Captain Nick Dineen (above) and goaltender Josh Thorimbert remain questionable for Colorado College’s weekend series at Bemidji State, both recovering from upper-body injuries that they suffered Saturday as a result of bruising collisions in a 2-2 tie against Denver.

Neither practiced Monday, although only a handful of players skated because of limited ice time as preparations for the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships continued at World Arena. They’ll receive treatment as the week progresses, and their status will be determined before CC leaves Thursday for Bemidji. Asked if there’s a chance Dineen and Thorimbert won’t play, CC coach Scott Owens said, “There’s a possibility they may not.”

Right wing Dakota Eveland (upper body) and left wing Michael Morin (right ankle) both are still sidelined, and defenseman Eamonn McDermott (left knee) skated Monday, with hope he could come back for a Feb. 17-18 home series against Nebraska-Omaha. “He’s making progress,” Owens said. “He will likely not make the trip. But he’s getting close.”

Owens said right wing Scott Winkler is still “a little sore” from an undisclosed injury that kept him out Friday in a 2-0 win at Denver, and that’s why he played only seven or eight minutes Saturday – about half as much as normal – on the fourth line. If Dineen can’t go, defenseman Gabe Guentzel will assume his captain duties, and if Thorimbert remains out, the backup to Joe Howe will be freshman Courtney Lockwood, who trained Monday with CC goaltender coach Terry Kleisinger. Lockwood has totaled 16 minutes all season.

“I’d feel much better with those four or five guys” who are injured, said Owens, who will travel with 22 players – right now, 23 players are healthy. “But I think we’ve proven we can play pretty good hockey this time of the year and pretty good road games.”

Also Monday, CC climbed a position to 10th in both the USCHO.com poll and the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll, as well as the Inside College Hockey rankings. The USCHO.com poll puts Boston University first, Minnesota second and Minnesota-Duluth third, and Minnesota is first in the USA Today poll, with Boston second and Minnesota-Duluth third. Denver dropped a spot to 14th in both polls, and North Dakota is 15th in the USA Today poll and 16th in the USCHO.com poll. Air Force received votes in each poll.

Contact Brian Gomez: 719-636-0256 or brian.gomez@gazette.com. Facebook: Brian Gomez. Twitter: @gazettehockey. Google+: Brian Gomez. YouTube: Colorado College Hockey, Covered by The Gazette. For the CC homepage, visit www.gazette.com/sections/sports/cchockey. For the CC blog, visit http://cchockey.freedomblogging.com.

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