FAIRBANKS, Alaska – It's been 215 days since the Alaska Nanooks hockey team played in an official contest and the wait is almost over, as the Nooks host the No. 17 United States Air Force Academy in a two-game non-conference series at the Carlson Center to kick-off the 2017-18 season. The Nooks will take on the Falcons this Friday, Oct. 6 and Saturday, Oct. 7 at 7:07pm AKDT on both nights.
Where to Watch & Listen
Fans can watch both Friday and Saturday's games live on WCHA.tv, as well as every home game and Western Collegiate Hockey Association contests for the remainder of the season. Hockey fans can purchase a single-team season pass for $89.99, which gives live and archived footage for all the Nanook hockey's non-conference home games, all WCHA regular season league games (home and away) and all potential 2017 league postseason games (home and away). Other packages include single-team road pass ($44.99), WCHA monthly pass ($24.99), single-team monthly pass ($19.99), league-wide nightly pass ($9.99) or a single-team nightly pass ($8.99).
Furthermore, longtime Nanook hockey commentator Bruce Cech will be broadcasting live from the Carlson Center in both Friday and Saturday's game on ESPN 820 AM Fairbanks or online at 820sports.com.
Last Time Out
Last Friday, the Alaska Nanooks hosted the Simon Fraser Clan in a non-conference exhibition game to unofficially start the 2017-18 season. After leading just 1-0 following the first period, the Nanooks turned up the offense and scored five goals in the remaining 40 minutes to defeat the Clan 6-0. Three Alaska skaters tallied multi-point nights, including sophomore forward Colton Leiter (two assists), senior defenseman Zach Frye (one goal, one assist) and freshman forward Steven Jandric (one goal, one assist).
Each of Alaska's three goaltenders appeared in one 20-minute period against SFU, with sophomore goaltender Niko DellaMaggiore capturing a team-high nine saves.
All-Time Series
The Alaska Nanooks are 18-7-2 all-time against the Falcons, with the first meeting between the two teams coming as a 4-3 overtime win for Alaska on Feb. 3, 1989. At home, the Nanooks are 9-2-0 at home against Air Force and are on a current two-game winning streak against them. The last time these two teams faced one another was in the 2014 Brice Alaska Goal Rush, where Alaska walked away with a 4-3 victory on Oct. 17, 2014.
Only five current Nanooks have played against the AF Falcons throughout their career, including Frye, redshirt-senior defenseman Justin Woods, senior forwards Austin Vieth and Tayler Munson and redshirt-junior defenseman Kyle Froese. Vieth is the only Nook to register a point against Air Force, tallying a goal in the Oct. 17, 2014 contest.
West Era Begins
This weekend not only starts the beginning of a new season but also the beginning of a new coaching era in Nanook hockey history, as first-year head coach Lance West will officially make his NCAA Division I coaching debut against the Falcons. West, who replaced former head coach and alumni Dallas Ferguson, has served as the Nanooks' assistant coach under Ferguson for the last nine seasons.
Also new to the Alaska Nanooks' hockey staff this season is assistant coach Lincoln Nguyen, volunteer assistant coach Mike Parnell, athletic trainer Nick Menietti and director of hockey operations Camden Pommenville. Resuming their roles for the Nanooks is assistant coach Erik Largen, strength and conditioning coach Mike Curtin and equipment manager Kevin Duffy.
2017-18 Captains
Last Thursday, West and his staff announced this year's Alaska Hockey leadership group with redshirt-senior defenseman Justin Woods donning the "C" for the 2017-18 season. Woods becomes the first hometown product of Fairbanks in program history to be named the team captain and inherits the captaincy from former Alaska forward Brandon Morley. Fellow seniors Zach Frye and Tayler Munson, also a Fairbanks native, were selected as alternate captains for the upcoming season with Frye being a third-year alternate captain.
WCHA Preseason Polls
Last week, the Alaska Nanooks were picked to finish eighth in both the UAHHockey.com WCHA Preseason Media Poll and the Mankato Free Press WCHA Preseason Coaches' Poll. Last season, the Nooks were picked to finish eighth and tenth in the same polls, respectively, and finished the 2016-17 season in sixth place.
Fresh Faces
The Alaska Nanooks hockey team welcomes five newcomers to the 27-man roster for the 2017-18 season, which features four forwards and one goaltender. This year's rookie class mostly hails from Canada (3) with two others coming from Michigan and Wisconsin.
Couple Vets
Of the 27-man roster, Alaska returns 22 veterans for the upcoming season. The Nanooks return two of their top-three scorers from last season in junior forward Chad Staley and senior defenseman Zach Frye. With four newcomers up front to mix in with 11 returning forwards, Alaska is in a special situation when it comes to their back-end, as each of the nine defensemen are veterans but of their three goaltenders, none of them have played an official minute in net.
Scouting the Competition – #17 United States Air Force Academy
The Air Force Falcons face the Nanooks after posting one of the best seasons in program history, as the Falcons defeated No. 8th-ranked Western Michigan Broncos 5-4 at the NCAA East Regionals before falling 3-2 to No. 2 Harvard in the quarterfinals of the national championship tournament. The Falcons return 119 goals from last season, tying as the most in the nation with Bemidji State.
Individually, two of the three Falcons were selected to the All-Atlantic Hockey Conference team for the season in First Team All-Conference defenseman Phil Boje and Second Team All-Conference forward Jordan Himley. Himley and Boje each tallied 30-or-more points last season and were led by Himley, who collected 22 goals and 15 assists for 37 points in 41 games.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks hockey team, follow @NanooksHockey on Twitter or like the Alaska Nanooks Hockey team page on Facebook.
