Seeking Vengeance In Houghton

The Nanooks longest roadie of the year comes after a heartbreaking sweep at the hands of the Seawolves on home ice. It's a tough one to swallow for the players, perhaps just as tough for the fans. For those that know me, I'm also a Packers fan and after that brutal last 3 minutes of Sunday's game against Seattle, that weekend was very painful. 

But, as captain Colton Parayko stated during Saturday's post game press conference, you can't look at what's behind you. You have to keep the truck pointed forward and focus on what's in front of you. Pretty wise words for a 21 year old...

But the Nanooks have made it to Houghton, Michigan with the goal of taking down Michigan Tech. At 16-7-1, that's no small task. But with a 9-1-1 record away from the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena, that leaves a 6-5-0 record at home (1-1-0 in neutral site games). That hot 10-0-0 record to start the season was tops in the country for a while until Mankato came to town to change all of that. Sweeping the #1 Huskies at the time seemed impossible with the run they were on. But they had played a long stretch of road games early in the season. Now in a swing of 8 straight home games, the Huskies look to change the tide on home ice. 

But the Nanooks have something to say about that. The guys seem refocused and ready to go. Should be a good series. I'm expecting a split. 

Unfortunately though, yours truly will not be able to watch the games this weekend. When I get back to Fairbanks on Monday, I will watch the recap games and break it down. 

Until then, Go 'Nooks!

Good News and Bad News

As usual, might as well start with the bad news. The Nanooks lost. Twice. To the Seawolves.

All I can say is "Ugh...". I had another diatribe written, but the only explanation I can give for only scoring 3 goals on some 90 shots on goal for the weekend is their goalie. Mantha stepped up and got it done all weekend. And rightly was named the rookie of the week for the WCHA. Despite the penalty situation Friday, the Nanooks had their fair share of power play chances on Saturday but just didn't execute. The Nanooks offense has been quite steady, but Matt Thomas and the Seawolves had their number this weekend and while the Seawolves weren't defensively amazing by any standards, they held the 'Nooks offense to the outside for most of the night and when the 'Nooks did get pucks inside, they lacked the confidence to make the timely play.

Seemed like the Nanooks were ringing the iron all night long too. I didn't see the official stats on that one, but I unofficially counted 4. Someone else said 5. Either way, those 2 3/8" bars seemed a lot bigger Saturday.

Anyway, on to the good news. As I mentioned Thursday, there was a silent auction benefitting Justin Woods in the rink this weekend. Well over 100 items were donated. Everything from gift certificates and items from local businesses to a size 32 Reebok signed by Shaq. Jerseys from a myriad of NHL clubs and former Nanook players. Framed photos, posters, and over 100 items sold.

Justin also recorded a video that was played in the Carlson Center this weekend reporting that he had just two treatments left and hopefully will be cancer free and back in Fairbanks by the end of February. A phenomenal proclamation. But spending nearly a year in Seattle undergoing expensive treatment has been assumably financially exhausting.

After the weekend was over, $25,650 was raised for Justin and his family to help offset some of his medical expenses. Which brings the total to just shy of $70,000 total since Justin began treatment. And for those of you who weren't able to make it to Fairbanks this weekend, Justin's GoFundMe page is still open accepting donations 

As for Justin's Nanooks, they head out for Houghton, Michigan to take on the Michigan Tech team that has also been struggling as of late with just one win in their last 5. Including a 47-save shutout for Joel Rumpel at Wisconsin. But with the Huskies playing their 3rd and 4th games of their 6 game home stand this coming weekend, so expect them to be fresh.

Until then. Go 'Nooks!

Officials Take Away More Than a Chance to Win the Game

I'm pretty certain there was a hockey game going on, but 91 minutes in penalties is absolutely ridiculous. What was being called by the men in stripes stuns me. There are calls you agree and disagree with every game, but if you're going to call the game THAT tight, it has to go both ways. And to swallow the whistles in the 3rd period until it gets down to the wire and the Nanooks start to get a push. That's just wrong.

It all starts in the 1st period. Nanooks control the pace of the game, get five shots on net, with two realistic scoring chances. Austin Sevalrud gets a hooking call with Nolan Youngmun breaking to the net. Good call. He gets out of the box, then Erickson gets tossed for five and a game with contact to the head, which doesn't make sense as he hit Brad Duwe, who is six inches taller than he is.

Doesn't take long, UAA pops one in, goes up a goal. Major penalty clock still ticking down. Azurdia for UAA pops another one in. But it goes under review and they see Anthony Conti backing into the goaltender and overturn the goal. Could have gone either way, honestly. Cameron bags the game winner on a separate power play with Parayko in the box for a questionable elbow. Again though, could have gone either way.

2nd period was pretty well controlled by the Nanooks. I thought they had good momentum at the end of the period, and obviously that power play goal from Kaiser was a huge one. They had Azurdia in the box for trying to cut the legs off of Hajdukovich with his stick. The officials chatted about it for a few seconds, but stuck with the minor.

I thought the game had swung for the better in the 3rd period. Officials were seemingly letting them play. Even going so far as to overlook Dylan Hubbs literally throwing jabs at Basara's head. Not a single penalty was called either way until after the Nanooks call timeout and pull their goaltender down by 1 with 87 seconds to play. Then Colton Parayko outworks his man at the half-wall near the bench area, goes low to extend his reach to make sure the forward doesn't have an angle on the empty net, and he gets called for a trip. Seconds later, the same official calls Atkinson for an extremely weak cross-check.

Now the wheels start to come off the bus. You've got UAA on a 5 on 3 power play now. The official Chris Perrault lets this game get completely out of hand from this point forward. He doesn't acknowledge the Nanooks' bench for an explanation. And now essentially with the game won, UAA starts the chirping. Shoves, grabbing, yelling, etc. all going on. And everything appears to be the Nanooks' fault. Only the Nanooks were assessed penalties in the 3rd.

After one such whistle, Perrault tosses Tyler Morley and Trevor Campbell with 10 minute misconducts and minors for slashing. Nolan Kaiser takes exception, and literally delivers one of the hardest hits I've seen. Completely uncharacteristic of him, but he gets pulled away and given a major and game DQ, which carries an automatic one game suspension with it. Quite honestly I will not be surprised if he gets more than just one. Zach Frye also got the gate for roughing on the same play.

The Nanooks came unglued at the end. No question about it. But the officials called the final 90 seconds of the game unfairly. There is no other way to put it. Chris Perrault has been in this situation before. In fact, he alienated Cornell from ever playing a WCHA school again after 76 minutes in penalties were assessed in game 2 of a series against Denver, in which the Big Red were swept and calls stacked up against them. Mike Shafer, Cornell's head coach had interesting comments similar to my thoughts on this same individual that officiated tonight. It's sad when officiating like that takes the chances away from these young men to win a rivalry game in the waning at home in front of a packed house.

I honestly feel sorry for those that paid their hard earned money to watch tonight's game. It's unfortunate to see this happen.

Governor's Cup Stage Set in Fairbanks

This isn't going anywhere. Credit @AKHockeyEquip

This is a big one folks. It's not like this is just another conference series, its the Governor's Cup. The series that needs no introduction. I hate to bring up the sanctions, but with no postseason this year this is the Nanooks' seniors last hardware to claim save for the potential regular season championship trophy. There are quite a few seniors this year that would love to destroy their in-state rivals. And with all of the Fairbanks locals on this team, it means a lot to them.

As a team, the Nanooks didn't have a great road series against Bowling Green. They know they lost to a good team on the road, and let a win slip through their grasp. This week is about redemption. I could go on and on about stats, essentially that the Nanooks are better in nearly every facet of the game. But it doesn't matter. Rivalries send all of the stats out the window, and they don't matter.

Realistically, the only thing I see as a potential issue for Anchorage is their special teams. They're 2nd most in the country in penalty minutes per game, but their penalty kill is a little worse for the wear. 35th in the country at only 81.6%. With all of the energy this game brings, special teams is going to be a key factor for the Nanooks. They're going to get chances on the power play and they need to execute. Simple as that.

On the personnel side, Kyle Froese is injured but other than that all of the guys are healthy. Sean Cahill is reported to start between the pipes tonight for the 'Nooks.

The guys tonight are also wearing throwback jerseys to honor the 1970's era of Nanook hockey during the team's club days. I think they look pretty good, although there are mixed opinions.

The jerseys are provided as a fundraising opportunity for the Nanook Hockey Alumni. They enrich the heritage of Nanook Hockey and raise money to support the team. For those unaware, the new banners throughout the Carlson Center were created and donated by the Alumni as well.

These jerseys will be auctioned off online after the series is over. And the silent auction is going on at the Carlson Center this weekend too. Get there early, register as a bidder and get your number and put your names down on some items to help raise money for Justin Woods and his family.

See you at the rink tonight! Go 'Nooks!