Nov. 2, 2006
By Danny Martin, Sports Writer, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
Published November 2, 2006
Posted in Sports
Lucas Burnett is considerate, and that is one reason he's the captain this season for the Alaska Nanooks of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.
The hard-working senior center even thought of others before he scored with a wraparound backhand shot in last Saturday night's 4-2 victory over the Ferris State Bulldogs, helping give Alaska a sweep of its conference-opening series at the Carlson Center.
"I thought to myself, `Just get it to the net,'" Burnett said after Monday's practice in the Patty Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks "because with guys like (linemates) Braden Walls and Aaron Lee -- big, strong guys -- who are also going to the net, there's a good chance that either one can bang one (rebound) in."
Burnett's considerate ways began long before the 6-foot-3, 245-pounder from Rossland, British Columbia, laced on the skates for the Nanooks.
During Burnett's final season (2002-03) with Trail of the British Columbia Hockey League, the junior-A team's coaches were taking inventory of sticks.
Most of the players had used about 20 sticks that season, but Burnett went through only five while contributing 52 points to the team.
Burnett said he was considerate of the team's trainer, who also was a friend. Unless a stick was completely demolished, he didn't seek a replacement.
He also used wood sticks while most of his teammates preferred the one-piece sticks, whose shafts were composed of graphite and kevlar. The one-piece sticks were more expensive than their wood counterparts.
"I was sticking with the old wood ones," he recalled. "I didn't really feel a stick was broken if it was just chipped on the end and maybe just cracked a little. I thought it was still usable.
"Some of the guys on our team gave him (trainer) a rough time with sticks and stuff. I always felt bad going in there and asking him for more sticks. I just tried to get the maximum use out of my sticks."
As a Nanook, Burnett doesn't have to be reluctant when he seeks a replacement for a broken stick, and he still uses those made of wood.
" Last year, I broke a lot of wood sticks and it kind of bothered me that I was breaking so many sticks," he said. "Now I'm doing a lot better at not breaking sticks. I don't know why, maybe they make them a little stronger."
The 24-year-old's strength contributed to his first goal of the season, and 16th marker and 37th point in 117 career games.
Burnett skated around to the left post and stuffed the puck between the pads of Ferris State sophomore goaltender Mitch O'Keefe at 9:06 of the first period, giving the Nanooks a 2-0 lead over the Bulldogs of Big Rapids, Mich.
Lee had cycled the puck well, opening up Burnett, whose objective then was to get by a Ferris State defenseman and beat him to the net.
"When I got there to the front, there were too many d-men in front," said Burnett, "so I figured what's the harm of throwing it as hard as I can on the net and seeing what happens?
"It may have been a little luck, but I was determined to pretty much get that thing in there. The worst-case scenario was maybe Walls or Aaron Lee would get a rebound and get a chance. I knew getting the puck to the net would result in something positive anyway."
Size and speed, said Alaska assistant coach Wade Klippenstein, can also benefit a wraparound, which is often a low-percentage shot that a goalie can turn aside.
"Bruno (Burnett's nickname) possesses both of those," Klippenstein said after Monday's practice. "He's good down low, and I think one of the areas that big guys can make a difference is below the goal line."
For most of this and last season, Burnett has centered wings Walls and Justin Binab, who have also capitalized down low. Aaron Lee, a junior left wing, skated on the third line with Burnett and Walls last Saturday, while Binab was on the second line with senior center and assistant captain Curtis Fraser and sophomore right wing Adam Naglich.
"That entire line had success last year by working the walls and working down low," Klippenstein said of Burnett and now-sophomores Walls and Binab. "They have big bodies and they're really good at protecting the puck. Lucas has quick hands and he seems to get a lot of chances off the rush that he doesn't finish always, but a chance around the net like he had the other night was a great Lucas Burnett-type goal."
The line feasts on sweat, pressure and communication.
"A key to our line is hard work and a little defensive-mindedness to wear the other team down," said Burnett. "We're going to find success by scoring goals by going to the net and that's what we do.
"It's easy to play with a guy like Bino because he talks so much, he communicates a lot. When we get to the bench, we're all talking about the shift before, what we can do to improve and different strategies. They're good at communicating their game to me and vice versa. Talking on the bench adds a lot to what you can do out there on the ice."
Burnett also has been a key to a Nanooks penalty kill that finished third nationally last season with an 88-percent efficiency. It ranks sixth in the CCHA and 18th nationally with an 87.5-percent efficiency (28 denials of 32 power plays) heading into this weekend's series at Nebraska-Omaha.
Assistant coach Dallas Ferguson, who coaches Alaska's penalty killers, said Burnett is the epitome of the team's mission statement for penalty killing.
"Sacrifice, work ethic and outworking the power play," Ferguson said after Monday's practice, "willing to lay down to block shots, taking hits to get the puck out and taking hits to clear all the way down the ice."
Working on a penalty kill is one time that Burnett is not considerate.
"We all take pride in it," Burnett, a criminal justice and psychology major, said of the Nanooks' penalty killing. "There's no way we want to give up any shots, let alone a goal. Our goal going out there is to not even let them get set up in our zone."
