Kendall Classic Round 2 - Nanooks vs Canisius

Game Day

Canisius Golden Griffins vs. Alaska Nanooks

4:07PM - Sullivan Arena

Play By Play Audio (Bruce Cech / KCBF)

Live Video (Stretch Internet - Free)

Live Stats (UAA Athletics)

Twitter (Your's truly, @NanookHockey)

Yesterday's game against Air Force wen't pretty well I thought. The guys played well, but I think Cahill just lacked the confidence you'd expect a goaltender to have. His nerves just got the better of him, which I think is leading to coach's decision to start John Keeney in net tonight. Keeney had a pretty strong outing in juniors before he got moved to Muskegon. A team that lacked in every area of defense looked to a star goaltender to solve all of their problems that I think hurt Keeney's projections. Honestly, he's an NHL draft-worthy goalie that I'm excited to see in action tonight.

Unfortunately, Jarret Granberg sustained an injury during last night's game and will sit out tonight. Fairbanks' own Alec Hajdukovich will see his first collegiate minutes on the fourth line with Friese and Dumond as some of the other lines see a bit of a shake-up.

Canisius and UAA last night left a lot to be desired. Just sloppy play overall gave the feeling of juniors game. A friend of mine texted me and asked if this was really a D-I hockey game, to which I responded "I don't know, I haven't seen this much icing since that episode of Cake Boss I watched last week." And not just by one team, but both ways. Not really much of a defensive battle as it was a lack-of-offense battle. Neither team got anything going in either zone and relegated a lot of the play through the neutral zone. Surprising, really. But Canisius' line of Law-McCrank-Wiseman really stood out in their play, and they worked hard every shift. I don't think its their top line, but they got a lot of minutes last night and they will be the line to watch for tonight.

I suspect coach Ferguson had a few screws to tighten in this morning's pre-skate, but all of the elements of a good hockey team were there. Cahill saved a few lapses in defense, but as I said, seemed to lack confidence in his play. For Keeney, I'm pretty confident that he's got the skills to compete at this level, but it might take him a little while to get settled in. I'm hoping the 'Nooks can get a goal early to help his mindset a bit. I think he'll play better with a lead. Seemingly less pressure that way.

Anyway, here are the lines for tonight...
Alaska Nanooks

F1 26 Chad Gehon - 14 Adam Henderson (C) - 25 Nolan Youngmun
F2 36 Colton Beck (A) - 37 Cody Kunyk - 24 Nolan Huysmans
F3 7 Nik Yaremchuk - 27 Tyler Morley - 29 Andy Taranto (A)
F4 9 Max Dumond - 20 Matt Friese - 11 Alec Hajdukovich

D1 6 Michael Quinn - 4 Colton Parayko
D2 13 Kaare Odegard (A) - 18 Trevor Campbell
D3 2 Justin Tateson - 22 Josh Atkinson

G1 39 John Keeney
G2 1 Steve Thompson


Canisius Golden Griffins

F1 13 Stephen Miller - 94 Matthew Grazen - 10 Torrey Lindsay (C)
F2 40 Doug Beck - 12 Ryan Bohrer - 15 Kyle Gibbons
F3 9 Taylor Law - 8 Mitch McCrank - 49 Tyler Wiseman
F4 14 Preston Shupe (C) - 26 Patrick Sullivan - 93 Ralph Cuddemi

D1 27 Logan Roe - 16 Ben Danford
D2 21 Duncan McKellar - 3 Doug Jessey
D3 25 Matthew Backhouse - 4 Ben Parker

G1 33 Keegan Asmundson (6' 5", 222lbs, WOW)
G2 31 Tony Capobianco