Alaska Nanooks Offseason Thread: “I’ll be back”...

[mmf]

Re: Alaska Nanooks Offseason Thread: “I’ll be back”...

Re: Alaska Nanooks Offseason Thread: “I’ll be back”...

September. Morning frost. School in session. Seems like hockey is in the air.

The season is still a few weeks away, but it's good to see the boys back on the ice. Stopped by the Patty Rec Center tonight and a few of the Nooks were working out.

I think they were discussing what it's going to take to get back to the NCAAs this year.

Obviously, that means a lot of individual dedication on and off the ice.

Some were working on tipping drills...

...and some were busily practicing against a make-shift Seawolve defense.

Can't wait for the season to start. We've got some strong leadership in the seniors, a good group of experienced sophomores and juniors, and some promising freshman. 8 d-men and 16 forwards.

Freshman
- d-men: Quinn
- forwards: Slemp, Beck, Kunyk

Sophomores
- d-men: Odegard, Daigle
- forwards: Yaremchuk, Henderson, Granberg, Gehon, Taranto

Juniors
- d-men: Enders, Gens, Sova, Butcher
- forwards: Meyers, Filzen, Cardwell, Finucci

Seniors
- d-men: Molle
- forwards: Petovello, Hohl, Klassen, Sather

Goalies: Thompson (So.), Rundell (So.), Greenham (Jr.)

 

[Wondering]

Re: Alaska Nanooks Offseason Thread: “I’ll be back”...

Re: Alaska Nanooks Offseason Thread: “I’ll be back”...

College Hockey News has put Alaska on its preseason "top ten" list. Kind of a milestone, given that previous Nanooks success has usually been viewed as a surprise.

It was nice talking to some of the guys at Sunday's Skate with the Nanooks. Sounds as though the coaches had fun putting everyone through some nasty team-building exercises (truck-pushing, etc.}. I just wish I could borrow a kid for these events -- mine aren't interested, and there aren't too many adults on skates out there. Where were the rest of my fellow posters?

 

[Schlacker Rat]

Re: Alaska Nanooks Offseason Thread: “I’ll be back”...

Re: Alaska Nanooks Offseason Thread: “I’ll be back”...

Where were the rest of my fellow posters?

Out Hunting!

 

[Alaska Hockey]

Re: Alaska Nanooks Offseason Thread: “I’ll be back”...

Re: Alaska Nanooks Offseason Thread: “I’ll be back”...

...and some were busily practicing against a make-shift Seawolve defense.

QUOTE]

I can’t believe you didn’t have a second picture to provide evidence he penetrated the stellar stand in your face Seawolf defense. I don’t have to speculate why you didn’t want to make public that information at this time.

 

[Squarebanks]

Re: Alaska Nanooks Offseason Thread: “I’ll be back”...

Re: Alaska Nanooks Offseason Thread: “I’ll be back”...

College Hockey News has put Alaska on its preseason "top ten" list. Kind of a milestone, given that previous Nanooks success has usually been viewed as a surprise.

Pretty cool...but we'll know pretty quick how warranted it was, the Brice and Kendall tournaments have some good teams this year...most notably UND.

 

[mmf]

Re: Alaska Nanooks Offseason Thread: “I’ll be back”...

Re: Alaska Nanooks Offseason Thread: “I’ll be back”...

Hockey is almost here but you can hardly tell by the weather we're having. Near 70 in mid-September is living on borrowed time. Drove down to Paxson Lake this weekend and helped a friend bring his old "sled" back to town. Absolutely perfect weather. It reminds me of what living in Alaska is all about.

We tried telling a couple of chechackos that we were looking for early snowfall, but I don't think they bought it.

Hope the new recruits are getting a chance to get off campus to experience some of the outdoors. Even the campus trails and equinox marathon route are beautiful this time of year.

But back to hockey. Squarebanks is right, we get tested early (insert Seawolve co-ed joke here). But UND is not the yardstick to worry about out of the gate. The three other teams we face are very tough, very solid last year, and I think more important games to start the season. We'll have our hands full.

UND 25-13-5
Air Force 16-15-6
CC 19-17-3
Union 21-12-6

I'm a little confused. I understand that we have the Blue/Gold game on Saturday, Sept 25th and Windsor on Thursday, Sept 30th. I dropped by the Carlson to see what the new glass/boards look like, but they had just taken them down. One of the guys who looked in charge said they weren't going back up until Oct 6th or so. The News-miner says we play Windsor at the Carlson, but the guy at the Carlson said the game is at the Patty. Can anybody confirm that? Isn't that usually part of the ticket package. Bummer if it is at the Patty.

Anybody know when official practices start? I believe we get to start a little earlier than most because of lost practice days due to our travel schedule throughout the year. Or maybe not.

Go Nooks!

 

[AKJD]

Re: Alaska Nanooks Offseason Thread: “I’ll be back”...

Re: Alaska Nanooks Offseason Thread: “I’ll be back”...

Hockey is almost here but you can hardly tell by the weather we're having. Near 70 in mid-September is living on borrowed time. Drove down to Paxson Lake this weekend and helped a friend bring his old "sled" back to town. Absolutely perfect weather. It reminds me of what living in Alaska is all about.

No kidding! It's beautiful weather out right now. I think I'm going to get out and go for a nice long bike ride here in a little bit. Who knows how much longer I'll have the chance.

But back to hockey. Squarebanks is right, we get tested early (insert Seawolve co-ed joke here). But UND is not the yardstick to worry about out of the gate. The three other teams we face are very tough, very solid last year, and I think more important games to start the season. We'll have our hands full.

UND 25-13-5
Air Force 16-15-6
CC 19-17-3
Union 21-12-6

Definitely not a light non-conference schedule there. All with winning records. UND is considered by many to be a national championship caliber team this year. Air Force is much improved since we played them a few years ago, including a few trips to the NCAAs. CC is a middle of the pack WCHA team, which is pretty good in itself, and it seems like least year they started the season on fire before cooling down the stretch. And Union had a better record last year than RPI, a leaguemate with whom we only managed a tie.

Not making any predictions based on that, other than I think even going .500 in that stretch would be plenty respectable. Doing even better would be great, and probably a huge boost to hopes of another tournament berth.

I've said it before, but I love this early season tournament setup. So many teams we get to see that we probably wouldn't otherwise.

I'm a little confused. I understand that we have the Blue/Gold game on Saturday, Sept 25th and Windsor on Thursday, Sept 30th. I dropped by the Carlson to see what the new glass/boards look like, but they had just taken them down. One of the guys who looked in charge said they weren't going back up until Oct 6th or so. The News-miner says we play Windsor at the Carlson, but the guy at the Carlson said the game is at the Patty. Can anybody confirm that? Isn't that usually part of the ticket package. Bummer if it is at the Patty.

I was wondering the same thing. Alaskananooks.com says it's at the Patty. The News-Miner said it was at the Patty before, and then "corrected" it to the Carlson Center. I know past experience has gone either way, and even that one year playing an exhibition game down in Anchorage, but I looked on the Carlson Center's website, and their event listing shows nothing on Sept. 30th. They have the rest of the Nanooks' home games on there, so I'm assuming it's at the Patty. I see that the circus will be at the Carlson Center Oct. 2-3, so they might need more than just Friday to set up for that.

 

[mmf]

Re: Alaska Nanooks Offseason Thread: “I’ll be back”...

Re: Alaska Nanooks Offseason Thread: “I’ll be back”...

Yea, unfortunately I think it's at the Patty. The on-line Patty schedule shows ice for Nanook Hockey from 10:45 to 1:00 (probably practice time) and again bloced out that night from 5:00 to 9:30.

 

[birdman]

Re: Alaska Nanooks Offseason Thread: “I’ll be back”...

Re: Alaska Nanooks Offseason Thread: “I’ll be back”...

Looking at the current roster I would think Petoveelo, Hohl, Klassen and Sather would have solid years, hopefully our D men improve on their passing, Taronto has good second season, and I can't wait to see Kunyk on the ice, but I think Yaremchuk and Granberg are going to have breakout seasons. Both were right on the edge last year and I think they are going to be very good this year. Chad looks solid again seems to give up rebounds too much, hope he's better at that this year.

 

[mmf]

Re: Alaska Nanooks Offseason Thread: “I’ll be back”...

Re: Alaska Nanooks Offseason Thread: “I’ll be back”...

birdman – I hope you're right. I think we're pretty solid up and down the line, everybody just needs to kick it up a notch. I believe Yaremchuk and Kunuk were teammates, so I wouldn't be surprised to see those two on the same line.

I think Chad has too many NHL starts to be eligible to wear a Nook sweater. But no need to worry, Scott has looked pretty good too, and I'm hoping he can backstop our return to the NCAAs.

Go Nooks!

 

[birdman]

Re: Alaska Nanooks Offseason Thread: “I’ll be back”...

Re: Alaska Nanooks Offseason Thread: “I’ll be back”...

birdman – I hope you're right. I think we're pretty solid up and down the line, everybody just needs to kick it up a notch. I believe Yaremchuk and Kunuk were teammates, so I wouldn't be surprised to see those two on the same line.

I think Chad has too many NHL starts to be eligible to wear a Nook sweater. But no need to worry, Scott has looked pretty good too, and I'm hoping he can backstop our return to the NCAAs.

Go Nooks!

Thanks must have been a senior moment.

 

[carlsonj]

Re: Alaska Nanooks Offseason Thread: “I’ll be back”...

Re: Alaska Nanooks Offseason Thread: “I’ll be back”...

More than anything else right now I'm interested in seeing the freshman class on ice and what they will contribute. They are going to play a big role in whether the Nanooks will be as successful as last year.

Colton Beck may end up the surprise of the freshman class for Fairbanks. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing him and Cody Kunyk who has more recognition coming in. I also want to see what Adam Henderson from Whitehorse can do transferring in from Michigan State. He may not contribute as many points but he has some size and could end up a key player. Erik Slemp developed a lot last year but I don't know how significant his contribution will be this season. He signed his letter of intent to play here back in 2007.

Michael Quinn on defense missed most of last season in juniors after suffering a knee injury. Our coaches have been very successful in recognizing defensive talent though and I'm hoping he is fully recovered.

It's going to be fun and I appreciated the photo of the UAA defense.

 

[AKJD]

Re: Alaska Nanooks Offseason Thread: “I’ll be back”...

Re: Alaska Nanooks Offseason Thread: “I’ll be back”...

Well, I finally broke down and bought season tickets this year, and they just showed up in the mail today Just 8 more days!

 

[Suze]

Re: Alaska Nanooks Offseason Thread: “I’ll be back”...

Re: Alaska Nanooks Offseason Thread: “I’ll be back”...

More than anything else right now I'm interested in seeing the freshman class on ice and what they will contribute. They are going to play a big role in whether the Nanooks will be as successful as last year.

Colton Beck may end up the surprise of the freshman class for Fairbanks. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing him and Cody Kunyk who has more recognition coming in. I also want to see what Adam Henderson from Whitehorse can do transferring in from Michigan State. He may not contribute as many points but he has some size and could end up a key player. Erik Slemp developed a lot last year but I don't know how significant his contribution will be this season. He signed his letter of intent to play here back in 2007.

Michael Quinn on defense missed most of last season in juniors after suffering a knee injury. Our coaches have been very successful in recognizing defensive talent though and I'm hoping he is fully recovered.

It's going to be fun and I appreciated the photo of the UAA defense.

Which UA_ fans are coming to Anchorage for the Kendall? I'm really looking forward to seeing how the Nanooks do against the Sioux. Colton Beck looks like a very strong recruit, I bet you see good things from him this season.

 

[Schlacker Rat]

Re: Alaska Nanooks Offseason Thread: “I’ll be back”...

Re: Alaska Nanooks Offseason Thread: “I’ll be back”...

I'm coming down. Can't wait! No way am I going to miss us playing ND.

 

[mmf]

Re: Alaska Nanooks Offseason Thread: “I’ll be back”...

Re: Alaska Nanooks Offseason Thread: “I’ll be back”...

I'm hoping a lot of Nook fans make it down. Both tourneys this year present tough competition for the Nooks and the Seawolves. I'll be there...God willing and "Alaska Hockey" doesn't give my photo to Sullivan security. I'm also hoping to make the luncheon.

And I agree with carlsonj and Suze. Kunyk probably has a few more press clippings, but both Beck and Henderson could be key performers. Slemp looks solid too. More importantly, we are only bringing in four recruits. We have a strong core of returning players who have tasted some success. Small programs like UAF and UAA don't get to "reload" each year, even relative to our own level of expectations, so we have our ups and downs. We're looking pretty good for the next couple of years IMHO. Of course, none of this means didly-squat until the Nooks step out onto the ice and earn it.

Go Nooks!

 

[mmf]

Re: Alaska Nanooks Offseason Thread: “I’ll be back”...

Re: Alaska Nanooks Offseason Thread: “I’ll be back”...

I'm coming down. Can't wait! No way am I going to miss us playing ND...and of course Air Force, who are very soild and who could very easily spoil our Friday night if we don't come out focused and prepared .

Tweaked your post.
Just in case any of the players are lurking.

 

[Schlacker Rat]

Re: Alaska Nanooks Offseason Thread: “I’ll be back”...

Re: Alaska Nanooks Offseason Thread: “I’ll be back”...

Tweaked your post.
Just in case any of the players are lurking.

I can't get Friday off of work. No disrespect to Air Force, but I've seen them in the past. I've never seen ND with my own eyes.

 

[Alaska Hockey]

Re: Alaska Nanooks Offseason Thread: “I’ll be back”...

Re: Alaska Nanooks Offseason Thread: “I’ll be back”...

I'm hoping a lot of Nook fans make it down. Both tourneys this year present tough competition for the Nooks and the Seawolves. I'll be there...God willing and "Alaska Hockey" doesn't give my photo to Sullivan security. I'm also hoping to make the luncheon.

Go Nooks!

All they have to do is surf through the clipboard hanging in any post office if they really want your picture.

 

[mmf]

Re: Alaska Nanooks Offseason Thread: “I’ll be back”...

Re: Alaska Nanooks Offseason Thread: “I’ll be back”...

I can't get Friday off of work. No disrespect to Air Force, but I've seen them in the past. I've never seen ND with my own eyes.

Totally understand. Like you, I'm really looking forward to our match-up with UND. I just hi-jacked your post to mimic what Coach will probably be telling the boys and because I'm lazy.

The season is upon us. I'll probably start a season thread in the next day or so unless some other creative Nook fan is dying to give it a go. So for those who have been holding back, you can go ahead and close this thread out.