FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
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Phone: 907-474-6807


Challenging Hockey Schedule Awaits Nanooks

FAIRBANKS, AK-A challenging schedule and a new look for both the Central Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs and the Alaska Airlines Governor’s Cup awaits the University of Alaska Fairbanks hockey team in the 2005-06 season.

The Nanooks will play 16 regular season home games-14 against Central Collegiate Hockey Association opponents, and two against Alaska Anchorage as part of the Alaska Airlines Governor’s Cup. UAF will hold their annual Blue and Gold intra-squad scrimmage and host Windsor in an exhibition game before starting regular season play.

Alaska Fairbanks will open with two games at Minnesota, which went to the Frozen Four last season and won the NCAA championship in its first two seasons under former UAF Head Coach Don Lucia. They will then visit UAA for the first two games of the Alaska Airlines Governor’s Cup before CCHA champ Michigan visits the Carlson center October 28th and 29th.

“This could be the most challenging schedule that UAF has ever had,” said Nanooks Head Coach Tavis MacMillan. “We’ll play 12 games against Big Ten teams, starting with the first two game series of the regular season and two of the first three weekends. We open at Minnesota, play at Anchorage and then come home against Michigan. As a result, our team is going to have to be ready to go at the start of the season. We need to make a commitment this summer and in the off-season to getting off to a good start.”

Michigan and Michigan State replace Lake Superior State and Northern Michigan in the Nanooks’ three-team CCHA cluster this year, which means that UAF will play home and away series against the Wolverines and Spartans in addition to Nebraska-Omaha. “One of the highlights is being in a cluster with Michigan, Michigan State and Nebraska-Omaha,” said MacMillan. “We’re also playing at Minnesota, whose coach, Don Lucia, will always have a place in UAF hockey history. (Assistant Coaches) Dallas (Ferguson), Wade (Klippenstein) and I all played for Coach Lucia. They return almost everyone from a team that went to the Frozen Four, and they added Phil Kessel, the best amateur player outside of Sidney Crosby, and Jeff Frazee, the goalie who led the U.S. under-18 team last year. They are as talented a team as there is in the country, with arguably the best coach in the country, led by someone who has meant a lot to the UAF program.”

MacMillan welcomes the step up in schedule. “If you are a Division I player, you want to be tested and see where you’re at,” said MacMillan. “We want to build off our late season surge last year. We can’t rest on our laurels, we can’t be comfortable with what we accomplished last year. We played Michigan and Michigan State three times last year, and we’ll play them four times last year. There are a lot of great teams in this league. We went 1-1-2 against Lake (Superior) State last year, and Northern Michigan was a top 15 team with 10 NHL draft picks.”

In addition to Michigan, MSU, and Nebraska-Omaha, Northern Michigan, Ohio State, Bowling Green, and Western Michigan will visit UAF for CCHA series. “As far as the fans go, you want to see the top teams and the top players,” said MacMillan. “Michigan State has a great recruiting class, and Michigan and Ohio State return most of their players from last year. The fans will have an opportunity to see players who will play in the NHL some day.”

The CCHA implemented a new playoff structure this year, moving up the end of the schedule by a week and adding an extra round to the post-season tournament. The top four teams will have a first-round bye, the next four teams will host first-round matchups, and the ninth through twelfth place teams will hit the road. The teams with byes will host the second round of the playoffs, with only the top four teams advancing to the CCHA Championships at the Joe Louis Arena. Still to be decided is whether the teams will be re-seeded after each round, as has been the case in the past.

As a result, the Nanooks and UAA had to move the second series of the Alaska Airlines Governor’s Cup. Originally scheduled for March 3rd and 4th at the Carlson Center, it will now be played December 30th and New Year’s Eve.

“The Governor’s Cup will always be the Governor’s Cup, and it will always be a highlight of our schedule,” said MacMillan. “I would hate to see anything happen to it. The new CCHA schedule gives more teams a chance to host playoff series. It would be a big advantage to finish in the top four and get a weekend off. We want to be a top four team, go to the Joe, and go to the NCAAs.”

-UAF HOCKEY-