Men's Ice Hockey | 2/15/2017 10:00:00 AM

FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The Alaska Nanooks hockey team returns to the Carlson Center for their final home series of the 2016-17 regular season to host the Lake Superior State Lakers in a two-game Western Collegiate Hockey Association series on Friday, Feb. 17 and Saturday, Feb. 18. Puck-drop for both games is scheduled for 7:07pm AKST.
 

Last Time Out
The Alaska Nanooks hockey team returns to the Carlson Center after suffering a sweep on the road to one of the hottest teams in the country at the moment, Northern Michigan. Alaska fell 3-0 on Friday, Feb. 10 before dropping Saturday's (Feb. 11) contest 2-0. NMU's goaltender Atte Tolvanen made NCAA DI history on Saturday, posting his fifth-consecutive shutout to tie the NCAA record. Tolvanen turned away Alaska's combined 87 shots throughout the weekend, including a 48 save game on Saturday.

Senior Send-Off
Saturday's game against Lake Superior will also be Senior Night for Alaska's four seniors, forward Marcus Basara, forward Josh Erickson, goaltender Davis Jones and forward Brandon Morley. The foursome has spent each of their four years as Nanooks, coming in as freshmen in the 2013-14 season.

All-Time Series
The Nanooks trail the all-time series between Alaska and Lake Superior State with a 21-36-6 record against the Lakers. The first meeting between these two clubs came as an 8-6 win for the Nanooks on Oct. 10, 1986 on the road. This weekend's series will be the third and fourth matchup between Alaska and LSSU this season, with the Nanooks splitting in Sault Ste. Marie earlier this season, posting a 2-3 loss on Oct. 28 before stealing three-points in a 4-3 overtime win on Oct. 29.

WCHA Standings
The Nooks currently sit in a tie for eighth place in the WCHA standings with 30 points, posting an 8-13-3-3 record in conference play. Alaska shared eighth place with the Alabama Huntsville Chargers (9-14-3-0 WCHA), who also tallied 30 conference points this season. The race for the playoffs is tightening up, as only two points separate fifth through the eighth place, which is also the final playoff spot. Alaska's upcoming weekend opponent LSSU currently sits in a tie with Northern Michigan for sixth place in the conference standings with 31 points each.

Still the One
Senior goaltender Davis Jones backstopped the Nanooks in Northern Michigan for his seventh- and eighth-consecutive start. The St. Albert, Alberta native collected 48 saves against the NMU Wildcats last weekend and currently leads Alaska goaltenders in saves (421), goals against average (2.88) and save percentage (.909).

Alaska Leaders
Sophomore Chad Staley and senior forward Marcus Basara are both tied for the team-high in scoring, both boasting 18 points on the season. The duo also leads the team in goals with eight apiece.

Staley leads the team individually in goals per shots on goal (.186) and is tied for the lead in power play goals (3). Basara leads the team by himself in goals per games played (0.29) and shots on goal per games played (2.82) and is tied for first in game-winning goals (2).

Golden Frye
Junior defenseman Zach Frye continues to be both an offensive threat and invaluable to the Nanooks on the back end, as the Spokane, Washington native ranks second on the team in points with 17 and leads the Nanooks in assists (13), assists per games played (0.43), shots on goal (84), power play points (9) and power play assists (6) and is tied for first in power play goals (3).

Night-In & Night-Out
Only four players on this year's roster have competed in each of Alaska's 30 games this season, two of which are rookies. Staley (8G, 10A) and Frye (4G, 13A) are joined by freshmen forwards Troy Van Tetering (7G, 5A) and Colton Leiter (6G, 4A).

Century Mark
Basara (134), senior forward Brandon Morley (133) and senior forward Josh Erickson (119) are the only active Nanooks to play in more than 100 career games in an Alaskan sweater. Junior Zach Frye is the closest to crossing the threshold, suiting up in 95 career games thus far, while redshirt-junior Justin Woods is nine games away from the mark (91).

Scouting the Opponent – Lake Superior State
The Lakers walked away from a two-game series against Alaska Anchorage with two points last weekend, falling 3-2 on Friday before tying 4-4 in overtime but earning the extra conference point with a goal in the 3-on-3 overtime.

The Lakers are led by sophomore forward Mitch Hults, who has collected nine goals and 20 assists for 29 points in 30 games this season. Four other Lakers have also passed the 20-or-more point mark this season, including JT Henke (27), Anthony Nellis (21), Diego Cuglietta (20) and Luke Morgan (20). In net, junior goaltender Gordon Defiel has backstopped the Lakers in 28 games thus far, posting a record of 11-12-5. Defiel has a goals against average of 2.61 and a save percentage of .913.

For more information on the Alaska Nanooks hockey team, follow @NanooksHockey on Twitter or like the Alaska Nanooks Hockey team page on Facebook.