My apologlies for not posting in a more timely manner...  under the weather
would be putting it mildly.
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The University of Massachusetts Lowell skated out of Fairbanks with the
GAFO tournament title following Saturday's 3-3 tie with the University of
Illinois Chicago.  The River Hawks finished with a 1-0-2 record and
defeated Western Michigan (2-1-0) by virtue of a 3-2 head-to-head victory
over the Broncos on Friday.  UML faced a stiff challenge in the final
1:10 of overtime as the Flames pulled goalie Paul Spencer in an attempt
to win the game and the tournament crown.  UIC coach Larry Pedrie was
among many questioning the lack of a shootout to break the tournament's
two tie games.  More on tie-breakers, as well as the future status of the
GAFO, later in this report...
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Mark Zdan netted a pair of goals for the Flames and missed an apparent hat
trick when he missed an open net in the third period.  Chris MacDonald was
credited with the final UIC goal.  UML scorers included Christian Sbrocca,
Jeff Daw and freshman Mike Nicholishen, who provided the game-tying marker
at 17:19 of the third period.  The Hawks were again stingy against the
power play, snuffing out all six Flame opportunities.  UML finished the
tournament by killing 19 of 20 penalties.  In the nets, Flames goalie
Spencer stopped 21 of 24 shots while the River Hawks' Craig Lindsay saved
27 of 30 shots.
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In the second and final game, Western Michigan goaltender Brian Renfrew
completed a memorable trip back to his hometown by blanking the host UAF
Nanooks 3-0 in front of 3,363 fans.  Renfrew stopped all 16 shots he
faced, while his teammates Brown, Mayers and Gallentine.  Larry Moberg was
again solid in the UAF net, turning away 25 of 28 Bronco shots in a losing
effort.  WMU took advantage of another lackluster Nanook performance to
improve to 8-5-1 for the season.  The loss dropped the Nanooks to a dismal
4-7-1, heading into a four-game road trip against Miami, Notre Dame and
UIC.
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The All-Tournament Team was comprised of forwards Cody Bowtell (UAF),
Chris MacDonald (UIC), Jeremy Brown (WMU), defensemen Paul Botto (UML)
and Shannon Finn (UIC) and goaltender Paul Spencer (UIC).  WMU goaltender
Brian Renfrew was named as the Tournament MVP.  Attendance for the
weekend totaled 9,785, just 67 short of last year's record, a fact due
largely to the record cold weather for Thursday's opening round games.
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Local radio station KIAK loaned broadcasters Bruce Cech and Bob Downes to
pick up the play-by-play for UML fans back East.  It seems the cool
temperatures were quite the conversation topic in Massachusetts.  I spoke
to Bruce this morning and he appreciated the positive response from the
UML fans.
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A parting word on shootouts and other tourney topics.  Tie games were not
a factor in the previous two Face Offs.  Ironically, past champions Maine
('92) and Lake Superior State ('93) went on to claim NCAA titles later in
the season.  Better watch out for the River Hawks...  As for next year's
Great Alaska Face Off, several problems loom for organizers to tackle in
the coming months.  First, as UAF will become a full-fledged CCHA member
next season, 30 of the Nanooks 34 games will be dedicated to CCHA
opponents.  Of the remaining four games, two are committed to in-state
rival Alaska Anchorage.  That leaves just two games with which to put
together a tournament format.  Add to that the CCHA's desire to schedule
conference games over Thanksgiving to minimize player class absences.
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Two options remain to save the GAFO.  Option #1 would be for the Nanooks
to pitch the 3-game, 4 team round-robin format in favor of a 2-game, 4
team elimination format.  Option #2 would be to keep the current format
but include one or more Canadian schools, games against which do not
violate the NCAA 34-game limit.  In either case, the tournament would
probably move to the Christmas/New Year's break.  I, for one, favor
Option #2.  I like the idea of all tournament teams playing each other,
rather than random drawing for elimination pairings which can avoid key
matchups.  Also, the idea of Canadian schools works well up here, as UAF
has (for obvious scheduling reasons) historically played games against
these universities.
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At any rate, it was a great weekend of hockey in Fairbanks, no matter
which team you follow.  Thanks for the comments.  I'd appreciate feedback
on Nanook road games throughout the season.  I'll be reporting next on
the Harvard series here in late December.
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Mark Sonnier
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