Arvils Bergmanis walks into the Nanooks' locker room after a win on Nov. 4, 2023
Miles Jordan

Men's Ice Hockey Nathan Kyle Pearsall

'Nooks Look to Get Hot in Tempe this Weekend

TEMPE, Ariz. - The Nanooks hockey team flew to warmer weather this week. They prepare for a two-game series at the No. 18/18 Arizona State Sun Devils. 

Friday, Feb. 9
at Arizona State | 5:00 p.m. AKST
Mullett Arena | Tempe, Ariz. 

Watch Here | Live Stats | Listen Online | KSUA 91.5 FM

Saturday, Feb. 10
at Arizona State | 3:00 p.m. AKST
Mullett Arena | Tempe, Ariz. 

Watch Here | Live Stats | Listen Online | KSUA 91.5 FM

Last Time Out
The Nanooks look to rebound from their loss at Alaska Anchorage on Saturday, Feb. 3 in Anchorage. The 'Nooks fell to UAA 4-2. This was the first loss to UAA since the 2019-20 season. 

#NookNotes
  • Alaska comes into this matchup on a one-game slide after falling to the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves on Saturday, Feb. 3 in Anchorage. That loss snapped an 11-game unbeaten streak to UAA. 
  • The Nanooks' 10-game winning streak came to an end against UAA on Jan. 13, 2024 when the teams skated to a 2-2 tie. 
  • The Nanooks are currently 7-0-1 against Arizona State since the start of the 2021-22 season. The 'Nooks are also on a four-game winning streak, having swept the Sun Devils 4-0-0 a season ago. 
  • This will be the second trip to Mullett Arena for the Nanooks - a season ago they grabbed a pair of 4-2 victories on Feb. 24-25, 2023. They also won both games in Fairbanks, 2-1 and 5-2 on Feb. 3-4, 2023. 
  • Brady Risk and Anton Rubtsov are both in the top-50 for points per game this season. Risk leads at 25th with 1.21 points per game. He also leads all Independent skaters. Rubtsov follows at fifth in the Independent ranks and 49th in the nation with 1.00 points per game. 
  • Risk's 0.75 assists per game ranks him 27th in the nation and fourth in the Independent ranks while Rubtsov (0.70 per game) is fifth Independently and 41st in the nation. Arvils Bergmanis cracked the top-50 with 0.67 per game and is seventh in Independent ranks and 48th nationally. 
  • Harrison Israels is 25th in the nation in faceoff wins with 272. That is second Independently, trailing only Brian Chambers of Arizona State (294). Israels is also in the top-15 nationally in three categories. He is eighth in goals per game at 0.67 - this leads Independent skaters. He is fourth in the nation and tied for first independently with one hat trick. Finally, he is 12th nationally and third in Independent ranks with seven power-play goals. 
  • Risk is in the top-50 for power-play goals at No. 49 with four. 
  • Brady Risk is one point away from 30 on the season - he would become the first Nanooks skater to score 30+ points in a season since Steven Jandric scored 33 (13 goals, 20 assists) in the 2019-20 season. 
  • T.J. Lloyd, Harrison Israels and Brady Risk are the three nominations for the Nanooks in the 2024 Hobey Baker Award. 
  • Risk is currently tied for 36th in the nation with his 29 points. Israels is tied for 13th with 16 goals.
  • Payton Matsui had a five-game scoring streak snapped on Jan. 27 at LIU - he picked right back up with an assist on Feb. 3 at Alaska Anchorage. In the seven game span he posted seven points with three goals, four assists.
  • In five games in January, Brady Risk had seven points. Payton Matsui had five, and Harrison Israels had four, all of his coming on goals. 
  • Jonny Sorenson broke back into the scoring column with two goals in the last three games. He's up to 10 points and snapped a six-game scoreless streak. 
  • Alaska is 8-4-1 when outshooting their opponents. They are 4-6-1 when not. They are also 8-5-1 when scoring first and 4-5-1 when opponents score first. 
  • The Nanooks are 2-2 in one-goal games this season; last season they were 9-5 in one-goal games and the year before they were 6-6.
Meet the Sun Devils
  • Arizona State comes into this weekend's matchups riding a win and tie over Lindenwood. After tying on Feb. 2 (4-4, SOW), they beat LU 5-1. 
  • Alaska will face LIU between ASU series'. ASU will face the Nanooks four-straight times as they take an off-week before heading North to the 49th State. 
  • The Sun Devils are led by Lukas Sillinger with 32 points on seven goals and 25 assists. His 25 assists ties him with Tim Lovell for the team-lead. 
  • Matthew Kopperud leads the Devils with 17 goals. He's one of two in double-digits for goal scoring. Tyler Gratton follows with a dozen. 
  • TJ Semptimphelter has been a staple in goal for the Sun Devils. He's played/started 24 games this season and is 14-5-4 with three shutouts. He's tallied a 2.52 GAA and a .908 save percentage on 579 saves this season. 
What's to Come
  • Six of the final eight games for the Nanooks after their Arizona State road-trip will come from the Carlson Center in Fairbanks. Their lone road-trip remaining will come on March 1-2 when they head to MIDCO Arena in Sioux Falls, SD for their first-ever road matchup with Augustana. The two sides split on Dec. 15-16 in Fairbanks earlier this season.
  • Feb. 16-17 will see the Nanooks face LIU in Fairbanks. These two sides met on Jan. 26-27 at LIU and the Nanooks left with a sweep.
  • Arizona State will come to town on Feb. 23-24 and complete the four-game season-series. 
  • Stonehill will come for a rare Wednesday/Thursday matchup at the Carlson Center to end the regular-season. 
  • As of Wednesday, Feb. 7, ASU is T-17th in the PairWise, LIU is T-51st and Stonehill is 64th. 
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Players Mentioned

Arvils Bergmanis

#38 Arvils Bergmanis

D
5' 11"
Junior
L
Harrison Israels

#24 Harrison Israels

F
6' 1"
Junior
L
T.J. Lloyd

#6 T.J. Lloyd

D
5' 9"
Graduate Student
R
Payton Matsui

#26 Payton Matsui

F
5' 7"
Junior
L
Brady Risk

#11 Brady Risk

F
5' 9"
Junior
R
Anton Rubtsov

#14 Anton Rubtsov

F
5' 10"
Junior
L
Jonny Sorenson

#4 Jonny Sorenson

F
6' 1"
Graduate Student
L

Players Mentioned

Arvils Bergmanis

#38 Arvils Bergmanis

5' 11"
Junior
L
D
Harrison Israels

#24 Harrison Israels

6' 1"
Junior
L
F
T.J. Lloyd

#6 T.J. Lloyd

5' 9"
Graduate Student
R
D
Payton Matsui

#26 Payton Matsui

5' 7"
Junior
L
F
Brady Risk

#11 Brady Risk

5' 9"
Junior
R
F
Anton Rubtsov

#14 Anton Rubtsov

5' 10"
Junior
L
F
Jonny Sorenson

#4 Jonny Sorenson

6' 1"
Graduate Student
L
F