Game Central - A Look at the Irish

Game Central

Live TV (Friday) - KFXF Fox 7 Fairbanks/GCI Ch. 1 statewide

Live Internet Stream (Friday, Free) - UND.com

Live TV (Saturday) - CBS Sports Network

Live Internet Stream (Saturday) - None :(

Live Radio - 820AM Fairbanks / 820sports.com

Previews: UND.com AlaskaNanooks.com

The Nanooks continue on the road to South Bend to take on the Hunchbacks of Notre Dame. Who knows, maybe Lennay Kekua will make an appearance in goal for the Irish. In a week long episode of MythBusters for anyone who has even turned on their TV, this whole Manti Te'o fake girlfriend thing is completely hilarious. And perfectly timed to give me plenty of ammo for this series. Honestly, I'm not sure what to think about this whole story, but I find it hard to believe that the most widely known defensive player in college football would have only gone into a relationship "online" to create publicity down the stretch, potentially strengthening his Heisman race. But anyway, this isn't really related to hockey. I'm just hoping that the goals ND scores this weekend are as imaginary as Manti's girlfriend.

The Nanooks enter this series after a sweep of Michigan that concluded last Saturday, scoring a season high 9 goals in the series that concluded Saturday. Notre Dame split a series with Michigan State in East Lansing this past weekend before stopping in Bowling Green, Ohio to take on the Falcons in a lone game on Tuesday. The Falcons got the better of the Irish there as well, winning 4-2.

Can the Nanooks take advantage of an apparently out-of-tune team? The Irish go home for the holidays at 14-4-0, and a six game win streak intact. Coming out of the gate in 2013, ND is 1-3-0. Somewhat the same story last season as well. Into a 20-day layoff, the Irish were 11-6-3. Then hit a bad spell down the stretch, going 9-12-0 before falling to Michigan in the CCHA quarterfinals last season. 

There is a good chance that the 'Nooks can take some points for the first time out of the new Compton arena. Which is still one of the most impressive facilities I've seen after my visit last year. But all of that glitz and glamour, the 'Nooks are positioned to win. Special teams was as solid as ever in Ann Arbor, allowing just one goal on 14 chances, including a shorthanded game winning goal from Tyler Morley, who now leads the Nanooks in goals with 7. As well as 30% on the power play.  

The Nanooks never trailed in that series against Michigan last weekend, starting out fast and keeping the foot on the gas. That plan is a great one if they can pull it off in South Bend. The Nanooks should try to start fast again and get the first goal like they have 11 times this season. But if the Michigan series is any indication of moving forward, reversing the trend and holding the lead will be critical. And with John Keeney elevating his game as of late, I'm pretty impressed with just how his confidence has radiated to the rest of the players.

It's going to be a great series, as both teams play a fast-paced game. And I'm looking forward to every second of it. Go 'Nooks!

Nooks Sweep Michigan, Win 4-1

A big sweep on the weekend by the Nanooks, the first over Michigan in program history. Coming into the weekend, Alaska had just 3 wins in Yost Ice Arena...ever. Add two to that number, and the 'Nooks improve back over .500 on the season. And at 22 points, the 'Nooks 3 points out of the top 4 in the conference.

In the first period, Alaska really dominated the play on both sides of the ice. The shots showed 10-5 after the first 20 minutes, but the 'Nooks nearly tripled Michigan in just shots attempted. Some wide, some blocked, but the important piece was that two of them ended up in the back of the net.

Cody Kunyk got the 'Nooks on the board first by patrolling the slot. And if you were watching that shift, you can see him cheating up that way throughout that power play opportunity. But in that particular moment, the Wolverines collapsed to the crease and left the lane open to Kunyk, who had no problem burying the puck low stick-side with Janecyk blinded by the bodies in front.

The Wolverines had a couple of power play opportunities in the first period, but the great special teams on the weekend held true, allowing just one shot on goal in four shorthanded minutes in the first period.  Their patience and poise down the rest of the period forced Jacob Trouba to take a tripping penalty late in the period, giving the Nanooks another power play chance to close out the first period, and squander it they did not. A power play goal coming from a point shot by Josh Atkinson, but again with Janecyk screened in front, Adam Henderson got his stick on it to tip it just enough to redirect it past the netminder. Not the cleanest deflection, but it certainly got the job done. Another factor of success of the first period was the success in the faceoff circle as well, winning 12 of 16. 

The second period was an absolute disaster. The Nanooks could not stay out of the penalty box. Some were good calls. Others left me scratching my head wonder what the hell Mark Wilkins was seeing out there. At 14:14, Adam Henderson was called for what Paula Weston referred to as "playing hockey". We agreed that the last few calls there in that period left something to be desired. But on that Adam Henderson penalty, Jacob Trouba the Team USA defensive star at the U20 World Juniors in Russia just 10 days ago, ripped a shot from the blue line and nailed the corner perfectly above Keeney's right shoulder.

Later on, Wilkins called Jarret Granberg for hooking a ghost. I rewound that play on TV a few times with the replay on Fox 7 looking for it, and Granny wasn't even near anybody. He might have intended to get Yaremchuk for hooking low behind the net, but Sergott was looking right at the play just a few feet away and didn't call it, but Wilkins called it from center ice? Really? They'll call that, but they won't call Guptill taking down Yaremchuk, or Merrill pulling Henderson and holding him down behind the net. 

But a cleaner 3rd period allowed the Nanooks to get back in the swing of things and play 5 on 5 hockey. And 9 minutes into the 3rd, Cody Kunyk wristed one of the prettiest slappers I've seen in a while. Michael Quinn created a turnover at the center red line. Coming in off the entry, both defenders cheated towards Quinn, so he slid it to Kunyk at the top of the left faceoff circle. With a little wind up, Kunyk let it fly and buried it high glove side, popped the water bottle and lit the lamp. 

Then just a couple of minutes later, Adam Henderson stabbed the dagger through the Wolverine's chest with a hard shot on the rush that Janecyk thought he smothered, but it just squeaks past him and inside the post to ice the game 4-1.

The guys will camp out in Grand Rapids for a few days and get some practices in before heading down to South Bend for the Notre Dame series next weekend. Both of those games will be broadcast live on Fox 7 here in Fairbanks. I presume the games will also be streamed online from Notre Dame, but the details aren't up just yet. Stay tuned this week for more on that series.

Go 'Nooks!

Starting 2013 Off Right - Nanooks Take Down Michigan 5-4

After posting the stats about the Nanooks with 2 goal leads from November, I'm glad the 'Nooks were able to power through tonight. Like most of you I'm sure, my heart started racing after Alex Guptill tied the game in the 2nd. But that 4th line tonight really got to it tonight and got some production. Great to see. Speaking of, congratulations are due to freshman forward Matt Friese who tallied his first career goal, and his first career assist as his first two career points go up against the Wolverines. That line accounted for 2 goals tonight at key points in the game and in my opinion was the difference maker tonight.

Special teams was also crucial in tonights win as the penalty kill was perfect, denying all 4 of Michigan's chances with the man advantage. And even tallying a shorthanded goal for good measure. I think we're really seeing the value of Tyler Morley come through if you haven't seen it already. What I see in Tyler is a hard worker that finishes every play. He skates hard until the whistle blows every time. Not just some of the time. And when Taranto got that shot on goal, Morley could have retreated. He could have made the change, gotten off the ice for some fresh legs to finish the PK. He could have played back and made the safe play to counter Michigan's next rush. But no, he pressured and got to the loose puck before anybody else could touch it and jammed it home. And that shorty turned into the game winner as Michigan was able to get one with the extra attacker.

Overall a good game for the Nanooks tonight. Perhaps a bit of a concern defensively, but a roller coaster of a game, you couldn't expect that Michigan wouldn't at least keep it close no matter how many goals were scored. But the Nanooks made the most of their opportunities tonight and held on for the win, which was the most important thing. Tomorrow will be the chance for the sweep, and to possibly move up to tie for 6th with Ferris State, who lost to OSU.

Also as if tonight couldn't get any better, Tyler Currier gave away a 3-2 lead over number one Minnesota in Mariucci Arena earlier tonight. With Minnesota player engaged along the boards, Currier came up and clocked a Minnesota player from behind and was tossed out of the game with about 4 minutes left. Giving Minnesota a 5 minute major power play. Minnesota didn't just tie it, they pulled ahead and won 4-3. I watched it. And I laughed for about 5 minutes afterwards.

Back At It - Big Roadie, and a Good Cause

Before I jump into anything, I wanted to bring up a story that former Nanook and current Bakersfield Condors (ECHL) goaltender Scott Greenham has teamed up with League of Dreams as they pay a tribute to Olympic gold medalist wrestler Jake Varner. A Bakersfield native and 2-time NCAA wrestling champion, Jake went on to win Olympic gold last year in London. As a tribute, the Bakersfield Condors designed a new jersey modeled after Jake's Team USA singlet (muscle definition and all), and are auctioning them off to support League of Dreams, a charity dedicated to helping kids suffering with disabilities to be able to play competitive sports. The jersey is signed by both Greenham and Varner, and is up for bid on eBay, which is currently at $400 at the time of this writing. A pretty cool cause if you ask me. A little over 2 and a half days remain on the auction, so certainly not much time left.

OK on to Michigan, a team that seems to be riding the same roller coaster the Nanooks are. One of us is bound to get off the ride at some point and start winning some games.

But with the 5-1 beating that the Wolverines took at home against Bowling Green, it might not be their turn just yet. And Bowling Green was in complete control of that game. A few opportunities arose for the boys in the fugly helmets, but the Falcons had them dominated for 60 minutes this past Tuesday

Back on the 4th of January, Michigan dropped a 5-3 loss to the US U-18 team with Jared Rutledge in goal. Seems that they have mostly stuck with freshman Steve Racine in goal so far in 10 games this season, who has a 4-5-2 record with a 2.94 GAA and a .897 save percentage. Not quite John Keeney's numbers, but Racine has a better winning percentage. 

A lot of that has to do with issues on the other side of the ice, as the 'Nooks have been somewhat stuck offensively. But when you look at the last 7 games (0-5-2 in this period), of the 5 losses, 3 of them have been by one goal. In two of those 3 games, the 'Nooks jumped out to 2-0 leads in the first period and let it slip away; seemingly stepping off of the gas pedal. And that can't happen going forward. That 6-1 win against Western wasn't a joke, the Nanooks are capable of destroying teams when they bring their game. Unfortunately, that was the last night its been on the ice. If they can get that fire burning again, these next two weeks will get some hype going before that first home series of 2013 against Northern Michigan.

These next two weeks are not going to be easy either. Michigan might be running through the same slump the 'Nooks are, but there are really two opponents at hand; the Wolverine hockey team and that God-forsaken crowd. Yost is not an easy place to play. I've been in that arena, and its not friendly.

Some other good news, the 'Nooks are back with a complete roster. Freshman defenseman JD Peterson who has been out with injury since the Blue/Gold exhibition is healthy and back in the lineup. Also Richard Coyne, the freshman defenseman is also eligible to rejoin the team, and both travelled.

This series with Michigan will be interesting to say the least. Both teams have ridden the roller coaster of wins this year, and are currently tied with each other at 7th in the CCHA league standings with 16 points each, 5 points behind LSSU who sits in 6th. At this point, it doesn't look as if the game will be watchable at all. I'm seeing no video coverage on Michigan's site, BTN.com, or any TV sources carrying the game which is rather disappointing. But Bruce Cech will be calling the games live this weekend on 820AM and online at 820sports.com, so be sure to tune in! I won't be able to make a game day post tomorrow, but catch my Twitter feed for updates!