La Verne, California. East of Los Angeles, near Pomona. Average temperature: 67 degrees. Birthplace of college hockey's top set-up man.

Doesn't seem to fit? Maybe. But Noah Clarke has spent the past four years showing that it doesn't matter where you pick up your hockey skills, just that you have them.

ON THE ZAMBONI

GAME OF THE WEEK   MAINE AT NEW HAMPSHIRE Sat. and Sun., 7 p.m. ET It's crunch time, and no conference race is hotter right now than the duel in the Hockey East. Maine, New Hampshire and Boston College are in a three-way tie for the top spot in the conference, but the regular-season title likely will come down to this weekend series. Maine, ranked No. 1 the USCHO poll and No. 2 in USA Today, has more at stake, and needs a road sweep to gain a little breathing room down the stretch. Maine edged UNH 2-1 in overtime at home on Nov. 22. Both teams are pretty even on the penalty kill, but not even the late return of Garrett Stafford can completely bridge the offensive gap between UNH and Maine. The Black Bears are led by Martin Kariya, the youngest of the family hockey tree. The senior forward has eight goals and 15 assists in 14 conference games. But the big key is freshman goalie Jim Howard, who has yet to lose a conference game in net (8-0-0) and leads the Hockey East in goals-against average (1.69) and save percentage (.947). Will switching from the NHL-size rink at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester on Saturday to an Olympic sheet at the Whittemore Center for Sunday's game make a difference? At least UNH will be in a familiar setting for the second game if it needs to squeeze out a split. PLAYER TO WATCH QUINNIPIAC'S BRIAN HERBERT Herbert is the active Division I leader in career points with 162, one point ahead of Colorado College's Peter Sejna. Not too shabby company. This season, the senior winger leads his team with six goals and 23 assists in 29 games, and had a 13-game points streak that ended with a 2-1 loss to Northeastern on Nov. 23. Despite a series loss to Mercyhurst two weeks ago, the Bobcats still hold a five-point edge in the MAAC standings. Look for Herbert to help the Bobcats end Mercyhurst's two-year hold on the regular-season conference title, and earn a second straight NCAA tourney berth. BACK IN THE DAY 1980-81 Neal Broten won the first Hobey Baker Memorial Award, college hockey's version of the Heisman Trophy. Broten, a forward at Minnesota, had 17 goals and 54 assists in 36 games, one season after helping the United States win the gold medal at the Winter Games in Lake Placid. Broten went on to play 20 NHL seasons with his longest stint coming with the Minnesota North Stars from 1981-92.

The 5-foot-10, 184-pound senior forward leads Division I with 33 assists in 26 games, playing alongside the nation's top scorer Peter Sejna (27-26-53), as Colorado College pushes for a national title.

Not bad for a player who had to travel 30 minutes to a shopping mall to get ice time as a kid.

"I was always drawn to (hockey)," Clarke said. "I enjoyed the skating, how quick the game was."

And while the sport was quickly becoming more popular in warm-climate cities thanks to an ambassador named Wayne Gretzky, Clarke knew he had to go elsewhere to find more competition.

Next stop: Shattuck-St. Marys prep school. Faribault, Minnesota. Average temperature in the winter: 20 degrees.

"I think that was harder than leaving my family and friends," Clarke laughed. "The weather was a shock."

But Clarke went from being the only hockey player in his California school to being a part of a hockey hotbed (others that have played at SSMS include North Dakota's Zach Parise, Boston College's Ben Eaves, St. Cloud State's Ryan Malone). Clarke jumped from playing once a week to skating every day with a team.

It was a change he was ready for, and it proved to be a springboard to the next step -- playing at the junior level for Des Moines of the United States Hockey League.

Clarke helped the Buccaneers win two consecutive regular-season titles, as well as a national championship in 1998. He went on to play for the USHL Selects in Norway and the USA Junior Selects at the Freedom Challenge in Lake Placid during the 1998-99 season. That year was capped off by being chosen in the ninth round of the NHL draft -- by the Los Angeles Kings.

But it was Clarke's USHL coach that played a major role in landing him at Colorado College. Scott Owens, who was head coach and general manager of the Des Moines Bucs from 1995-99, returned to his alma mater for a second stint, this time as head coach. And he later brought Clarke to the Tigers' program.

"We were used to seeing the California kids in Des Moines," said Owens, who graduated from CC in 1979. "Noah was always a fluid skater and always had great vision. It's been great to see his progression over the past six seasons."

Said Clarke of his long-term connection to Owens: "We kind of joke about it now, after six years. He gave me a fair shot. I was a small guy, not a top prospect, not really known."

Now, it's a different story.

Clarke and Colorado College (ranked No. 3 in both the USA Today and USCHO polls) lead the WCHA by four points over North Dakota heading into this weekend's crucial two-game series at the World Arena in Colorado Springs.

The series pairs two of the nation's top scorers in Sejna and Parise, and it could threaten the Tigers' stay at the top of the conference. Colorado College (19-2-5, 12-1-5 in WCHA) plays seven of its last 10 games at home, but all of its remaining games are against teams that are nationally ranked in the top 15. While UND (21-2-3, 11-2-3) plays eight of its last 12 on the road, only six of its remaining 12 are against nationally ranked teams and the Sioux have two league games in hand.

And how either team finishes in the conference tournament will have a direct effect on a NCAA berth.

"We haven't had a lot of adversity," Owens said. "We have to keep that chemistry and positive attitude going. This is always the tough part (of the season) now. Clarke is a big part of that, and I am going to lean heavily on a player like Noah."

Next stop: Buffalo?

Joy Russo is a staff editor at ESPN.com. She can be reached at joy.e.russo@espn3.com.