HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – The Alaska Nanooks hockey team hits the road this week, as they take on the Alabama-Huntsville Chargers in a two-game Western Collegiate Hockey Association series at the Von Braun Center this Friday, Jan. 25 and Saturday, Jan. 26 in Huntsville. Puck-drop both nights is scheduled for 4:07pm AKST.
Where to Watch & Listen
Fans who cannot make this weekend's games in Huntsville, can stream the game live on FloHockey.tv, as well as every 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 hosted back-to-back WCHA games at the Carlson Center last weekend, splitting with the No. 9th-ranked Bowling Green Falcons at home. The Nanooks earned a 4-1 victory on Friday against the Falcons before dropping Saturday's game to BGSU 2-0 with an empty-net goal.
WCHA Standings
Alaska is currently deadlocked for seventh place in the WCHA standings with their weekend opponent, Alabama-Huntsville. Both teams have earned a 6-11-1-1 mark in conference games, giving both teams 20 WCHA points. Needless to say, six big conference points are on the line this weekend.
All-Time Series
This weekend's series against the UAH Chargers will be the 36th and 37th meeting between the two teams, respectively, with the Nooks leading the all-time series 23-10-2. Alaska is 14-6-0 in Fairbanks and 8-4-2 in Huntsville. The first meeting between the Nanooks and the Chargers took place in Fairbanks on Dec. 11, 1987 with Alaska posting a 10-6 victory.
This will be the second two-game WCHA series against the UAH Chargers this season for the Nanooks, as Alaska split with Alabama-Huntsville at home on Nov. 16 (3-1, loss) and Nov. 17 (2-1, win).
Individually All-Time
Since Alaska has already faced the Chargers this season, 25 of the Nanooks' 28 players on this season's roster have appeared in at least one game against UAH, including nine of their 10 freshmen. Senior defenseman
Nikolas Koberstein has appeared in the most games against UAH, boasting a team-high of 10 games through his four-year career with the Nooks. Senior forward
Chad Staley has registered the most points among his teammates in games against the Chargers with six (three goals, three assists), while him and sophomore forward
Steven Jandric are the only active Alaska players to tally at least one game-winning goal each.
Alaska Ties
The Nanooks are a familiar team for two members of the UAH Chargers program, starting with first-year assistant coach Lance West. Last season, West served as the Alaska Nanooks hockey team's interim head coach following the departure of former head coach Dallas Ferguson. West led the Nanooks to an overall mark of 11-22-3 and 9-17-2 in WCHA play. Prior to the 2017-18 season, West served as Alaska's assistant coach for nine seasons under Ferguson.
Additionally, UAH's senior defenseman John Teets is a hometown product of Fairbanks, playing his last season of junior hockey with the Fairbanks Ice Dogs of the North American Hockey League (NAHL).
Been a While
Last Friday's 4-1 win against the No. 9 Bowling Green Falcons marked Alaska's first win over a national-ranked opponent since defeating the then-No. 8/6th-ranked Minnesota State Mavericks 5-0 on Jan. 12, 2018.
It also marked the first time Alaska has scored two empty-net goals and a power play, empty-net goal in a single game in, at least, the last five seasons.
Three's Company
In last Friday's 4-1 win over BGSU, junior defenseman
Tristan Thompson earned a single-game, career-high three-point night with three assists. Thompson becomes the fourth Alaska Nanook to register a three-point game this season, joining junior forward
Kylar Hope, senior defenseman
Nikolas Koberstein and junior forward
Colton Leiter. Of Alaska's 28 active players, only five have posted a three-point game throughout their careers as Nanooks.
Goalie Assist
Junior netminder
Anton Martinsson registered an assist in Friday's victory over Bowling Green on Friday, his first point of the season. Martinsson now has two career points as a Nanook, earning an assist on Nov. 17, 2017 in Alaska's 5-3 loss against Northern Michigan at home. The Klippan, Sweden native is one of five WCHA goaltender to tally at least one point throughout the 2018-19 season, with NMU's Atte Tolvanen leading all netminders with two points (one goal, one assist) through 23 games.
Intermission Edge
The Nanooks are 5-6-2 in games that they break open the scoring and 1-10-0 in contests where their opponent scores first. So far this season, Alaska is 3-0-2 when leading at the first intermission, 0-8-0 when trailing at the first intermission and 3-8-0 when tied after 20 minutes of play. Additionally, Alaska is 3-1-2 when leading at the second intermission, 1-15-0 when trailing at the second intermission and 2-0-0 when tied after 40 minutes of play.
Blaszczak's Back
Last week, sophomore forward
Brennan Blaszczak returned to the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus to finish the remainder of the 2018-19 hockey season and academic year after being diagnosed with stage one testicular cancer on Dec. 3. Blaszczak appeared in back-to-back games against the Lake Superior State Lakers Dec. 7-8 following his diagnosis, earning one assist. On Dec. 18, Blaszczak successfully had the tumor removed near his hometown on Troy, Mich and will not have to undergo any further treatment. Blaszczak is cleared by his doctors to start working out with the team again on Feb. 1.
Blaszczak becomes the second Alaska Nanook hockey player to have been diagnosed with testicular cancer in back-to-back years, following senior defenseman
Jack Weiss' diagnosis in December of 2017. Weiss underwent chemotherapy treatment in the spring of 2018 before successfully defeating the cancer and official debut back in the Alaska Nanooks lineup on Oct. 6 vs. Arizona State.
Scouting the Opponent – Alabama-Huntsville Chargers
The Nanooks will face the Chargers after coming off of a two-game home sweep against the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves, defeating UAA 6-2 last Friday before taking a 6-3 victory on Saturday. The Chargers are led offensively by senior forward Hans Gorowsky, whose seven goals and five assists leads his teammates with 12 points. Behind Gorowsky, six other Chargers follow closely behind with double-digit points. In net, sophomore goaltender Mark Sinclair has led the Chargers through 18 games with a 4-12-1 record. Sinclair has tallied a .918 save percentage and a 2.81 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.
