Sept. 24, 2006
By Danny Martin, Sports Writer, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
Published September 24, 2006
Posted in Sports
FAIRBANKS, AK - Kyle Greentree stepped into the 100-mph neighborhood Saturday night to win the Hardest Shot competition of the Alaska Nanooks hockey team's annual Blue-Gold Game in the Patty Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Nanooks team captain Lucas Burnett, like many of the players and the fans who watched them, wasn't surprised that Greentree gained a distinction that former Nanooks right wing Kelly Czuy attained in 2003 and 2005 and former left wing Adam Powell gained during the 2004 Blue-Gold Game.
"I probably expect him to get a 100-mph shot,'' said Burnett.
For the last two season, Greentree, a junior left wing and assistant captain, has led the Central Collegiate Hockey Association program in scoring and ranked in the top 10 in the league for shots.
The native of Victoria, British Columbia, had eight goals and 19 assists in 39 games last season and 12-20-32 totals in 37 games as a freshman. Shot wise, he finished fourth in the CCHA with 153 last season for an average of 3.92 per game- a slight increase from his freshman season, when he finished eighth with 129 shots for a 3.49 average.
Greentree won Saturday night's competition with his third and final attempt, a slap shot that landed just above padding at the base of the goal.
"You want to get your shot about an inch off the ice-it took me three years to figure that,'' Greentree said. "I saw a couple of guys before me hit in the 90's. I slowly progressed and I was pleased with it.''
Greentree, who was among four contestants, reached 98 mph on his first shot and 99 mph on his second.
"I made sure I was going in pretty fast (to shoot),'' he said, "and I worked hard on my building my strength, which is a big part of it, and I've just been shooting pucks every day.''
Defensemen Nathan Fornataro and Tyler Eckford finished second and third, respectively, at 96 and 94 mph, and sophomore right wing Braden Walls was fourth at 90 mph.
In the other skills events, freshman defenseman Dustin Molle won the Shootout and junior defenseman Darcy Campbell earned the Fastest Skater title.
Fornataro, Greentree and Burnett also figured into the offense in the Blue-Gold Game, which was won 2-1 by the Gold. Burnett had an assist and the game-winning goal, and Fornataro produced the Blue's goal.
All the scoring occurred over the last 6:15 of the second of two 15-minute periods. Blue goaltender Wylie Rogers and Gold counterparts Chad Johnson and Erik Largen survived nine total shots in a scoreless first period.
"When you're practicing against each other so much, you kind of get used to the system,'' said Burnett, "and when you play against each other, you know what's coming and maybe that had to do with the lack of scoring.''
Third-year head coach Tavis MacMillan noticed the same.
"For the first time in a long time, they weren't allowed to see a lot of open ice and maybe one-on-one skills,'' he said. "I thought the kids executed our system defensively to a T. In the past we had a lot of young guys, but our young guys this season (seven freshmen) have picked up things so quickly and executed so well.''
MacMillan and assistant coaches Dallas Ferguson and Wade Klippenstein watched the game from outside the rink while Billy Wright was the guest head coach for the Blue and Alison Labrador and Linda Barnett shared the duties for the Gold.
"I'm just going to let them play the game and do whatever they want to do,'' said Wright, a 10-year-old Denali Elementary School student. "I want them to have fun.''
Barnett put an emphasis on teamwork-"We just want them to come together as a team,'' she said-while Labrador's strategy was simple.
"Win, win, win,'' she said.
Freshman Jeff Lee ended the scoring drought at 8:44 of the second on a 4-on-4 situation, taking Burnett's short-crossing pass at the left side of the net and flipping a backhand through the pads of Johnson, who at the time was playing for the Blue.
Fornataro, aided by Greentree and freshman right wing Brandon Knelsen, beat Largen with a blast from the right point at 12:20 for the 1-1 tie. Burnett, with helpers in junior left wing Aaron Lee and sophomore left wing Trevor Hyatt, deposited the game-winner into an open right side of the net after Johnson had committed to the left side.
The Gold had an advantage in shots, 14-12, and each team killed three power plays. Rogers notched nine saves while Johnson and Largen had seven each.
