FAIRBANKS - The Alaska Nanooks hockey team welcomes Michigan Tech back to the Carlson Center for the first time since the two teams WCHA days. The 'Nooks and Huskies will do battle on Thursday, Oct. 13 and Friday, Oct. 14.

Thursday, Oct. 13
Michigan Tech | Live Stats | Live Video ($$) | KSUA 91.5 FM (Listen Online)
7:37 p.m. | Carlson Center | Tickets

Friday, Oct. 14
Michigan Tech | Live Stats | Live Video ($$) | KSUA 91.5 FM (Listen Online)
7:07 p.m. | Carlson Center | Tickets
 

Military Appreciation Night
Night one against MTU is Military Appreciation Night. The Nanooks will welcome countless members of Fort Wainwright and Eielson and will have a puck-drop from Col. Berkland before the 7:37 p.m. start.

Season & Single-Game Tickets
Both season tickets and single-game tickets are available for purchase. The Nanooks Ticket Office is open M-T (8am-4pm) and Fridays (10am-3pm). Call (907)-474-NOOK (6665) for more information.

Back in the "Flo" of Things
Never miss a minute of any Nanooks hockey home games as all 14 home events are streamed on FloHockey.tv! For a monthly subscription, you can catch all the action in the Carlson Center from the comfort of your home. Bruce Cech will have the call on both FloHockey.tv and KSUA 91.5 FM! 

#NookNotes

• SIMON FALK and JONNY SORENSON lead the way for the Nanooks in the goal-scoring department as both have a pair through the opening four games. 
• Seven Nanooks have a pair of points through the first four games and seven others have tallied a single point. 
• CHASE DUBOIS leads the 'Nooks with a .333 shot percentage, scoring one goal on three shots. BRADY RISK has the most shots on the team, posting 13 through the first two weekends. 
• MATT RADOMSKY currently sits in 19th in NCAA Division I hockey in GAA with a 1.71 average.
• HARRISON ISRAELS is fourth in NCAA Division I with 51 faceoff wins. Joining him in the top-60 is JONNY SORENSON in 45th and COLIN DOYLE in 56th. PAYTON MATSUI leads the Nanooks in faceoff win percentage with a .667%, that is currently tied for 26th in Division I.
• COLIN DOYLE and SIMON FALK have recorded the two game-winning goals for the Nanooks. Their one each is tied for the fourth most in the NCAA. 
• With 42 minutes in the box, the Nanooks are currently eighth in Division I hockey for team penalty minutes. They are also 20th in averae penalty minutes per game with 10.5 per game.
• In just his second season with the Nanooks BRADY RISK earned his sixth multipoint game with a two-point performance against St. Thomas on Saturday, Oct. 8. He recorded his first goal and assist of the season in the Nanooks' 2-3 OT loss. 
• With 24 players having seen ice time this year, more than half the roster has earned a point. 14 with at least one and 10 with none. 
• No other goalie on the roster has seen time in the crease. So far to open 2022-23, the net has been MATT RADOMSKY'S.
• The Nanooks went with a foursome for their captains this season. On the offensive end, HARRISON ISRAELS wears the C and COLIN DOYLE wears the A. On the defensive end, GARRETT PYKE wears the C and MARKUSS KOMULS wears the A.  
• BRADY RISK and CHASE DUBOIS got the Nanooks power-play on the board with the first two PPG of the season at UST. 
• UST also broke up the Nanooks perfect penalty kill on the season. Alaska is now 16-of-17 on the kill.
• GARRETT PYKE joined BRADY RISK in the Oct. 8 game at UST with a multipoint game. PYKE assisted on both power-play goals scored by the Nanooks - his fourth career multipoint game.

Meet the Opponent

• The Huskies come into this week's matchups with an 0-1-0 record. They've played a trio of exhibitions with wins against Lake Superior State (5-2), Lakehead (6-0) and a loss against the USNTDP U18 team (6-2). Their one regu- lar-season game came against Ferris State on Friday, Oct. 7 and resulted in a 2-1 loss to the Bulldogs. Three Huskies have recorded a point on the season as Parker Saretsky scored the lone goal and Nick Nardella and Alex Nordstrom tallied the assists on the goal in the game against FSU. Blake Pietila played in net for MTU, going 58:16, making 23 saves and allowing the two goals.
• MTU made their first NCAA Tournament appearance last season since the 2018 tournament. In total, it was their 14th postseason appearance.
• The Huskies have gone to 10 Frozen Four's, have been National Runner-Up four times and have won three National Championships (1962, 1965, 1975). Their last National Championship game appearance came in 1976 and their last Frozen Four was in 1981. 
• Tech is led by Joe Shawhan. He is in his sixth season as the bench boss and currently holds a 95-78-16 head coaching record. 
• Hockey began at Tech in 1919-20. They were first led by E.R. Lovell and they went 1-2-1 in their inaugural season. 
• MTU plays in the John J. MacInnes Student Ice Arena. They've played there since 1972. It was last renovated in 2009. 
• Michigan Tech has two players with NHL rights. Ryan O'Connell, a grad-transfer, is a 6-1, 185 lb defenseman who was the 203rd overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs. Kyle Kukkonen is a freshman forward who is 5-10, 172 lbs and was the 162nd overall pick by the Anaheim Ducks in the 2021 NHL Draft. 
• Under Shawhan, the Huskies were the  2018 WCHA Tournament Championship, qualifying for the first of his two NCAA appearances. 
• Before becoming the head coach, Shawhan was a four-year assistant coach for the Huskies. 
• A year ago, the Huskies were led by Brian Halonen and Trenton Bliss, two who have since graduated. Each posted 40+ point as Halonen posted a team-high 44 points and Bliss added 40. 
• Blake Pietila returns as the main goalie for the Huskies. A year ago, he played and started in 37 games, spending 2194:52 in net. He allowed 70 goals, averaged 1.91 GAA, posted a .918 save percentage and went 21-13-2 between the pipes.
• The Huskies were an at-large bid for the 2022 NCAA Tournament. They entered as the #3-seed in the West Regional, played in Loveland. They lost to Minnesota Duluth 3-0 in the Regional Semifinals. 
• In the first season of the new CCHA, the Huskies took second behind Minnesota State Mankato, going 21-13-3, 16-8-2 CCHA, earning 54 points.
• Alongside Mankato, Tech was the only other CCHA team to earn a berth into the NCAA Tournament in 2022.

Last Time Out
The Nanooks are coming off of a split at St. Thomas. In game one, the Nanooks posted four goals, using two in the first and two in the second to claim a 4-2 win over the Tommies. UST scored the first goal only 25 seconds into the game, taking a 1-0 lead but 10 minutes later, Anton Rubtsov scored the equalizer. Matt Koethe scored about two minutes later, making it 2-1 Nanooks. Simon Falk and Jonny Sorenson scored two more in the second, extending their lead to 4-1 on four unanswered goals. The Tommies added one on in the third, making it a 4-2 final score. Matt Radomsky made 22 saves in net for the Nanooks, earning the win.

Arvils Bergmanis, Kyle Gaffney and Payton Matsui earned assists on the night. In night two, the Nanooks fell behind early again, as UST tallied the first goal of the night nearly midway through the first. Alaska tied it up 12:57 into the second period as Chase Dubois tallied the Nanooks' first power-play goal of the season. Brady Risk and Garrett Pyke tallied the assists on the PPG. Brady Risk scored his first goal of the season 17:42 into the second on the power play again. Harrison Israels and Pyke earned the assists on the tally. The Tommies tied the game in the third, forcing OT and in the 3v3 OT period, Josh Eernisse won it for St. Thomas.

Looking Ahead

• The Nanooks will return for a Thursday/Friday matchup with former WCHA opponent Michigan Tech. This will be MTU's first time back in the Carlson Center since the 2019-20 season in which the 'Nooks went 3-1-0 against Tech (wins since vacated). The first game of the MTU series will be a rare 7:37 p.m. start with volleyball playing at 4:00 p.m. at home that same day.
• The Nanooks will begin their first big road trip of the season on Oct. 21 at Omaha. They'll play two in Omaha on Friday, Oct. 21 and Sunday, Oct. 23 before heading to Northern Michigan on Oct. 28-29, RPI on Nov. 18-19 and Penn State on Nov. 22-23, another rare occurance for the Nanooks by playing on Tuesday/Wednesday. 
• Alaska will play at home again on Dec. 9 as the Alaska Airlines Governor's Cup is officially back as UAA comes to town for the first time in two and a half years.
• After two in Fairbanks, the Nanooks will head to Anchorage on Dec. 16-17 before ending 2022 and starting 2023 in South Bend, Ind. with a trip to Notre Dame. 

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