SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – After two weeks at home, the Alaska Nanooks hockey team hits the road on Tuesday to take on the Lake Superior State University Lakers in a two-game Western Collegiate Hockey Association series this Friday, Dec. 1 and Saturday, Dec. 2 at the Taffy Abel Arena. Puck-drop for both games is slated for 3:07pm AKST.
WHERE TO WATCH & LISTEN
Fans who cannot make this weekend's games in Michigan can stream the games live on WCHA.tv, as well as every home contest and WCHA road matchup for the remainder of the season.
Additionally, longtime Nanook hockey commentator Bruce Cech will be broadcasting live from the Taffy Abel Arena this weeked on ESPN 820 AM Fairbanks or online at 820sports.com.
LAST TIME OUT
The Alaska Nanooks hockey team suffered a sweep at home by the hands of the Michigan Tech Huskies last weekend, falling 5-4 in overtime on Friday before dropping Saturday's contest 5-1. Both league matchups took place at the Carlson Center in Fairbanks, dropping Alaska's home record to 3-5-1 on the season.
WCHA STANDINGS
The Nanooks are currently tied for eighth place in the WCHA standings, as Alaska, Bemidji State and Lake Superior State have each registered eight points in league contests this season. Alaska holds a WCHA mark of 2-7-1-1 with their conference victories coming against Bemidji State (Nov. 3) and Northern Michigan (Nov. 18). At the time of article, Minnesota State ranks first in the league with 21 points and a 7-3-0-0 in WCHA games.
ALL-TIME SERIES
All-time against the Lakers, Alaska trails 17-36-7 with the Nooks posting a 9-26-1 mark in games in Sault Ste. Marie. The first meeting between the two teams came as a 8-6 victory for Alaska on Oct. 10, 1986 in Michigan. In their last meeting on Feb. 18, 2017, Alaska and Lake Superior State skated to a 3-3 tie in Fairbanks, with the Nanooks' last victory against the Lakers coming the night before (Feb. 17).
Individually all-time against the Lakers, 19 players on Alaska's 27-man roster have played in at least one game against LSSU with senior defenseman
Zach Frye appearing in the most games with 10. Frye and junior forward
Chad Staley led their teammates in points against the Lakers, each collecting a team-best five points. Only two active Alaska players have tallied game-winning goals against LSSU, including senior forward
Tayler Munson and junior forward
Ryker Leer.
A NEW HOPE
Sophomore forward
Kylar Hope leads the Nanooks in scoring with six goals and seven assists for a team-best 13 points. Hope also ranks first amongst his teammates in points per games played (0.81), plus (18), shots on goal (60) and shots on goal per games played (3.75). The Lashburn, Saskatchewan native's 60 shots on goal this season is the most amongst all league skaters. Furthermore, Hope's goal and assist in Friday's 5-4 overtime loss to the Huskies concluded his second four-game point streak of the season and also marked his fourth multi-point effort of the year.
MORE, MORE, MORE
Four other Nanooks have scored double-digit figures this season, including sophomore forward
Colton Leiter (11), redshirt-senior defenseman
Justin Woods (11), freshman forward Steven Jandric (11) and senior defenseman
Zach Frye (10). As a defenseman, Woods leads the Nanooks in goals with seven and also ranks first amongst his teammates in power play goals (2) and power play points (3). Amongst league rookies, Jandric's 10 assists ties him for first in the WCHA but the Prince George, British Columbia native also leads league newcomers in plus (17) and plus/minus (+6).
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT – LAKE SUPERIOR STATE (3-8-3, 2-4-2-0 WCHA)
The Lakers are coming off of a 6-0 exhibition win against the USA Under-18 team last weekend, after splitting their last conference series with the Alabama-Huntsville Chargers (3-1, 3-5). Senior forward JT Henke leads the Lakers' offense this season, registering three goals and 14 assists for 17 points in 14 games. On the other end, junior goaltender Nick Kossoff and freshman netminder Mareks Mitens have split time between the pipes, with Kossoff edging the rookie in save percentage (.912) and goals against average (3.28).
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks hockey team, follow @NanooksHockey on Twitter or like the Alaska Nanooks Hockey team page on Facebook.
