Nanook hockey announces 2012-13 schedule
May 21, 2012
907-474-6807
5/21/12
Fourteen games against participants from the 2011 NCAA Tournament, six non-conference meetings including two tournaments – the Kendall Hockey Classic and Brice Alaska Goal Rush – as well as the final 28-game Central Collegiate Hockey Association slate, represent the 2012-13 Alaska Nanooks men's hockey schedule.
“Our strength of schedule next season is outstanding,” Alaska head coach Dallas Ferguson said. “Seven of the 15 teams we will play in the regular season are returning NCAA participants, five of which are in our league and includes the national runner-up; I'm looking forward to the challenge.”
After brushing up with an exhibition game against the University of Regina (Saskatchewan), the Nanooks play back-to-back in-state tournaments to kick-off their 34th NCAA campaign. They open the season at Alaska Anchorage's Kendall Hockey Classic meeting Air Force and Canisius, both of Atlantic Hockey, on Oct. 12-13 at Sullivan Arena.
The following weekend they host the fifth annual Brice Alaska Goal Rush and welcome Merrimack (Hockey East), North Dakota and UAA (both of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association) to the Carlson Center, Oct. 19-20.
“We have always felt that the preseason games have prepared us for the challenges we face in our league,” said Ferguson. “This year we are playing four programs that will force us to be at our best early to have the success we are after.”
Alaska opens its 21st and final CCHA season on the road, facing the 2012 national runner-up Ferris State Oct. 26-27 in Big Rapids.
“As we head into the last CCHA season we will have the same goal as every team in the league: we would like to be the last team to put our program's name on the Mason Cup,” Ferguson said. “There will be a lot of 'lasts' this year in regards to our membership in the league but we need to stay focused on what going to make us successful and we can't afford to be distracted with the things we can't control; all we can control is our work ethic and attitude we bring to the rink everyday.”
The Nanooks will make five other trips to the Lower 48 over the course of the season visiting Ohio State (Nov. 9-10) and Northern Michigan (Nov. 23-24) before the holiday break and Michigan (Jan. 11-12), Notre Dame (Jan. 18-19), Miami (Feb. 1-2) and Lake Superior State in 2013. OSU, Miami, NMU and LSSU share a cluster with the Nanooks this season.
“Cluster success needs to be a priority for our program,” Ferguson added. “History shows if you win the match-ups in your cluster, you will be positioned well in the standings at the end of the year.”
Their CCHA home-opener is Nov. 2-3 against the LSSU Lakers, who eliminated the Blue and Gold last March in Sault Saint Marie in the opening round of the 2012 conference playoffs. Western Michigan (Nov. 16-17), Miami (Nov. 30-Dec.1), Bowling Green (Dec. 7-8), NMU (Jan. 25-26), OSU (Feb. 8-9) and Michigan State (Feb. 22-23) will all make the trek to Fairbanks and faceoff against the Nanooks at the Carlson Center for two-game league series.
“I anticipate the CCHA schedule to be as tough or tougher then it was last season and in order to have success in the standings we need to be consistent in our performance from start to finish,” said Ferguson. “There are no free points in the CCHA and we have to approach each night with a huge amount of desperation for the points that are on the line.”
The 20th Alaska Airlines Governor's Cup will be decided from the home-and-home series between the Nanooks and their intrastate rival Seawolves. The teams faceoff in Fairbanks Mar. 1 and Alaska will work to extend its three-year Cup winning streak on Mar. 2 in Anchorage.
The CCHA's final conference playoffs and tournament will take place over three weekends with the first and second rounds taking place at campus sites, Mar 8-10 and Mar 15-17, respectively. The 2013 CCHA Championships will be hosted in Detroit at Joe Louis Arena Mar 22-23.
NCAA regional action takes place March 29-31 in Providence, R.I. (East), Manchester, N.H. (Northeast), Toledo, Ohio (Midwest) and Grand Rapids, Mich. (West).
The 2013 Frozen Four will be held April 11 and 13 at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh.