was quicker, although he is able to cleverly manufacture space for himself and he does handle the puck well in his feet.

Richard Bachman (Dal), G, Colorado College Tigers

Makes being an NCAA goaltender appear easy at times .. doesn't get flustered and remains calm while being economical and deliberate with his movements .. limits secondary scoring opportunities with his polished rebound control, as his soft belly vacuums in pucks when in the butterfly .. he properly uses his glove hand to control pucks at his chest, and angles his blocker to deflect pucks into the corners .. boasts textbook positioning by being square to the puck, stationing himself near the top of his crease, and by playing the middle of the net .. competes to live another day when things go awry in front of him .. his puckhandling skills are adequate, although he needs to work on his skating outside of his crease .. cheats off the post at times and can be beaten short side because of it .. guilty of over pursuing the puck on point shots and will subsequently find himself outside of the crease .. at 5-foot-11, 165 pounds, Bachman lacks the size to recover if he gets caught making the first move .. his smallish frame also leaves him exposed to tips and by heavy traffic.

Scott McCulloch (Chi), LW, Colorado College Tigers

A slushy skater that is heavy booted and is awfully slow .. his puck skills are nothing special and they are just adequate enough to make the occasional play in tight and continue to keep the play moving .. weighing in at 6-foot-1 and 200 pounds, McCulloch utilizes his decently sized frame by finishing all of his checks and willing to absorb punishment in front of the opponents net to score the garbage goal .. receiving shifts on the penalty kill and does a nice job challenging the pointman while also coming deep to aide in coverage.

Kris Fredheim (Van), D, Colorado College Tigers

A vanilla-type-of-player that won't win game for you, but won't lose them either, Fredheim is a rangy and smooth-skating defenseman .. displays impressive balance on his feet and is relaxed while carrying the puck before finessing a nice stick-to-stick, first-pass .. his encompassing mobility allows him to maintain healthy gap control and to angle opponents off while defending one-on-one situations off the rush .. owns a lengthy reach and he's proactive in limiting the oppositions time and space when in his own zone .. not a mean-spirited player and he still needs to add more strength to his already sizable 6-foot-2, 185-pound frame, although he will take the body when necessary and will push back when pushed himself.

Eric Walsky (UFA), RW, Colorado College Tigers

One of the prized Free-Agents in College Hockey, Walsky is a quick and shifty skater that displays a sudden change of gears and elusive agility .. an exciting player to watch that can be a one man show when the puck is on his lively blade, as he boasts electric hands and slick moves .. when attacking defenders one-on-one, Walsky is capable of undressing them with his stick fakes before cutting to the inside of the ice to get off his shot that has a deceptive release point .. this season, his game has enjoyed a healthy advancement in his puck distribution skills because of the upgrades to his vision and poise with the puck, which has allowed him to create more plays through the passing game .. on the penalty kill, but he doesn't always commit to healthy defensive practices and fails to mark his assignments at times .. thick and sturdy on his feet, although he lacks height and can be boxed out by larger opponents once positioning is established.

Jake Gannon (UFA), D, Colorado College Tigers

A mobile, fiery, stay-at-home-defenseman .. all-compass skater that cleanly changes directions with his influential lateral mobility .. his recover speed allows him to mend his own and teammates mistakes .. deficient of puck skills and is a train wreck while attempting to make the first pass .. doesn't see the ice ahead of him and seemingly takes ages to process what he wants to do with it .. doesn't sense oncoming danger and is often stripped of the puck .. maintains an active stick that carries a bite .. establishes healthy defensive positions and innately identifies when to attack the puckcarrier and when to hang back patiently .. plays the body hard and gets physical at every opportunity .. plants the seed of doubt in opponents and makes them pay the price to score .. will catch opponents with their head down in the open ice and will finish them with his strength that can knock guys off their feet .. the Tigers captain, Gannon is Jekyll and Hyde on the ice, as he is terrific away from the puck and awful when in possession of it.

Nate Prosser (UFA), D, Colorado College Tigers

An adequate skater for this level of play, Prosser's mobility will require further improvements going forward, as he lacks the skating ability to hold the zone with confidence and sustain tight gaps because he can get beaten to the outside by speed .. needs to clean up his pivoting .. not a flawless puckmoving defenseman, but he is comfortable lugging the puck and is rarely forced into a costly mistake .. sees time on the powerplay and owns a sneaky right-handed shot that he can squeeze through congested traffic and put on net .. doesn't play on his heels and habitually short-circuits the opponents neutral zone attack .. employs his 6-foot-2, 210-pound frame while playing the body, however he is not overpowering doing so .. should return for his senior season.