The regional’s No. 4 seed, which faces the top-seeded Boston College Eagles at 9:30 a.m. today ADT, was asked about the trip for their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament in the program’s 30-year history.
The Nanooks traveled farther than the other three teams (Boston College, North Dakota and Yale of New Haven, Conn.), as they flew 3,246 miles from Fairbanks to Boston and then took a bus for 39 miles to Worcester.
“It was actually the shortest travel day of the year,” said junior center and team captain Derek Klassen, who shared the media conference table with head coach Dallas Ferguson.
The trip began Tuesday afternoon from Fairbanks International Airport and ended with a Wednesday-morning arrival at Logan International Airport in Boston.
When asked about jet lag, Klassen responded, “Everyone feels good getting here. (Leaving on) Wednesday morning (actually Tuesday afternoon) definitely helps.”
Alaska, 18-11-9 overall, received an at-large berth into the regional.
“From a team standpoint, a quick turnaround was really important,” Ferguson said Friday.
The Nanooks are used to long trips but they’re newbies in the NCAA Tournament, and this is their first encounter with Boston College, which is making its 29th appearance and won national titles in 1949, 2001 and 2008.
“Travel is something we need to do every second weekend in our league,” Ferguson said of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, which the Nanooks placed fifth in the regular season, swept Lake Superior State in a first-round playoff series at the Carlson Center and was swept in a quarterfinal series at Northern Michigan.
“We are pretty accustomed to getting where we need to be efficiently and preparing accordingly,” Ferguson said.
Particularly for a Boston College squad that’s 25-10-3 and on a nine-game unbeaten streak following last Saturday’s 7-6 overtime win over Maine in the final of the Hockey East Tournament in Boston, giving the Eagles an automatic berth into the NCAA tournament.
“Tomorrow night will be a big challenge with Boston College, but our focus is on our game and the things we can control,” said Ferguson, who watched part of the Hockey East Tournament final on satellite TV. “We plan on going out to compete hard and to work together as a group. We look forward to the challenge and are definitely excited to be a part of it.”
Today’s winners play for the regional title at 1:30 p.m. ADT Sunday and the regional champ advances to the Frozen Four at Ford Field in Detroit on April 8 and 10.
Alaska hopes its defense, which ranks ninth in Division I at 2.37 goals allowed per game, clicks against Boston College’s No. 3-ranked offense (3.87 goals per game).
“Our philosophy,” Ferguson said, “is not to sit back and play defense; it’s to play sound without the puck so you get the puck back quicker. When you get in situations like this, defense is really important.”
The Nanooks tend to create scoring opportunities off of their defense, which Boston College coach Jerry York noted from watching videotape.
“They play very quick, quicker than I thought after watching the tapes,” York said during Friday’s media conference. “We are going to be matched, I think, with speed back and forth.
But their goaltender (sophomore Scott Greenham) comes as advertised, a real strong goaltender.”
Greenham, 18-11-9, ranks 10th nationally with a 2.20 goals against average and 15th in D-I with a .918 saves percentage.
“I think we’re going to play just good solid hockey and prevent their speed from being a factor by negating it with our speed,” York said. “They’ve got a good club. They are right there.”
Offensively, both teams are paced by 40-point scorers.
Senior center Dion Knelsen leads Alaska with 19 goals and 23 assists for 42 points in 38 games, and linemate, freshman right wing and CCHA Rookie of the Year honoree Andy Taranto follows with 17-24-41 totals in as many games. Boston College is led by sophomore right wing Cam Atkinson (24-22-46 in 38 games) and junior center Brian Gibbons (15-29-44 in 38 games).
Despite Alaska making history today, Ferguson and York are no strangers.
Ferguson was a Nanooks defenseman from 1992-96 and York was coaching at CCHA rival Bowling Green (Ohio) from 1987-94, leading the Falcons to six NCAA Tournament appearances and the national title in 1984.
“I hope he (Ferguson) doesn’t put his uniform on,” York said with a laugh during a Hockey East teleconference on Tuesday. “He was a very good defenseman.”
Ferguson sees similarities between Boston College and the Bowling Green squads coached by York, who is 29-18-1 record in the NCAA Tournament, including 24-8 with Boston College.
“They obviously had enough talent to get things done, but they also competed and worked hard,” Ferguson said before leaving Fairbanks.
“That was a long time ago, but you can look and see what type of team they (Eagles) have now. They compete hard, they’ve got a lot of speed, and, obviously, they’re very well-coached in just what they’re trying to do as a group on the ice for every shift.”
Yale-North Dakota
The No. 2 seed North Dakota Fighting Souix and the third-seeded Yale Bulldogs, who meet at 1 p.m. ADT today, have 30 NCAA Tournament appearances between them, but they’re still stinging from early exits last year.
North Dakota, a 25-time participant and seven-time national champ (1959, 1963, 1980, 1982, 1987, 1997 and 2000), lost 6-5 in overtime to New Hampshire in the 2009 Northeast Regional in Manchester, N.H.
“Obviously, this is a different group of guys,” North Dakota coach Dave Hakstol said Friday, “ but for everybody, as you grow up and mature, you learn from every experience you go through.”
Yale, making its fifth tournament appearance, was sent packing last year after a 4-1 loss to Vermont in the East Regional in Bridgeport, Conn.
“Last year, we were just so happy to be in the tournament, it had been a while since our last tournament appearance,” Yale junior right wing and leading scorer Broc Little said Friday. “This year, we are more focused on winning games and staying here longer.”
Yale, 20-9-3, received at an-large bid into this year’s Northeast Regional and North Dakota automatically qualified after beating St. Cloud State 5-3 last Saturday for the title in Western Collegiate Hockey Association Final Five in St. Paul, Minn.
Fighting Sioux junior right wing Evan Trupp of Anchorage was named the Final Five most valuable player after leading all players with six points from three goals and three assists.
Trupp’s father, Rick Trupp, played for the Nanooks from 1982-86.
Contact staff writer Danny Martin at 459-7586.
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