This season has been what senior Eric Walsky of Anchorage envisioned his whole college hockey career.

He's playing on the top line and top power-play unit for a top team, holding down right wing for Colorado College and skating with two NHL draft picks, center Chad Rau and left wing Bill Sweat.

Colorado College is flourishing -- the Tigers are ranked No. 3 in the country -- and so is Walsky. Witness the former Seawolves skater's four-goal outburst against North Dakota earlier this month and his 8-6--14 totals in 12 games.

"It's been great,'' Walsky said Thursday afternoon before the Tigers practiced at Sullivan Arena. "It's been a lot of fun. I've been looking forward to playing on a line like this my whole career.

"There's a lot of chemistry there.''

Evidently. The line of Walsky, Rau (7-9--16) and Sweatt (4-6--10) has accounted for 19 of the Tigers' 33 goals entering tonight's series opener against UAA.

Rau, a senior who scored 28 goals last season and was a first-team All-Western Collegiate Hockey Association pick, is a sniper who played junior hockey under current UAA assistant coach Regg Simon. Sweatt, a junior, is a burner who prepped with USA Hockey's National Team Development Program and was a second-round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks in 2007.

Walsky transferred from UAA after his sophomore season in 2006, when the Seawolves made the transition from coach John Hill to current bench boss Dave Shyiak. Walsky earned 12-8--20 totals in 41 games last season and scored the game-winning goal in a 4-1 victory over the Seawolves at Sullivan. He's off to the best start of his career.

"He's really playing with a lot of confidence,'' said Tigers coach Scott Owens. "He's distributing the puck -- which was a concern last year -- because he knows he'll get it back.''

Walsky said his first visit back to Sullivan last season was strange because he played against a UAA senior class that he began his college career with.

"This year, it's not like playing my whole old team,'' he said. "It's coming home to play in front of friends and family.''

The Tigers also include senior goaltender Drew O'Connell of Anchorage. He's only played one game this season -- a win over Alabama-Huntsville on Oct. 11 -- because sophomore goalie Richard Bachman is so good. Bachman last season became the second freshman in the 56-year history of the WCHA to be voted Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year in the same season.

Owens said Thursday he had not yet determined his goaltending for the series. But it's worth noting O'Connell has started in each of his two visits back to Anchorage with the Tigers, and last season stopped 28 shots in a 1-0 shutout of UAA.