Mats Lindgren is off to a blazing start in his Colorado College career. The Tigers’ freshman defenseman was named National Collegiate Hockey Conference defenseman of the month Wednesday after he earned points in five of eight January games for CC. Lindgren, who has pro hockey experience, jo ined CC in late December during the holiday break. He’s scored eight points (four goals and assists) since. The goals and points tied for the lead among defensemen in the conference. His four scores tied for second nationally among defensemen. Lindgren was also named conference defenseman of the week after he scored two goals and recorded an assist in CC’s 6-5 overtime loss to Arizona State on Jan. 30. Lindgren’s timing couldn’t be better for CC, which has seen several defensemen go down with injury this season, including junior captain Max Burkholder. “Lose (Burkholder), lose (Colton) Roberts, (Philippe Blais-Savoie) has been back for a while but we’ve gone through stretches without having him. I give a ton of credits to Mats and his teammates,” CC coach Kris Mayotte said Wednesday. “I give our guys a ton of credit for making it a welcoming environment for him and making him feel comfortable, but I also give him a ton of credit in the way that he was prepared for the opportunity. He wasn’t playing hockey the first half of the year. It’s not like we brought him after 30 games of junior hockey. He stepped in, having not played since last May.” ...read more read less