Sept. 18, 2008
by Danny Martin, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
FAIRBANKS, AK — New head coach, same Dallas Ferguson.
Alaska Nanooks senior goaltender Chad Johnson sees Ferguson being no different as a first-year head coach of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association program than he was as an assistant coach for the teamduring the previous four seasons.
“For us, he just has more control over the team and what goes on, but his personality hasn’t changed one bit,” Johnson said after Wednesday’s practice at the Patty Center. “He’s still coach Ferg, still a real good guy and a guy that a lot of guys respect.”
The native of Wainwright, Alberta, and a Nanooks defenseman from 1992-96 is the third head in the last three seasons for the Nanooks’ five seniors and five juniors, following Tavis MacMillan, who guided the team from 2004-07, and Doc DelCastillo, who coached only last season before resigning in April.
Practices, which began Monday, seem to have a business-as-usual atmosphere with Ferguson in charge. In Wednesday’s session, for example, players seemed to know their roles and what was expected of them— particularly the veterans, who include five sophomores.
“That’s one of the things a lot of guys were excited about having coach Ferg as one of the two (final) candidates,” Johnson said alluding to Ferguson and Wisconsin assistant coach Kevin Patrick being the finalists in May to replace DelCastillo.
“He knows the program, he knows the guys, he knows what Nanooks hockey is about and what Nanooks pride is,” Johnson said. “One thing that was so easy about Dallas stepping into practice here is he knows exactly what we know, what kind of style we need to play and he knows what we’ve done in the past because he’s been here for four or five years, or even more than that. He knows exactly what we’ve gone through with different coaches, what’s worked, what hasn’t worked.”
A familiar face with a new title is a benefit, said Johnson, for a Nanooks team that finished 9-21-5 last season, including 8-16-4 in the CCHA for ninth place. The Nanooks ended the season last March 9 with a 2-1, triple-overtime loss to Nebraska-Omaha in the third and deciding game of a first-round playoff series. The 104-minute, 21-second contest at the Qwest Center in downtown Omaha was the ninth-longest game in NCAA hockey history.
“You can see out here that everything is smooth, it’s business,” Johnson said. “There’s no transition of getting used to a new coach and new systems. It’s bang-bang, right into the thick of things and that’s what all the guys were looking forward to.”
Carlo Finucci, one of 12 Nanooks freshmen, is experiencing his first practices at the NCAA Division I level. He noticed that Ferguson is as personable as a head coach as he was as a then-Nanooks assistant coach who helped recruit the former Burnaby Express center, who led the British Columbia Hockey League in scoring last season.
“He’s the same guy, he likes being around the guys,” Finucci said. “That’s what a lot of players like in a coach, being able to talk to him about anything, and he’s made himself open to that.”
There is one similarity about Ferguson’s first season as a head coach to his first season as a Nanooks assistant coach in 2004-05. Alaska has the largest group of freshmen in the CCHA this season.
When he was a first-time member of the Alaska coaching staff, the Nanooks and the Ohio State Buckeyes each had a league-high of 11 rookies.
“I thought about it a lot this summer — the similarities with my first year as an assistant here,” Ferguson said. “One thing I noticed right away is when you bring in 12 freshmen out of junior hockey is just the level of energy they bring.
“You’re young, you’ve been waiting for this day for a long, long time while you played junior hockey for two or three years. You’re finally going to get to play (NCAA) Division I college hockey. There’s definitely a buzz in the air with the energy that they bring.”
Ferguson wants that energy to be spread throughout the team, particularly on offense, as the Nanooks tied with Ohio State for 10th last season in the CCHA with an average of 2.18 goals per game.
Before the team’s first practice, Ferguson said he established with the players what it meant to be a Nanook, what it takes for the team to be successful and what Alaska’s identity will be this season.
“We did a lot of fundamentals, a lot of things that are going to define how we play and the identity that we’re going to create,” he said, “and I think it’s important to establish that from day one.”
Competitiveness is going to be part of the Nanooks’ identity.
“A team that never quits, a team that plays hard,” he said. “A team that is willing to go to the tough areas to score goals.”
Among some things that he wants from the 2008-09 Nanooks are to play strong in front of their net, be gritty in front of the opponent’s goaltender, drive hard to the opposition’s net, and backcheck hard to their own net.
“A lot of times coaches talk about doing those things with their team,” Ferguson said. “For me, my feeling is we know what we want to do, and then we’re going to go out and get it done.
“The guys that are going to get it done and are willing to go to those tough areas and are going to play tough Nanooks hockey are the guys that are going to be in the lineup every night.”
The 30th season of Nanooks hockey begins with the annual Blue-Gold Game at 6:35 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 26 at the Patty Center. The next night, Alaska plays host to the U.S. National Development Program Under-18 Team in a 7 p.m. exhibition game at the Patty.
The Nanooks end the preseason with an exhibition against the University of British Columbia on Friday, Oct. 3 at 7:05 p.m. at the Carlson Center.
Alaska opens the regular season in the Kendall Classic at Sullivan Arena in Anchorage, facing Northeastern at 4:05 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 10, and Connecticut at the same time on Oct. 11.
The Nanooks play host to their inaugural Brice Alaska Goal Rush on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 17-18 at the Carlson Center, meeting Mercyhurst at 7:35 p.m. on opening day and ending the tournament with Maine at the same time on the final day.
Alaska Anchorage faces Maine at 4:05 p.m. on Oct. 17 and Mercyhurst at the same time on Oct. 18. The Nanooks and their intrastate rival won’t face each other in the Kendall Classic and the Goal Rush.
The Nanooks open CCHA play against Bowling Green at 7:05 p.m. on Oct. 24-25 at the Carlson Center.
