Alaska Nanooks Hockey Blog

Seven Seniors End Their Career at the Carlson Center

2013-03-11T15:54:00.001-08:00

Every year, watching the guys take the ice and skate their last game gets harder and harder. I think I was just as emotional as some of our players were tonight. And to see it all end this way makes it even tougher to swallow.

But looking at the grand scheme of things, what an amazing group of seniors we have this year. These guys have been through a lot as the Nanooks have progressed and grown as a program, and each of them have played a significant role in that.

Each senior class is always something special in their unique ways. Thompson said it best in the end that this team was the closest bunch of guys that he's ever been a part of. I know each of these guys are sad to see their careers end tonight, but I'm both saddened with them, but excited for them.

I'm excited in the sense that I know these guys got a good education during their time here, and after they hang their skates up for the last time, they will have a foundation built to lead them on to success through the rest of their adult lives.

One last piece here as sort of a public thank you letter...

To the Nanooks Senior Class,

It has been an amazing experience watching all of you grow from the freshmen you were when you first got here, to the phenomenal group of men that you are now. None of you played like freshmen when you got here, all of you came out of the gates swinging and have helped lead this program to new heights.

For your dedication to our program, I say thank you. For coming to the rink every day with the right attitude and leading this group of 25 hockey players to come together as a team and collectively represent UAF the Fairbanks community the right way.

Every year, either myself or the athletic department will typically receive a letter from someone the team has met along the road, thanking the school for a positive interaction with the guys at some point along the road. And it's these types of interactions that show your true character, and your willingness to help other people.

And Kaare, you're the epitome of that. I've never seen anyone with an ambition or a desire to help people the way that you do. This With All Your Heart foundation that you started has made a tremendous difference in people's lives in this community, and will continue to impact lives long after you leave this place. Here in a few weeks, when you make the trip down to Pittsburgh for the presentation of the Hockey Humanitarian award, whatever the outcome is know that the real trophy are in the lives that you've impacted with your campaign.

For Adam, I wanted nothing more for you than to see you raise your hands victoriously tonight. While a championship on the ice just wasn't in the cards, what you've done off the ice should be just as special to you. To walk out of here with a Master's degree is nothing short of amazing in the amount of time you've been here. The leadership that you've brought to the team this season, and the way the guys have rallied around you has been great to watch, because its visible to anyone who pays attention. A great quality that should translate very well into the corporate world in leading a company.

Now Chad I know your senior season didn't quite go the way that you had planned or hoped with the injury. And whether you choose to pursue a medical red shirt or not, standing by and supporting the team and still being there means a lot. My own hockey/sports career ended in high school with a bit of a freak accident to my knee in the 5th game of my final season before becoming eligible for juniors. While the scale and impact varies between us quite a bit, I can still relate and understand the desire and hardships of not being able to play and help a team you spent three and a half years getting to this point to sit on the other side of the glass. And on that note, thanks for sticking by these guys and keeping the team first. Also, your deke in Anchorage as you undressed Jared Tuton and buried the wrister will forever live on as one of the sickest goals in Governor's cup history.

For Nik and Jarret, throughout these last four years both of you guys have been cycled everywhere around the line charts. That's clearly because the coaches know they can count on you guys to work hard and get the job done. But I've noticed the chemistry between you guys throughout the last few seasons has been brewing between the two of you, and to watch you both skate flanking Tyler Morley this season and seeing you guys start to take flight and . The three if you together made one if the most exciting lines in college hockey, which certainly got a lot more recognition after the performances at Michigan and Notre Dame.

Steve, it could have been very easy for you to get frustrated with the situation you're in and bolt for the nearest exit, but you didn't. You stuck by the team and kept everyone together with your bright personality and hilarious (sometimes even twisted) sense of humor. You were the glue that held a lot of this team together, and really helped build confidence in the freshman and helped get them going this season. And thanks for making us all laugh with your "On The Road" series. I've often griped that there isn't enough of that "Inside Look" at college hockey teams like you see in the NHL and elsewhere. That was a very cool look at the team that most fans have never seen before.

Andy, what a hell of a ride it's been. You've definitely grown into more of a complete player over the last 4 years here, and I can't wait to see where your talents take you as you enter your professional career. I hope this won't last long, but for now your name is the only one on the stat sheet of goal scorers in the NCAA tournament in a Nanooks' sweater. It wasn't the flashiest goal I've ever seen from you, but it embodied you as a player--hard work and a willingness to get to the front of the net and score. I hope that last stat doesn't last long as the foundation of this team that you and your 6 classmates have helped set will keep these guys going forward to get back to that level very soon.

Me and 6 of the seniors at the final press conference of the season. Kudos to Chad Gehon for evading the camera.

So in summary, thanks to all of you guys for 4 solid years of Nanook Hockey. You have all made an impact on this team and the community, and your names will live forever in our history. I hope that we have had as much of an impact on you as you have on us, and that the memories that you've created here will last a lifetime. I look forward to hearing about where life takes you from here. I'll take a look once in a while, but if you want to send me a note about what's going on and where you're at, don't hesitate to shoot me an email.

Take Care,
Britton

Game Day - Survive and Advance

2013-03-10T17:32:00.000-08:00

Game Day

CCHA Playoffs, Round 1, Game 3

Alaska Nanooks vs Michigan State Spartans

7:05PM AKST - Carlson Center, Fairbanks, AK

Live Stats: AlaskaNanooks.com | Live Audio: KCBF 820 Sports

Live Internet Video ($9): AmericaOne | Radio: 820 AM Fairbanks

Twitter: @NanookHockey

Not a lot can be said about what the Nanooks need to do tonight to move on. The players know it, the coaches know it, and I'm sure that you the fans know it as well. The whole season is on the line tonight, its as simple as win and advance or lose and watch on TV.

The Nanooks' effort last night was great as they were focused on getting scoring chances and taking away the neutral zone from Michigan State, forcing them to carry the puck across the blue line the majority of the time. When the Spartans did gain a clean entry, the Nanooks' backcheck was extremely effective in creating turnovers and forcing the play in the other direction.

Same keys to tonight's victory here, but the Nanooks may be facing a fresh goaltender. Jake Hildebrand, a freshman from Butler, PA has seen the majority of action for the Spartans this season, going 7-15-2 in 24 starts with a 2.30 GAA and a .930 save percentage. Not terrible numbers, but also no playoff experience for this young netminder as well. Throughout the season, the Spartans have held somewhat well defensively just have had a struggle scoring goals. Tonight, Michigan State's line chart shows essentially a complete shuffle of the forward lines as head coach Tom Anastos tries to remedy the production.

On the Nanooks side, Colton Beck still remains unavailable as Richard Coyne will see action again tonight. Right winger Andy Taranto is a game time decision as he battles an injury, but he looked good in the Nanooks preskate today, so he should go. However Max Dumond has been taking reps today and will go through warmup preparations in case Taranto needs to sit out. Other than that, the same lines from last night will roll again tonight as the Nanooks look to close out the series and advance to round 2 in Kalamazoo.

Lines for tonight:

Alaska Nanooks

F1 7 Nik Yaremchuk - 37 Cody Kunyk - 29 Andy Taranto (A)

F2 17 Jarret Granberg - 27 Tyler Morley - 25 Nolan Youngmun

F3 12 Garrick Perry - 14 Adam Henderson (C) - 24 Nolan Huysmans

F4 5 Richard Coyne - 20 Matt Friese - 11 Alec Hajdukovich

D1 6 Michael Quinn - 4 Colton Parayko

D2 22 Josh Atkinson - 18 Trevor Campbell

D3 13 Kaare Odegard (A) - 23 Nolan Kaiser

G1 39 John Keeney

G2 1 Steve Thompson

G3 38 Sean Cahill

Nanooks Persevere, Take Down MSU 4-1 to Force Game 3

2013-03-09T23:39:00.001-09:00

A much better start tonight for the Nanooks, as they got an early lead and kept their foot on the accelerator. Unfortunately, Colton Beck would not get to be on the ice tonight to enjoy it. It honestly saddened me to see the junior left winger in a suit sitting in a chair watching while his team warms up. A bit emotional for me, but I know he's a bit twisted inside as he looks onto watch his team taking care of business.

In the first period, Beck's line mates got it done as Nik Yaremchuk had to sit for an interference call 8:18 into the opening frame. After a great first shift by Henderson and Taranto, the 2nd PK forward unit of Morley and Kunyk capitalized on a great outlet feed from Colton Parayko. Morley made the entrance, and hustled for a 2 on 1. As they crashed the net, Kunyk was found open just on the back door who made a beautiful backhanded wrister to beat Yanakeff high glove side to open the scoring. Really was a beautiful, highlight reel goal. Or as we like to call it, a goal-scorers goal.

Into the second frame, the Nanooks took advantage of a deflated MSU team who struggled to contain the Nanooks early. And after a few bet close scoring chances, Granberg ripped a beauty from the high slot, almost from the blue line as he looks to the sky, as Granny's goal--the eventual game-winner--was his first playoff goal since the game-tying goal he scored about midway through the 3rd period his sophomore season in the first game against...Michigan State... back in 2011.

With just under 8 minutes to go in the middle stanza, Kaare Odegard found Andy Taranto at the blue line with about a 100 foot pass right on Taranto's tape. Taranto wheeled into the zone with Yaremchuk on the other wing, and Kunyk coming in hot on the trailer. But TO knew where he was going and snapped a twisted wrister past Yanakeff for the 3-0 lead. Unfortunately, it looked like Taranto was struggling a bit after that goal and played about a half of another shift before being permanently affixed to the bench. He stayed on the bench through the 3rd, but I don't believe he saw any ice time. Hopefully he'll be well enough to return tomorrow, but coach West didn't give me any shred of info on his status in the post-game presser, so only time will tell...

Into the 3rd, the Nanooks still pushing hard and committed to burying Michigan State they were buzzing around Yanakeff for most of the opening shift when Anthony Hayes took an early cross-checking penalty after running over Nik Yaremchuk just 26 seconds in to the period. After some early chances, Henderson won a draw and Campbell sent a puck right into Atkinson's wheelhouse, but his stick betrayed him and disintegrated on impact.

After a quick rush to the bench, he went off and Parayko came on, who made a nice keep in at the point and got it over to Campbell on the half-wall just outside the apex of the faceoff circle. Trevor let a slapshot go and Nolan Huysmans made a nice deflection into the goal after providing some good net front presence to go up 4-0.

But before I can even finish collecting my notes, Tanner Sorenson breaks the goose egg for MSU after a feed from Walsh to the back door as Sorenson had a wide open net to put it in after Keeney overcommitted. A great night for Keeney altogether, but he was left out to dry a little bit on that one...

From there through the end of regulation, the Nanooks showed why they are the number 3 penalty killing team in the nation, spending much of the final 5 minutes shorthanded. Even quite a bit of it down 2 men for various lengths of time. Then with just under 26 seconds remaining in the game, Trevor Campbell makes an aggressive hit on a Michigan State player (Lee Reimer, I believe. Not 100% sure on that one) who crumbled to the ice, but got back up fairly quickly. The officials huddled and elected to call a major and a game misconduct for checking from behind. The penalty box doors were already revolving for some time before that, but a pretty big hit, and the player did just turn his back but I couldn't have called that a game misconduct for that hit.

Regardless, Trevor did get first dibs on the best shower before the rest of the guys could get there. And if the ruling sticks he'll be eligible to return for game 3 tomorrow. As a major penalty, the league office will review it prior to tomorrow's game so we will see but I don't think they will make any changes to the call.

Tickets for tomorrow's game go on sale at 8:00AM sharp. The Patty Center ticket office will be open, and you can also get your tickets at any Ticketmaster outlet (Fred Meyer's in town), or online at Ticketmaster.com. The Carlson Center box office will also be open tomorrow with some special hours, but not sure on the specific times. But get your tickets and come out to support the 'Nooks as they look to advance to Round 2 and the Western Michigan Broncos!

Game Day - A Shot At Retribution, Survival

2013-03-09T17:35:00.000-09:00

Game Day

CCHA Playoffs, Round 1, Game 2

Alaska Nanooks vs Michigan State Spartans

7:05PM AKST - Carlson Center, Fairbanks, AK

Live Stats: AlaskaNanooks.com | Live Audio: KCBF 820 Sports

Live Internet Video ($9): AmericaOne | Radio: 820 AM Fairbanks

Twitter: @NanookHockey

So its no secret, last nights loss was probably something that nobody really expected. The Nanooks played well for the most part, but at times I thought they lacked energy. A little more hot and cold than normal, but you can tell the guys really tried to pour it on there at the end of regulation to get the game winner, but it just wouldn't go...

But after the game, I stopped myself and realized that the loss was my fault... In a sport filled with tradition, routine, and superstition I realized that in skipping out on my ritual pre-game meal (Wendy's Spicy Chicken sandwich) I had set up this team for failure. But worry not fans, we're good to go for tonight!

On that note, the Nanooks are staring at the end of their season straight in the mouth. A loss tonight, and the Nanooks will hang it up for the year. A win and they will force a third game tomorrow with the same implications.

There are a number of teams throughout history in various sports that have come from long odds to win it all. The Nanooks are faced with the same situation now, but just six games. Six wins is all the Nanooks need to win the final CCHA championship. The boys did it in January, and they are perfectly capable of doing it again. Channeling their inner Mighty Ducks from D2 as they power through the rest of the playoffs.

In other, more urgent news... One of the Nanooks top forwards Colton Beck will miss tonight's game due to an injury sustained on a hit by Justin Hoomaian in the first period yesterday. Beck missed a few shifts, but was back in the game by the end of the first period. Missing him on the top line tonight could be big, but hopefully the Nanooks can persevere and push through without him tonight. Hopefully he'll be available to suit up tomorrow.

As a result of that scratch, the Nanooks lines have shifted pretty significantly up front. Richard Coyne comes in on the left side on the fourth line. Yaremchuk moves up to left wing in Beck's place. Youngmun fills in for Nik on the right wing, and Huysmans moves to swap with Hajdukovich on Henderson's line. Defensively, Kaiser comes in to continue the rotation with JD Peterson on the right side paired with Odegard.

Here is the full line charts for Alaska after the break.

Alaska Nanooks

F1 7 Nik Yaremchuk - 37 Cody Kunyk - 29 Andy Taranto (A)

F2 17 Jarret Granberg - 27 Tyler Morley - 25 Nolan Youngmun

F3 12 Garrick Perry - 14 Adam Henderson (C) - 24 Nolan Huysmans

F4 5 Richard Coyne - 20 Matt Friese - 11 Alec Hajdukovich

D1 6 Michael Quinn - 4 Colton Parayko

D2 22 Josh Atkinson - 18 Trevor Campbell

D3 13 Kaare Odegard (A) - 23 Nolan Kaiser

G1 39 John Keeney

G2 1 Steve Thompson

G3 38 Sean Cahill

Unfortunate Results From a Superior Effort, MSU Wins 2-1 in OT

2013-03-08T21:40:00.003-09:00

Not the start (or finish) the Nanooks were hoping for as Tanner Sorenson took a clean pass into the slot, and let a wrister go to beat John Keeney glove side just 27 seconds into the opening frame. A nice play they setup off of the faceoff, but a bad break for Alaska to get down early. But that play did sort of wake the Nanooks up so to speak and pulled them out of hibernation and they got to work.

But as they were starting to get rolling, Justin Hoomaian wound up and blasted Colton Beck from behind into the boards, looking like Beck hit his head. Beck was down on the ice for a good chunk of time as Dr. Keller and athletic trainer Mike Curtin attended to him. The officials talked it over but elected not to give him a major, calling it boarding. The Nanooks couldn't score, but they did keep turning up the intensity and getting some better scoring chances.

But with about 5 minutes left in the opening stanza, Colton Beck got hooked up by Tanner Sorenson as the Nanooks were putting on the pressure. With the official's arm raised, and Keeney headed to the bench, Beck finds Kunyk alone on the back door. Kunyk put all he had in that shot against the grain as he had to launch himself at the puck to make it happen. But he had an empty net to shoot it in as Yanakeff couldn't get over in time.

The game remained tied 1-1 through the 2nd period, but the Nanooks had some pretty glorious scoring chances. Granberg had a fantastic shot with Odegard in the box shorthanded. Granberg got the puck through the 5 hole on Yanakeff, but it trickled through the crease wide. Then on the power play late in the period, Taranto rings the post in the waning seconds. So many chances, but Yanakeff stood tall.

Into the 3rd, still no scoring but the Nanooks still with impressive puck possession and offensive zone pressure. They just could not buy a goal. Parayko, Taranto, and Morley all had very good chances that found everything but the twine.

Into the extra frame, Matt Berry made a great feed to DeBlouw for the game winner, who released the shot from faceoff circle above the dot. A low percentage shot, and Keeney probably wishes he could have that one back. Keeney only saw 15 shots on the goal tonight, but unfortunately two of them went in.

Not the results anyone was hoping for, nor the results that the Nanooks deserved. They outplayed MSU tonight, but again Yanakeff steals one from the Nanooks as we head into game two tomorrow night. Hope they're ready, 'cause the Nanooks are gonna bring the house down right on his crease.

Taranto And Top Line Roll as Nanooks Sweep the Cup

2013-03-02T21:59:00.001-09:00

Four consecutive Governor's Cup wins is a great statistic as this year's senior class makes history in the deciding game of the 20th annual Alaska Airlines Governor's cup. Only 7 others have their name on the cup 4 times, and 7 more will have theirs permanently etched into history (Corbin Schmidt now with 5, 4 as a player, 1 as a coach).

But skipping the theatrics, lets get to the game...

The first period got off to as good of a start as anyone could have hoped, as Colton Beck buries on the first shot of the game right off of the opening draw just 9 seconds into the opening frame. Kunyk won the draw back to Parayko who cycled the puck up to Taranto who entered the zone and halted just inside the blue line and found a streaking Colton Beck to the net. And when Beck is alone, Beck doesn't miss. Just a beautiful shot, quick wrister that goes top shelf over Kamal's shoulder and pops the water bottle off. Just pretty.

Throughout the first period, a lot of tight checking and good transition hockey throughout the period, but largely controlled by the Nanooks. A lot of scoring chances, but the Nanooks have missed a number of open nets.

But in the waning seconds of the period, a time slot the Nanooks failed to control last night, the top line does it again as Andy Taranto nets his second point of the game on a give and go with Colton Beck as Becker finds T.O. left alone in front of the net for the goal with just 2.5 seconds left. Quinn with a second assist on the play with the outlet pass.

The second period featured much of the same in the way of Nanooks offense. A lot of puck movement and control with clean passing. However, play after play seemed to keep missing the net despite the goaltender leaving it completely vacant. However, Taranto would light the lamp a second time on a rush with Cody Kunyk after Nolan Kaiser knocked the play in the other direction. They all just made a fantastic play in transition to create the scoring chance... All with speed, keeping the skates moving.

Less than a minute later, Bobby Murphy capitalized on a chance with Nolan Kaiser screening Keeney unknowingly. Murphy let the wrister go from just about the top of the near-side faceoff circle. Nice shot, I'll give him that. Beck nearly nabbed his second of the game, but just before the shot was taken Taranto was assisted to the ice and into the back of the net just as Beck put the puck in. Originally called a goal, then waved off as the officials said he interfered with Kamal.

Into the 3rd, a lot of back and forth action again as the Nanooks kept the action going, but ACC kept coming but couldn't crack through the Nanooks defense. Give Keeney credit, he played a hell of a game. The final shots on goal show nearly even markers, however the scoring chances for the Nanooks greatly outweigh the chances for the opposition.

The 3rd period would continue scoreless through the end, despite a fair number of power plays that were well defended. And through until the final buzzer when the Nanooks would raise the Governor's Cup victorious for the 4th consecutive season.

Big sweep for the Nanooks as they ride 3 consecutive victories into the 1st round of the final CCHA playoffs as Michigan State makes the long haul back to Fairbanks, the second trip in a span of two weeks. Should be a great series.

Go 'Nooks!

Game Day - We Came for the Cup

2013-03-02T18:44:00.001-09:00

Game Day

Alaska Nanooks vs UAA Seawolves

7:07PM AKST - Sullivan Arena, Anchorage, Alaska

Live Stats: AlaskaNanooks.com | Live Audio: KCBF 820 Sports

Live Internet Video (Free): GoSeawolves.com | Radio: 820 AM Fairbanks

Television: KFXF Fox 7 | Twitter: @NanookHockey

When all is done, and the dust has settled, the Nanooks should emerge victorious. If the game goes anything like it did last night, this will be a blowout affair as the 'Nooks will raise the cup victorious over Anchorage's home ice.

From a scenarios perspective, the Nanooks will win the cup with either a win, a tie, or a loss and a shootout win.

Lines tonight for Alaska:

F1 17 Jarret Granberg - 27 Tyler Morley - 7 Nik Yaremchuk

F2 36 Colton Beck (A) - 37 Cody Kunyk - 29 Andy Taranto (A)

F3 12 Garrick Perry - 14 Adam Henderson (C) - 11 Alec Hajdukovich

F4 25 Nolan Youngmun - 20 Matt Friese - 24 Nolan Huysmans

D1 6 Michael Quinn - 4 Colton Parayko

D2 22 Josh Atkinson - 23 Nolan Kaiser

D3 13 Kaare Odegard (A) - 10 J.D. Peterson

G1 39 John Keeney

G2 1 Steve Thompson

G3 38 Sean Cahill

Cody Kunyk and the Nanooks Win an Overtime Thriller 2-1 Over UAA

2013-03-01T20:01:00.001-09:00

Game one of the 20th annual Governors cup did not disappoint with its fair share of drama and excitement. First, Governor Parnell was 15 minutes late to the Carlson Center. Which caused the game to start 10 minutes late.

Then the Nanooks took it to the Seawolves right off the draw, registering 9 shots on goal before the Seapups could get their first.

While the first period didn't see any goals break through, the Nanooks rang one through in the second as Garrick Perry simply out worked Ben Matthews in front of the net to bury the rebound from Tyler Morley to break open the scoring. Atkinson also with a helper on the play.

After that, it was like blood in the water in a sea of sharks, Alaska started pouncing. Shot after shot kept the entire arena on their toes wondering how they didn't go in. Kamal up to the task.

Into the 3rd, Alaska still hungry to score, but an untimely penalty to Tyler Morley, one of the Nanooks top penalty killers, allowed the Seawolves get back into the game with a rebound goal just in front of the net. Lucky break there for Alex Gellert as Matt Bailey took the first shot. Sproule also with a helper.

And it would be tied up 1-1 into overtime, as the Nanooks look to get the game winner. And 2:50 into the extra frame, Colton Beck found Cody Kunyk lurking around the Nanooks own blue line.

From there, Kuny was off to the races on his own, and that kid doesn't miss. A great wrist shot blocker side through the 7-hole for the winner.

The 'Nooks are up on the wolves, and can retain the cup with either a win, a tie, or a loss and a shootout win. Both teams face-off tomorrow at the Sullivan Arena in Anchorage, puck drops at 7:07PM.

The 20th Annual Governor's Cup - Going for the Senior Sweep

2013-03-01T00:52:00.000-09:00

In the 20th installment of the annual Governor's Cup, what I consider as the greatest rivalry in college hockey is renewed once again. Every year, each home-and-home series has brought its own dash of drama and sent each set of seniors away with memories that last a lifetime. This year is no different. The seven seniors on this Nanooks squad have never had to watch anybody in a green jersey lift that cup above their heads. And they are all thirsty to raise that cup one last time in front of Anchorage's home crowd.

The 'Nooks are 11-8 so far in this series, the year-by-year results appear in the graphic above. 3 years ago, faced with the exact opposite circumstance, the Nanooks' senior class of 2010 had never had a chance to raise that cup victoriously. While that year's class was particularly small (Brandon and Dion Knelsen, Cody Rymut, and Dustin Molle), the moment still meant a lot. And after a particularly impressive 5-1 win over Lake Superior to complete the sweep, now-senior then-freshman Jarret Granberg made his appearance in the post-game press conference after scoring the game's first goal.

And after the media (including myself) put everyone through the ringer of questions, News 13's Jaime Schwartzwald asked Granny to peek ahead at the Governor's Cup series and talk about what this is like for a freshman coming into the series. Now, I don't have audio or video of this question--this is completely from memory that has stuck with me ever since... He came back and said (paraphrasing here), "It's a big rivalry, and I know the seniors are really excited to come out and get this one. They've never gotten their hands on the cup before, and they've made it clear how much it means to them, the team, and the community. I'm excited to get out there and do everything I can to make that happen." I'm sure that's not word for word, but the impact of that statement has stuck with me for three years now, and Jarret and his classmates get to push for what only 7 others have been able to accomplish: having their names etched into the Governor's Cup 4 times...

With the tables now turned, the Seapups' seniors have only been able to watch along the boards as the Nanooks have posed for pictures with the hardware while leaving the ice. And two players will miss this series as Jordan Kwas and Austin Coldwell who have combined for a total of 5 assists all time versus the Nanooks will be out with various injuries. Jordan Kwas is in his senior season, is second on the team in points (9-11-20) and is the number one power play scorer for ACC with 5 goals.

This is the best weekend in college hockey, bar none. The entire state of Alaska clings to this series and everyone knows who won the Governor's Cup once all is said and done. As per tradition, UAF is organizing another bus trip with two full motor coaches that will be loaded up with over 100 students to watch their Nanooks play over 300 miles away.

For the 20th time, this... is the Governor's Cup...

Stay tuned in to the blog and to my Twitter feed for updates throughout the weekend. I will be flying down to Anchorage on Saturday afternoon just in time for the 1st Annual UAF/UAA Alumni game, which will be at 2PM at the Sullivan. Be sure to check that out!

Go 'Nooks!

Nanooks Win a 4-2 Thriller Over MSU in Final CCHA Game

2013-02-24T01:18:00.001-09:00

What a game. Goals, drama, it had it all. After Taranto sat on an interesting roughing the goaltender call (which just could have easily gone to Yanakeff, honestly) and an extra 10 minutes tacked on for some antics. Anyway, that got TO going and he just goes on a scoring rampage with a pair of power at goals.

After a pretty clean game last night from a penalties perspective, tonight was the exact opposite. After Taranto buried the game winner, Yanakeff headed to the bench and Kunyk fed the Nanooks captain and former Spartan Adam Henderson who did his best impression of Aaron Voros flashing his jersey as he skated by the Spartans bench.

The officials gave him a minor for unsportsmanlike, which should have just been the end of that but a few players seemed to have taken exception to it started going at it, most obviously was Jake Chelios who dropped the gloves and went at it with Nolan Kaiser. Chelios eventually lost his jersey, shoulder pads, and everything. All that he had on when he went to the locker room for top gear was his under armor shirt, and one elbow pad. Everything else including his jersey was rounded up off the ice after everyone cleared.

Not really a fight per se, but certainly a lot of built up drama as the emotions fly there at the end. Interesting to see what or if anything else happens.

Big series next weekend with the Seapups who just got swept by the infamous bye week. More on that later. Go 'Nooks!

Nanooks Can't Break Through, Shutout by MSU 1-0

2013-02-22T19:50:00.001-09:00

I was personally hoping that the Nanooks would have taken a note from Lake Superior State's book last week and get off to a fast start and punching one in early, but not so much the case. Some tight checking hockey doesn't leave a lot of room for transition, but each team got their fair share of chances. Unfortunately, the Spartans were able to capitalise on what I thought was a pretty soft goal.

Created by a forced turnover at the Nanooks own blue line by John Draeger., Michigan State was able to trap the Nanooks fourth line on the ice for a good chunk of time and tiring them out.

After Draeger made the play at the blue line, they made a quick dash at an undefended John Keeney. Matt Berry made the initial shot that Keeney stopped, but after leaving a rebound, Greg Wolfe got a stick on it and snuck it past Keeney's left pad for the go ahead goal.

The second and third periods saw the Nanooks piling up the scoring chances left and right. But people and posts kept getting in the way. Definitely not a lot of puck luck going the Nanooks' way tonight. But give credit to Yanakeff and the Spartans defense. They allowed a lot of shots and chances, but the important part was the fact that none of them went in the net.

I thought the Nanooks effort was there, but just not the results they wanted. They'll get 'em tomorrow...

Until then, GO 'NOOKS!

Game Day - Nanooks vs. Michigan State

2013-02-22T16:47:00.001-09:00

Game Day

Alaska Nanooks vs Michigan State Spartans

7:05PM AKST - Carlson Center, Fairbanks, Alaska

Live Stats: AlaskaNanooks.com | Live Audio: KCBF 820 Sports

Live Video ($7): AmericaOneSports.com | Radio: 820 AM Fairbanks

Twitter: @NanookHockey

I apologize for the lack of material from me this past week. Going through a long week of travel to New York and back has made for some interesting challenges. I've had to reshuffle a lot with the class that I teach as well, so time has not been on my side this week. And with Hockey Week in Fairbanks going on, a lot of my spare time has been spent in the community enjoying this wonderful sport with everyone. I didn't get to watch or listen to any of the Lake Superior series last weekend, and honestly I'm not regretting that decision after seing the results...

But on to the series at hand, this is a bit of a bittersweet weekend for the Nanooks. A lot of fun and festivities around this series, but when you get down to it this is the final two game series the Nanooks will ever play in the CCHA. I know I've been talking about it ever since the beginning of the season but to realize now that this moment is finally here is kind of an awkward feeling.

Anyway, I don't think its any secret that Michigan State is not having the kind of year you would expect. Two of the winningest teams in conference history are deadlocked in last two places in the conference with four games left to play.

The Spartans themselves are the lowest scoring team in the CCHA this season, but have been able to hang around in games with herculean games from stud freshman goaltender Jake Hildebrand. He's been consistently one of the best goaltenders in the country, but his cohorts on the other end of the ice have to score more goals than they allow which is proving to be more difficult than it sounds. The Nanooks have had that problem in years past, but now as the second highest scoring offense in the conference, they 'Nooks now have the opposite problem as the second worst scoring defense. Kinda funny how that works.

For the 'Nooks, definitely time to turn this ship in the right direction. After sweeping January, the 'Nooks are 1-5 in their last 6 games, which have pulled them off of everyone's radar for the NCAA national tournament. In the last CCHA series now, it looks as if Michigan State might be making this same trip here again in two weeks if things shake out that way. Back to this series, John Keeney will get the start tonight in goal after getting pulled last weekend at Lake Superior. Hopefully that was his mulligan for the season and he gets refocused for the rest of this stretch into the playoffs.

Remember to follow me on Twitter for game updates, including lines for the Nanooks tonight. There's a little preview bar along the right side of the blog as well which will feed updates to the blog throughout the game.

Nanooks Suffer 3-1 Loss, Split with Ohio State

2013-02-10T11:34:00.000-09:00

A bit of a different game here in round two as the Buckeyes and Nanooks played a much tighter game. While it was a disappointing outcome, as a fan of the game of hockey it was a phenomenal game to watch overall. A lot of back and forth action, very evenly matched between these two teams.

Ohio State did a lot of the little things right countering the Nanooks offensive attack from the night before. They didn't allow forwards around the net and did a good job keeping the road clear in front of Hjelle. With sticks and bodies in the passing lanes, the Nanooks couldn't get much going in the offensive zone for the majority of the night. The Nanooks did have one such event, where they were able to keep it in the zone for an extended shift, but an untimely penalty to Tyler Morley after that 5 minute major seemed to drain momentum.

Coach Ferguson echoed a lot of those sentiments in the post-game press conference that penalties didn't only hurt them with the disadvantage in man power, but they were also a huge momentum drain. In close games like that, momentum really is a huge factor when you're sustaining offensive pressure then a penalty gets whistled down and all of a sudden you have to reel back and defend for two minutes.

The penalties always take their fair share of controversy, but I thought it was a pretty evenly called game. The Nanooks seemed to take the brunt of it through the middle of the game. But the Nanooks did have a few chances in the first period that they weren't able to capitalize on, but credit again to the Buckeyes for playing it right.

There was that 5 minute major to Nolan Youngmun that was pretty borderline. He got 5 and a game for a contact to the head call just outside the blue line by the Ohio State bench. It was a hard hit, but I thought it was clean. Standing across the ice from it, from my view it was a shoulder to shoulder hit that unfortunately caused the Buckeye player to hit his head on the glass. The other unfortunate side of it was the hit was right at the whistle. But when you have a guy already lined up, you can't really deviate from the hit just a split second after you hear the whistle. If it was me calling the game, it would have been 2 for boarding. Not 5 and a game. Nolan plays hard, he hits hard, and he can be pretty fun to watch. The other side to that coin is that these types of calls can happen to these guys and its not going to be at the most opportune time. And in a 0-0 game at that point, it put the team at a disadvantage that they just couldn't kill off as Ohio State's Tanner Fritz put one home after he was left alone on the wing.

Fortunately, the Nanooks were able to get one back later in the period as Andy Taranto fired an absolute rocket from just inside the blue line that beat Hjelle high on the glove side, rang the cross bar and dropped in behind goaltender. Honestly one of the nicest shots you'll ever see in a hockey game, it was just amazing.

That goal made it 1-1 headed into the 3rd period, continuing the excitement of an already great battle. But Ohio State popped in two more quick goals just a minute and 40 seconds apart to pull ahead 3-1, a lead that proved insurmountable. It was a good effort and a hard fought game with a disappointing outcome, which essentially paraphrases coach Ferguson's sentiments in his post game press conference speech.

The 'Nooks head out on the road Monday night headed for Sault Ste. Marie to play their final road series in the CCHA against Lake Superior State. The guys will fly to Detroit and get a practice and a motivational tour in at Joe Louis Arena on Tuesday before taking the 5 hour bus ride north on Tuesday evening.

From a standings perspective, Ohio State is the final team under consideration that the Nanooks will face this season. Alaska currently sits at 15th in the Pairwise standings, and a bit less volatile to fall at this point as long as they win. As coach Ferguson pointed out, the rankings and the Pairwise polls don't matter too much if you're not winning hockey games. These last three series' will be a good test to see if the Nanooks can string a few more wins together and carry another win streak into the playoffs. The fortunate side is, all three are very favorable matchups.

All good points to keep eyes on as we move towards the final game of the season down in Anchorage. Until next week, GO 'NOOKS!

Game Day - Round 2 with the Buckeyes

2013-02-09T17:50:00.002-09:00

Game Day

Alaska Nanooks vs Ohio State Buckeyes

7:05PM AKST - Carlson Center, Fairbanks, Alaska

Live Stats: AlaskaNanooks.com | Live Audio: KCBF 820 Sports

Live Video ($7): AmericaOneSports.com | Radio: 820 AM Fairbanks

Twitter: @NanookHockey

The boys have gotta be sharp tonight as you know Ohio State is going to try and rebound and bring everything that they have at the Nanooks tonight. Brady Hjelle dropped a mulligan in the first two periods yesterday, and he looked like he was intensely studying the Nanooks offense from the bench last night to exact vengeance tonight.

The Nanooks offense, well its rolling to say the least. Only Notre Dame has scored more goals than the Nanooks this season, and part of that comes from the Nanooks active defense. They were alive and up on the play and challenging the Buckeyes in every zone. From rushing for keep-ins, to disrupting the cross-ice pass and taking away the lanes, they really set up the offense to be successful last night.

The only line change for the Nanooks tonight is Nolan Huysmans swaps with Nik Yaremchuk. Check out the full line chart for Alaska after the break.

Alaska Nanooks

F1 36 Colton Beck (A) - 37 Cody Kunyk - 29 Andy Taranto (A)

F2 17 Jarret Granberg - 27 Tyler Morley - 24 Nolan Huysmans

F3 12 Garrick Perry - 14 Adam Henderson (C) - 7 Nik Yaremchuk

F4 25 Nolan Youngmun - 20 Matt Friese - 11 Alec Hajdukovich

D1 6 Michael Quinn - 5 Richard Coyne

D2 22 Josh Atkinson - 4 Colton Parayko

D3 13 Kaare Odegard (A) - 10 JD Peterson

G1 39 John Keeney

G2 1 Steve Thompson

Another Look at The New Look WCHA

2013-02-09T13:18:00.003-09:00

Everyone that seems to have something to say about the revamped WCHA next season has been calling it the "New Look WCHA". Its an interesting moniker, but I can see their point. The WCHA does have a great legacy of quality hockey, and while a lot of that legacy of national championships and Hobey Baker winners are vacating the conference, the quality of hockey remains. Extracting the teams from their existing conferences today, the standings in that "New Look WCHA" would look like this. (Conference, Overall). Current as of the results on 2/8/13.

1. Minnesota State (11-9-1, 17-9-3)
2. Ferris State (12-9-2, 14-11-4)
3. Alaska (11-9-3, 13-10-4)
4. Bowling Green (8-10-3, 11-13-5)
5. Lake Superior (8-13-1, 11-13-5)
6t. Northern Michigan (5-12-4, 11-13-4)
6t. Michigan Tech (5-12-4, 8-14-4)
8. Bemidji State (4-12-5, 5-16-6)
9. Seapups (2-15-6, 4-16-7)
10. Alabama-Huntsville (N/A, 3-18-1)

The huge elephant in the room here as you look at that list is that only 3 of the 10 teams have winning records. Granted, that's with existing conference records, but here you get an idea just at the strength of these teams in comparison to "stronger" competition. When you round this out to purely wins versus current teams under consideration, they look something like this.

1. Alaska (10-7-2 .5789)
2t. Minnesota State (8-9-1 .4722)
2t. Lake Superior (8-9-1 .4722)
4. Northern Michigan (8-10-3 .4524)
5. Ferris State (4-7-2 .3846)
6. Bowling Green (5-11-4 .3500)
7. Michigan Tech (3-12-3 .2500)
8. Bemidji State (3-12-2 .2353)
9. ACC (2-15-3 .1750)
10. Alabama-Huntsville (0-10-1 .0500)

Looking at it this way shows that only the Nanooks have a winning record against NCAA hockey teams whose RPI is .5000 or better. While Minnesota State has a better overall record than Alaska, they have benefitted from a weaker schedule, notably a non-conference schedule against Alabama-Huntsville, Connecticut, Brown, Providence, and RPI. Only two of which are above the TUC line. I'll leave this up to my fellow readers here to discuss in the comments. And again, we'll take another look at these numbers after the end of this season.

Also, just another tidbit here to close this out, the WCHA announced that it approved a plan to remove the previous playoff format which pitted the Nanooks and ACC to play each other in the first round of the WCHA playoffs every season. The new plan provides a more favored playoff format in a traditional bracket. The reasonings for the previous format was somewhat justified in last minute travel costs to Alaska should the Nanooks or (miraculously) Anchorage host a first round series. Most of the concern coming from Michigan State's issues getting up to Alaska for the first round of the playoffs in the 2010-11 season. I've heard multiple figures thrown out there, like $32,000 for the team to fly up on a Wednesday night booking the tickets on the previous Sunday, having to break up the team between 4 separate flights with not everyone getting to Fairbanks until Thursday morning. I don't know how true a lot of that is, but I believe the cost for 25 tickets from Detroit at that time of the year.

As I understand it, both Alaska schools along with UAH has agreed to extend the regular season travel subsidies agreed to in their contracts with the WCHA to the playoffs. So should teams have to travel to one of these outlying schools, the impact of last-minute travel arrangements should be minimized.

The WCHA tournament location is also in the process of being ironed out. The WCHA Final Five has historically been held at the Xcel Energy Center in Minneapolis, however the Big Ten has laid claim to the XCel center next season, as well as in 2016, so the WCHA will likely alternate that venue with them, and likely the other location coming at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the home of the AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins.

Beck Bags a Hatty as Nanooks Roll Buckeyes 6-1

2013-02-08T21:22:00.001-09:00

Resiliency again the key term for the Nanooks as they scored 6 unanswered goals to rout the Buckeyes tonight at the Carlson Center. Scoring first apparently aggrevated Colton Beck as he just went off tonight, scoring 3 goals, and adding an assist for a four point night. Cody Kunyk, the dishmaster tallied four helpers as well on the night.

The opening period saw some great back and forth hockey action as both the Buckeyes and the Nanooks played very well in transition, and did a nice job limiting shots and chances to the outside. The Nanooks let in a bit of a soft goal there early in the period as Keeney tried to cover the puck, but a delayed whistle allowed Alex Szczechura on the doorstep to jam it under Keeney's pads to get the early lead at 6:35 of the first period.

But the 'Nooks fought back, creating a nice trap preventing OSU from generating a clean rush late in the period. One such play saw Andy Taranto intercept a quick outlet pass just outside the Buckeyes blue line, creating a quick 3 on 2 rush with Beck and Kunyk on the wings. Taranto got it to Kunyk as they crossed into the zone on the left side, and Kunyk made a phenomenal feed to Beck waiting on the back door to tie the game. Really a great highlight goal to watch.

The Nanooks kept pulling ahead into the 2nd with 3 more unanswered goals to continue to roll ahead. The first one coming just 56 seconds into the frame as Andy Taranto came up with a nice heads up play in front of the net collecting a rebound off a shot by Colton Beck.

Nolan Youngmun added an extra one in there for good measure making a nice play crashing the net, getting a stick on a loose puck in front of Hjelle and banging one home, similar to the first goal the Nanooks allowed early in the first. Nice work by Younger to keep motoring and crashing the net.

About 5 minutes later at the half-way point of the game, a very nice turnover and transition by the Nanooks forced another odd man rush with Taranto, Beck, Kunyk and Odegard. Taranto made the entrance as OSU disrupted the chance, but Odegard got a stick on it and fed it to Cody Kunyk to keep the scoring chance alive. And woowwwww did Kunyk make a play, call him the dishmaster tonight with the pass of the game, and all Becker had to was put some tape on it.

Into the 3rd, the Nanooks kept rolling as Nik Yaremchuk capitalized on a turnover created by Adam Henderson in the offensive zone, burying the puck past Collin Oleson after the Buckeyes pulled Brady Hjelle.

And to top it all off, Colton Beck netted his first collegiate hat trick with his 3rd of the game on a 2 on 1 rush with Cody Kunyk flanking on the rush after Richard Coyne sent the puck out of the zone to set up the break. Great to see all of the hats flying tonight!

The Nanooks now move to 5th in the CCHA, leaping Ohio State by 2 points as the Nanooks prepare for the sweep tomorrow! Go Nooks!

Game Day - Nanooks vs Buckeyes

2013-02-08T18:37:00.000-09:00

Game Day

Alaska Nanooks vs Ohio State Buckeyes

7:05PM AKST - Carlson Center, Fairbanks, Alaska

Live Stats: AlaskaNanooks.com | Live Audio: KCBF 820 Sports

Live Video ($7): AmericaOneSports.com | Radio: 820 AM Fairbanks

Twitter: @NanookHockey

The Nanooks come in after a disheartening sweep at the hands of the Miami RedHawks in Oxford last week, but the Nanooks will have a home ice advantage this time to exact revenge against the state of Ohio. This meeting versus tOSU will be the last of the CCHA, and I know I've said that a lot, but it remains true this weekend (and really every weekend until the end of the season).

Anyway, Brady Hjelle in goal for Ohio State is as good as any goaltender right now, as he's backstopped the Buckeyes to a 4 game unbeaten streak with 2 wins against Lake Superior, and a win and a tie last week against Notre Dame.

With that success, the Buckeyes have climbed to the number 5 spot, just one ahead of the Nanooks. The Buckeyes haven't had as much offensive success this season in conference, but the Buckeyes are 2nd in the CCHA in team defense with 1.85 goals allowed per game.

The Nanooks will be tested, but it proves to be a most intriguing series. John Keeney starts in goal tonight. And unfortunately, the Nanooks have lost our top scoring defenseman in Trevor Campbell possibly until the playoffs according to Dallas Ferguson. Nolan Kaiser also sits out this weekend due to injury, so Richard Coyne will again step in again on defense back at his normal position, paired tonight with Michael Quinn. Colton Parayko will fill in with Josh Atkinson on that second pairing.

With that, here are the Nanooks lines after the break...

Alaska Nanooks

F1 36 Colton Beck (A) - 37 Cody Kunyk - 29 Andy Taranto (A)

F2 17 Jarret Granberg - 27 Tyler Morley - 7 Nik Yaremchuk

F3 12 Garrick Perry - 14 Adam Henderson (C) - 24 Nolan Huysmans

F4 25 Nolan Youngmun - 20 Matt Friese - 11 Alec Hajdukovich

D1 6 Michael Quinn - 5 Richard Coyne

D2 22 Josh Atkinson - 4 Colton Parayko

D3 13 Kaare Odegard (A) - 10 JD Peterson

G1 39 John Keeney

G2 1 Steve Thompson

Nanooks Humbled, Swept by Miami

2013-02-02T17:59:00.003-09:00

After nearly crawling out of a 2 goal lead yesterday, and gaining a lot of momentum towards the end of the game, the Nanooks weren't able to carry a lot of that momentum into the early part of the first period Saturday night, as the Nanooks were not able to maintain puck possession early on. Miami's strong neutral zone trap forced numerous turnovers as Riley Barber was able to get a couple of clean looks at the net, beating Alaska defenders on the edge and put the puck in the net twice to get a quick 2 goal lead.

The 'Nooks got a break as Joe Hartman was called for interference 8 minutes into the period. On the power play, a RedHawk defender tried to clear the puck and Parayko made a nice play to keep the puck in the zone, finding Cody Kunyk in the corner who made a nice pass between two defenders to find Taranto right on the doorstep who put it past Ryan McKay to cut Miami's lead to 1 into the 2nd period.

The Nanooks were able to capitalize on a 5 on 3 power play to even the game up at 11:28 of the 2nd period as Tyler Morley made a great play coming down the slot as both defenders adjusted to Morley, then he made a great no-look pass to Yaremchuk who was left alone to the goaltenders left, as Yaremchuk let it fly and buried it into the open net to even the score at 2 a piece.

A couple minutes later, Kevin Morris got one past John Keeney who was one on one with Michael Quinn. Pretty clear that Keeney wanted that one back as his glove just missed the puck. And it was all Miami from there, as that was just the first of four unanswered for Miami as they rolled to a 6-2 win.

A number of chances though for the Nanooks as they crashed the net well but the defensemen were very active and the 'Nooks gave up a lot of odd man rushes the other way. But the Nanooks were definitely in the game through the first 40 minutes. After the first two periods, the 'Nooks seemed to get away from what was working in the first two periods.

A rough start, a good recovery, and a finish that got away from them tonight as the Nanooks fall to 5th place (possibly 6th depending on how the Ferris State/WMU game pans out). John Keeney was named the Head Coaches Association National Rookie of the Month for January yesterday. Then allowing 8 goals to Miami this weekend has probably wished for different outcomes. Hard to say if this weekend's performance will give another of the two netminders a chance in net this next weekend when the 'Nooks come home to face Ohio State.

A Couple of Bounces, and Empty Netters Pushes RedHawks Past Alaska 4-1

2013-02-01T19:48:00.002-09:00

The RedHawks got the best of the Nanooks tonight in a couple of bounces, but the Nanooks had chances of their own as they were able to lock out the RedHawks offense for over 30 minutes of play. But all good things must come to an end as the Nanooks winning streak is snapped in Oxford.

The first period saw some strange bounces find their way to the back of the net, the first of which being a goal from Blake Coleman from the far corner just above the goal line threw the puck towards the net, which deflected off of Trevor Campbell's skate and went through the legs of John Keeney and just squeaked inside the far post. The second goal came on a puck that was sort of dumped in and as Michael Quinn tried to play it, the puck went off of his skate and right to the tape of Cody Murphy's stick in front of Keeney, and Murphy elevated the puck over Keeney under the crossbar to put Miami up 2-0. The Nanooks were not able to generate really much of any offense in that first period despite a couple of power play chances.

Into the 2nd, the Nanooks had some great pressure to start the period and started to turn things around. Miami seemed to fall back a bit, but the Nanooks took advantage. With a call to Marc Hagel, the Nanooks looked to get something going on their 3rd power play of the game. But when Kunyk started a wrap-around behind the net, Colton Beck got tied up with a defender and he went down as Kunyk put the puck in the net, but was waved off due to the penalty.

Now 4 on 4, the Nanooks caught Miami on a bad change as Morley headmanned a 3 on 2 rush with Campbell and Granberg flanking. As both defenders collapsed to the center, Morley made a great no-look pass to Campbell across the slot inside the circle, who went top shelf and buried the goal past Jay Williams.

Into the 3rd, great play by the 'Nooks as they controlled a majority of the play during the final 20 minutes. On a power play, Cody Kunyk made a great pass to the back door with Andy Taranto perched and ready for it, Taranto had a wide open net and he missed high, catching the crossbar and bouncing harmlessly to the glass.

The 'Nooks had some good chances in the 3rd and played fairly well, but weren't able to capitalize. With some offensive pressure going, John Keeney headed to the bench just as Miami was gaining possession, and Austin Czarnik made a dump in from the red line that found its way to the goal. Then with 40 seconds left and a faceoff coming in the RedHawks zone, the Nanooks call timeout down 3-1. With the extra attacker on the ice, the RedHawks win the faceoff and get the puck down to Czarnik again who buries another empty netter to ice the game 4-1.

This game obviously much closer than the final score alludes, but the Nanooks have a lot to be proud of, and also things to improve. Early on, one of the Nanooks downfalls was the passing on the breakout and in transition. Too many turnovers in the Nanooks own zone, and a lot of missteps on the entry through the neutral zone. Honestly, not the best games from some individual players tonight as well.

What the Nanooks did have was good offensive positioning on the power play. The Nanooks left two goals out there, one was waved off for Kunyk, and Taranto missing the net this game could have been 3-2 Alaska midway through the 3rd.

Certainly some puck luck for the RedHawks tonight as well. That first goal certainly a little fluky, and a good heads up play by Murphy in front of Keeney after the puck found his stick. Hopefully tomorrow the puck will bounce the Nanooks way a time or two and a different outcome tomorrow.

Series Preview - Round 2 with the RedHawks

2013-02-01T11:12:00.000-09:00

Game Day Info

Date: Fri., Feb. 1/Sat., Feb. 2

Time: 3:35 p.m. AKT/ 3:05 p.m. AKT (7:35/7:05 p.m. EST)

Venue: Steve Cady Arena, Goggin Ice Center , Oxford, OH

Live Stats: CCHA.com

Live Audio: KCBF 820 Sports

Live Video: MURedHawks.com

Twitter: @NanookHockey

Radio: 820 AM Fairbanks

TV: KFXF Fox 7 Fairbanks (Live in HD)

First of all, shout out to Chris Brooks at the athletic department for putting these awesome videos together. Really cool features for the program with quality production. Well done!

Looking at this series with Miami, the RedHawks are a very tough team. They exhibited that when they visited Fairbanks in the first half of the season, routing the Nanooks 9-2 on the weekend as the Nanooks sank further into their December slump.

Certainly a different story for round 2, as the Nanooks have earned some confidence and have positioned themselves really well to compete with the best teams in the country. The Nanooks have swept Notre Dame on the road in South Bend just two weeks ago. A large part of the recent success has been the CCHA Rookie of the Month in between the pipes for Alaska in John Keeney. He's developed very well in the past few weeks and has emerged as the number one guy in goal for the 'Nooks.

Keeney led the nation in wins during the month of January with 6, and a 2.17 goals against average with a .915 save percentage. And as the guys in the video said, he's made a lot of crucial saves when needed and he's done a great job of keeping the team in the game.

From a matchup perspective, the Nanooks and RedHawks matchup very closely in terms of size and speed. However the first matchup, the RedHawks were the first team I've seen this season physically out skate this Nanooks team in the first half. Definitely a rejuvenated Nanooks squad this time around and this series will certainly be a measuring stick of the Nanooks squad going forward.

The lineup tonight is unchanged from Saturday's game versus NMU, which seemed to click very well and has been the base lineup for Ferguson during this stretch.

F1 Colton Beck (A) - Cody Kunyk - Andy Taranto (A)

F2 Jarret Granberg - Tyler Morley - Nik Yaremchuk

F3 Garrick Perry - Adam Henderson (C) - Nolan Huysmans

F4 Nolan Youngmun - Matt Friese - Richard Coyne

D1 Michael Quinn - Colton Parayko

D2 Josh Atkinson - Trevor Campbell

D3 Kaare Odegard - Nolan Kaiser

G1 John Keeney

G2 Steve Thompson

Make It Six - Top Line Rolls as Nanooks Sweep NMU at Home

2013-01-26T23:45:00.001-09:00

Colton Beck's back-to-back game winning goals and a 4-point weekend (3-1-4) helped the team roll the Wildcats and pick up the sweep. In the luncheon Friday, coach Ferguson explained his desire for the top line to bump up the production, and this weekend they produced points like crazy in this series.

The first period looked a lot like a continuation of the first game. Northern did a good job controlling play for the better part of the 1st period. As a result, Stephan Vigier was right on queue behind the net, disrupted a pass behind the net, and got a shot on Keeney that Daugherty was able to collect and bury.

Late in the first, the Nanooks repeated the same play as Taranto sniffed out the play and intercepted a pass near the half walls and put a shot on net as Beck collected the rebound and buried to even the game up through the first stanza.

Into the 2nd, much more intense checking. Hits and pleasantries were exchanged early and often. Mitch Jones took a tripping penalty just 32 seconds into the period to even the advantage 4 on 4 as about 1:35 was left on Perry's penalty for holding at 19:26 of the 1st.

But just about 5 minutes into the period, Yaremchuk made a great feed through traffic to find a breaking Tyler Morley, who with a few quick strides made a clean breakaway and with a few dekes had Jared Coreau out on Cushman Street. If ESPN wasn't already on cruise control with replays, that could have made the top 10 plays of the night. I'm really looking forward to that video highlight online and seeing where the CCHA guys put it this week in their top 10 plays.

Colton Beck buried the eventual game winner with his second of the game on a nice feed from Colton Parayko which clearly pissed off the NMU players. They started checking like mad men from that point forward. Eventually it got a little bit out of hand as Erik Higby was tossed for a vicious hit on Nolan Huysmans right in front of the Nanooks bench. Higby got the arm up and collided elbow first with the neck of Huysmans who wasn't ready for the hit. Just about a minute into the major, NMU defensemen Wade Epp takes a bad high sticking penalty down low out of clear frustration. Which puts the 'Nooks on a 5 on 3 advantage for a full two minutes.

Of which they only needed 14 seconds after a faceoff win, a quick shot down low that was blocked. Nanooks players all over chasing the puck trying to get there. Coreau was down and was having trouble covering ground, but eventually Parayko found his stick on the puck and buried it for his 4th goal of his already impressive freshman season. But the Wildcats still had some fight and a fighting chance, as the captain injected a little bit of life back into their lineup with a shorthanded tally from Thurber to round out the scoring for the evening.

A great home sweep for the Nanooks as these two wins come against a great Northern Michigan team help catapult the Nanooks up to 12th place in the pairwise standings, and a tie for 4th place in the CCHA with Ferris State in the very tight conference race. The 'Nooks fly south to take on Miami in Oxford in a pivotal match that will be a great challenge and a measuring stick going forward after the results of the home series against the RedHawks during the slump in December. 10 games remain, with 8 left in the conference, 5 at home, 5 on the road. Let's do it! Go 'Nooks!

Nanooks Continue to Roll, Tame Wildcats 2-1

2013-01-26T00:13:00.001-09:00

Wow it feels good to get the monkey off the back. The way that the 'Nooks held on and kept the pressure off of John Keeney, who was very sharp tonight at controlling himself and staying square to the puck. The Nanooks' defense totally locked out the Wildcats tonight, with the only goal being allowed was a 5 on 3 power play chance after Kaare Odegard was wrongly accused of charging. If college hockey had an appeals process, that would have been a great candidate. It was a great check, and clean but they deemed it a charge.

But what a way to get the game started. Cody Kunyk ripping a shot past Jared Coreau's glove up high in the corner, it was a thing of beauty. Earlier today at the Face Off club luncheon, coach Ferguson said that he wanted to see Kunyk shoot more. And his first shot of the game is just a sweet laser. Simply put. The video highlights will be great.

Into the second, Kunyk did it again as he forced a turnover at the blue line with Northern on the power play. Beck hustled in and made it a 2 on 1, and just a beauty of a saucer pass from Kunyk put it right on the tape of Beck's stick on the back door to take a two goal lead.

A few minutes later, Northern gets their lone goal of the game in the aforementioned 5 on 3 power play chance as the Nanooks clamp down defensively. I think where the Nanooks benefitted the most tonight was in their neutral zone play. They did a phenomenal job disrupting the Wildcats transition game and forced them off of the puck on the entry time after time. And say what you want about the 3 stars of the game, one of the best players out there tonight and had a terrific performance tonight was Trevor Campbell. He is very quietly making waves and earning the accolades of an elite defenseman in the conference. Tonight, he played with a confidence that seemed to radiate to his teammates and collectively they all rallied together and won this as a team.

I know I've said this about Trevor before, and he's had great games. But this kid is only a sophomore. He's playing at a very high level right now, and it excites me to watch him play and continue to get better. Exciting for the future.

Just a few quick housekeeping items before I turn in for the night. Firstly, a huge congratulations is due to the hockey team for posting up a 3.51 GPA average among the team for the fall semester of 2012. A tremendous achievement with the travel schedule, and just the rigors of being a student athlete. These guys didn't choose slack majors either. A lot of them are either business administration majors, but a few have even chosen the engineering route, which is one of the most time consuming majors I've had the pleasure to take part in. It was just as much of a pleasure for me to switch out of it. I couldn't handle it when I was a bit younger, but great for these guys.

Also on another note, Mike Smith was injured for the Phoenix Coyotes early this week which has left a hole in the goaltenders position. Jason LaBarbera played in net and allowed 3 goals in the final 7 minutes of the game as a 2 goal lead vanished. But with Smith sidelined, the Coyotes recalled former Nanook Chad Johnson from their AHL affiliate in Portland and was on the bench Thursday against the Sharks. Given the situation with LaBarbera yesterday, Chad Johnson does have a pretty decent shot to see his first action of the season between the pipes. Their game starts at 4:00PM AKST. I'll have to check that one out before I head over tomorrow.

Come out to the Carlson Center tomorrow and get the barn packed! The 'Nooks look to complete their sweep and move up the chain. Of note, with the win tonight, the 'Nooks are now 11th in the pairwise rankings... And no, its not too early to look at that yet.

One More Time - Another Shot at the Kitty Cats

2013-01-24T21:26:00.001-09:00

A sweep of Michigan at Yost, and a sweep of Notre Dame in South Bend, the Nanooks have started one hell of a run. But then the schedule throws you a curve ball and puts Northern Michigan right back in the path. A team that, again, has seemed to know the Nanooks' hole cards before the bets are placed. After the split with Western Michigan at home, the excursion to Marquette started the winless streak into the Christmas break.

The funny part of it is, after that series NMU went 1-4 themselves, getting swept at Western and LSSU. Now after New Year's, Northern is on an unbeaten streak of their own, including a sweep of St. Cloud and Ohio State as well as a win, tie, and shootout loss to Miami.

For both teams, its going to be about continuing their success this weekend. For the Nanooks, its their first game at home in seven weeks. And nobody is more excited for it than I am. That said, the 'Nooks home record has left something to be desired currently at 4-5-1 (2-5-1 in CCHA play). The 'Cats are 3-8-1 on the road this season, which was just improved over their sweep at St. Cloud just after their holiday layoff.

Aside from an empty-netter against Ohio State, each of the 'Cats recent wins has been by one goal. NMU has also come from behind to win in a lot of those games as well, often surrendering the first goal. NMU is a determined team and they don't give up. The Nanooks held leads in both games against Northern up in Marquette before watching them vanish into the Black Hole.

If you recall my previous post on this subject, Coach Ferguson has yet to defeat Northern Michigan outright since he took over. Honestly though, I think this is the best chance for that win to come this weekend. With the offense picking up like it has, averaging 4 goals per game since the new year started and getting a huge confidence boost from those road sweeps, I can't envision the Nanooks letting this home series slip away. The pollsters can say what they want to, but the Nanooks are a better team right now than NMU. And this weekend will be their chance to prove it and help get this monkey off of Ferguson's back.

In other news, Chad Johnson was recalled to Phoenix in the NHL tonight after starter Mike Smith was hurt in their win against Columbus. LaBarbera got the start tonight as the Coyotes watched a 3-1 lead over the Sharks with 7:40 left in the game evaporate as they eventually lost 5-3 in San Jose. Chad Johnson has not played an NHL game since the lone loss in the the 2010-2011 season for the Rangers. At the end of last season, he was traded to the Phoenix organization after a pretty good run in the AHL with the Connecticut Whale for the past 2 seasons. I'm hoping the result of tonight's loss for Phoenix may give Johnson another chance at the show when they take on the LA Kings at home on Saturday. I'll definitely be tuned in for that.

As for the Nanooks game, I know the guys are pumped to get this one going. I haven't seen them play in person in seven weeks. And I'm excited to get this party started...

Nanooks Roll, Sweep #4/5 Notre Dame in South Bend

2013-01-20T00:01:00.000-09:00

WOW!!! What a road trip. I'm still wired and on cloud nine after that sweep. With four back to back wins on this two week roadie, I think the Nanooks are finding their identity. This series was a lot more physical than I was expecting, but that's the game that Notre Dame plays but the Nanooks didn't wait at all for Notre Dame to establish the checking. I really liked that the 'Nooks didn't back down from them. Its no mystery when I say that Notre Dame likes to throw their weight around (Summerhays mugging Morley after Johns checked Morley into him). And if you want to know how good they think they are, just wait around and listen, because they'll tell you.

Anyway like I was saying, the Nanooks really seem to be finding themselves at this point in the season. The chemistry is there, and the Granberg-Morley-Yaremchuk line is just going crazy right now. They're scoring on par with any of the top lines in the country. Both power play goals tonight were from that line, and they're picking it up when the top line hasn't had as much puck luck as of late.

And how good has Trevor Campbell been lately? He hasn't cracked the scoresheet as much as he has in recent history, but very solid positionally and made a lot of smart decisions this weekend. Everytime I heard Tynan or Lee's name come up (which wasn't often tonight), Campbell was right there keeping them in check and keeping them irrelevant. And, oh yeah, he has a real girlfriend.

Alaska vs. Notre Dame #hockeysign twitter.com/greeno1/status…
— Olivia Green (@greeno1) January 20, 2013

The 'Nooks return home next weekend to take on the Northern Michigan Wildcats who have put together a 6-game unbeaten streak of their own, including a sweep of St. Cloud and Ohio State. As well as a win and a tie against Miami at home. I hope they're prepared for some payback!

A Crazy Finish as the 'Nooks Win 3rd Straight

2013-01-18T17:21:00.000-09:00

Wow. I'm still trying to process this. Honestly I'm still riding on cloud after I made a friend nearly crash his truck when I went crazy when Granberg scored the game-winner. Talk about a momentum builder. The important part here is that I think the 'Nooks are building a sense of confidence in themselves. They're playing hard, smart, and most importantly resilient. They don't get down and flat when they get down in the scoreboard, and that helped them especially in the first period tonight. They didn't get phased at all when Anders Lee buried that first goal. But work and effort as the 'Nooks got a couple of quick goals to take the lead and the momentum away and set the tone.

But anyway, on to the recap.

First period was kind of an interesting start to the game, as the Nanooks and Irish spent the better part of it feeling each other out, and just a little sloppy around the ice. Fast paced, but just a pretty sloppy game. After play tightened up a bit, Notre Dame got on the board first as Anders Lee caught the Nanooks chasing a rebound in front of John Keeney. Lee has some pretty keen stick skills, he chipped it quick up high and over Keeney and under the crossbar for the go ahead goal.

But the Nanooks answered not just once, but twice with two bang-bang goals. The first one was Garrick Perry for his first of the season on a semi 2-on-1 break as Nolan Huysmans had a step on his defender. Huysmans ripped the shot from near the top of the faceoff circle to the goaltenders left, and Summerhays left a juicy rebound floating to his right that Perry banged out of the air past Summerhays to even the game.

Then just 45 seconds later, the 'Nooks came back and Nik Yaremchuk banged in a rebound under Summerhays pad to go up 2-1 in a very similar play to the first one. Jarret Granberg got the first shot on net and rang it hard off of Summerhays pad. The puck trickled over to the goalies right side, but Summerhays kept a pad on it. But with some hard jabs at it, Yaremchuk puts the Nanooks up 2-1 going into the locker room for the first intermission.

The second period wasn't the most exciting of periods for the first half of it, but the Nanooks struck first in the second stanza as Andy Taranto buried one at 17:06, ripping a wrister from the slot that tipped off the glove of Summerhays and trickled across the goal line behind him before it could be covered. But Anchorage native Austin Wuthrich collected a rebound down around the net off a shot from Sam Calabrese.

But the third period. What. A. Trip. Leading 3-2, the 'Nooks get their 2nd power play of the game as Shayne Taker held Colton Beck from breaking a 2-on-1. But just a few seconds in, defenseman Sam Calabrese threaded the needle, getting a puck through the Nanooks defenders and caught a breaking TJ Tynan right on the tape. He made a quick move and buried it past Keeney's pad.

But the 'Nooks would not be denied on a rare power play chance tonight. Seemed as though the officiating continued to be a bit one-sided again tonight. But anyway, the 'Nooks capitalised on a play set up for Nik Yaremchuk, but Summerhays stopped the first one. Granberg found the second one and retook the lead 4-3 just 39 seconds after Tynan's goal.

But hold on, we're not done yet. Mario Lucia hasn't scored yet. But then he did. The son of former Nanooks coach Don Lucia who's now behind the Minnesota bench. Mario was born in Fairbanks about 15 minutes before the truck left for Colorado Springs, and now he's suited up for a Nanooks rival. And he tied the game up with just over 4 minutes left in regulation. But the Nanooks had something to say before the final clock struck zero.

Specifically, 3 seconds before the clock struck zero. And honestly, I have not a clue what happened. A flurry of bodies and a pinballing puck made it past Summerhays. I intended to get home and try to watch what had happened, but apparently I neglected to push record on the DVR. So I'll have to wait to really watch it until it replays tomorrow. For those of you that watched it, let your voice be heard in the comments below!

Really this game ranks among the top Nanooks games I've been around for. But to get that type of finish on the road in a barn as loud as Notre Dame is. Especially after how loud they got and stayed when Lucia scored. But nothing quiets a crowd like scoring goals.

The 'Nooks have earned 9 points on this roadie thus far with 3 more on the table. Can the 'Nooks pull off the full roadie sweep? We'll find out tomorrow.