Some good photos shared by a Nanooks fan, known online only as mmf. If you wish to check out more of his shots, see the link at the end to check out his gallery.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Nanooks Lose Tussle with St. Cloud in Game 1
Entering the arena, the energy in the air was apparent. With a new Nanooks team and a new season, everyone seemed anxious to hit the ground running. And nobody was about to let St. Cloud stand in the way of a 1-0 start. Except maybe St. Cloud...
In the first period, the Nanooks really started applying the body, and tried mightily to stamp the glass around the rink with the faces of the Huskies. I should have checked the glass after the game, but I'd say they did a pretty good job of that. No penalties out of any of that in the first 20 either, which is great and honestly quite surprising considering what followed. A lot of missed passes though as the period went on, but part of that can be accredited to good defense by St. Cloud, who did what they could to stifle the Nanooks' breakout. The other part was just a lack of familiarity and chemistry among line mates, something to be expected early on but somewhat excessive in my opinion.
In terms of scoring, St. Cloud capitalized on an opportunity after an extended Nanooks possession. It really was kind of a bummer after the Nanooks were taking it to St. Cloud in their zone. But their top line came back up the ice after a long shift and got bodies to the net, and Nic Dowd was able to get one off a rebound past Greenham, whose been quite sharp in the regular season opener. St. Cloud was able to get Greenham moving and occasionally out of position, but the D lines really helped him out.
The Nanooks were able to come right back and bury an answering goal a few minutes later, making the most of a power play chance as Nic Dowd sat two minutes for cross-checking. Aaron Gens is really they guy responsible for this one, carrying the puck into the offensive zone with authority and finding Cody Kunyk open on the wing. Aaron's puck possession here is really what sparked this play. He got close enough to the net to really get the defense drawn to him, and off of Cody who patiently waited open on the back door, waiting for a lane. Needless to say that once the pass came through, Cody had no problems finding the now-open net to tie the game.
The second period was quite a different dynamic as turnovers and penalties abounded the Nanooks. Fortunately, no power play goals were tallied, nor were their very many opportunities for St. Cloud to take advantage of on the power play. The problems came on the backcheck while the Nanooks were trying to transition. However, two key turnovers gave two skilled Husky forwards full access to Scott Greenham behind the D for a pair of scores. Very unfortunate that the bounces go that way, but the Nanooks look to turn things around to start the 3rd.
And they put the hammer down trying to get back, that's for sure. The Nanooks didn't allow a single shot on goal for the first 13 minutes of the 3rd period, even through three power play chances for St. Cloud, they weren't able to crack the Nanooks defense. Some stellar back checking by the 'Nooks gave them some prime chances to set up in the offensive zone and generate chances. But in the end, it was the Huskies netminder and the eventual player of the game Mike Lee that stifled the Nanooks offense tonight. Just as Scott Greenham reached the bench to start a 6 man cycle, the Huskies intercepted a pass and sent Drew LeBlanc rushing the other way and was able to bury the empty netter to make the final 4-1.
Overall, I wouldn't say it was a bad game for the team. Some unfortunate individual mistakes ended up costing 2 goals, and some interesting penalty calls both ways put more time on the ice for the special teams units than straight up 5 on 5. I'd like to see the guys rebound to night and come out ready to go against Clarkson. Starting the season 0-2 is not how I'd like this Anchorage trip to end.
After watching most of the Clarkson/UAA game last night, I was rather impressed with Clarkson's speed and determination. A lot of their players, especially number 12 Nick Trembley and 19 Julien Cayer will just flat out fly to the puck. It's actually quite an impressive thing to watch. Cayer is a draft pick of the Detroit Red Wings, and believe me, it was a good pick. Keeping an eye on these two tonight will be paramount. Cayer put a pair in past Gunderson and UAA last night. I'd like to not see that happen tonight...
Keys to the game: quite simple. Play mistake-free. Last night, the Nanooks succeeded in the possession battle, but weren't able to get any shots through. I was really impressed with the power play last night and the way that the guys were moving around. All of that movement can really pay off. With the Nanooks 1/4 on the power play last night, and hopefully they can further capitalize against a Clarkson team that gave Anchorage 7 chances with the man advantage.
That's all for now, make sure to check in a bit later for a game day post from Sullivan Arena. I'm going to finish my coffee here at quite possibly one of the best coffee shops in the state (Kaladi Brothers), and try to dig up some more video on Clarkson.
I've also been told that GCI is broadcasting our games on GCI channel 1 live statewide, and live online (ignore the "Next game against North Dakota" message, and click the red button to watch the game). The game is also being aired tape delayed on Fox 7 in Fairbanks due to baseball playoffs. I was told that there were some problems after the game got underway with the online radio feed last night for 820sports.com. Hopefully they can get things worked out and get that going for the game tonight.
In the first period, the Nanooks really started applying the body, and tried mightily to stamp the glass around the rink with the faces of the Huskies. I should have checked the glass after the game, but I'd say they did a pretty good job of that. No penalties out of any of that in the first 20 either, which is great and honestly quite surprising considering what followed. A lot of missed passes though as the period went on, but part of that can be accredited to good defense by St. Cloud, who did what they could to stifle the Nanooks' breakout. The other part was just a lack of familiarity and chemistry among line mates, something to be expected early on but somewhat excessive in my opinion.
In terms of scoring, St. Cloud capitalized on an opportunity after an extended Nanooks possession. It really was kind of a bummer after the Nanooks were taking it to St. Cloud in their zone. But their top line came back up the ice after a long shift and got bodies to the net, and Nic Dowd was able to get one off a rebound past Greenham, whose been quite sharp in the regular season opener. St. Cloud was able to get Greenham moving and occasionally out of position, but the D lines really helped him out.
The Nanooks were able to come right back and bury an answering goal a few minutes later, making the most of a power play chance as Nic Dowd sat two minutes for cross-checking. Aaron Gens is really they guy responsible for this one, carrying the puck into the offensive zone with authority and finding Cody Kunyk open on the wing. Aaron's puck possession here is really what sparked this play. He got close enough to the net to really get the defense drawn to him, and off of Cody who patiently waited open on the back door, waiting for a lane. Needless to say that once the pass came through, Cody had no problems finding the now-open net to tie the game.
The second period was quite a different dynamic as turnovers and penalties abounded the Nanooks. Fortunately, no power play goals were tallied, nor were their very many opportunities for St. Cloud to take advantage of on the power play. The problems came on the backcheck while the Nanooks were trying to transition. However, two key turnovers gave two skilled Husky forwards full access to Scott Greenham behind the D for a pair of scores. Very unfortunate that the bounces go that way, but the Nanooks look to turn things around to start the 3rd.
And they put the hammer down trying to get back, that's for sure. The Nanooks didn't allow a single shot on goal for the first 13 minutes of the 3rd period, even through three power play chances for St. Cloud, they weren't able to crack the Nanooks defense. Some stellar back checking by the 'Nooks gave them some prime chances to set up in the offensive zone and generate chances. But in the end, it was the Huskies netminder and the eventual player of the game Mike Lee that stifled the Nanooks offense tonight. Just as Scott Greenham reached the bench to start a 6 man cycle, the Huskies intercepted a pass and sent Drew LeBlanc rushing the other way and was able to bury the empty netter to make the final 4-1.
Overall, I wouldn't say it was a bad game for the team. Some unfortunate individual mistakes ended up costing 2 goals, and some interesting penalty calls both ways put more time on the ice for the special teams units than straight up 5 on 5. I'd like to see the guys rebound to night and come out ready to go against Clarkson. Starting the season 0-2 is not how I'd like this Anchorage trip to end.
After watching most of the Clarkson/UAA game last night, I was rather impressed with Clarkson's speed and determination. A lot of their players, especially number 12 Nick Trembley and 19 Julien Cayer will just flat out fly to the puck. It's actually quite an impressive thing to watch. Cayer is a draft pick of the Detroit Red Wings, and believe me, it was a good pick. Keeping an eye on these two tonight will be paramount. Cayer put a pair in past Gunderson and UAA last night. I'd like to not see that happen tonight...
Keys to the game: quite simple. Play mistake-free. Last night, the Nanooks succeeded in the possession battle, but weren't able to get any shots through. I was really impressed with the power play last night and the way that the guys were moving around. All of that movement can really pay off. With the Nanooks 1/4 on the power play last night, and hopefully they can further capitalize against a Clarkson team that gave Anchorage 7 chances with the man advantage.
That's all for now, make sure to check in a bit later for a game day post from Sullivan Arena. I'm going to finish my coffee here at quite possibly one of the best coffee shops in the state (Kaladi Brothers), and try to dig up some more video on Clarkson.
I've also been told that GCI is broadcasting our games on GCI channel 1 live statewide, and live online (ignore the "Next game against North Dakota" message, and click the red button to watch the game). The game is also being aired tape delayed on Fox 7 in Fairbanks due to baseball playoffs. I was told that there were some problems after the game got underway with the online radio feed last night for 820sports.com. Hopefully they can get things worked out and get that going for the game tonight.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Game Day: St. Cloud State - Kendall Classic Game 1
Not a bad day here in Anchorage. A little warmer than in Fairbanks, but
still as cloudy and dry. The first line sheet turned in for this year is
filled with interesting combinations. Some young blood sprinkled in among seasoned veterans. Check the charts below to keep track. I'll put numbers in the first set here, but keep track of the roster for numbers if you want them in future posts (including tomorrow).
Tonight's games will be on the radio on 820 AM in Fairbanks, as well as online at www.820sports.com (click the "Listen Live" link in the top menu, and the subsequent big red button to grab the streaming file. If your computer doesn't know what to do with it, just open it with iTunes and you should be good to go). The games will not stream video online this time around, your only bet for video is if you're in Fairbanks on Fox channel 7 later on this evening after the Baseball playoffs are over.
But be sure to tune into my Twitter feed (@NanookHockey) during the game for live updates.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Let's Get This Hockey Train Rolling
Well after that 8-0 romping, I'm pretty excited to get this season underway with some quality games this weekend. I will say that, in defense of the Northern Alberta team, it could have been a lot worse. Shannon Szabados (for the record, it's pronounced "za" (like zap)-"bah"-"doss"), a veteran goaltender and former Olympic gold medalist played her heart out for the Ooks. She made some very impressive saves that not very many goalies can make. She stood on her head that night and stopped what very easily could have been 4 or 5 more goals. Having seemingly 5 forwards and a goaltender doesn't really bode well against a team playing at a completely different level. Kudos to her though for sticking it out. But it goes to show you how well a goaltender, even as good as she is, can stop the puck with little to no help in front of her.
Looking ahead at the future, Clarkson and St. Cloud State lie in the cross hairs in front of us and both of them should be a pretty good test.
The St. Cloud Huskies have been consistently in the top 5 in the WCHA these last few years, and have made their way into acceptance into the new NCHC with North Dakota, and those other teams. Safe to say I don't think that they will be a top 5 team any more... Somebody has to lose...
The interesting part, the Nanooks will be the first opposition that the Huskies will see this year, opting not to schedule an allowed exhibition game. Which some teams choose not to, but with both Spanchorage and Fairbanks running up the score on squad from Alberta, at least the Alaska teams have a grasp of their systems and line chemistry coming into this tournament.
Their leading scorer, Drew LeBlanc (just don't dare pronounce the "c", its silent, unlike their trolls online) returns for his senior season. Drew tallied 39 points last year in a season that ended with two losses--including one heartbreaker in overtime--to the eventual national champions in the first round of the WCHA tournament. Listed at 6' 195lbs, this USHL product and now team captain is a force to be reckoned with. Now he's not the kind of guy though that will take the puck and try to blast through coast to coast and score, he's going to hang around in the offensive zone and try to catch the defense in a spot where they forget about him and Drew will position himself to make a play. The Nanooks D will need to keep tabs on him and keep him in check. But then you've got to watch out for guys like Cam Reid and Jared Festler, who are just as sly and capable of finding twine.
The interesting wild card is their junior netminder, and co-captain Mike Lee. Andy Taranto's former team mate from the Fargo Force has had quite a career with the Huskies thus far. During his tenure, he has shown some interesting spurts of inconsistency between being cool and calm one game, and flying all over the place the next. However, as last season progressed Mike started earning the majority of the starts and really maturing in net for the Huskies. Carrying a 2.77 goals against average and a .910 save percentage from last year, Mike very well could be a tough egg to crack for the 'Nooks this weekend. It will all depend on their defensive strategy, which as the story goes with this team, they just choose not to defend. Whether that's at the level of NAIT, I don't know. I haven't had a real chance to see them play a real team (ACC doesn't count).
While accustomed to playing the nerds at Yale, Harvard, Princeton, and Cornell, Clarkson is a relatively unknown team outside of the eastern time zone. A team not known for their outlandish scoring, but for their outlandish penalties. After leading their conference with over 18 minutes in penalties a game last year, it will be interesting to see how many power play opportunities they give to Anchorage and us, respectively. Their top returning scorer coming back this year sophomore Allan McPherson who notched just 23 points in 36 games for the Golden Knights. Not bad, but not the greatest of numbers you'd like to see from the person leading your team in scoring. But it was enough to tie him for 42nd in the conference in scoring last season.
Clarkson will be an interesting game. They have a brand new head coach in Casey Jones. And they've been known to take down some pretty big name teams in recent years, too. They even took down their Kendall-mate St. Cloud last year 6-2. As the number three seed in the 2008 NCAA East regional, they knocked off St. Cloud State 2-1 (I'm noticing a trend here...) to advance to the second round. They eventually lost to Michigan that year, but an impressive outing to say the least. Clarkson went 15-19-2 overall last year and 9-12-1 in the ECAC to finish 7th.
If the Nanooks can capitalize on their power play chances that Clarkson will likely give them, this one shouldn't be too bad.
The games this weekend will be broadcast on Fox 7 in Fairbanks (tape delayed due to baseball playoffs). You can also catch Bruce on the radio at 820AM in town, or on 820sports.com by clicking the Listen Live link in the menu bar, then clicking the big play button in the middle of the page to listen to local sports broadcasts. I'm assuming GCI will be planning on airing the game on GCI channel 1 statewide, as well as their usual internet feed, but I'm not seeing it on their normal streaming page. But who knows.
If you choose to read more, feel free to venture behind enemy lines and check out Donald's write-up over at the UAA blog posted earlier today.
Looking ahead at the future, Clarkson and St. Cloud State lie in the cross hairs in front of us and both of them should be a pretty good test.
The St. Cloud Huskies have been consistently in the top 5 in the WCHA these last few years, and have made their way into acceptance into the new NCHC with North Dakota, and those other teams. Safe to say I don't think that they will be a top 5 team any more... Somebody has to lose...
The interesting part, the Nanooks will be the first opposition that the Huskies will see this year, opting not to schedule an allowed exhibition game. Which some teams choose not to, but with both Spanchorage and Fairbanks running up the score on squad from Alberta, at least the Alaska teams have a grasp of their systems and line chemistry coming into this tournament.
Their leading scorer, Drew LeBlanc (just don't dare pronounce the "c", its silent, unlike their trolls online) returns for his senior season. Drew tallied 39 points last year in a season that ended with two losses--including one heartbreaker in overtime--to the eventual national champions in the first round of the WCHA tournament. Listed at 6' 195lbs, this USHL product and now team captain is a force to be reckoned with. Now he's not the kind of guy though that will take the puck and try to blast through coast to coast and score, he's going to hang around in the offensive zone and try to catch the defense in a spot where they forget about him and Drew will position himself to make a play. The Nanooks D will need to keep tabs on him and keep him in check. But then you've got to watch out for guys like Cam Reid and Jared Festler, who are just as sly and capable of finding twine.
The interesting wild card is their junior netminder, and co-captain Mike Lee. Andy Taranto's former team mate from the Fargo Force has had quite a career with the Huskies thus far. During his tenure, he has shown some interesting spurts of inconsistency between being cool and calm one game, and flying all over the place the next. However, as last season progressed Mike started earning the majority of the starts and really maturing in net for the Huskies. Carrying a 2.77 goals against average and a .910 save percentage from last year, Mike very well could be a tough egg to crack for the 'Nooks this weekend. It will all depend on their defensive strategy, which as the story goes with this team, they just choose not to defend. Whether that's at the level of NAIT, I don't know. I haven't had a real chance to see them play a real team (ACC doesn't count).
While accustomed to playing the nerds at Yale, Harvard, Princeton, and Cornell, Clarkson is a relatively unknown team outside of the eastern time zone. A team not known for their outlandish scoring, but for their outlandish penalties. After leading their conference with over 18 minutes in penalties a game last year, it will be interesting to see how many power play opportunities they give to Anchorage and us, respectively. Their top returning scorer coming back this year sophomore Allan McPherson who notched just 23 points in 36 games for the Golden Knights. Not bad, but not the greatest of numbers you'd like to see from the person leading your team in scoring. But it was enough to tie him for 42nd in the conference in scoring last season.
Clarkson will be an interesting game. They have a brand new head coach in Casey Jones. And they've been known to take down some pretty big name teams in recent years, too. They even took down their Kendall-mate St. Cloud last year 6-2. As the number three seed in the 2008 NCAA East regional, they knocked off St. Cloud State 2-1 (I'm noticing a trend here...) to advance to the second round. They eventually lost to Michigan that year, but an impressive outing to say the least. Clarkson went 15-19-2 overall last year and 9-12-1 in the ECAC to finish 7th.
If the Nanooks can capitalize on their power play chances that Clarkson will likely give them, this one shouldn't be too bad.
The games this weekend will be broadcast on Fox 7 in Fairbanks (tape delayed due to baseball playoffs). You can also catch Bruce on the radio at 820AM in town, or on 820sports.com by clicking the Listen Live link in the menu bar, then clicking the big play button in the middle of the page to listen to local sports broadcasts. I'm assuming GCI will be planning on airing the game on GCI channel 1 statewide, as well as their usual internet feed, but I'm not seeing it on their normal streaming page. But who knows.
If you choose to read more, feel free to venture behind enemy lines and check out Donald's write-up over at the UAA blog posted earlier today.
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