Like children awaiting their Halloween bounty o’ candy, Tigers fans’ eyes dialate at the very thought of the wonder that is the CC-DU series. Knowing how I am about my favorite teams, (recalling how I forced myself to change the channel on the Rays last week, convinced that it was me that was causing them to choke at the plate) what are your superstitions? Are there certain jerseys you must wear or cheers you must do? How do you decide whether to continue with your tradition or leave it behind? Leave me a comment below.

So, here’s what you’ve really been waiting for (have had computer issues this week!). Here’s some random notes and observations from practice this week:

The Tigers have been doing anything and everything they can to practice shooting AND scoring. On Thursday, CC worked on its power play and 5-on-3 (Denver is a highly penalized team).

For its penalty kill, the Tigers focused on forcing the mock Denver players to the wall, using an inside-out approach to protect the middle of the ice. I noticed that defenseman Art Bidwill, who was playing on the scout power-play unit, has quite a shot from the point: considering he was able to get three in a row through CC’s penalty kill, it was tough to miss. Looks like he’ll be a good addition to the power play as he continues to develop.

Then, CC worked on face-offs as a team, which is a departure from last season, where centers would just practice taking draws by themselves. But the Tigers worked on offensive- and defensive-zone face-off situations, reinforcing the concepts for the wings and defensemen especially. Then, volunteer assistant R.J. Enga worked specifically with the centers to improve their technique.

As is typical at this juncture of the season, the lines have jumbled a bit. Part of that has to do with going on the road, part of it is trying to spark CC’s offense. You could see a freshness on the ice in practice, it will be interesting to see how it pans out Friday.

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Three quick alumni notes:

–Aaron Slattengren is getting a chance with the Portland (Maine) Pirates of the American Hockey League. Slattengren, who is the Augusta Lynx (ECHL) captain and one of the top-scoring forwards in the ECHL, has played in the AHL before with the Providence (R.I) Bruins.

–Jack Hillen was sent down from the New York Islanders to the Bridgeport (Conn.) Sound Tigers to make room for defenseman Andy Sutton. Hillen said he’s looking forward to playing more than the 15 minutes he averaged in six games with the Islanders.

–Hillen’s classmate, Derek Patrosso, landed close to home with the Port Huron (Mich.) Icehawks. Patrosso was released from the Fresno (Calif.) Falcons (ECHL) after training camp, but reached an agreement with the IHL’s Icehawks.