One reason Alaska earned four points in the standings last weekend against Michigan State was it often took away time and space against the then-No. 12 Spartans on the Nanooks’ Olympic-size ice in the Carlson Center.
It’s an element that helped the Nanooks win 2-0 last Friday and tie 1-1 last Saturday before losing 2-0 in a shootout. Fifth-place Alaska hopes to bring that element tonight and Saturday night to 10th-place Ohio State’s regulation-size rink in the Value City Arena.
“It’s a big thing, it’s something we really concentrate on in our d-zone,” Alaska junior defenseman Bryant Molle said after Thursday’s practice in the OSU Ice Rink. “Teams don’t have enough time to make a play, and you can close in on them right away and take stuff away.
“They’re (Ohio State) a quick team, and the more we can take away their space, the more it’s going to help us get a win in our hands.”
The Nanooks, in a fifth-place tie with Nebraska-Omaha at 8-9-7-4 CCHA and 11-9-8 overall, want time to fly this weekend when it comes to transition. Every drill Alaska ran Thursday in practice dealt with speed.
“I just think it’s the direction we’re going in with our program and our team,” Alaska head coach Dallas Ferguson said. “We want to be a fast-transition and quick-attack team.”
“When we cause a turnover,” said Ferguson, “let’s make sure that we’re getting on the attack as quick as we can.”
Another reason for the emphasis on timing and taking away time and space is because time is running out on the conference season for the Nanooks. Alaska has only four CCHA games left — tonight’s and Saturday night’s contests against the Buckeyes (9-10-3-1, 11-14-3) and a Feb. 19-20 series against Lake Superior State at the Carlson Center. The Nanooks, at the moment, are in contention for at least a first-round playoff series at the Carlson Center during the first weekend of March. Alaska finished fourth last season to earn a first-round bye and the Nanooks defeated the Buckeyes in two of three games of a quarterfinal series at the Carlson Center to advance to the CCHA Championship Tournament in Detroit.
With the CCHA giving three points this season for a regulation or overtime win, the Nanooks and the Buckeyes know a solid weekend for Ohio State can propel it in the standings and affect Alaska’s chances for a second straight postseason event at the Carlson Center. Ohio State has four more CCHA games left after this weekend.
Ohio State is coming off of a one-point weekend at Nebraska-Omaha, as it tied 5-5 and lost 3-2 in a seven-round shootout on Friday and fell 4-3 on Saturday.
The visit to Omaha was preceded by an impressive January (6-1-1) for the Buckeyes.
“Maybe the guys are more grounded now and they understand what it takes to win in this league, and that it’s just not done on paper,” Ohio State head coach John Markell said after his team’s practice Thursday.
“We’re growing together and we’re moving in the right direction, and the right amount of energy is there,” Markell said. “We just have to be able to channel that in the right spot and at the right time.”
Stick tape
• Senior center Dion Knelsen leads active Nanooks with six goals and six assists for 12 points in 11 career games against Ohio State.
• Sophomore center Zac Dalpe has a team-high 31 points (15 goals and 16 assists) this season for Ohio State, which leads Alaska in the all-time series at 23-21-3, including 13-6-1 in Columbus.
• Buckeyes junior left wing Hunter Bishop of Fairbanks is the team’s fifth-leading scorer with 8-8-16 totals.
• Today’s game will be shown at 3:05 p.m. in the Nanook Lounge in the Patty Center. It will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network, which is available in Fairbanks only on satellite.
If this job is too hard for you maybe you should move on.
Why does the U play for this guy to travel with the team?
One can just as easily read the articles that the SID does on the alaska nanooks website. They are better, more informative, and done by someone who knows what they are talking about. Most importantly the U does not pay for the SID to travel with the team like they do with this hack reporter.