2011 Alaska Nanook Offseason: Wake Me Up When September Ends

[Squarebanks]

Re: 2011 Alaska Nanook Offseason: Wake Me Up When September Ends

Other guys will step up in Sova's place but it still hurts to lose him. Looking forward to seeing him in the NHL eventually though.

I definitely don't doubt Taranto's injuries, and I was happy to see him start to get back to his old self in the last third of the season. If he has a year like his freshman year next year, I'd be surprised to see him back in a Nanook sweater after next season.

We have the ability, and if Kunyk continues his playmaker role we have the potential to have a good year next year. I know our offensive woes wore heavily on the staff and players; I'm sure they will be working hard over the summer.

We played with a ton of injuries this year, that’s why we were never able to get into a groove. We beat some very good teams such as; Union, CC, Mich, ND, Miami. Overall the season wasn't as good as I wanted, but with no offense, it wasn't as bad as it could have been either. Sova......happy for him, and sucks he is leaving. He logged a ton of ice, and was a good O minded D-man. I think we will be perfectly fine without him. We have a deep D, and honestly I think he turned the puck over a number of times this year in key situations. Maybe because he was on the ice a ton, but there were games he was good, and games when he wasn't that great. Our D can lose a guy and still be good. Our O is non-existent, and cannot afford to lose anyone! Toranto played through a ton of injuries this year, more than the casual fan knows! He said he is coming back next year. I think he will be healed up, and will have a great year. We have some good young guys, and really aren’t losing anyone that was that great (other than Sova). I think we will be a better team next year than this year!

[Rms123]

Re: 2011 Alaska Nanook Offseason: Wake Me Up When September Ends

We played with a ton of injuries this year, that’s why we were never able to get into a groove. We beat some very good teams such as; Union, CC, Mich, ND, Miami. Overall the season wasn't as good as I wanted, but with no offense, it wasn't as bad as it could have been either. Sova......happy for him, and sucks he is leaving. He logged a ton of ice, and was a good O minded D-man. I think we will be perfectly fine without him. We have a deep D, and honestly I think he turned the puck over a number of times this year in key situations. Maybe because he was on the ice a ton, but there were games he was good, and games when he wasn't that great. Our D can lose a guy and still be good. Our O is non-existent, and cannot afford to lose anyone! Toranto played through a ton of injuries this year, more than the casual fan knows! He said he is coming back next year. I think he will be healed up, and will have a great year. We have some good young guys, and really aren’t losing anyone that was that great (other than Sova). I think we will be a better team next year than this year!

[Squarebanks]

Of the remaining 3, I'd say Taranto is the most likely, but I'd be surprised if any of those listed leave now.

I was going to ask last week if any of the Alaska players were going to receive free agent interest or consider that route given the age of some of the players....

Greenham turns 24 as a Sr.
Taranto turns 23 as a Jr.
Gens is 24/25 next season as a Sr.
Sova turns 23 and has signed.

[alnike]

Re: 2011 Alaska Nanook Offseason: Wake Me Up When September Ends

Just announced about an hour ago that defenseman Joe Sova (would have been a senior next season) has signed with the New Jersey Devils. Definitely happy for Joe and wish him all the best, but man oh man does this put a dent in our defenseman corps for next season.

Here's the link:

http://www.alaskananooks.com/news/20...319112926.aspx

I was going to ask last week if any of the Alaska players were going to receive free agent interest or consider that route given the age of some of the players....

Greenham turns 24 as a Sr.
Taranto turns 23 as a Jr.
Gens is 24/25 next season as a Sr.
Sova turns 23 and has signed.

[Squarebanks]

Re: 2011 Alaska Nanook Offseason: Wake Me Up When September Ends

Just announced about an hour ago that defenseman Joe Sova (would have been a senior next season) has signed with the New Jersey Devils. Definitely happy for Joe and wish him all the best, but man oh man does this put a dent in our defenseman corps for next season.

Here's the link:

http://www.alaskananooks.com/news/20...319112926.aspx

[Squarebanks]

Re: 2011 Alaska Nanook Offseason: Wake Me Up When September Ends

Kevin Petovello won the CCHA's Flanagan award for basically playing on one leg most of the season. He tore his ACL and MCL against Ohio State back in November, and is going under the knife next week.

http://newsminer.com/view/full_story...sports_bullets

[Squarebanks]

Re: 2011 Alaska Nanook Offseason: Wake Me Up When September Ends

Nice summation of the season by Danny Martin in today's DNM: http://newsminer.com/view/full_story...sports_bullets

[Squarebanks]

And so it begins. I don't think it's news to anybody, especially our fans, that there were high hopes for this season, but for whatever reason we were never able to get in a groove. We didn't have the consistency that had brought us a fair amount of success in 2009 and 2010.

Home losses to NMU, WMU, and Ferris were backbreakers. Also, the early season loss to North Dakota seemed to put a damper of sorts on getting our usual strong start. Not that it mattered, but it also really hurt us in the PWR.

Good things? Gut check wins on the road at Miami and Notre Dame. A great home shutout of Michigan. The playoff sweep of Michigan State despite Comleygate. And keeping the Cup, even through dubious shootout measures.

All things considered, I'd say there are glimmers of hope for 2011-2012. The thing this year's team lacked the most, IMO, was a Knelson-ish playmaker. Andy Taranto in particular seemed to suffer from the lack of a setup man, especially early in the season. As we went into the second half, Cody Kunyk really seemed to step up into that playmaker role. I'm hopeful he will continue to grow into that role next season; if he does it will really help the team to get back into being a conference contender.

We will be a veteran-heavy team next year, most notably Greenham and Sova. Our seniors will have a lot of big game experience under their belts. If our guys keep working in the summer and start fresh in the fall, there are good reasons to be optimistic for next year. I am absolutely convinced that Coach Ferguson has us on the right path despite a minor blip this year. We all probably recall that until he was promoted, home playoff games were an extreme rarity.

Already looking forward to next year.