HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Alaska Nanooks hockey team hits the road this week, taking on the Michigan Tech Huskies in a two-game Western Collegiate Hockey Association Series this Friday, Nov. 23 and Saturday, Nov. 24 at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena in Houghton. Puck-drop is scheduled for 3:07pm AKST both days.
Where to Watch & Listen
Fans who cannot make this weekend's games in Houghton can stream the game live on FloHockey.tv, as well as every home and conference contest for the remainder of the 2018-19 season. Longtime Nanook hockey commentator Bruce Cech will be live from the Carlson Center on KSUA 91.5 FM in Fairbanks or anywhere online at ksuaradio.com in the link posted above.
Last Time Out
The Alaska Nanooks returned to the Carlson Center after four weeks away from Fairbanks last weekend, hosting the University of Alabama-Huntsville Chargers in a two-game series last Friday and Saturday. Junior forward
Kylar Hope scored Alaska's lone goal on Friday as the Nanooks fell to the Chargers 3-1. The Nanooks responded on Saturday, as sophomore forward
Steven Jandric scored the game-winning goal with only 1:18 left in regulation to defeat UAH 2-1.
WCHA Standings
The Nanooks sit in seventh place in the WCHA standings with eight points through six games. Alaska's weekend opponent, Michigan Tech (4-0-0-0), is tied for first place in the conference rankings with Minnesota State (4-0-0-0) and Northern Michigan (4-2-0-0).
All-Time Series
All-time against the Huskies, Alaska trails 3-16-0. The first meeting between the two teams resulted in 6-2 loss for the Nanooks on the road on Nov. 9, 1990. Unfortunately for the Nanooks, Alaska is currently riding a 14-game losing streak to Michigan Tech with their last win coming as a 7-2 decision on Feb. 15, 2014. Since 2015, Alaska has lost seven one-goal games to Michigan Tech with three of those contests being overtime losses.
Individually All-Time
Sixteen players of Alaska's 28-man roster have appeared in at least one game against the Huskies throughout their career. Senior forward
Chad Staley leads the charge by having played in 10 games against MTU, picking up three goals and one assist for four points and a team-best 17 shots on goal. In net, junior netminder
Niko DellaMaggiore has played in two games against the Huskies, collecting a combined 40 saves.
Rookie Moves
Freshman defenseman
Chris Jandric currently leads the Nanooks and is tied for first among all WCHA rookies in scoring with nine points. Through 12 games this season, C. Jandric has registered two goals and seven assists. Additionally, C. Jandric's five power play points (two goals, three assists) ties him for first among league freshmen. The Prince George, British Columbia native has collected three multi-point games in his first season with the Nanooks and one game-winning goal.
#Goals
A trio of Alaska skaters currently lead the team with three goals each, including junior forward
Kylar Hope, sophomore forward
Steven Jandric and junior forward
Colton Leiter. Each of the three Nooks, who have played on a line together for the past four games, also lead their teammates in a different statistical category. Hope ranks first among the Nanooks in shots on goal (36) and shots on goal per games played (3.00), S. Jandric is tied for first in game-winning goals (1) and plus (7), while Leiter is first in power play goals (3) and face-offs won (98).
On the Scoresheet
Of Alaska's 24 skaters who have appeared in at least one game, 18 have registered at least one point. Of those 18 players, 11 have tallied more than one point. Additionally, out of the 11 players who have two-or-more points, seven have collected multi-point games including senior forward
Kylar Hope, freshman defenseman
Chris Jandric, sophomore forward
Steven Jandric, junior forward
Colton Leiter, senior forward
Ryker Leer, junior forward
Kyle Marino and senior forward
Chad Staley.
Goose Tales
Besides junior goaltender
Anton Martinsson, only freshman netminder Gustavs Grigals has appeared in net for the Nanooks this season. Through his three starts, Grigals has a 2-1-0 record, including two-straight wins. In games Grigals doesn't play the Nanooks are 0-6-2 and in contests where the Riga, Latvia doesn't start, Alaska is 0-7-2. Grigals is currently holding a .894 save percentage and a 3.28 goals against average.
Scouting the Opponent – Michigan Tech
The Michigan Tech Huskies are coming off of a pair of 3-1 nonconference losses to the Clarkson Knights last Friday and Saturday in Potsdam, New York. The Huskies are undefeated in conference play so far this year, having defeated Alabama-Huntsville (2-1, 4-1) and Ferris State (5-4, 4-3) already this season.
Individually, Michigan Tech is led by senior forward Jake Lucchini, who has five goals and seven assists for 12 points in 10 games. Following Lucchini, MTU is led by sophomore defenseman Seamus Donohue, who has seven assists for seven points. In net, three Huskies have appeared in goal, playing in at least two games. Through 10 games, junior goaltender Matt Jurusik has played in seven, posting a 4-2-0 record with a .888 save percentage and a 2.95 goals against average.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks hockey team, follow @NanooksHockey on Twitter or like the Alaska Nanooks Hockey team page on Facebook.
