Saturday, January 2, 2016

Time To Ring in 2016 With Offense

The Nanooks closed out 2015 with a bang. Hell of a good weekend for the boys down in Anchorage ending a seven game winless skid and culled any momentum ACC had coming off their sweep in Houghton.

The Nanooks need to get some momentum going of their own here after the holidays and get some offense going. Getting guys like Marcus Basara and Alec Hajdukovich back on the score sheets just before Christmas was big. Alec had either been a healthy scratch or on the 4th line for a few weeks, and Marcus had not scored a point in the previous 6 games.

The Nanooks took down Anchorage with defense and a stellar weekend from Jesse Jenks, who has likely cemented himself in the starting role. The kid has the calm nerves of Chad Johnson, its unreal. But the last series the Nanooks faced with the Beavers in Bemidji saw a 1-1 split with a total of 16 goals scored on the weekend.

The first series after the break has gone very much in the Nanooks' favor though in recent years. Swept Ferris State last season at home, split with Mankato to start off 2014 at the Carlson Center, and swept Michigan at Yost the first series of 2013 in the last season of the CCHA before going on to sweep Notre Dame in South Bend. I'm sure John Keeney remembers that road trip very well.

Coach Ferguson had the players back in town on the 26th and held the first practice that night. The guys have had some time to get things going in practice without the burden of school on their minds. Hopefully they can rally and start to separate themselves from the bottom of the standings with a much needed 4 points here at home this weekend before playing 6 straight on the road.