Alaska Nanooks championship weekend

March 12, 2009

RIFLE — FT. WORTH, TEXAS

HOCKEY— CARLSON CENTER, FAIRBANKS, ALASKA

CCHA PLAYOFFS

ALASKA VS OHIO STATE

Whiteout Weekend

FRIDAY, 7:05 P.M.

SATURDAY, 7:05 P.M.

SUNDAY, 6:05 P.M. (If necessary)

SWIMMING— HOUSTON, TEXAS

SKING— RUMFORD, MAINE

championship week at uaf

crosscountry skiing hockey rifle swimming hockey rifle swimming crosscountry skiing rifle swimming crosscountry skiing hockey swimming crosscountry skiing hockey rifle crosscountry skiing hockey rifle swimming hockey rifle swimming crosscountry skiing rifle swimming crosscountry skiing hockey swimming crosscountry skiing hockey rifle crosscountry skiing hockey rifle swimming hockey rifle swimming crosscountry skiing rifle swimming crosscountry skiing hockey swimming crosscountry skiing hockey rifle crosscountry skiing hockey rifle swimming hockey rifle swimming crosscountry skiing rifle swimming crosscountry skiing hockey swimming crosscountry skiing hockey rifle crosscountry skiing hockey rifle swimming rifle swimming crosscountry skiing hockey swimming crosscountry skiing hockey rifle Johnny Wagner/News-Miner

S2

CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Thursday, March 12, 2009

Johnny Wagner/News-Miner

Alaska sophomore Taylor Beard concentrates between shots as the Nanook rifle team took on the University of Nebraska on Oct. 26 in the Patty Center. The Nanooks will be gunning for their 10th NCAA Division I championship in 11 years this weekend at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas.

Nanooks an underdog in bid for NCAA rifle crown

By MATIAS SAARI msaari@newsminer.com As their Alaska Nanooks seek a fourth straight NCAA Rifle Championship, Patrik Sartz and Cody Rutter don’t quite agree about the level of pressure and a possible underdog role.

There’s no question, though, that the Nanooks are in an unusual position as the fourth-ranked team after a regular season beset by struggles in the air gun discipline.

“It takes a little bit of pressure off us, and we can go in with hopefully a different mentality,” said Sartz, the defending individual champion in air rifle and a junior from Stora Sundby, Sweden.

Rutter, a sophomore from Palmyra, Penn., acknowledged there is pressure and said his team thrives on it.

“We all know that we love pressure situations ... so we’re going to be pumped up for the big match,” he said.

While the slate is wiped clean for the eight-team NCAAs, Alaska, with 9,283 points, trails top-ranked Kentucky (9,329), Jacksonville State (9,310) and West Virginia (9,303) in the College Rifle Coaches Association rankings. The Nanooks also lost a dual meet by 19 points at West Virginia this season, though they beat Kentucky at home in October.

In qualifying Feb. 14-15 at the Patty Center, the Nanooks put up a mediocre score of 4,635 while

Johnny Wagner/News-Miner

Alaska shooters, from left, Charles Whitmer and Patrik Sartz, take aim against The Citadel Bulldogs during the NCAA Qualifying Match on Feb. 15 at the Patty Center.

“It takes a little bit of pressure off us, and we can go in with hopefully a different mentality.”

— Patrik Sartz, Alaska Nanooks shooter

Kentucky and JSU each scored 4,671 and WVU put up 4,639.

The NCAA smallbore competition will be Friday at Texas Christian University, with the air rifle set for Saturday.

“I don’t feel like an underdog at all. I know everyone on this team can shoot,” Rutter said while taking a brief break in training last Thursday. “We’re going to come in there with a positive attitude and really shoot some high scores.”

Countered Sartz: “We’re underdogs for sure. We got beat by 35 points in qualifiers, which is huge.

Something is really going to need to happen, and I think these last weeks we’ve shown a lot of progress (in training).”

The designated qualifying match against The Citadel was a “rude awakening” that forced the Nanooks to buckle down and work on improving their shortcomings, particularly in air rifle, Rutter said.

“For us, coming in not No. 1 in qualifiers really hit home. It was not a happy feeling for us. It kind of pissed us off a little bit, so we definitely have an edge going in (to NCAAs),” Rutter said.

Rutter, who strives to challenge Sartz in the individual air rifle competition and is among the favorites for a smallbore national title, has been refining his technique in recent weeks.

“My approach onto the bull(’s-eye), it’s not been very consistent,” he said. “So I’ve been really trying to fine-tune it and make sure it’s the same way every single time.”

All of the Nanooks shooting for a team score

RIFLE

®

TAYLOR BEARD

JACE BURES

WILLIAM GALLIGAN

Year: Sophomore Hometown: Parker, CO

Year: Junior Hometown: Odell, NE

Year: Sophomore Hometown: Eagle River

CODY RUTTER

LAYNE LEWIS Year: Junior Hometown: Fairbanks

PATRIK SARTZ

Year: Sophomore Hometown: Palmyra, PA

Year: Junior Hometown: Stora Sundby, Sweden

— Sartz, Rutter and Billy Galligan of Eagle River in both disciplines, Taylor Beard in air gun and Jace Bures in smallbore — have competed at previous NCAA championships.

“We have more experience than most of the other teams and we want this really, really bad,” Sartz said at halftime of a Nanooks men’s basketball game on Saturday.

In the past, the Nanooks have dominated in air gun. Last year, Alaska trailed by six points after smallbore but pulled the title out in air rifle.

“I think we’re sitting real well in smallbore, but air gun is going to be where it’s won, for sure,” coach Dan Jordan said.

In air gun, it hurt to lose Cristofer Olofsson, who returned to Sweden, Jordan said. Therefore Sartz has had no one to push him and the team has been in a rut all season, he added.

DAN JORDAN Head Coach 4th Season

Jordan, who is now recovered from a December surgery related to his paralysis that forced him to miss two Nanooks’ road trips, said that he’s wary of the competition.

“Does it scare me? Well, every year scares the hell out of me,” Jordan said. “It’s never a given and in this town, people take it (winning NCAAs) as a given because we have had the success.”

The Nanooks’ dynasty has produced nine team championships in the last 10 years.

Jordan conceded that the Nanooks are not as intimidating as in past seasons.

“But in shooting there’s no defense, so there’s only so much intimidation to be done,” Jordan said.

“In a way, does it give (the competition) a little more hope that they can win? Yeah. But it all comes down to who puts the scores up that day.”

Contact staff writer Matias Saari at 459-7591.

Good luck, Nanooks!

This is your week to compete!

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The

CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Thursday, March 12, 2009

S3

Eric Engman and Johnny Wagner/News-Miner

Alaska Nanooks twin sisters Anna Coulter, left, and Julia Pierson pull for each other to do well while staying competitive with the top skiers in the country. The two Nanooks will join teammates Theresia Schnurr and Oyvind Watterdal at the NCAA Ski Championships in Rumford, Maine.

Coulter twins epitomize Nanooks ski program

By MATIAS SAARI msaari@newsminer.com Some siblings are devastated when they get beat by a brother or sister.

Don’t put the Coulter twins in that class, though.

“It’s crazy. In training, in racing, we always encourage each other,” said Julia (Coulter) Pierson.

“We’ve never been upset with each other because I beat her or she beat me.”

Said Anna Coulter, who placed runner-up to Julia at last Sunday’s Central Region Championships freestyle race: “I’m not upset if she beats me. I’d be more upset if she was two minutes behind me.”

Anna was practically begging Julia, who was in good position at the front of a five-skier lead group, to take off with two kilometers to go.

“I was hoping she would make a move. She had a great opportunity and she took it,” Anna said.

The Nordic skiers for the Alaska Nanooks aren’t merely talking nice. Take, for example, what happened during an NCAA-qualifying race this season, when Julia crashed early on and the pack, including Anna, skied away from her.

Anna heard Julia cry out as she fell. Though she lamented her sister’s misfortune, had no choice but to continue on.

Julia later managed to regain contact with the leading skiers, but then accidentally stepped on one of Anna’s poles. She immediately apologized. Anna, whose wrist tendonitis was aggravated from the jolt, would have been perturbed had the offender been any other skier.

Instead, Anna responded cheerfully: “That’s OK. Please see SKI, Page S10

SKIING ®

Theresia Schnurr

Year: Freshman Hometown: Buhlertal, Germany

Anna Coulter Year: Senior Hometown: Traverse City, MI

Oyvind Watterdal

Year: Senior Hometown: Notteroy, Norway

Scott Jerome

Head Coach 5th season

Julia Pierson Year: Senior Hometown: Traverse City, MI

Ingrid Olson Assistant Coach 5th season

G Good Luck in the play-offs and beyond! G O O N A N WHITEOUT WEEKEND WEAR WHITE SUPPORT THE NANOOKS! O SAVE THE DATE: O APRIL 4, 2009 Annual Hockey Awards Banquet at the Westmark $40 for adults • $15 for children 6-12 K JOIN THE FACE-OFF CLUB S AND SUPPORT NANOOK HOCKEY. HOCKEY !

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S4

CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Thursday, March 12, 2009

Alaska swim program makes waves on national level

By MATIAS SAARI msaari@newsminer.com Scott Lemley hadn’t even been hired to resurrect the Alaska Nanooks women’s swimming program — and already he was aiming high.

“When I was interviewed I said ‘I think within four or five years, we could be one of the top four or five teams in the country,’” Lemley recounted during an interview at his Patty Center office last week. “And I remember being greeted with kind of blank stares.”

The dumbfounded reaction was understandable, considering that swimming as a varsity sport at UAF had been dormant since 1987 before being reinstated in 2005. And initially the expectations were low, as the team had only three scholarships to recruit with and the first roster had some swimmers with limited experience.

“We had mostly walk-ons and we were going to a fairly tough conference. It was humbling the first year,” Lemley said. “We really took almost anybody we could get.”

While they’re not yet among the top five NCAA Division II programs in the nation, the Nanooks have quickly worked their way onto the collegiate swimming map with mixture of talented swimmers from Alaska, the Lower 48 and Europe. After sending just one swimmer (Kelly Becker) to the NCAA Championships in its first three years combined, this season six have qualified for the four-day NCAA meet that began Wednesday in Houston, Texas.

Lemley is shooting for a top-10 result among about 40 teams.

“We cover every single event but one,” said Lemley, adding that the omitted race, the 200 butterfly, was where Becker (who is sitting this year out to focus on academics) earned 10th place at NCAAs two seasons ago. “So had Kelly been on the team this year, we would have been going to nationals with a swimmer in every event, which is fairly rare.”

Qualifying this season are senior Samantha Zinsli, who has been with the program since its inception; junior Jacqueline van

Johnny Wagner/News-Miner

Alaska swimmer Sam Zinsli competes in the 1,650-yard freestyle event during an Oct. 11 dual meet against Lewis and Clark College at the Patty Center. Zinsli and five of her teammates are competing in the NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships in Houston, Texas.

Driessche of Seward, who came excruciatingly close to qualifying two years ago; sophomore Abbey Jackson of Petersburg; freshman Courtney Nichols of Columbia, S.C.; senior Mar Brunet from Mallorca, Spain; and sophomore Mariya Pavlovskaya of Korolev City, Russia, who claimed an individual title Feb. 20 in the 200 individual medley at the Pacific Collegiate Swim Conference championships.

“The entire team is on a different level. ... Basically having half our travel team qualify is pretty amazing,” van Driessche said. “I don’t think anyone could have done it without the other person swimming next to them.”

The flurry of NCAA qualifiers was certainly not predictable even a year ago, when the team underachieved at the conference championships. Much of the team was sick and in “emotional chaos” due to breaking off relationships on Valentine’s Day, the same day the championships splashed off.

Please see SWIM, Page S10

®

SWIMMING

Jacqueline van Driessche Year: Junior Event: Freestyle/Backstroke Hometown: Seward

Mar Brunet

Year: Senior Event: Backstroke/Freestyle Hometown: Mallorca, Spain

Samantha Zinsli

Year: Senior Event: Distance Freestyle Hometown: Kennewick, WA

Abbey Jackson

Year: Sophomore Event: Butterfly/Backstroke Hometown: Petersburg

Mariya Pavlovskaya

Courtney Nichols

Year: Sophomore Event: Backstroke/IM Hometown: Korolev City, Russia

Year: Freshman Event: Breaststroke/IM Hometown: Columbia, SC

Scott Lemley

Tracey Lammer

Heather King

Head Coach 4th Season

Assistant Coach 3rd Season

Assistant Coach 3rd Season

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CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Thursday, March 12, 2009

S5

Johnson is the man in net for Nanooks

By DANNY MARTIN dmartin@newsminer.com Patrick Galivan had a simple response on Feb. 14 when he was told that he was the first player to score an unassisted, solo breakaway goal in regulation on Chad Johnson during the career of the Alaska Nanooks senior goaltender.

“Wow!” said Galivan, a Western Michigan senior left wing, after the finale of a series between the Nanooks and the Broncos at the Lawson Ice Arena in Kalamazoo, Mich.

Galivan used a high backhand to beat the Hobey Baker Award and All-America candidate for the game’s first goal at 6:37 into the first period.

In the waning seconds of the game, Galivan had a reaction that’s been typical among many shooters this season who faced Johnson, who at the end of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association regular season led the conference in goals against average and saves percentage and ranked among the top netminders in NCAA Division I. Alaska was ahead 4-3 with 21 seconds left in the Valentine’s Day game, when Western Michigan gained a penalty shot after Nanooks senior center and team captain Adam Naglich was whistled for delay of game for knocking the net off its pins during a scramble in front of the crease.

On the penalty shot, Galivan faked a backhand and skated to the left side of the crease to shoot a forehand that Johnson deflected with the shaft of his stick.

“I was just trying a move that I used a couple of times a this year that’s worked, and I just wasn’t so fortunate,” Galivan said. “He’s a big goalie. He just read me well, and he made a good save.”

The save preserved the victory for the Nanooks, assured Alaska of at least eighth place in the CCHA for a playoff series at its home rink, the Carlson Center, for the first time in five years.

The Nanooks, though, went on to finish in fourth place (13-10-5-3

CCHA, 15-13-6 overall) and earn a first-round bye in the playoffs and play host to a best-of-three quarterfinal series against fifthseeded Ohio State this weekend.

“It was just timing and anticipating his speed,” Johnson said then of stopping Galivan’s penalty shot. “I wanted to be patient as much as I possibly can.”

Patience and calmness are two reasons that the 6-foot-3, 200pound native of Calgary, Alberta, ended the regular season with a 1.70 GAA that ranked second nationally and a .937 saves percentage that was third best in Division I. “He’s such a big kid, and he covers the net pretty well. He keeps his rebounds away from the net,” said University of Alaska Anchorage junior center Paul Crowder, who had two goals against the Nanooks in the Seawolves’ sweep of the Alaska Airlines Governor’s Cup Series on Feb. 27-28.

Johnson, 22, also is a key to the Nanooks having the nation’s best defense (1.74 goals allowed average) heading into the CCHA quarterfinal roud.

The 2006 fifth-round draft pick of the National Hockey League’s Pittsburgh Penguins has had a remarkable turnaround from last season. His junior campaign was hampered by a high ankle sprain that caused him to see action in only seven games, and he finished with an 0-6-0 record, 3.36 GAA and .893 saves percentage.

Johnson, during an interview last week at the Carlson Center, said his parents told him that he first showed his calmness at age 6 — when he debuted as a goaltender.

Johnson, though, sees himself as more frenzied between the pipes than spectators, coaches, teammates and opponents see him.

“In my head, I feel like everything is happening a lot faster than it is,” said Johnson, who compiled a 12-13-5 record this season. “In my head, I think I’m a little bit all over the map. ... I wonder if I’m really even trying sometimes, too.”

Johnny Wagner/News-Miner

Alaska goaltender Chad Johnson, right, blocks a shot by Ferris State’s Zach Redmond, left, during a Feb. 21 Central Collegiate Hockey Association game at the Carlson Center. The Nanooks rallied to a 3-2 overtime victory.

“I’d give up the Hobey Baker Award for an NCAA championship any day. To have the team success over the individual success is so much more important. ... For me to have success this year had a lot to do with our team. I’m not making 40 to 50 saves a night; I’m making 25 to 30. For me, having team success is a lot more exciting because these guys have helped me out so much.”

— Chad Johnson Alaska Nanooks goalie

The statistics and a few accolades say he tries hard.

He finished as the leader in the CCHA’s Perani Cup standings with 49 points. The standings were based on first-, second- and third-star honors presented after each game this season.

Besides the Hobey Baker and All-America nominations, he was selected last week as a goaltender for the West Team in the Frozen Four Skills Challenge on April 10.

Johnson and Michigan State AllAmerican Jeff Lerg are scheduled to face six shooters from the East

Team in a penalty-shot competition at the Verizon Center, which is playing host to the Division I national semifinals on April 9 and national championship game on April 11.

Johnson typically displays a calm demeanor off the ice, and he said he just carries his personality onto the ice.

“That’s how I’ve always wanted to play,” Johnson said, “and I’ve always looked at goalies who were calm and relaxed in certain situations ... pressure situations where they had that calmness about them, that confidence.”

A few calm NHL goaltenders he’s admired are Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens, Roberto Luongo of the Vancouver Canucks and Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils.

“They’re always there in the clutch,” Johnson said, “and they perform when they need to, make the key saves and make it look easy when the pressure is on.

“When the pressure is on, I’ve always wanted to be that kind of big-money goalie ... the guy, who when push comes to shove, I’ll be

there to make the big the saves, make it look easy and have that confidence when someone needs me to make a save.”

Johnson wants to help make the Nanooks a contender this season for the CCHA championship and help them earn a berth for the first time into the NCAA Tournament.

While he is honored by the personal accolades this season following his injury-shortened junior year, he said he’s always been a team player.

“I’d give up the Hobey Baker Award for an NCAA championship any day,” he said. “To have the team success over the individual success is so much more important. “... For me to have success this year had a lot to do with our team. I’m not making 40 to 50 saves a night; I’m making 25 to 30. For me, having team success is a lot more exciting because these guys have helped me out so much, and I try to help them out as much as I can, too.”

Contact staff writer Danny Martin at 459-7586.

Good Luck Nanooks!

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CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Thursday, March 12, 2009

Nanooks coaches teach their players well Ferguson’s philosophy catches on

By DANNY MARTIN dmartin@newsminer.com Dallas Ferguson is as much a teacher for the Alaska Nanooks as he is the first-year head coach of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association program. Ditto for assistant coaches Lance West and Brian Meisner.

“I think that’s an emphasis I want our staff to be known by,” Ferguson said during an interview last week at the Carlson Center. “I want our players to know that we’re all here for them, and that’s our job as coaches.

“We’re coaches on the ice, and we’re coaches off the ice. You have to care about people to be able to teach them, and you have to take the time to teach them right.”

Defense was one big thing that Ferguson and his staff taught the Nanooks this season.

It proved to be a lesson taught well by the coaches and learned well by the players. Alaska has the best defense in NCAA Division I (1.74 goals allowed average) heading into this weekend’s bestof-three CCHA quarterfinal series against fifth-seeded Ohio State at the Carlson Center.

The defense also helped the Nanooks place fourth in the CCHA in the regular season with a 13-10-5-3 conference and 1513-6 overall record, and earn a first-round bye in the playoffs and secure the quarterfinal series against the Buckeyes, who swept the 12th-seeded Bowling Green (Ohio) Falcons last weekend in a first-round series in Columbus, Ohio.

Ferguson, coincidentally, was a standout defenseman for the Nanooks from 1992-96, and his 104 career points (17 goals and 87 assists) rank 21st all-time among Alaska scorers.

When he was a Nanooks assis-

Johnny Wagner/News-Miner

The Alaska Nanooks listen to head coach Dallas Ferguson as they faced the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks on Jan. 16 at the Carlson Center. In his first season at the helm of the Nanooks, Ferguson led the Nanooks to a fourth-place finish in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association regular-season standings. The Nanooks host the Ohio State Buckeyes in a CCHA quarterfinal series starting Friday night at the Carlson Center. tant coach from 2004-08, he tutored a penalty-killing unit that ended the 2005-06 season with nation’s third-best efficiency.

He also helped coach two former Nanooks defensemen who have been on National Hockey League rosters this season.

Jordan Hendry (2003-06)

played in eight games for the Chicago Blackhawks earlier this year, before he returned to their American Hockey League affiliate in Rockford, Ill. Though he didn’t see ice time in his recent promotion, Darcy Campbell (2004-07) was called up from the AHL’s Lake Erie (Ohio) Monsters for a

few games with their NHL parent club, the Colorado Avalanche.

Ferguson also helped Tyler Eckford develop during his Nanooks career (2005-08), and last season as a junior, Eckford was named an All-American and the CCHA Offensive Defenseman of the Year. Eckford is spend-

Cary S. Keller, M.D., F.A.C.S.M. Ross N. Brudenell, M.D.

ing this season with the Lowell (Mass.) Devils, the AHL club of the New Jersey Devils.

When he played youth hockey, Ferguson’s coaches emphasized to him the importance of playing good defense.

Defense, though, is not a beall, end-all forte of Ferguson, who

is seemingly worthy of consideration for the 2008-09 CCHA Coach of the Year honor.

“I think some people look at it that we don’t create offensive opportunities, that we just sit back and trap,” Ferguson said.

Please see FERGUSON, Page S11

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CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Thursday, March 12, 2009

S7

A season to remember for Nanooks

By DANNY MARTIN dmartin@newsminer.com

I

t was a regular season in which the Alaska Nanooks defied the odds.

The Nanooks were picked in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association’s preseason polls to finish in 11th place in the 12-team conference.

They were coming off a 2007-08 season under thenhead coach Doc DelCastillo in which they posted a 9-21-5 record, including a ninth-place CCHA record of 8-16-4.

This season would be the first for Alaska under Dallas Ferguson, who had been an assistant coach for the team in the previous four seasons. There were a CCHA-high 12 freshmen coming in and the goaltending responsibilities would mostly belong to Chad Johnson, who suffered through his junior season with a high ankle sprain that limited him to seven games and a winless record (0-6-0).

All the Nanooks did this season was gain a quarterfinal series at the Carlson Center this weekend after finishing fourth in the CCHA with a 13-105-3 mark, their third-best record in the conference since becoming an official member in 1995-96.

Their 34 points in conference were also their highest ever in the CCHA. This season also saw Johnson, a senior, emerge among the top goaltenders in the nation and get nominated for the Hobey Baker Award, college hockey’s highest individual honor, and the Nanooks display the top defense in NCAA Division I throughout the season.

The following is a recap of the 2008-09 regular season.

Kendall Hockey Classic Oct. 10-11 in Anchorage Alaska 2, Northeastern 2 (Alaska won 1-0 in shootout) Alaska 5, Connecticut 0 Part of Ferguson’s regular-season, head-coaching debut was putting junior brothers Dion and Brandon Knelsen on the same line together for the first time since their freshman seasons.

The move resulted in the Nanooks tying the the powerhouse from Boston and Hockey East in the third period and forcing overtime in the opener of the four-team, two-day tournament. Dion made passes from each of the corners to the net, where the puck bounced off Brandon’s body each time and snuck past Huskies goaltender Brad Thiessen.

“It’s fun. Obviously, we have good chemistry and we played together a lot in the past,” Brandon Knelsen said.

Dion Knelsen deposited a wrist shot past Thiessen for the only score of the shootout. Johnson made 18 saves in his second career start in a regular-season opener.

The next night, freshman Scott Greenham turned away 13 shots from the Huskies of the Atlantic Hockey Association to join Wylie Rogers (2004-08) as the only Nanooks goaltenders to get shutouts in their first career start, and five differ-

Johnny Wagner/News-Miner

Members of the Alaska Nanooks hockey team rush to congratulate captain Adam Naglich after he scored an overtime goal to lift the Nanooks to a 3-2 victory over the Ferris State Bulldogs in a Feb. 21 Central Collegiate Hockey Association game at the Carlson Center. ent players scored to set up Alaska for the championship trophy.

The Nanooks got goals from sophomore left wing Ryan Hohl, senior right wing Braden Walls, sophomore left wing Dustin Sather, senior center and team captain Adam Naglich and junior right wing Cody Rymut to open the season unbeaten after starting winless in their first seven games of 2007-08 under DelCastillo.

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collegiate goal on a shorthanded play, and Naglich and Sather contributed even-strength goals to put the Nanooks in contention for their second straight tournament title.

The next night against Maine, though, the Nanooks spent half of the first period killing penalties and later fell 2-0 to the Hockey East squad, ending Alaska’s hopes of a earning another tournament title.

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Alaska 5, Mercyhurst 0 Maine 2, Alaska 0 In Alaska’s first game of its inaugural tournament, Walls scored twice and had an assist against the Lakers of Erie, Pa., and the Atlantic Hockey Association, and Greenham stopped 25 shots to become the first Alaska goalie to register shutouts in his first two starts.

The Nanooks also killed six power plays to support their rookie netminder.

Freshman center Justin Filzen scored his first

CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK

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Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Thursday, March 12, 2009

SEASON REVIEW: CCHA play begins Continued from Page S7

“That’s just not how we need to play,” Ferguson said. “We can’t be in the penalty box. ... I think it killed our momentum.”

Johnson recorded 23 saves while allowing goals from right wing Lem Randall and center Jeff Marshall. Freshman Scott Darling registered 24 saves for the Black Bears.

Bowling Green 1, Alaska 0 Alaska 3, Bowling Green 0 Oct. 24-25 at the Carlson Center The Nanooks opened Central Collegiate Hockey Association play by seeing Falcons senior Jimmy Spratt make 30 saves for his first career shutout, but also noticing Johnson stop 29 shots and help kill eight power plays.

Bowling Green senior right wing Brandon Svendsen scored from the slot at 16:46 of the third period after coming in for a shift change.

In the finale, Johnson stopped 27 shots to earn his first win since a 3-1 decision over Lake Superior State on Nov. 25, 2006 at the Carlson Center.

“I’ve always known that he’s a goalie with a lot of ability. Last night, we saw him really kind of shine and tonight was no different,” Bowling Green head coach Scott Paluch said. “He’s a big goalie that gets really square to the puck, and he has a calm demeanor.”

The Nanooks also ended a scoring drought of 127-plus minutes by getting a first-period goal from Dion Knelsen and second-period markers from Filzen and Walls.

Alaska 2, Miami 1 Miami 5, Alaska 0 Oct. 31-Nov. 1 in Oxford, Ohio The Nanooks outshot the RedHawks 13-0 for the first 18 minutes of the game on the way to the series-opening upset of the CCHA-leading and seventh-ranked team.

Johnson collected 21 saves and Dion Knelsen scored consecutive goals, including the game-winner on a low wrist shot from the high slot at 4:28 of the second period.

“I have to give credit to Alaska,” Miami head coach Enrico Blasi said. “They came out and took it to us, and we didn’t have an answer, especially early. They deserved to win that game, and there’s not much to say about that.”

Freshman goalie and former Fairbanks Ice Dog Cody Reichard had 22 saves and junior right wing Jarod Palmer denied Alaska a shutout with his power-play goal at 26 seconds into the third.

The RedHawks took it to the Nanooks in the finale, scoring twice in the first and three times in the third, while turning away 10 Alaska power plays.

“When we got pucks to the net, we were getting some chances,” Ferguson said. “... At the same time, if any power play is going to be successful, you have to have work ethic and commitment, and it seems like we relax a little bit on the power play, where we have to take it the other way and almost pick it up a notch.”

Johnson made 20 saves for Alaska, which slipped into a three-way for third place. The RedHawks got two goals each from sophomores Carter

Camper and Andy Miele and freshman Connor Knapp made 23 saves.

Alaska 4, Michigan 1 Michigan 3, Alaska 2 Nov. 7-8 at the Carlson Center Four different Alaska players scored in the opener, when the Nanooks overcame a 1-0 deficit in the first period and survived a penalty-free game by the seventh-ranked Wolverines.

Freshman defenseman Scott Enders provided the game-winner in the second period by collecting a loose puck at the right point and flinging it toward Michigan goaltender Billy Sauer, who had put his glove down to stop the puck. The Wolverines senior instead saw the puck bounce off of his glove and sail high enough to land behind him in the net.

“I was trying to shoot for the net. ... I was kind of shocked when it actually jumped up over the goalie’s glove,” Enders said of his first collegiate goal.

Naglich had the game-tying goal early in the second, Dion Knelsen and sophomore left wing Kevin Petovello scored in the third period, and Johnson recorded 30 saves.

Michigan took the finale with left wing Brian Lebler’s power-play goal at 1 minute into the third.

Alaska, though, saw its power play come to life on a night when the power went out. The game started 25 minutes late because of a power outage that occured at 5:40 p.m. and lasted 50 minutes.

The Nanooks got power-play goals from Dion Knelsen in the first period and Enders in the third after entering the game 3-for-53 with the manadvantage. Johnson had 25 saves to counterpart Bryan Hogan’s 23.

Alaska 3, Ferris State 2 Alaska 2, Ferris State 0 Nov. 21-22 in Big Rapids, Mich.

Naglich scored the game-winner at 13:28 of the third with an odd-angle backhand from the left corner, starting a seven-game unbeaten streak for the Nanooks and the first of four wins this season against their scheduling clustermate.

Naglich said he blacked out on the game-winning goal, which was set up by Dustin Sather’s fling into the left corner. Naglich chased the puck into the corner and whipped a backhand along the goal line to strike the back of Bulldogs goatlender Taylor Nelson’s skate and float into the net.

“I don’t even remember what happened. ... It just happened,” the Alaska senior said. “We just needed to get to the net, and it went in.”

Hohl had game-tying goals in the second and third, and Johnson, after allowing goals by junior center Aaron Lewicki and sophomore defenseman Scott Wietecha, finished with 39 saves.

Johnson stopped 30 shots and recorded his third career shutout in the finale, where freshman right wing Justin Brossman scored 34 seconds into the third period and sophomore center Derek Klassen later added an empty-net goal.

Besides denying every Bulldogs shot, Johnson secured a 7-for-7 penalty kill, and finished his Alaska career with an unbeaten record (3-0-1) in the Ewigleben Ice Arena.

“It’s nice. Obviously, when you get a shutout,

Johnny Wagner/News-Miner

Alaska’s Justin Brossman blasts a shot against the University of Michigan on Nov. 7 at the Carlson Center. The Nanooks skated to a 4-1 victory. you’re putting your team in a good position to win games,” Johnson said. “For me, I don’t really look at beating records. It’s not really my goal for the year, which is to come out in every game and try to help the team win.”

Alaska 4, Lake Superior State 1 Alaska 1, Lake Superior State 1 (Alaska won shootout 1-0) Freshman left wing Carlo Finucci, after sitting out four straight games as a healthy scratch, contributed a goal and an assist in the series opener.

“I just did what the coaches wanted me to do in

practice and I worked my way into the lineup,” said Finucci, the leading scorer in the British Columbia Hockey League last season. “I just came in here relaxed and I had a couple of good linemates (senior center Adam Naglich and senior right wing Braden Walls), and that helped as well.”

Naglich also had a goal and an assist; freshman center Ron Meyers scored his first collegiate goal and Klassen added a score. Johnson made 23 saves, just allowing sophomore center Rick Schofield’s Please see SEASON REVIEW, Page S9

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CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Thursday, March 12, 2009

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SEASON REVIEW Continued from Page S8

backhand rebound in the second period.

The next night, the Nanooks experienced their first CCHA shootout after Lakers left wing Troy Schwab and Alaska defenseman Dustin Molle exchanged goals in the first period and the teams went scoreless in overtime.

Naglich provided the shootout tally after Johnson turned away three Lakers in the shootout.

Alaska 0, Nebraska-Omaha 0 (Nebraska-Omaha won shootout 2-1) Alaska 1, Nebraska-Omaha 1 (Alaska won shootout 2-1) Dec. 5-6 in Omaha, Neb. Nearly nine months after the teams met in the Qwest Center in one of college hockey’s longest games, neither squad could get a puck past Johnson or Mavericks sophomore Jeremie Dupont for 65 minutes in this season’s first meeting between the CCHA rivalry partners.

Johnson recorded his fourth career shutout after making 28 saves, while Dupont stopped 31 shots.

The Mavericks won in the shootout with conversions from Rich Purslow and Alex Hudson while Hohl scored for the Nanooks.

Both teams scored the next night in the third period of the finale. Naglich produced a shorthanded goal at 12:09, and Mavericks freshman defenseman Matt Smith responded with a 100-foot shot 1 minute, 1 second later.

Hohl and Petovello secured the victory in the shootout for Alaska and left wing Dan Charleston converted his shootout opportunity for NebraskaOmaha.

On March 9, 2008, the Mavericks defeated the Nanooks 2-1 in triple overtime in the third game of a CCHA first-round playoff series. The 104-minute,13-second contest was the ninth-longest game in NCAA hockey history.

Alaska 6, Western Michigan 3 Western Michigan 3, Alaska 2 (OT) Dec. 19-20 at the Carlson Center Hohl and Walls produced two goals apiece, Johnson made 20 saves and the 18th-ranked Nanooks recorded their ninth overall victory to match their entire win total of 2007-08.

The Nanooks also went a season-best 3-for-7 on the power play.

Senior left wing Patrick Galvin had a goal and two assists for the last-place Broncos, whose overtime win the next night in the finale ended a seven-game unbeaten streak (4-0-3).

Western Michigan sophomore center Max Campbell scored the game-winner with a soft backhand at 1:11 of the extra period.

Centers Dion Knelsen and Naglich had rallied Alaska for a 2-1 lead in the third period. Sophomore center Ryan Campbell forced overtime for the Broncos by scoring with 29 seconds left in the third period after goaltender Riley Gill was pulled for an extra attacker.

“I told the guys that, obviously, it’s a bitter taste when you lose in overtime, but by no means does that take away from what we’ve done so far to this point of the season.”

Johnson had 24 saves to Gill’s 35.

Johnny Wagner/News-Miner

Alaska freshman Adam Cardwell, right, scores the first goal of his collegiate career in a Jan. 30 Central Collegiate Hockey Association game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at the Carlson Center. The Nanooks posted a 4-1 win.

Michigan State 2, Alaska 1 Alaska 3, Michigan State 1 Jan. 2-3 in East Lansing, Mich.

The Nanooks opened the new year with a split at the home of the 2007 NCAA Division I national champion.

In the opener, freshman defenseman Joe Sova scored at 17:16 of the first period and Alaska held off Michigan State until Daulton Leveille popped in a power-play goal for the last-place Spartans at 16:25 of the third and Dustin Gazley scored the game-winner 1 minute, 26 seconds later.

“I have to give Michigan State credit; they stuck with it and they deserved to win,” Ferguson said.

“It’s a 60-minute game and you can’t play for (56 minutes) and think the game is over.”

Johnson notched 25 saves and Michigan State All-American Jeff Lerg stopped 35.

Sophomore center Derek Klassen scored twice and Petovello dispensed two assists to help Alaska gain the split and their eighth conference win, matching last season’s total.

Greenham recorded 18 saves in his first CCHA start and allowed the first goal of his career, a power-play marker by Spartans freshman right wing Andrew Conboy in the second period.

Notre Dame 2, Alaska 0 Notre Dame 3, Alaska 0 Jan. 9-10 in Notre Dame, Ind.

The 19th-ranked Nanooks became the only team in NCAA Division I this season to hold the top-ranked Fighting Irish scoreless in the first two periods each night of a series.

Notre Dame, though, ended Alaska’s distinction as being the only team in the CCHA to get at least two points in every series, as the Nanooks had done in their first eight conference series of the season.

Junior left wing Ryan Thang’s power-play goal and senior right wing Erik Condra’s empty-netter in the third period supported a 16-save night from senior and South Anchorage High School graduate Jordan Pearce. Johnson had 28 saves in a stellar effort.

Notre Dame’s patient attack in the finale led to the sweep.

“Alaska is a tough defensive team,” said left wing Garrett Regan, one of Notre Dame’s scorers.

“We knew we’d have to outpatient a patient team.”

Alaska, though, had more shots (22) compared to the opener (16), but it got shut out in a CCHA series for the first time since becoming an official conference member in 1995-96.

“I don’t like being swept and I’m not happy with it, and I don’t think our team is happy with it,” Ferguson said. “... We’ve got 10 CCHA games left and no one is going to feel sorry for us. We’ve got to go back to Fairbanks and get working again.”

Thang and center Ben Ryan also scored for Notre Dame, which got 22 saves from Pearce. Johnson stopped 26 shots from the Fighting Irish.

Alaska 2, Nebraska-Omaha 0 Alaska 1, Nebraska-Omaha 1 (Alaska won shootout 1-0) Jan. 16-17 at the Carlson Center.

Alaska assured itself of an unbeaten record this season (1-0-3 overall) against its perpetual scheduling clustermate in the CCHA after going 0-3-1 last season against the Mavericks.

In the opener, Johnson turned aside 32 shots to earn his fifth career shutout and Walls accounted for both goals. The Nanooks peppered Dupont with 43 shots, their second-highest output of the season.

“When rebounds came out, guys were ready,” Walls said, “and we actually had a few second opportunities tonight because of that.”

The Nanooks prevailed in the finale in their third shootout of the season against the Mavericks.

Hohl scored for Alaska in the first period, and Charleston did likewise in the second for NebraskaOmaha.

Hohl also accounted for the lone shootout tally, his third of the season against the Mavericks, while Johnson denied Nebraska-Omaha’s three participants.

Please see SEASON REVIEW, Page S10

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CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Thursday, March 12, 2009

SEASON REVIEW: Heading toward the CCHA playoffs ALASKA NANOOKS HOCKEY

Continued from Page S9

Northern Michigan 2, Alaska 0 Alaska 2, Northern Michigan 2 (Northern Michigan won shootout 2-0) Jan. 23-24 in Marquette, Mich.

Northerrn Michigan junior goaltender Brian Stewart denied 24 shots and sophomore center Jared Brown and Sterling native and junior left wing Billy Smith scored to continue Alaska’s woes in Marquette, Mich.

Alaska, 1-11-4 all-time in the Upper Peninsula city, rallied for a tie in the finale, aided by getting 19 shots in the third period, the most they compiled in a final period of regulation this season.

Erik Gustafson and Ray Kaunisto spotted Northern Michigan to a 2-0 lead at less than five minutes into the second, and Brandon Knelsen made it 2-1 for Alaska at 17:43 of the period.

Walls, with helpers from defenseman Bryant Molle and Hohl, tied the game with a shot from the right circle at 8:16 of the third. Greenham, in his second CCHA career start, collected 21 saves to become the first goalie in Nanooks history to go unbeaten (3-0-1) in his first four career starts.

Alaska 4, Ohio State 1 Ohio State 6, Alaska 2 Jan. 30-31 at the Carlson Center The Nanooks built upon a 2-0 lead in the first period to win the opener and fell into a 5-0 hole in the opening period en route to losing the finale.

Freshman left wing Adam Cardwell scored his first collegiate goal in the first period of the opener, where sophomore left wing Petovello also ended an 18-game scoreless streak to give the Nanooks the 2-0 lead. Hohl added a power-play goal in the third period, when Meyers also scored — the second goal of his career. Johnson notched 23 saves and missed his sixth career shutout after Buckeyes left wing Kyle Reed scored in the third.

In the finale, Johnson was pulled for Greenham after the senior allowed four goals on eight shots in the first period.

The Buckeyes’ offense was led by sophomore right wing Peter Boyd with a goal and two assists, and a goal from sophomore left wing and Fairbanks native Hunter Bishop.

The Nanooks got their goals in a 25-second span in the third from Petovello and Brandon Knelsen, and Greenham compiled 24 saves.

Western Michigan 3, Alaska 0 Alaska 4, Western Michigan 3 Feb. 13-14 in Kalamazoo, Mich.

The scheduling clustermates ended their regular-season series (2-2) and after winning the finale, the Nanooks clinched a home playoff series for the first time in five years.

In the opener, the Nanooks ran into a hot goaltender in Riley Gill, as the junior stopped 41 shots, the third most generated in a game this season by Alaska.

An indication of the night for the Nanooks was with 1:51 left in the game, Gill, while down, made a point-blank glove save on Dion Knelsen’s high shot in front of the crease.

Johnson made 19 saves, allowing power-play goals by Tyler Ludwig and J.J. Crew. Patrick Galivan scored into an empty net on the way to a five-point weekend for the senior left wing.

The Nanooks finished the series the next night with a one-goal win, as Hohl slipped a power-play goal behind Gill for the game-winner at 10:16 of the second period.

Freshman defeneseman Aaron Gens had his first two collegiate goals, Dion Knelsen contributed a power-play marker, sophomore left wing Dustin Sather dispensed three assists

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and Johnson had 24 saves for the Nanooks, who assured themselves of placing no worse than eighth place in the CCHA to earn a first-round playoff series at the Carlson Center.

Alaska 2, Ferris State 1 Alaska 3, Ferris State 2 (OT) Feb. 20-21 at the Carlson Center The Nanooks swept a four-game season series from a CCHA opponent for the first time in Alaska history and put themselves in contention for a first-round bye in the playoffs and the opportunity to play host to a quarterfinal series.

The Nanooks secured the opening-night win in the third period with Petovello’s shorthanded marker at 10:50 and Meyers’ rebound shot at 13:21 after sophomore left wing Justin Menke scored in the first period for the Bulldogs.

Johnson had 28 saves, and Ferris State junior counterpart Pat Nagle made 30. Naglich, aided by Bryant Molle and Brandon Knelsen, provided the game-winner and the series clincher with a breakaway at 1:16 of overtime.

Petovello forced overtime with his third-period goal and Dion Knelsen scored in the second period after Ferris State took a 2-0 lead with goals from senior center Brendon Connolly and Menke during the first five minutes of the period.

Ferris State freshman goalie Taylor Nagle made 27 saves and Johnson had 23. The Alaska goalie was among five Nanooks seniors (Walls, Naglich, defenseman Steve Vanoosten and wing/center Trevor Hyatt) who finished their careers unbeaten (8-0-2) against Ferris State.

Alaska Anchorage 1, Alaska 0 Alaska Anchorage 3, Alaska 0 The Alaska Airlines Governor’s Cup Series was bittersweet for the Nanooks.

On the day of the finale, the Nanooks learned that fifthplace Ohio State lost 7-5 to second-place Miami, cliniching fourth place in the CCHA for Alaska and a quarterfinal series at the Carlson Center. One point separated Alaska (34) from Ohio State (33) in the league’s final regular-season standings.

Amid their conference accomplishment, the Nanooks were shut out both nights by their intrastate rival, which raised the Cup for the third straight year and raised its unbeaten streak against the Nanooks to 10 games (8-0-2).

Paul Crowder, a junior center for UAA of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, scored on a power play in the third period of the opener after Johnson (30 saves) and UAA sophomore Bryce Christianson (31 saves) had engaged in a goaltender’s duel.

Each team had 15 shots in the finale, but UAA capitalized on three of its shots. Kane LaFranchise scored on a power play in the first period, fellow defenseman Nils Backstrom added an even-strength tally in the second and Crowder made a shorthanded empty-net deposit in the third.

Christianson earned his second shutout of the season and Johnson made 12 saves.

“I think you’ve got a bunch of guys in there (lockerroom) who realize they got beat 1-0 and 3-0,” Ferguson said.

“They don’t feel good about it, and I don’t feel good about it because I feel, for the most part, we didn’t put our best foot forward.”

SWIM: Six compete at nationals Continued from Page S4

“We were a snowball going straight downhill,” Lemley said.

There have been many factors to the Nanooks’ culminating rise this season.

“It’s been a natural evolution. It’s just been faster than expected,” Lemley said.

For one, their talent has improved after their scholarships increased from three to five to six to the maximum eight this season, Lemley said.

The swimmers also have bought into an intense training program that includes two-a-day workouts (from 5:307:30 a.m. and 2-4 p.m.) and a training trip at altitude in Flagstaff, Ariz., during the semester break in January.

But perhaps the biggest factors have been the team feeding off each other’s

success, the squad’s camaraderie and having swimmers that push each other in training.

“It’s really competitive (in practice), but it’s supportive also,” said Pavlovskaya, the team’s most versatile swimmer.

“It’s easier mentally to have others working hard next to you.”

Said Zinsli, a captain from Kennewick, Wash.: “I definitely notice our team is a lot closer this year. We just came together as a team.”

And don’t discount the new Blue Seventy swim suits that are reportedly even faster than the Speedos worn at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

“You feel super-light in the water. It’s just magic,” Pavlovskaya said, her eyes lighting up.

Contact staff writer Matias Saari at 4597591.

SKI: Coulter twins push each other Continued from Page S3

You’re back!”

The twins, of Traverse City, Mich., are uncannily similar not just in appearance (Anna always wears earrings to help differentiate herself) but in their results during the past several years. Who beats whom seems to be almost random. In running time trials on Ester Dome and more than 3,000 meters last year, they even clocked the same times.

Two years ago, Julia earned All-America honors with a ninth place finish in the NCAA freestyle event as Anna redshirted. Last season, it was Julia’s turn to redshirt, and Anna promptly matched her ninth place at NCAAs. “We did not plan that,” Julia said with a laugh during a study break last week in Houghton, Mich.

The twins have been ski racing together since they were 8 years old. Their childhood competition, or collaboration, also extended to basketball, volleyball, track and soccer.

On Thursday in Rumford, Maine, the pair — now fourth-year students but juniors athletically — will participate in interval-start classic-technique races at the NCAA Championships. On Saturday, there may be an opportunity to work together in a mass-start 15-kilometer freestyle event as each strives to make the All-America team again in their stronger discipline.

Coach Scott Jerome calls the twins the “cornerstone” of the program, not just

for their talent but because of their community involvement, strong academics and positive representation of UAF for what will be five years.

“They’re unbelievable. You couldn’t ask for a better pair of people to work with,” Jerome said. “When we signed those two in the spring of 2005, that set the tone for Alaska Nanooks skiing for the next several years.”

Jerome said the twins are coachable, good teammates and take their skiing and academics seriously.

“That’s all you could ask for,” he said.

While Coulter and Pierson, along with freshman Theresia Schnurr, solidified their NCAA spots this season (each school can qualify only three skiers per gender), next year will be an even bigger challenge because Aurelia Korthauer (who is redshirting) will be back and Elisabeth Habermann (who didn’t make NCAAs this year) will be hungry to qualify again.

That means five skiers will be competing for three spots, and conceivably one Coulter twin could knock the other one out.

“Coulter-Pierson aren’t afraid of that.

They’re excited about (the competition),” Jerome said.

Said Julia: “I’ll feel happy for them if I don’t make it, but I hope I’m not (left out).”

Contact staff writer Matias Saari at 4597591.

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CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Thursday, March 12, 2009

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RON MEYERS

Position: Right Wing Class: Freshman Hometown: Prince Albert, SK Height, Weight: 5-9, 180 Shot: Right

DEREK BRADISH

Position: Defenseman Class: Freshman Hometown: Fairbanks Height, Weight: 6-2, 200 Shot: Right

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BRADEN WALLS

Position: Defenseman Class: Senior Hometown: Surrey, BC Height, Weight: 6-1, 193 Shot: Right

Position: Right Wing Class: Senior Hometown: Calgary, AB Height, Weight: 6-1, 211 Shot: Right

JUSTIN FILZEN

Position: Center Class: Freshman Hometown: Proctor, MN Height, Weight: 6-0, 190 Shot: Left

Position: Defenseman Class: Freshman Hometown: Anchorage Height, Weight: 6-1, 205 Shot: Right

Position: Defenseman Class: Freshman Hometown: Edmonton, AB Height, Weight: 6-0, 190 Shot: Right

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ADAM NAGLICH

Position: Center Class: Senior Hometown: Las Vegas, NV Height, Weight: 6-1, 195 Shot: Right

RYAN HOHL

Position: Left wing Class: Sophomore Hometown: Northville, MI Height, Weight: 5-9, 184 Shot: Left

Position: Left Wing/Center Class: Freshman Hometown: Whitehorse, YT Height, Weight: 5-9, 190 Shot: Left

Position: Defenseman Class: Junior Hometown: Anchorage Height, Weight: 6-2, 214 Shot: Left

Position: Goalie Class: Freshman Hometown: Addison, ON Height, Weight: 6-2, 180 Shot: Left

JUSTIN BROSSMAN

Position: Right Wing Class: Freshman Hometown: West Linn, OR Height, Weight: 5-10, 185 Shot: Right

ERIC BABCOOK

Position: Goalie Class: Freshman Hometown: Centennial, CO Height, Weight: 6-1, 186 Shot: Left

BRANDON KNELSEN

Position: Right wing Class: Junior Hometown: Three Hills,AB Height, Weight: 5-11, 194 Shot: Right

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TREVOR HYATT

Position: Center Class: Freshman Hometown: Long Beach, CA Height, Weight: 5-8, 185 Shot: Right

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CODY RYMUT

Position: Left Wing Class: Junior Hometown: Bonnyville, AB Height, Weight: 6-1, 195 Shot: Left

Position: Defenseman Class: Freshman Hometown: Berwyn, IL Height, Weight: 6-3, 190 Shot: Left

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ADAM CARDWELL

Position: Left wing Class: Senior Hometown: Anchorage Height, Weight: 5-9, 187 Shot: Left

JOE SOVA

DON KNELSEN

Position: Center Class: Junior Hometown: Three Hills, AB Height, Weight: 5-9, 185 Shot: Left

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CHAD JOHNSON

Position: Goalie Class: Senior Hometown: Calgary, AB Height, Weight: 6-3, 200 Shot: Left

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DUSTIN SATHER

Position: Left Wing Class: Sophomore Hometown: Wanham, AB Height, Weight: 5-8, 160 Shot: Left

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SCOTT GREENHAM

Position: Left wing Class: Sophomore Hometown: Sparwood, BC Height, Weight: 6-0, 190 Shot: Left

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DEREK KLASSEN

DUSTIN MOLLE

KEVIN PETOVELLO

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CODY BUTCHER

SCOTT ENDERS

Position: Defenseman Class: Sophomore Hometown: Anchorage Height, Weight: 6-3, 210 Shot: Left

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BRYANT MOLLE

Position: Defenseman Class: Freshman Hometown: Baudette, MN Height, Weight: 6-1, 210 Shot: Right

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STEVE VANOOSTEN

AARON GENS

Asst. Coach Asst. Coach

Equip. Mgr.

CARLO FINUCCI

Position: Center Class: Freshman Hometown: Burnaby, BC Height, Weight: 5-10, 195 Shot: Left

DALLAS FERGUSON

BRIAN MEISNER

LANCE LANCEWEST WEST

RUSTY ALDRIDGE

FERGUSON: First-year Alaska Nanooks coach and his staff make big impression on players Continued from Page S6

“That’s not our team at all. Our team works hard. We like to get in on the forecheck, and we like to get after you.”

It’s a philosophy he refers to as playing away from the puck.

“When we don’t have the puck, let’s work our tails off to get it back as quickly as we can,” Ferguson said, “because we can’t score if we don’t have the puck. We can’t create scoring opportunities if we don’t have the puck.”

Ferguson had a little nervousness on the first day of practice Sept. 15 at the

University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Patty Center. On the same day, West was beginning a full-time role as a Nanooks assistant coach after serving as a volunteer assistant coach and the team’s video coordinator in 2007-08 under then-head coach Doc DelCastillo, and Meisner was beginning as an Alaska assistant coach after serving in the same role last season for Connecticut of the Atlantic Hockey Association.

Before coming to UAF, West spent seven seasons as an assistant coach at Alabama-Huntsville, and Meisner, before going to UConn, spent 10 seasons in

Junior hockey, including serving as head coach and general manager of the North American Hockey League’s Wichita Falls (Texas) Wildcats, where he coached current Nanooks freshman left wing Adam Cardwell.

“It was just about getting the adrenaline rush, working hard and kind of getting it (first day of practice) out of our system,” Ferguson said, “but I was keeping in mind that it’s a process.”

“When I got the job, I was real excited,” said Ferguson, who replaced DelCastillo after DelCastillo resigned last April following an 8-16-4 CCHA and 9-21-5

The UAF Alumni Association

to make sure that’s what we’re doing in Alaska — the couple of hours that we spend at the rink every day are going to be the funnest couple of hours of the day.

He definitely lightens the mood; he’s a great guy and a great coach.”

Ferguson can instill a serious, business-like atmosphere, too.

“The drills he sets up, the way he acts brings a fun and happy atmosphere to everything,” Klassen said, “but that’s not to say that he’s not stern when he needs to be.

“But he definitely makes it fun to come to the rink.”

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overall finish, “but I realized there’s a process that needs to happen as far as teaching, and one of the emphases for me has always been teaching.”

Something else he taught the Nanooks this season was to have fun in practices — but to work hard, too.

“To start off,” Nanooks sophomore center Derek Klassen said last week, “a couple of the first things he told us were that what we needed to do here is to have hard work and commitment, and you’ve got to love what you do coming to the rink.

“He definitely it takes it upon himself

CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Thursday, March 12, 2009

University of Alaska Athletics Department salutes all our student athletes for their effort and commitment to our athletic programs.

Our special congratulations to...

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UAF Rifle Team goes af ter its 4th straight, NCAA championship March 13 & 14 at Texas Ch ristian University

We sincerely thank our community and the dozens of sponsors for their incredible loyalty and support!

2008-09 Alaska Nanooks Sponsors A & W Wholesale Co Inc ABC Alaska Alaska Airlines - Official Airline Sponsor for the 2007 BP Top of the World Classic Alaska Club Fairbanks ACS - Official Wireless Phone Provider for the Alaska Nanooks Alaska Distributors Alaska Document Systems Alaska Gold ‘N Gems Alaska Riverways: Riverboat Discovery and El Dorado Gold Mine Alpine Lodge - Official Hotel Partner of the Alaska Nanooks Auto Service Company - Auto Service Company Nanook Classic & Alaska Nanooks Courtesy Car Provider: Avis Rent-A-Car - Alaska Nanooks Rent-ACar Sponsor Award Makers Baker & Associates BP Exploration Alaska, Inc. Brice Inc. Capital Office Systems Carlson Center Chena Obstetrics & Gynecology Dr. Christopher Henry, DMD Clear Channel Communications

Coca-Cola ConocoPhillips Alaska Cook & Haugeberg, LLC Denali State Bank Elks Lodge, BPOE #1551 Fairbanks Daily News-Miner Fairbanks Memorial Hospital Fairbanks Natural Gas Fairbanks Princess Riverside Lodge Official Hotel Partner of the Alaska Nanooks Fairbanks Title Agency Inc Fairbanks Youth Sports First National Bank Alaska Flint Hills Resources, LP Fred Meyer Inc Frontier Flying Service Gary Sawdy, DDS GCI Gene’s Chrysler - Alaska Nanooks Courtesy Car Provider Great Northwest, Inc. Heindl’s Car & Truck Sales & Service Alaska Nanooks Courtesy Car Provider Holland America Tours - Official Motor Coach Transportation of Alaska Nanooks Hockey

Homewood Suites, Hilton Garden Inn, and Hampton Inn - Alaska Nanooks Host Hotels for the 2007 Alaska Airlines Governor’s Cup IBEW - IBEW Nanook Fund Golf Scramble JL Properties Key Bank of Alaska Kreative Kutz KTVF Channel 11 Lou’s TV and Satellite Service McAfee Chiropractic MacCheyne’s Carpets Plus MAC Federal Credit Union McDonald’s Restaurants Mongold Insurance Mt. McKinley Bank - Mt. McKinley Bank North Star Invitational Nanook Dental New Northwest Broadcasters Northern Schools Federal Credit Union Pike’s Waterfront Lodge - Official Hotel Partner of the Alaska Nanooks Pizza Hut Play It Again Sports Plumbers & Pipefitters, Local 375 Powerade Pump House Restaurant REVL Communications

UAF is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer and educational institution.

Santa’s Stitches Custom Embroidery Seekins Ford Lincoln Mercury - Alaska Nanooks Courtesy Car Provider Sophie Station Hotel and Wedgewood Resort Spenard Builders Supply Sportsman’s Warehouse Sportsmedicine Fairbanks - Official Team Physician for the Alaska Nanooks since 1990 Springhill Suites by Marriott - Official Hotel Partner of the Alaska Nanooks Tanana Valley Television Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. - Toyota Player of the Game Trademark UA College Savings Plan UAF Alumni Association UAF Dining Services UAF Printing Services Unisource Usibelli Coal Mine, Inc. Utility Services of Alaska Inc Wells Fargo Westmark Fairbanks Hotel - Official Hotel Partner of the Alaska Nanooks

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