FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The Alaska Nanooks hockey team continues nonconference play this weekend, hosting the No. 5/3 St. Cloud State University Huskies in a two-game series at the Carlson Center this Friday, Oct. 12 and Saturday, Oct. 13. The pair of games will mark Alaska's home-opener for the 2018-19 season and are set to begin both nights at 7:07pm AKT.
Where to Watch & Listen
Fans who cannot make this weekend's games in Fairbanks can stream the game live on FloHockey.tv, as well as every home and conference contest for the remainder of the season. Longtime Nanook hockey commentator Bruce Cech will be live from the Carlson Center on KSUA 91.5 FM or online at ksuaradio.com
Activities
On Saturday, the Face-Off Club will be hosting a free tailgate party outside the main front entrance of the Carlson Center from 4:30pm to 6:30pm AKT. There will be burgers, dogs, brats, chips, soft drinks and music and the event is free and open to the public. There will be heaters and a tent area available, but please dress appropriately for the weather.
Also happening on Saturday, the Nanooks are teaming up for Seekins Ford Lincoln for SOCK-tober. The Nanooks encourage fans to bring clean and unused pairs of socks to be thrown in the back of a pickup at intermission. All the socks collected at the game will then be donated to the Fairbanks Rescue Mission.
Last Time Out
The Alaska Nanooks opened the 2018-19 season on the road last weekend, falling victim to a pair of sweeps against the Arizona State Sun Devils. The Nanooks dropped Friday's contest 3-0 before falling 5-0 on Saturday to ASU in Tempe, Arizona. With last weekend's meeting being only the second and third time, respectively, that both programs have meet each other on the ice, Alaska now drops to 0-3-0 all-time against Arizona State.
All-Time Series
All-time against the St. Cloud Huskies, Alaska trails 6-9-0 with the first meeting between the two teams coming as an 11-1 loss on the road on Jan. 4, 1981. Although the Nooks are currently on a six game losing streak to SCSU dating back to 1989, the Nooks were close to a victory last season when Alaska traveled to St. Cloud, Minnesota for a pair of nonconference games. Despite taking a 3-0 lead in the first period, SCSU answered with four goals of their own in the third period on Oct. 13, 2017, defeating the Nanooks 6-3 at the Herb Brooks Arena. In their last meeting, Alaska came back to force extra hockey but ultimately fell in overtime 5-4 on Oct. 14 ,2017.
Individually, only 14 of Alaska's 28 players have played in at least one game against St. Cloud. Senior defenseman
Nikolas Koberstein and senior forward
Ryker Leer have both played three games against SCSU, dating back to their freshman season in 2015-16. Junior forward
Kylar Hope paces his teammates in points against the Huskies, collecting two goals and one assist for three points in two games against St. Cloud, while also adding a team-best 11 shots on goal. Additionally, only junior goaltender
Anton Martinsson has seen any playing time in net against SCSU, with an 0-2-0 record and a combined 65 saves.
In the Crease
Only Martinsson and freshman goaltender Gustavs Grigals have appeared in net last weekend at Arizona State, with Martinsson tallying 36 saves and a .878 save percentage from 79:19 minutes in net. Grigals relived Martinsson after the first period on Sunday, registering 22 saves and a .917 save percentage in 40 minutes in his collegiate debut.
Second Period Scurry
In last weekend's pair of losses at Arizona State, the bright spot in both games was the second period. The Nooks gave up a combined five goals in the first period and three goals in the third period but held the Sun Devils scoreless in the second period both nights. In overall shots, Alaska was outshot by their opponent by 15 (10-25) in the first and 19 (9-28) in the third, but outshot ASU 17-13 in the second for a plus-four rating.
#StickIt2Cancer
Last weekend, senior defenseman
Jack Weiss appeared in both games at Arizona State, solidifying his comeback after being diagnosed with testicular cancer last December. Weiss missed the second half of the 2017-18 season to undergo chemotherapy treatment in his home state of Minnesota. After successfully overcoming and defeating cancer, Weiss was cleared to train and get back on the ice over the summer. Last Saturday, Oct. 6's season-opener against Arizona State was Weiss' first game back in less than a year.
Largen Era Begins
The 2018-19 season will be the first Alaska Nanooks hockey season under new head coach
Erik Largen. Largen was named bench boss of the Nooks in April after serving the past two seasons as the assistant coach to Dallas Ferguson (2016-17) and Lance West (2017-18). The Fairbanks native was a goaltender for the Nanooks from 2006-08 and at 31, is currently the second-youngest among active NCAA Division I men's ice hockey head coaches.
WCHA Preseason Polls
Last week, the Western Collegiate Hockey Association released the Mankato Free Press WCHA Preseason Coaches' Poll and the UAHHockey.com WCHA Media Preseason Poll, which picked Alaska to finish eighth and ninth in the WCHA standings at the conclusion of the 2018-19 regular season, respectively. Alaska ranked eighth in the Coaches' Poll prior to the 2017-18 season but moved down one spot from their eighth place rank from last year's Media Poll.
Scouting the Opponent - #5/3 St. Cloud State
The St. Cloud Huskies open the 2018-19 season against the Nanooks, after being named the National Collegiate Hockey Conference's runner-up last season, falling to Denver in the league championship game 4-1. The Huskies continued postseason play in the NCAA West Regional Semifinal in Sioux Falls, S.D., getting knocked out by Air Force with a 4-1 loss. Last weekend, the Huskies defeated the Mount Royal Cougars 6-2 in an exhibition matchup with 15 skaters appearing on the scoresheet, including three with multi-point nights.
Individually, the Huskies return four of their top-five scorers in Robby Jackson (42 points), Jimmy Schuldt (39 points), Ryan Poehling (31 points), Blake Lizzotte (27 points) and Patrick Newell (27 points). On the backend, sophomore goaltender David Hrenak returns for the Huskies after posting a 14-7-2 rcord with a .919 save percentage and 2.11 goals against average through 25 games. Despite only playing 20 minutes in last weekend's exhibition, Hrenak was the only SCSU netminder to collect a shutout.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks hockey team, follow @NanooksHockey on Twitter or like the Alaska Nanooks Hockey team page on Facebook.
