Nanooks Drop a Heartbreaker to Michigan 1-0 in OT

The Nanooks came out seemingly content to play containment and try to wait for their chances. Unfortunately, a bad breakout coupled with bad outlet passing led to Michigan maintaining possession during the forecheck and skating it right back in. Fortunately, Greenham stayed very sharp. Unfortunately, it seemed to be Greenham hunting season out there for Michigan. Time after time, Greenham was getting knocked around, or otherwise hit. I guess the refs just didn't see it.

The non-calls continued in the 2nd, but the Nanooks stayed strong and played hard. Penalties kept getting called on UA, but not the other way, despite clear offenses occurring. The clear advantage going to UM. I'm not saying the calls that were made were bad, it's the no calls that created an imbalance. In Michigans favor. All I wish for is a fair game.

Obviously as a result, Michigan had some great chances, but Greenham being on his A game is gonna need a bit more than a good chance. Greenham just kept the door shut.

The 3rd went the same way, but the calls were at least balanced. A couple of calls to Michigan helped get the Nanooks going, especially with the late power play after Justin Filzen took a hard hit into the boards. He appeared alright, but always a nail buyer when someone goes down.

Overtime was a buzz kill though. Just 57 seconds in, Alex Guptill takes the puck away, and gets the shot off what appeared to be Scott Enders and in the net.

A bit of a tough loss, but all I was saying at the very end of the game was you can't be afraid to lose. The guys seemed to shell up and play a bit frazzled. Greenham played a fantastic game, should have been the first star with 40+ saves. The Nanooks had some good chances thought the game, but continued to miss the second and third chances as Michigan collapsed down. A great hockey game, but I hate to see them miss this one given their run. But ya can't win them all. Coming away with 12 of the last 18 points is still a good run.

Now, we get to settle in for a good break, get some of the guys that are a little banged up back and on the ice. I'm gonna take a little time off, but I'll be sure to get you a recruit update, and some looks at former Nanooks in the pros.

Lines for Saturday

Here are the lines for tonight.

Alaska Nanooks

F1 Colton Beck - Cody Kunyk - Andy Taranto
F2 Nik Yaremchuk - Adam Henderson - Carlo Finucci
F3 Chad Gehon - Justin Filzen - Ron Meyers
F4 Nolan Youngmun - Matt Gates - Robert Monfore
D1 Michael Quinn - Aaron Gens
D2 Justin Tateson - Scott Enders
D3 Kaare Odegard - Trevor Campbell
G1 Scott Greenham
G2 Steve Thompson

Michigan Wolverines

F1 Kevin Lynch -Travis Lynch - Luke Glendening
F2 Alex Guptill - David Wohlberg - Chris Brown
F3 Phil Di Giuseppe - A.J. Treais - Derek DeBlois
F4 Lindsay Sparks - Zach Hyman - Luke Moffatt

D1 Mac Bennett - Greg Pateryn
D2 Kevin Clare - Mike Chiasson
D3 Lee Moffie - Brennan Serville

G1 Shawn Hunwick
G2 Adam Janecyk

Game Day Saturday - Pedal to the Metal

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After last night, the Nanooks need to keep the throttle down and play for the full 60 minutes. As the game wore on, it appeared that the Nanooks got quite comfortable with their lead and left the door open for Michigan a few times. Let's hope they can keep it wide open, and break the game wide open tonight.

From last night, even though I touched on his goal, I kind of want to put the spotlight a bit on Michael Quinn. You don't really get to hear his name much, especially since last night was just the 2nd goal of his career, but as a defensive defenseman, he's as good as they come. If you watched the game, I'm sure you saw quite a few plays where Quinn was able to shake a Michigan player when he's backed up in the defensive zone with nobody around. His positioning along the wall would typically favor the forechecking player, but Quinn's agility and stick skills just embarrassed guys like Travis Lynch and AJ Treais who challenged him. Tonight is going to be the defensemen making the headlines stopping a pissed off Michigan offense. Bring it on.

Another tidbit, the two goals scored by Quinn and Beck were tallied 7 seconds apart (8:31 and 8:38 of the 2nd period), breaking the previous Nanooks record of 8 seconds set by Ryan McLeod  in the 2004-05 season CCHA playoffs at Bowling Green. McLeod scored at 5 seconds and then 13 seconds of the 1st period. McLeod still holds the record for fastest 2 goals by a single player but Quinn's and Beck's pair are now engraved in the Nanooks' record books.

Check back here a bit later for the lines for game two.

(UPDATED) Nanooks Keep Rolling With a 4-3 Win Over Michigan

Both teams came out of the chute ready to play, but the Wolverines jumped out to the early 1-0 lead on the 1st shot of the game. It was really like 3 shots, but it's only going to count as one. Di Giusseppe stationed on the back doorstep when a shot came down from Brennan Serville, and after about 3 whacks at it, Phil was able to get it over Greenham's blocker. Kind of a heartbreaker, but it really got the Nanooks offense fired up.

Game Day Friday - Taking a Bite Out of the Wolverines

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Live Stats (alaskananooks.com - Free)
Twitter (@NanookHockey - My commentary and updates live)

Well, as we get set to go here at the rink, the Nanooks know they have to work to keep Michigan down. They aren't one of the top scoring teams for nothing. The defense has to stop them, and the offense has to score just one more goal than they do. Seems obvious and simple, I know, but that's the story this week. The 'Nooks have all of the right things in place to do win, its just a matter of digging deep and playing for all 60 minutes. Greenham has to stay sharp, he knows that. And with his performance this past weekend, I'm expecting to see some points coming our way out of this series.

A bit of a difference in the lines for tonight. Notably absent is Jarret Granberg with the injury suffered against Bowling Green. With Odegard back from last week, and the centers moving up the chart to fill in fill the role left by Granberg, Nanooks walk on Robert Monfore will play right wing on the 4th line tonight along side Nolan Youngmun, centered by Matt Gates. Filzen will move to the 3rd line, and Henderson will center the 2nd line. Monfore didn't so much as touch the ice last time around, time will tell if he'll see a shift or two tonight. 


Some more good news though, we should see Max Dumond hit the ice to start the second half of the season. The freshman had some pretty impressive marks in his junior career before arriving in Fairbanks before being sidelined the entire Fall semester due to injury. Getting him on the ice and in uniform is going to add some more scoring depth for sure. It'll be interesting to see how he adjusts to the college game, especially after being sidelined for so long. Good news though, he has the long holiday break to get back into shape

Don't forget, tonight is the Skate with the Nooks, and tomorrow is the annual Teddy Bear Toss.

Check out the lines after the jump.