Box Score
FAIRBANKS, AK - The Alaska Nanook hockey team made their 2009-10 season debut in the annual Blue and Gold Exhibition game Saturday night at the Patty Center. With a pair of goals from sophomore Justin Filzen (Proctor, MN, Green Bay (USHL)), the Blue team proved victorious with a 3-2 shootout win.
Filzen put Team Blue on top first with a goal at the 9:27 mark. The Gold team came storming back, but got an unfortunate bounce, when a shot by junior captain Derek Klassen (Whitehorse, YT, Ft. McMurray (AJHL)) appeared to glance off the cross bar and into the net only to be waived no goal.
The Gold team made sure the next one counted as sophomore defenseman Joe Sova (Berwyn, IL, Omaha (USHL)) buried a shot from the top of the left face-off circle to tie the score at one at the end of the first half. Carlo Finucci (Burnaby, BC, Burnaby (BCHL)) and rookie Jarret Granberg (Foremost, Alberta, Brooks (AJHL)) assisted on the play.
The second half of the game saw the Gold team come out and take a 2-1 lead at the 8:39 mark, when Granberg went top shelf for his second point of the night. The Blue looked to even the score a few minutes later but first-year netminder Steve Thompson (Anchorage, AK, Sioux City (USHL)) denied freshman Nik Yaremchuk (St. Albert, AB, Sherwood Park (AJHL)) on a breakaway chance with 5:05 to go in the contest.
In the final seconds of the game the Blue team pulled their goaltender Colin Rundell (Tees, Alberta, Alberni Valley (BCHL)) in favor of the extra attacker and it paid off. Junior rearguard Bryant Molle (Anchorage, AK, Penticton (BCHL)) took a shot from the point that hit the crossbar and bounced right to Dion Knelsen, who deposited the rebound across the goal line with 10.6 seconds on the clock to tie the game 2-2 and force overtime.
After a scoreless extra session the two teams headed for a shootout, when goals by Filzen and Yaremchuk gave the Blue team the 3-2 win.
Filzen was named the game's first star with a goal and the shootout winner, while Granberg and Sova received second and third stars, respectively. For the Blue team, junior forward Ryan Hohl (Northville, MI, Bowling Green (CCHA)) picked up two assists in the victory.
Between the pipes, Thompson made 17 saves on 18 shots, while veteran Scott Greenham (Addison, ON, Oakville (OPJHL)) made seven saves on eight shots, and Colin Rundell (Tees, Alberta, Alberni Valley (BCHL)) turned aside 15 of the 17 shots he faced.
The team also participated in a skills competition during the intermission that saw sophomore defenseman Cody Butcher (Anchorage, AK, Sioux City (USHL)) win the hardest shot competition with a 93 mph shot. Sophomore center Ron Meyers (Prince Albert, SK, Lloydminster (AJHL)) barely edged out senior blueliner Dustin Molle (Anchorage, AK, Waterloo (USHL)) as the teams fastest skater. In the shootout competition, Thompson stopped all three shooters, and Greenham was perfect in four attempts.
The Nanooks face their first real test of the season next Saturday at the Carlson Center, when they host Southern Alberta Institute of Technology in an exhibition game. Opening face off is 7:05 p.m. and the live game broadcast can be heard online via KSUA 91.5 FM with Bruce Cech calling the play-by-play or via live video webstream on B2 Networks. Links to all live game coverage for Alaska Nanook hockey can be found in the Multi-Media section of alaskananooks.com all season long.
