Garrett Pyke fist bumps teammates after a game two win over Alaska Anchorage.
Miles Jordan

Men's Ice Hockey Nathan Kyle Pearsall

'Nooks Prepare for Notre Dame and New Year's Matchup in South Bend

SOUTH BEND, Indiana - The Nanooks hockey team is set for a matchup with nationally-ranked Notre Dame at the Compton Family Ice Arena in South Bend, Indiana. The 'Nooks and Fighting Irish will close out the new year with game one before playing again on Jan. 1, 2023. 

Saturday, Dec. 31
Notre Dame | Live Video (Subscription) | Live Stats | KSUA 91.5 FM (Listen Here)
1:00 p.m. AKT | Compton Family Ice Arena | South Bend, Indiana

Sunday, Jan. 1
Notre Dame | Live Video (Subscription) | Live Stats | KSUA 91.5 FM (Listen Here)
1:00 p.m. AKT | Compton Family Ice Arena | South Bend, Indiana

Where to Watch
This weekend's series with Notre Dame can be viewed on Peacock. Live stats can be found using the link above and you can listen along to all the action on KSUA 91.5 FM or KSUAradio.com as Bruce Cech brings you all of the play-by-play action from Compton Family Ice Arena. 

#NookNotes
  • The Nanooks enter this weekend's series riding a four-game win streak (all over UAA). They are currently 4-0-0 in the month of December and averaging 4.25 goals per game in that span. They've allowed only four goals in that four game stretch including two-consecutive shutouts on Dec. 16-17 at Alaska Anchorage.
  • With the four wins against UAA, the Nanooks claimed the Alaska Airlines Governor's Cup.
  • MATT RADOMSKY is ninth in the nation in both shutouts with two, and goals against average ... He moved into the top-10 after his two shutouts at Alaska Anchorage. On the season, he has a 1.95 GAA.
  • HARRISON ISRAELS moved into the top-15 in faceoff wins with 198 ... He leads all Independent players. Jake Wise from Ohio State leads the country with 250. ISRAELS is also tied for 14th in NCAA Division I with one short-handed goal. JONNY SORENSON has the other and an assist for two short-handed points. 
  • JONNY SORENSON and ISRAELS are the two Nanooks in double-digit points with 12 and 10, respectively. ISRAELS has four points off the power play and SORENSON has three. 
  • The Nanooks have climbed the ranks for goals against; they now are fifth in the nation with a 2.06 scoring defense. This leads all Independent teams. Their 0.50 scoring margin is 21st in the NCAA Division I ranks and also leads the Independent ranks. They also lead the Independent ranks in penalty kill percentage, winning percentage.
  • This is Alaska's first four-game win streak since last season when they posted a five-game win streak from Saturday, Jan. 29 to Saturday, Feb. 12. 
  • They hold the second-longest active win streak in the NCAA. Only Denver's seven-game win streak is longer. They are tied wiht Quinnipiac, Minnesota and Maine for current win streaks. 
  • Alaska and Denver will meet on Jan. 6-7, 2023 in Denver following the Notre Dame series. 
  • In the month of December, the Nanooks are 33% on the power play (4/12) and 94.4% on the kill (17/18).
  • As of Dec. 18, the Nanooks have the 28th toughest schedule in the NCAA. Past teams have a .510 win percentage and future opponents currently hold a .492 win percentage. 
  • ANTON RUBTSOV is riding a three-game point streak with four points in the last three games. He tallied four assists in the last three games against UAA including two on Dec. 10. 
  • CHASE DUBOIS has a four-game point streak and two-game goal scoring streak. He has five points (2G - 3A) in the last four games and scored the game-winner on Dec. 17 at Anchorage. 
  • PAYTON MATSUI has moved up the points list with a six-game point streak (1G - 5A) dating back to Nov. 22 at Penn State. 
  • ERIKS ZOHOVS has officially left the Nanooks hockey team, turning pro with Fehervar Hockey Club (Hungary).
Meet the Opponents
  • Notre Dame enters this weekend's matchup #19 in the USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll and #17 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey Poll. They've spent 14 weeks in the USA Today top-20. 
  • The Fighting Irish are the sixth and final Big Ten team in the top-20. Every team but Wisconsin are in both the USCHO/USA Hockey Polls. 
  • Notre Dame has not played since Dec. 9-10, 2022 after splitting with Penn State. On night one, Penn State grabbed a 5-2 win over Notre Dame before the Fighting Irish grabbed a 5-3 win. 
  • Ryder Rolston leads ND in scoring with 13 points on six goals and seven assits. Five of his points have come on the power play with two PPG and three power-play assists. 19 of his 65 shots-on-goal have come on power-play opportunities while only going to the box twice this season. 
  • Nick Leivermann, Trevor Janicke and Chayse Primeau all join Rolston in double-digits with 12, 11 and 11, respectively. Janicke and Primeau lead the way with eight assists each. 
  • 19 Notre Dame skaters have tallied more than two points with three others scoring one point through their first 18 games. Chase Blackmun leads the way with a +6 this season on one goal and six assists. 
  • The Fighting Irish are led by Jeff Jackson on the bench. Coach Jackson has been with Notre Dame for 17 seasons (in 18th season now), beginning in 2005 when Jackson earned the job. He has made 12 trips to the NCAA Championships with ND, advancing to four Frozen Fours and playing in the 2008 and 2018 national title games. 
  • He entered this year with 558 career wins (NCAA leader among active head coaches). He's captured eight Conference Championships at Notre Dame.
  • Jackson was the head coach at Lake Superior State from 1990-96 where he captured two NCAA titles in 1992 and 1994. He led them to the championship game in 1993 as well while winning two CCHA regular-season championships in 1991 and 1996 and four CCHA Mason Cup trophies (1991, 92, 93 and 95).
  • Ryan Bischel is 14th in the NCAA Division I in save percentage with a .925 - he leads the Big Ten. He is also third in the nation in shutouts with three. He is tied for first with Justen Close of Minnesota in the Big Ten ranks.
  • Jack Adams and Jesse Lansdell are tied for 19th in the nation with two game-winning goals - this ranks them sixth in the Big Ten. 
  • Chayse Primeau and Jackson Pierson are in the top-75 for faceoff wins. Primeau (42nd) has won 161 this season, ranking him eighth in the Big Ten and Pierson (72nd) has won 141, good for 12th in the Big Ten. 
  • As a team, Notre Dame takes the 11th most penalty minutes per game in the nation with an average of 12.83/game. They are also 12th in the nation for the most penalty minutes taken this season with 231. They are third in the Big Ten in both of those categories.
Looking Ahead
  • On Jan. 6-7, 2023, the Nanooks will travel to Magness Arena and face the current #1/2 Denver Pioneers. The Pioneers and Nanooks met last year to open the new year and the 'Nooks left Magness 0-1-1. A day after falling to Denver, the Nanooks tied the eventual national champions 4-4 OT.
  • The Alaska Airlines Governor's Cup will be back in motion on Jan. 27-28, 2023 when the Nanooks head to Anchorage for game one of the home-and-home before returning home on Jan. 28, 2023 for the trophy presentation and game six of the season series. 
  • The Nanooks will welcome Arizona State in the first weekend of February. The Sun Devils will make their third-ever trip to Fairbanks for a two-game weekend on Feb. 3-4, 2023 in the Carlson Center. 
  • Following ASU, the Nanooks will play four-straight against Long Island - they'll head to LIU on Feb. 10-11 before coming home on Feb. 17-18 for the final two against the Sharks.
Fun Facts
  • From 1995 to 2013, these two teams shared the CCHA as a conference. Alaska trails in the all-time series 22-32-4 with Notre Dame winning the previous two matchups on Dec. 31, 2016-Jan. 1, 2017 (0-5, 0-4). 
  • Alaska won the first ever matchup with the Fighting Irish on Jan. 15, 1985 on the road. The 6-4 win sparked a 5-0 all-time series start before Notre Dame beat Alaska for the first time on March 9, 1991 (3-4) at a neutral site.
  • Alaska trails the all-time series at Notre Dame 10-20-1 while leading the home series 12-11-3. 
  • Notre Dame checks in at #16 in the latest PairWise rankings with their 8-8-2 record. Alaska enters at #28 with their 9-7-2 record.
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. 
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