Alaska Nanooks 2012-2013: Going Out With a Bang

[mmf]

Re: Alaska Nanooks 2012-2013: Going Out With a Bang

Biased response here, so you may need to filter it a bit. There were tons of quality chances. The Nooks were a better skating team IMHO and the problem was almost too much time and space. We held the puck too long in many cases and tried to get too cute with it. Murdock stopped everything and when he did give up rebounds, we just weren’t in position to capitalize. This wasn’t the case of a team who likes to dump on net instead of skating it in or dumping into the corners. The Nooks were successful carrying play into the zone. SOGs were indicative of play. That’s why it’s a frustrating loss. The Lakers played good team defense in tight and blocked a lot of shots, and Murdock was both very good and very fortunate on a lot of bounces. The Lakers did what they needed to do to win. The Nooks didn’t.

[Squarebanks]

I'm a NHL refugee reconnecting with my college team. It seemed there were a lot of shots on goal, but not a lot of quality chances. We're they shooting the puck so much to get rid of it and not holding it long enough to setup a scoring chance? Is the large number of shots more typical for the college game then other leagues?

mmf pretty much nailed it. UAF had plenty of high-quality chances, but Murdock stood on his head all night. UAF would have won by a score of about 5-3 if he doesn't have a borderline transcendent experience in net. Maybe it was the aurora borealis that did it.

[Squarebanks]

Re: Alaska Nanooks 2012-2013: Going Out With a Bang

Considering we spent half the game shorthanded, I think we were somewhat fortunate to get the tie. Impressive performance by Keeney in his second start.

Sucks to lose the shootout and the extra point. I hope the nWCHA doesn't plan on keeping the shootout.

[mmf]

Re: Alaska Nanooks 2012-2013: Going Out With a Bang

I didn’t fork out any moola for video, so listened to Bruce on the radio. Sounded like when we stayed out of the box we somewhat controlled play, but it’s hard to tell. Did anybody pay for their downstream and is it worth it?

Ending the game a man down for a full five minutes is tough. I thought we had mr. mo on our side and was looking for late heroics again. Good job salvaging a tie out of that. Was Gehon’s penalty really dumb or a close but unfortunate call.

Keeney sounded very solid. Does that earn him a second night or is Thompson scheduled to start no matter what? Hopefully the boys stay out of the box and put in the effort we know they can and end the trip on a high note.

Go Nooks!

[Squarebanks]

I didn't watch either. Wasn't able to panhandle enough change on the streets of downtown.

I didn’t fork out any moola for video, so listened to Bruce on the radio. Sounded like when we stayed out of the box we somewhat controlled play, but it’s hard to tell. Did anybody pay for their downstream and is it worth it?

Ending the game a man down for a full five minutes is tough. I thought we had mr. mo on our side and was looking for late heroics again. Good job salvaging a tie out of that. Was Gehon’s penalty really dumb or a close but unfortunate call.

Keeney sounded very solid. Does that earn him a second night or is Thompson scheduled to start no matter what? Hopefully the boys stay out of the box and put in the effort we know they can and end the trip on a high note.

Go Nooks!

[GoalieEd]

I didn't watch either. Wasn't able to panhandle enough change on the streets of downtown.

Driving so I didn't buy yesterday but paid for the monthly pass for tonight. If there is an archive of the game I could share access for a few days if interested in a rerun(s).

[Suze]

Re: Alaska Nanooks 2012-2013: Going Out With a Bang

Considering we spent half the game shorthanded, I think we were somewhat fortunate to get the tie. Impressive performance by Keeney in his second start.

Sucks to lose the shootout and the extra point. I hope the nWCHA doesn't plan on keeping the shootout.

Don't think there are any plans to use the shootout from what I've heard.

[mmf]

Re: Alaska Nanooks 2012-2013: Going Out With a Bang

Gritty win for the Nooks tonight beating tOSU 3-1. Did it with goals from Beck (power-play), Grandberg (even strength), and Henderson (short-handed). Sounded like the boys controlled play as long as they weren’t in the box. They transitioned well and really kept pressure on the Buckeyes, outshooting them 45-33. Finished up with 4 out of 6 road points. Good job Nooks.

Western will be another big test for the Nooks next weekend. But we may have found ourselves a starting goaltender. Keeney played well and the boys played well in front of him.

Go Nooks!

[Squarebanks]

Re: Alaska Nanooks 2012-2013: Going Out With a Bang

Don't think there are any plans to use the shootout from what I've heard.

Good.

[Squarebanks]

Re: Alaska Nanooks 2012-2013: Going Out With a Bang

Gritty win for the Nooks tonight beating tOSU 3-1. Did it with goals from Beck (power-play), Grandberg (even strength), and Henderson (short-handed). Sounded like the boys controlled play as long as they weren’t in the box. They transitioned well and really kept pressure on the Buckeyes, outshooting them 45-33. Finished up with 4 out of 6 road points. Good job Nooks.

Western will be another big test for the Nooks next weekend. But we may have found ourselves a starting goaltender. Keeney played well and the boys played well in front of him.

Go Nooks!

Four points in a road series is always good to have. And, raise your hand if anybody thought the Nanooks would be in 2nd place in the conference after three conference series.

I like this year's iteration of the Nanooks more and more every weekend. They are displaying some grit and mental toughness that wasn't there the last two seasons; if my memory is correct every game we've won this year we've been down at least one goal at some point in the game.

On the goaltenders: I know it's hard for Thompson to be backing up the younger guys as a senior, but I think at this point as much game action as Cahill and Keeney can get will serve us well the next 3 to 4 years. I've liked what I've seen out of all three guys, though. Since Keeney won tonight I would assume he'll get the nod on Friday against Western; that's been the definite trend this season.

[Squarebanks]

Re: Alaska Nanooks 2012-2013: Going Out With a Bang

Keeney named CCHA Goaltender of the Week.

[mmf]

Re: Alaska Nanooks 2012-2013: Going Out With a Bang

Keeney named CCHA Goaltender of the Week.

Pleasant surprise for Keeney and the team. I assume it would be extra-tough to keep him out of Friday night’s lineup now.

Looking forward to WMU. They’re a solid team, but beatable. Didn’t like to see us killing 5 minute majors at the end of both games with OSU, but I hope we still stay aggressive. This team is pretty fun to watch. We play decent defense but also transition well. We are playing an up-tempo game and have the team speed to give people fits, but also cover when things do break down. It’s no fluke that the Nooks are averaging over 40 shots a game. Even our PP looks decent.

Western should be a good skating club, so the Nooks will have to skate hard all 60 minutes to have any success. You can really feel it when we come out flat. And we don’t have skill level to survive that against a quality team. And unfortunately, we can’t often rely on the crowd to get the team going.

Go Nooks!

[Suze]

Re: Alaska Nanooks 2012-2013: Going Out With a Bang

Pleasant surprise for Keeney and the team. I assume it would be extra-tough to keep him out of Friday night’s lineup now.

Looking forward to WMU. They’re a solid team, but beatable. Didn’t like to see us killing 5 minute majors at the end of both games with OSU, but I hope we still stay aggressive. This team is pretty fun to watch. We play decent defense but also transition well. We are playing an up-tempo game and have the team speed to give people fits, but also cover when things do break down. It’s no fluke that the Nooks are averaging over 40 shots a game. Even our PP looks decent.

Western should be a good skating club, so the Nooks will have to skate hard all 60 minutes to have any success. You can really feel it when we come out flat. And we don’t have skill level to survive that against a quality team. And unfortunately, we can’t often rely on the crowd to get the team going.

Go Nooks!

Just heard on channel 2 news that the Nanooks lost two hockey scholarships - one for the next two years. Self imposed by the University due to paperwork irregularities, and possible NCAA sanctions to follow. How is this going to affect incoming recruits? It's common to split one scholarship up among two, sometimes three players. Is this something the new AD caught?

[Squarebanks]

Re: Alaska Nanooks 2012-2013: Going Out With a Bang

Apparently it was self-reported in 2011 and had been going on for a few years. It had to do with academic advising not meshing with NCAA regulations. The school has recently added and filled a new NCAA compliance position and new dedicated advisers for student athletes as a result of this. The university has self-imposed a penalty of nine scholarship losses over a specified period...two each in hockey, men's and women's basketball, rifle, and one in women's nordic skiing. Chancellor Rogers put the blame (appropriately) on the administration; the NCAA can still come in and impose further sanctions but somehow I don't think this necessitates the death penalty. I know a lot of people in the Athletic Department as well as high-level administration at UAF and truly believe it was an oversight on the part of somebody who didn't know how to do their job, and not something more malicious. We're talking about a Division 2 program with a skin-of-their-teeth budget; not exactly SEC football, in other words.

As far as scholarship loss as it pertains to hockey, I don't know how that will shake out, except that it's my understanding that not everybody is there on a full ride. It could hurt the basketball programs though, which is unfortunate because the university has taken some positive steps to right that sinking ship, and I know that coaches Durham and Burgess are re-building the right way.

Regardless, it's embarrassing. If you're going to get caught with your pants down by the NCAA, at least win something and get some lap dances before it's all said and done.

Also, the conspiracy theorist in me now wonders if that's the real reason Forrest Karr isn't there anymore. Even a relatively minor infraction (and this is a minor one) is still a black eye on department and university leadership, especially when your campus is located in a state where everybody knows everything about everything. Regardless, take your (our) medicine and move on, and don't let it happen again.

[Suze]

Re: Alaska Nanooks 2012-2013: Going Out With a Bang

Apparently it was self-reported in 2011 and had been going on for a few years. It had to do with academic advising not meshing with NCAA regulations. The school has recently added and filled a new NCAA compliance position and new dedicated advisers for student athletes as a result of this. The university has self-imposed a penalty of nine scholarship losses over a specified period...two each in hockey, men's and women's basketball, rifle, and one in women's nordic skiing. Chancellor Rogers put the blame (appropriately) on the administration; the NCAA can still come in and impose further sanctions but somehow I don't think this necessitates the death penalty. I know a lot of people in the Athletic Department as well as high-level administration at UAF and truly believe it was an oversight on the part of somebody who didn't know how to do their job, and not something more malicious. We're talking about a Division 2 program with a skin-of-their-teeth budget; not exactly SEC football, in other words.

As far as scholarship loss as it pertains to hockey, I don't know how that will shake out, except that it's my understanding that not everybody is there on a full ride. It could hurt the basketball programs though, which is unfortunate because the university has taken some positive steps to right that sinking ship, and I know that coaches Durham and Burgess are re-building the right way.

Regardless, it's embarrassing. If you're going to get caught with your pants down by the NCAA, at least win something and get some lap dances before it's all said and done.

Also, the conspiracy theorist in me now wonders if that's the real reason Forrest Karr isn't there anymore. Even a relatively minor infraction (and this is a minor one) is still a black eye on department and university leadership, especially when your campus is located in a state where everybody knows everything about everything. Regardless, take your (our) medicine and move on, and don't let it happen again.

I also wondered if that may have been, in part, why Forrest left. UAA got slammed with their textbook mess years ago, I know how embarrassing it is. They self reported as well and no further sanctions were handed down. The loss of scholarships is a biggie, I can't see the NCAA bringing the hammer down, but you never know with that Mickey Mouse club.