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** Friday night's Colorado College-University of Denver hockey game at Magness Arena will be played as scheduled **

It's that time again. You can feel electricity in the air.

Regardless of where Colorado College and its archrival to the north sit in the league playoff picture or national rankings, showdowns between them seem to inherently feature high stakes.

This week, when CC and the University of Denver tangle on back-to-back nights for the first time this season, is no exception.

Only one point separates the teams in the WCHA standings heading into Friday's series opener in the Mile HIgh City. Faceoff at Magness Arena is 7:37 p.m. (MT) as the Tigers try to snap DU's five-game winning streak, climb back into third place and give themselves a chance to reclaim the Gold Pan in Saturday's 7:07 p.m. rematch at the World Arena.

No. 11-ranked Colorado College, 14-9-1 overall and 11-7 in conference play, needs at least a victory and a tie in order to wrestle back the coveted trophy that has been awarded annually since 1993-94 to whichever squad prevails in the four-game regular-season series. They've already split a pair of decisions earlier in the campaign, each winning a one-goal decision at home. Since the 13th-ranked Pioneers already enjoy possession of the hardware, CC needs the three points to hoist it for the first time since 2008-09.  

With only 10 more games remaining before the WCHA playoffs, the rested Tigers also look to improve on their precarious position in the computerized Pairwise rankings that simulate the selection process for the 16-team NCAA tournament field. Idle since splitting at the University of MInnesota on Jan. 20 and 21, they currently are No. 17 on the all-important list.

Denver, 15-8-3 overall and 10-5-3 in conference play, also is on the bubble in the Pairwise, tied for 14th. The Pioneers, who skated to a 4-2, 6-3 sweep at the University of Alaska Anchorage last week, have defeated Colorado College three consecutive times at Magness Arena but are just 9-14-4 in 27 all-time meetings there between the teams including a 5-4 triumph in mid-November of last year. CC owns a 19-8-3 advantage in 30 encounters at the World Arena after winning at home, 4-3, in sudden-death overtime on Dec. 2. 

Friday's game will be telecast live regionally throughout Colorado and surrounding states on ROOT Sports. Saturday's untelevised contest will feature widespread radio coverage originating on 103.9 FM The Alternative RXP, as well as Internet streaming via AmericaOne.com.