Game Day - Nanooks vs Quinnipiac Bobcats

Game Day

Kendall Hockey Classic, Day 2, Game 1

Alaska Nanooks vs Quinnipiac Bobcats

4:07PM AKST - Sullivan Arena, Anchorage, Alaska

Live Stats: GoSeawolves.com | Live Audio: KCBF 820 Sports | 820 AM Fairbanks

Live Internet Video ($9): AmericaOne | Live TV KFXF Fox 7 Fairbanks

Twitter: @NanookHockey

Line Charts: Alaska | Quinnipiac

Yesterday, the Seapups got the better of the Bobcats in a fairly gritty affair. I thought Quinnipiac played a cleaner game. Better changes, better plays, but ACC outplayed them in effort. Can't blame QU too much, considering the game ended at about 3:00AM EST. 

The Nanooks had a good night against Air Force, but in a bit of a weird way. The result obviously favored Alaska but they weren't as dominant as the score showed. I'm obviously a biased guy in that sense, but Air Force couldn't contain the Nanooks in the offensive zone. They had chances to clear, but the skill players took over and made the difference.

A few lineup changes tonight as J.D. Peterson, Trevor Campbell, and Nolan Youngmun will sit for the 'Nooks tonight as Justin Tateson, Nolan Kaiser, and Alec Hajdukovich will get in for the first time against the 10th ranked Bobcats.

Brandon Morley and Jared Larson will switch sides on Tyler Morley's line. Linnell and Perry will also swap lines, as Perry will join Erickson and Basara. The Nanooks were down to 10 forwards late in the game yesterday, which was kind of a blessing in disguise as coach Ferguson was able to mix and match some players together to see how they fit together. 

Basara had some good work up with Kunyk and Beck but there might be a bit of a learning curve for Basara to get used to the compete level at this level of hockey. Basara was a stud in juniors but I'm not convinced that he's fully up to speed yet. But I think he'll shape up to be a stud before the season is out. 

 For the Nanooks as a team tonight, they need to be better on offensive zone possession. They did well building chances on the rush, but too many times possession ended after the initial shot. Sound positioning to get rebounds, and making smart decisions with the puck to prevent turnovers. If they can keep it away from the Bobcats, they will lure them out of position, get them frustrated and force them to make bad decisions. They over-pursued Anchorage forwards yesterday, just hoping they make the same mistakes today. 

Go 'Nooks!