Nanooks Tie the Spartans 1-1, Drop in the Shoot Out

The Nanooks skated a hard 60 (+5) minutes of hockey tonight. They had great shifts, and never fell into a lull. Michigan State battled very hard, put a lot of pucks on goal, but the difference maker there was the defense and Scott Greenham stood very tall and, as coach Ferguson has been quoted as saying, its a goaltenders job to block all the shots he's supposed to, and some that he isn't supposed to, and Greenham did exactly that this weekend.

MSU more than doubled their shots on goal tally from the previous game, throwing up 33 shots. Greenham was up to the task, stopping all but one of them, a slap shot from the point by Petry off of a rebound with a man advantage. MSU had a couple of scoring chances, including one going off of Greenham's mask, and a blistering shot from the slot that likely chipped paint off of the crossbar.

Dion's goal was very opportunistic. He reeled in a pass from Dustin Sather, and very quickly wristed the shot top shelf over the blocker side of MSU goaltender Drew Palmisano.

The key point to this evening though was defense. Coach Ferguson stated during the post game that the Spartans were very skilled at breaking out and getting the puck across the ice. Well, sure, but once you get it there, it's kind of hard for a team to set up in the offensive zone when you've got 2, maybe 3 defenders collapsing in and moving the puck the other way.

One thing I'd like to give credit to is UA's special teams. We are one of the only schools left in NCAA Division 1 to yet allow a shorthanded goal. Granted, we haven't scored a shorthanded goal yet this season either, but Taranto, Dion Knelsen, and Derek Klassen all had shorthanded scoring chances tonight. Our power play and penalty kill aren't the best in the nation, but respectable in their own right, and very much improved over last season.

A lot of MSU's shots were forced I believe and not very opportunistic. A lot of the shots they took were either bad angles, or they just threw it on net simply because there were bodies and traffic in front. They had a few good flurries of shots that forced Greenham to change into desperation mode as they got in tight, but he got the job done.

After the game went into the shoot out, I thought the Nanooks had an excellent chance, winning the majority of the shoot out opportunities so far this season. Ryan Hohl nailed the hard wrist shot over the glove, and actually hit Palmisano's glove, but it bounced up and in. Taranto had a good chance, tried to squeeze one through Drew's legs, but, that hole closed very quickly. Dion and his dangling wizardry attempt was thwarted as Palmisano poked the puck as Dion made his deke. I caught up with Dion after the end of the game, and he didn't seem all to happy with the outcome of that opportunity, but you win some and you lose some. Big kudos to Dion too, out of 14 faceoffs handled, he won 11 of them. Definitely a great stat to have.

This weekend series ended with the Nanooks earning 4 points in the standing, moving them from 7th place, back up to tied for 4th place with Nebraska-Omaha. Don't let that fool you, or go to your head, because the difference between 4th place and 10th place is 4 points... Who is in 10th place? Why, that would be our next weeks opponent, Ohio State. Every game, and every point counts as the season comes to a close in a rush for a playoff round on home ice, and potentially a first round bye.

Nanooks Take 3 Points, Shutdown and Shutout High Powered MSU Spartans 2-0

A valiant effort tonight was demonstrated at the Carlson Center, and the Nanooks get back into a 2 way tie for 4th place in the CCHA standings, right up with Michigan, who have 3 games in hand against UA, with 11 conference wins.

MSU took an interesting stance and did not start their starting goaltender, Drew Palmisano, and went with Bobby Jarosz, who is finishing out his senior year. He appeared pretty solid, and the two UA goals, he didn't really have a chance at.

I could summarize the goals, but I think Dion does the best job, as said in the post game conference; "Both of my goals, I was just in front of the net with my stick on the ice. I had a couple of really nice passes from Andy and Aaron". When asked about the close call for the hat trick, Dion commented that he had broken his stick, and he was using Nik Yaremchuk's stick, so that was his excuse. I can understand that. His shot was only off by just a few inches. The Easton S19 that he typically skates with is a pretty specialized and fine-tuned stick. If he was slashed and it broke, I'd be yelling at the guy that did it to foot the ~$250 bill for a replacement.

Assistant coach Brian Meisner said during the conference that the team has been focusing on aggressiveness, keeping the hammer down in recent history, which is exactly what I think is key for this team. If you saw the end of that game against Northern Michigan last week, you would have seen at the end of the 3rd period exactly the kind of pressure that the Nanooks can put on a team. During that period, all 5 guys on the ice were working together and working hard. In unison, the team worked together and very nearly came back from a 3-0 deficit to tie the game at the end. The Nanooks played like that all game. They kept pucks out of the middle and to the outside, gave Greenham the easy looks, kept the Spartans out of the crease, and out of Greenham's vision. More importantly, they generated a lot of chances.

Playing like they did tonight, it would be very tough for even the best of teams to beat the Nanooks. If Alaska can keep up this drive, and use their motivation to keep that same mentality alive, the Nanooks will be a very difficult team to beat in the playoffs.

Tomorrow, UA better come to play. This was the first time this season that Michigan State has been shutout, and I'm not so sure they are going to lay down and take it. Who knows, maybe they will. But another three points this weekend will do nothing but help the Nanooks as this race through the standings is incredibly tight, as these three points earned tonight catapulted Alaska from 7th to 4th.


Tomorrow's game will be televised nationally on several networks, so be sure to check your local listings for all of you out of state folks. The game will also be on B2 networks, so you can watch the game there online, for $7. KSUA internet streaming radio is, of course, always available as a free alternative.


And as always, you can follow my Twitter feed to get live updates during the game. One of my followers even said I was faster than the internet streamed radio. Also, just a big thanks to all of my readers here and my followers on Twitter. It's the Nanook community that makes this worth my time. I don't make money for this, I do it to give some more exposure to the team that we all love.

I'll see you at the game tomorrow.

Dion Knelsen Named as a Hockey Humanitarian and Lowe's Senior CLASS Awards Finalist

 

Image credit: ccha.com

Dion Knelsen, one of the greatest characters I've met in recent history, has been named a finalist for the prestigious Hockey Humanitarian Award, which awards those who demonstrate character by reaching out and helping the community in some way. The Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award is presented each year to the outstanding senior NCAA Division I Student-Athlete of the Year across nine different sports. The acronym “CLASS” stands for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School™.

Classroom

During his first six semesters at Alaska, Knelsen has made the Chancellor’s List five times.  He maintains a 3.98 grade point average.

Character

Knelsen regularly attends a Wednesday night Christian group called Remnant Christian Fellowship (an evening get-together service for young people).  He has led and plans to continue leading the music fellowship.  In addition, Knelsen attends Bethel Christian Fellowship and participates weekly in Bible study with other athletes that include UAF hockey alumni and some of his current teammates.  Coach Dallas Ferguson says, “He has tremendous values that represent integrity, honesty and loyalty.  With respect to his character, it is second to none.”

Community

Knelsen has participated in “Nooks for Books” by reading at local elementary schools to young students.  He has volunteered with Sports Night at the Denali Center, which is Fairbanks’ assisted living home for senior citizens.  Other community efforts include volunteering time with Big Brothers Big Sisters and going to work with Habitat for Humanity.  In 2008-09, he was a volunteer with Connie Seekins’ therapeutic riding program that offered handicapped individuals the opportunity to ride horses on a weekly basis.  Additionally, he served as a co-sponsor of a child in the Dominican Republic.  Coach Dallas Ferguson says, “Dion is always the first guy to volunteer in any situation that he can.”

Competition

In 2008-09, Knelsen played in all 39 games and led Alaska in scoring as a junior with 22 points.  He was CCHA Offensive Player of the Week for October 13th after he earned MVP honors of Alaska Anchorage’s Kendall Hockey Classic D1 Tournament.  During Knelsen’s sophomore season (2007-08), he played in all 35 games and led Alaska in scoring with 33 total points.  Knelsen had a very successful freshman season as well.  He was one of only a few collegiate hockey players to be named to Canada’s 2007 World Under-18 team that competed in Tampere and Rauma, Finland.  Knelsen was named Player of the Game on April 14, 2007 after scoring two goals and two assists in Canada’s 9-1 win over Latvia.  Back with his Alaska teammates, he was named Alaska’s Top Rookie and an honorable mention CCHA All-Rookie team selection.  In addition, he was named Rookie of the Week on October 16, 2006, with two goals and three assists in an 8-4 win against Air Force.  Knelsen accomplished all of these feats his freshman year while he was the second youngest player in the CCHA and second youngest player in NCAA Division I hockey. 

I can't argue with these nominations in any way. Dion is not only a great skater, but a great person. I highly encourage all of my readers to go out and vote for Dion for the Senior CLASS award. 
The Hockey Humanitarian award is named by committee, but get out there and vote and get the word out. Dion, along with Andy Taranto, and Joe Sova are still in the running for the Hobey Baker award as well, college hockey's highest honor.

Michigan State - A Foe to Test the Nanooks Might

So, we have officially nailed down a playoff spot. That, at least, is in the books. The defining moment is going to be, what can we do when we get there. This weekend is going to be our chance to step it up. There are 6 games left this season, we currently have 31 points, tied for 6th with those guys from Ann Arbor. If we can win 6 straight games, we will be sitting happily with 49 points, which, coincidentally is 2 points less than Miami already has.

Regardless, getting into the specifics of the game, its going to be another interesting matchup. Andy Taranto has had a less than stellar second half of the season so far. He has kind of fell into a scoring slump after the break, and he was having penalty problems there in a couple of the games. If any time is a good time for him to have a breakout performance, its this weekend. Michigan State is ranked 12th nationally, and I expect that no matter how much I may ask them too, Rick Comley and his squad won't take it easy on us.

MSU beatwriter Alex DiFilippo posted an article last night, and he, like every other team, whined about the travel. I've mentioned it before, but the Nanooks travel farther than any other team in college hockey, Anchorage included. I always say, if you can't take the travel, quit recruiting sissies. Oh well. Kudos to coach Comley for saying that the travel doesn't matter. Besides, they get a bye week after this series anyway.


The Spartans have a few scoring threats as well, namely junior forward Corey Tropp. I've watched video of him, this kid has a hell of a shot. But, the Nanooks can contain him. Of course, the Alaska defense can contain any team, I have no doubt about that. It's the coverage breakdown and the lack of positioning that gets us in trouble. But, I suppose that is true of any team. Hopefully that can change this game. I would love to see that.

I have a hard time predicting how this series will turn out for the Nanooks. I always try to remain positive, and I'll remain doing so, but, the reality is, we have just one season sweep to our name this season, and that goes to 2nd ranked Ferris State who left Fairbanks with exactly no points, and hadn't lost a single game until they visited Miami. Michigan State has also been kind of on a downhill decline as of late, compared to earlier in the season anyway.


Friday: Alaska     W 3-2
Saturday: Alaska W 4-3
Optimism at its finest...

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I couldn't leave this post without sharing this gem.



This video is of an event known as Cedar Fest. Don't know what Cedar Fest is? It's OK, I didn't at first either. Here's some insight from the Wikipedia article on the subject:

Cedar Fest is a celebration held in East Lansing, Michigan. The event which started in the 70's was originally a semiannual party that occurred during the months of October and May. The event was held in Cedar Village, a densely populated student neighborhood boarding the Michigan State University campus. The event took off in the 80's and was regularly attended by thousands of people. Several riots ensued from the parties and property owners along with the city decided to put an end to the event. By 1987 the event was banned by police, and for many years it was not held.

I'd ban it too. But guess what, that ban lasted exactly all of 20 years before MSU's disregard for authority led to 2008, which is in the video above. Here's some more tantalizing information.

Cedar Fest saw a revival in 2008, 20 years after the city had officially banned the event. The revival, which began as a campaign on Facebook as early as January, promised a "weekend long party" that would take place "throughout all of Cedar Village." It drew up to 4,000 party goers and was officially declared an unlawful assembly as police launched 24 smoke grenades, 20 flash bangs, 20 stingball grenades and 13 rounds of tear gas to disperse the out of control crowd. Some revelers heaved bottles, cans and bricks at police officers, while two city vehicles had their windows broken and at least four fires were set. East Lansing police Chief Tom Wibert remarked that the event "got to the point where I don’t see how we could have dispersed that crowd without tear gas." In fact, Wibert said after the police used flash bangs and smoke bombs, some students began to chant for tear gas.The "riot" cost close to $10,000 in damages and resulted in 52 arrests, 28 of them being MSU students. Police estimated that about 5% of MSU's student population was at the event.

 I'm seriously glad Fairbanks doesn't have this problem. During my very brief time in Anchorage, I've seen these types of parties kind of take off at the beginning of the semester, but even Alaska Community College students can contain themselves. Michigan State needs an ethics class or two tacked on to their degree requirements. That is, unless being a rioting idiot is part of the curriculum.

Just in case that info above didn't tell you enough, here's some stats.

• Oct. 28, 1983 First “official” Cedar Fest; 1,000 attend, 37 arrests
• May 19, 1984 5,000 attend, no major incidents
• Oct. 27, 1984 5,000 attend, more than 30 arrested
• May 18, 1985 6,000 attend, 14 arrests, 10 injured, approximately $2000 in damage
• Oct. 26, 1985 4,000 attend, no major incidents
• May 17, 1986 500 attend, 25 arrests, 22 injured
• Oct. 25, 1986 5,000 attend, 35 arrests, 24 injured
• Fall 1987: Permanent injunction makes it illegal to be at a Cedar Fest event in May or October.
• May 16, 1987 200 attend, 44 arrests, no damage or serious injuries
• October 1989: While not an official Cedar Fest, 3,000 rioters at Cedar Village Apartments burn furniture, bicycles and a moped and attack bystanders after MSU's football team loses to the University of Michigan.
• February 1990: A federal appeals court rules that an ordinance allowing police to barricade Cedar Village when officials suspected a party forming was unconstitutional.
• April 5, 2008: 4,000 attend, 52 arrests
• April 4, 2009: 2,000 attend, 61 arrests, 3 couch fires set but no major incidents following Final Four victory over University of Connecticut
• April 6, 2009: 1,700 attend, 21 arrests, no major incidents after NCAA Championship Game loss to UNC.