Hockey hosts Northern Michigan Wildcats for two-game homestand

January 24, 2013

University Relations

rp_primary_vs._NMU_Graphic_1-25-13

Jamie Foland
907-474-6807

The Alaska Nanooks host the Northern Michigan Wildcats this weekend (Jan. 25-26) at the Carlson Center, where they will play their first Central Collegiate Hockey Association home games of 2013. Both games faceoff at 7:05 p.m.

Here are the need to know notes about the Northern Michigan series and Alaska Hockey:


• The Nanooks trail the Wildcats 6-28-12 in the all-time series and are 4-9-5 against NMU in Fairbanks. They will look to snap the 'Cats' 16-game unbeaten streak, as they are 0-9-7-3 since the last win against NMU, a 4-1 victory at home on Nov. 30, 2007. A victory this weekend will also be the first for the Nanooks under head coach Dallas Ferguson.

• Alaska hosts Northern Michigan this weekend for their first CCHA homestand of 2013. The teams met twice in Marquette during the first half of the season (Nov. 23-24), when NMU beat them 4-3 in overtime the first night and then the Nanooks rallied to tie 2-2 in OT before dropping the shootout for the extra point, 2-0.

• Half of the last 16 encounters between the Nanooks and NMU have required an extra session, with seven of them needing a deciding shootout. Alaska is 0-1-7 in overtime against NMU but 4-3 in CCHA shootouts.

• The back-to-back weekend road sweeps marked the first time since joining the CCHA that the Nanooks won four straight to start the second half of the season. The last time Alaska was 4-0 in January was 1994, when they swept a road series at North Dakota and followed with back-to-back wins at home against Ferris State.

• The only other time in program history Alaska has gone 4-0 on the road to start the second half of the season was in Jan. 1984 when they picked up a string of wins at St. Olaf, St. Mary's, St. John's and Saint Cloud State.

• The Nanooks beat Notre Dame twice in South Bend during the regular season for the first time since Feb. 1-2, 2002, when they won 7-5 and 6-5. Alaska swept Notre Dame in South Bend 3-1 and 1-0 during the first round of the CCHA playoffs Mar. 3-4, 2006.

• Senior forward Jarret Granberg finished the weekend with five points, via two goals and three assists to improve his team-leading totals to 5-12--17 in 20 games this year. He is two points shy of matching his career best of 19 points (9g, 10a) in a season, which was achieved as a sophomore during the 2010-11 season through 38 games.

• The Nanooks are now riding a four-game winning streak and are 4-0-1 in their last five games, marking their largest winning streak of the season and their longest unbeaten streak since the 2009-10 campaign.

• Alaska is 6-2-2 on the road this season, giving them twice as many victories on the road from a year ago.

• Senior Andy Taranto notched his 50th career goal on Friday night at UND, while junior Colton Beck notched his 50th career point.

• Head coach Dallas Ferguson notched his 50th career victory behind Alaska's bench with Saturday's 2-1 in South Bend, tying him with former bench boss Guy Gadowsky's (1999-2004) for the program's record for CCHA wins.

 

GAME CENTRAL

Date: Fri., Jan. 25/Sat., Jan. 26  |  Time: 7:05 p.m. AKT/ 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: Friday: GCI 1 Live at 7 p.m. (Anchorage only); Tape Delay on Fri., Jan. 25 at 11 p.m. AKT (Statewide but Anchorage)
Saturday: GCI 1 Live at 7 p.m. (Anchorage only); Tape Delay on Sat., Jan. 26 at 11 p.m. AKT (Statewide but Anchorage)
CCHA Weekly Release  |   Alaska Release   |   Northern Michigan Release