Feb. 25, 2008
Box Score
By Danny Martin
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
Published Monday, February 25, 2008
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- The Alaska Nanooks' bus from Sault Ste. Marie arrived at 3:40 a.m. at Gerald R. Ford International Airport. The team had to wait an hour and 20 minutes before they could check in for their flight to Fairbanks.
That was a short wait compared to determining who their opponent on the road will be for the first round of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs, scheduled to begin March 7.
The anxiety increased because of a variety of events on Saturday night -- ninth-place Alaska falling 5-3 to 11th-place Lake Superior State in Sault Ste. Marie to get swept in its last series of the regular season; the four teams above the Nanooks in the standings splitting their series and a resurgent and 10th-place Ohio State tying 2-2 at fourth-place Notre Dame to gain three points from its weekend in Notre Dame, Ind
Alaska also lost 2-1 in overtime Friday night.
The CCHA's playoff format has the ninth-place team visiting the eighth-place squad in a best-of-three, first-round series. Thanks to Saturday night's outcomes, the Nanooks won't know until this coming Saturday the identity of their eighth-place opponent, and if they'll still be in ninth place when all of the CCHA have completed regular-season play.
Nebraska-Omaha, Bowling Green, Ferris State and Northern Michigan are locked into a fifth-place tie with 26 points each after Northern Michigan defeated Nebraska-Omaha 4-3 in overtime Saturday night and Bowling Green edged Ferris State 2-1. Northern Michigan and Ferris State each won Friday night by respective scores of 6-4 and 2-1.
Alaska is 8-16-4 and has 20 points in the CCHA standings. Nebraska-Omaha (11-13-4) was the only other team Saturday to wrap up CCHA play.
Bowling Green (13-13-0), Ferris State (11-11-4) and Northern Michigan (12-12-2) each have home-and-home series in this final week of the CCHA's regular season.
Bowling Green visits Michigan State on Friday and plays host to the second-place Spartans on Saturday. Ferris State plays Friday at league-leading No. 1-ranked Michigan and plays host to the Wolverines on Saturday in Big Rapids, Mich. Northern Michigan heads to Sault Ste. Marie on Thursday night to face Lake Superior State and plays host to the Lakers on Saturday night.
Lake Superior and Ohio State, which beat ninth-ranked Notre Dame 2-1 on Friday, may have the Nanooks looking over their shoulders because they're each three points behind the Nanooks with two games left. Each team would overtake Alaska for ninth place if the Lakers sweep Northern Michigan and the Buckeyes beat second-place Miami on Tuesday in Columbus, Ohio and win in Friday's visit to Oxford, Ohio.
If those scenarios become reality, the Nanooks would finish in 11th place for the second straight year and open the playoffs against whomever finishes in sixth place.
The Nanooks, though, won't be waiting until Saturday to prepare for the playoffs, as the team is playing host to an intrasquad scrimmage at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Carlson Center.
"Our scrimmages are never light -- they're always full-game speed, full-game intensity,'' said sophomore center Dion Knelsen, who assisted on all three goals Saturday. "The coaches are attempting to keep us in game shape and game speed for the playoffs.''
It's the last time this season for Nanooks fans to see the team in a game-type atmosphere and Alaska head coach Doc DelCastillo said all other practices will take place at the Patty Center on campus.
The admission is free, but the Student-Athlete Committee for the University of Alaska Fairbanks will be accepting donations.
One thing that's not a mystery is the Nanooks first-round success on the road. They set a CCHA precedent over the last three years by capturing three first-round playoff series.
The Nanooks would have preferred to start the first round at the Carlson Center, and they were in contention late this season for home ice for the first time since 2004.
As past results show, though, the location of a first-round series becomes moot once the first puck drops.
"It's a benefit that they've had success on the road,'' said DelCastillo, who's entering his first playoff series with the Nanooks, "but each year is different, each team's make-up is a little different and you can't rely on something like that.
"But I think it helps that we've been playing our style of hockey for the second half of the season, where we've tried to put all our eggs in one basket and try to get home ice and we came up a little short. I think we've been playing a style that you need to play in the playoffs and we've been in overtime games and those five-minutes-left-tied games, and a lot of those games could have gone our way.''
Before getting swept at Lake Superior, Alaska started February 3-2-1.
The playoffs, said junior goaltender Chad Johnson, are an equal slate for every team.
"You could be the best team in the league or the worst team in the league; but come playoff time, everybody is equal,'' he said. "Everyone has a fair shot of going to the next round (quarterfinals).''
The first-round winners advance to best-of-three quarterfinal series on March 14-16 against the teams who place first through fourth in the regular season. The quarterfinals victors play in the CCHA Championship Tournament at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit on March 21-22.
"I don't think our record does justice to how we've been playing,'' said Knelsen.
Alaska also finished the regular season at 8-19-5 overall.
"The way we're playing right now, especially in the last two periods (Saturday) is the way we want to play in the playoffs," Knelsen said. "Aggressive, intense forecheck and bury pucks -- that's probably going to be our key to being successful in the playoffs.''
The Nanooks traiiled 3-0 in the first period Saturday and cut the lead to 3-2 in the second period with junior defenseman Tyler Eckford's power-play goal and freshman left wing Dustin Sather's marker.
Freshman right wing Landon Novotney tied the score at 3, just 42 seconds into the third period with his team-high 15th goal of the season.
Johnson's return
The junior goaltender said his ankle injury was 95-percent healed when he took over in the second period for senior starter Wylie Rogers, who allowed three goals in the first period, with two of them from sophomore left wing John Scrymgeour, including a short-handed tally with 1.4 seconds left i n the opening period.
"My ankle held up but it's a little sore,'' Johnson said. "Obviously, when you're not playing a lot, you don't get the game reps . . . the more you play, the more comfortable you get.''
Johnson stopped all 14 of the Lakers' shots in the second period and gave up third-period goals to a pair of seniors on Lake Superior's Senior Night -- center Jason Blain and left wing Dan Eves.
DelCastillo said he knew Johnson wasn't totally healed from a high ankle sprain that kept him sidelined since his start on Dec. 7 in a 3-1 loss at then No. 1-ranked Miami.
"I think he was definitely good enough to play,'' DelCastillo said. "He has been coming along slowly in practice. It was a tough situation since he hasn't played (since Dec. 7). It's a tough situation to throw him in the fire, but I thought he did a decent job, I thought he played good.''
Though Rogers was pulled after a first period when the Nanooks were outshot 17-2, the senior is scheduled to start the playoffs.
"You can't leave your king naked,'' DelCastillo said of the first period.
"He's done too much for us to not go out and at least give him a fighting chance,'' he added. "If the guys aren't going to play hard in front of him, I'm not going to leave him in there and let it strip the confidence he has."
Rogers backstopped all the Nanooks' wins this season, and all the first-round successes in the past three years.
"There's probably not a goalie in college hockey that I'd rather have in the playoffs,'' DelCastillo said. "I know his history and I know what he's all about. I know when the puck drops in two weeks, Wylie Rogers is going to be on top of his game.''
