Hockey, seniors thirsty for fourth straight Governor's Cup
March 4, 2013
Jamie Foland
907-474-6807
The Alaska Nanooks see their final regular season action this weekend, taking on archrival Alaska Anchorage in a home-and-home series to determine the 2013 Alaska Airlines Governor's Cup champion. Friday the teams meet at the Carlson Center in Fairbanks at 7:05 p.m. AKST. Saturday they do battle in Anchorage at the Sullivan Arena at 7:07 p.m.
Here are the need to know notes about the Alaska Anchorage series and Alaska Hockey:
- This is the 20th anniversary of the Governor's Cup series between the Nanooks and the Seawolves. The Nanooks lead the all-time cup series 11-8 and are in the hunt for their fourth straight cup victory in this year's platinum edition of the annual intrastate battle.
- Alaska is 4-4-2 against UAA under head coach Dallas Ferguson. The Nanooks have won three of the last four Governor's Cup under Ferguson's guidance.
- UAA leads the all-time series between the teams 82-52-11. The Nanooks trail by just two games in the Fairbanks meetings, where UAA has the upper hand 34-32-6
- The Nanooks trail in the Anchorage meetings, 48-20-5, but are 6-6-2 under Ferguson at Sullivan Arena via four Kendall Hockey Classics and the previous three Governor's Cup away games. The Nanooks last win at the Sullivan over their intrastate rivals was a 7-4 triumph on Feb. 26, 2010.
- Alaska will honor its seven-member senior class prior to the start of Friday night's game at the Carlson Center. Alaska Hockey's class of 2013 consists of forwards Chad Gehon,Jarret Granberg, Nik Yaremchuk, Andy Taranto and Adam Henderson, defenseman Kaare Odegard and goalie Steve Thompson. The group has been a part of one Kendall Hockey Classic tournament title, three Brice Alaska Goal Rush titles, three CCHA home playoff series, the last three Alaska Airline's Governor's Cup titles and the program's historic first trip to the NCAA tournament, where they accounted for the first and only goal scored in the tournament.
- Senior right wing Andy Taranto leads all players with six goals and five assists good for 11 points in six career games against the Seawolves. Junior center Cody Kunyk ranks second with two goals and three assists good for five points in four career games against UAA.
- With 19 consecutive penalty kills dating back to Feb. 9, Alaska improved its penalty killing efficiency to 89.8 percent (132-of-147) good for a tie with Dartmouth for fourth in NCAA Division I and first for CCHA teams. Alaska's penalty kill also ranks first in league games with 115-of-129 successful kills or 89.1 percent.
- Friday night Alaska was kept off the scoreboard for just the second time this season as Miami blanked the Nanooks 4-0 at home on Dec. 1. It is the second time in as many meetings that the Spartans shut down Alaska offensively.
- Should Alaska and Michigan State hold onto their current spots in the league standings, the Spartans will make a second trip to Fairbanks in two weeks' time to play a first round best-of-three playoff series against the Nanooks. It would mark the second time in three years the teams will have met for their final regular season series in Fairbanks and then met two weeks later in the league playoffs.
- Senior right wing Andy Taranto scored twice on the power-play, including the game-winning goal, as the Nanooks finished their final CCHA season on a high note, beating the Michigan State Spartans 4-2 on Saturday at the Carlson Center. He is tied for the lead offensively with 12 goals and 12 assists in 32 games and is tied for fifth in league scoring with Notre Dame's Bryan Rust.
GAME CENTRAL
Date: Fri., Mar. 1 | Time: 7:05 p.m. AKT
Venue: Carlson Center | Location: Fairbanks, Alaska
Live Stats: AlaskaNanooks.com | Live Audio: KCBF 820 Sports
Live Video ($): AmericaOneSports.com | Radio: 820 AM Fairbanks
TV: Live at 7 p.m. (Anchorage only)
Date: Sat., Mar. 2 | Time: 7:07 p.m. AKT
Venue: Sullivan Arena | Location: Anchorage, Alaska
Live Stats: CollegeHockeyStats.net (National Scoreboard) | Live Audio: KCBF 820 Sports
Live Video ($): alaskananooks.com | Radio: 820 AM Fairbanks
TV: Live at 7 p.m. (Statewide but Anchorage)
Video Preview