WCHA Release | 2019-20 WCHA Composite Schedule | Alaska Hockey 2019-20 Schedule

FAIRBANKS, Alaska – In accordance with the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, head coach Erik Largen has announced the 2019-20 schedule for the Alaska Nanooks hockey team on Wednesday. The season features a trip to Penn State University for the first time in program history, two non-conference home series against NCAA tournament qualifiers and 28 conference matchups.

The Nanooks, who went 12-21-3 overall this past season (12-14-2-2 WCHA), finished seventh in the league standings at the conclusion of the regular season, one spot ahead of where they closed-out the 2017-18 regular season and two spots ahead of where they were ranked in the 2018 WCHA Preseason Poll.

This season, Alaska advanced to the WCHA postseason for the fifth time in program history since joining the league prior to the 2013-14 season. The Nanooks claimed their seventh-straight Alaska Airlines Governor's Cup over in-state rival Alaska Anchorage and had two players earn all-conference honors. In the classroom, 16 players were named to the WCHA All-Academic Team, while four were named WCHA Scholar-Athletes.

This upcoming season, Alaska will host 18 contests at the Carlson Center and will play 16 games on the road. Last week, UAF Chancellor Dan White said in a statement the Alaska Nanooks plan to renew their contract to play all hockey home games at the Carlson Center for the 2019-20 season, despite concerns for the aging ice plant.  If the Carlson Center cannot meet the needs of the Alaska Nanooks hockey team at any point throughout the upcoming season, the Patty Center Ice Arena will serve as a backup option.

Chancellor White also said in his statement that, "Beginning this summer, UAF will undertake the planning needed to bring hockey back on campus permanently within two years." Chancellor White has created two committees to begin the planning process, one will serve to focus its efforts on transitioning hockey back on to campus, while the other will focus on the capitalization of a public private partnership.

At the time of article, the date for the annual Blue vs. Gold game has not been scheduled.

The Nanooks will officially open the 2018-19 regular season with a two-game non-conference series at home against the Denver Pioneers Saturday, Oct. 5 and Sunday, Oct. 6 at the Carlson Center. The Pios, who fell to UMass in the 2019 Frozen Four, hosted the Nanooks in a two-game series in Denver last October, defeating Alaska 4-1 on Oct. 19 before skating to a 3-3 overtime tie on Oct. 20.

The Denver Pioneers are coached by Anchorage native David Carle, who is assisted by former Alaska Nanooks head coaches and alums Dallas Ferguson and Tavis MacMillan. Furthermore, current Alaska assistant coach Joe Howe served as the Director of Hockey Operations and volunteer assistant coach for the Pios prior to coming to the Nanooks.

Following their home-opener against Denver, Alaska will play three-straight weekends on the road, kicking-off WCHA play with a two-game series against the Michigan Tech Huskies Oct. 11-12 in Houghton.

The Nooks will then travel to University Park, Pennsylvania for a two-game non-conference series against the Penn State Nittany Lions Oct. 18-19 at the Pegula Ice Arena. The trip to Penn State will be a program-first since the Nittany Lions became an NCAA DI ice hockey program prior to the 2012-13 season. Like Denver, Penn State is coached by someone who is familiar with the Alaska Nanooks in Guy Gadowsky, who served as bench boss for the Nanooks from 1999-2004. The Nanooks and the Nittany Lions have only faced off on one occasion, with Alaska defeating Penn State 4-3 on Oct. 18, 2014 to earn the Brice Alaska Goal Rush championship title.

"I really like the schedule we have for the upcoming 2019-20 season," head coach Erik Largen said on Wednesday. "We have a good balance in the first and second half and a very competitive non-conference schedule. We will face three tough teams right out of the gate but I think getting those challenges out of the way early on will help us become a better team down the stretch."

Alaska will close-out October on the road with a two-game WCHA series Oct. 25-26 against in-state rival, Alaska Anchorage at the Sullivan Arena. The weekend series will also count toward the 26th annual Alaska Airlines Governor's Cup, which will be determined by a best-of-four series.

Of the five weekends throughout the month of November, Alaska will be home for four of them. After three weeks on the road, Alaska will be at the Carlson Center back-to-back weekends against Bemidji State (Nov. 1-2) and Arizona State (Nov. 8-9), before hitting the road to take on Northern Michigan in Marquette Nov. 15-16. Alaska will face Ferris State at home Thanksgiving weekend (Nov. 22-23) before taking on the Michigan Tech Huskies once again the following weekend (Nov. 29-30).

Alaska will only play one conference series throughout the month of December, taking on the Bemidji Beavers in a two-game series Dec. 6-7 at the Sanford Center.

Following the break, Alaska will travel to Mankato, Minnesota to take on the Minnesota State Mavericks Jan. 3-4 before returning home to face the Lake Superior State Lakers in a two-game conference series Jan. 10-11. The Nooks will face Ferris State in Big Rapids, Michigan Jan. 17-18 before hosting Northern Michigan Jan. 24-25.

Following a bye-week, the Nooks will take on the Alabama-Huntsville Chargers in their final road trip of the regular season Feb. 7-8 at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Alaska will close-out the 2019-20 regular season with back-to-back home weekends, hosting the Bowling Green Falcons Feb. 14-15 before taking on UAA in the final two games of the Alaska Airlines Governor's Cup Feb. 28-29.

"The WCHA is a tough league to compete in week-in and week-out," Largen said of the conference schedule. "We know that in order to be successful in this league, our players and our staff need to be prepared to compete against every opponent."

The 2020 WCHA Playoffs begin Mar. 6-8 with a best-of-three quarterfinal series, while the semifinals will also feature a best-of-three series Mar. 13-15. The WCHA Championship game will be on Saturday, Mar. 20 with all postseason play being held on the highest-remaining seeds' campuses.

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

*Please note, all game times, dates and opponents are subject to change