The UAF Nanooks scored a 7-4 victory against the (non-conference) Griffins of Grant MacEwan College in their first game of the season. In addition to the eleven goals scored, the game featured an impressive 37 penalties between the two teams.

The first period was only 18-seconds old when the first penalty was called, on Chad Snihur of the Griffins, for obstruction-interference. At 15:52, Ryan McLeod of UAF was given two minutes for holding.  Seven minutes later, McLeod was given another two minutes, this time for interference. At 8:23, the Griffin's Tim Yaworski received two minutes for tripping, and at 5:57, Curtis Ogrodiuk, also of the Griffins was given two minutes, also for tripping. This last penalty led to the first goal of the game, a power play shot by UAF's Kyle Greentree, assisted by Kelly Czuy and Curtis Fraser.

At 3:46, UAF's Jordan Emmerson was given two minutes for hooking, and at 2:59, Jordan Hendry was given two minutes for cross-checking. The Griffins, however, failed to capitalize on this one-minute double-power-play.

In the second period, things began much the same way, with Fraser getting an interference call at 19:40. Yaworski was called for cross-checking at 17:17, putting the 'Nooks on the power play in time for Czuy to score on an assist by Jared Sylvestre, with 15:47 to play.

At 14:02 there was a fight on the ice. Aaron Lee of the Nanooks, and the Griffins' Ogrodiuk were each given two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct, UAF's Cramer Hickey got two minutes for cross-checking, and the Griffins' Ryan Waldner was called for roughing. Both teams resumed play at full strength.

One minute later, at 12:52, Yaworski was given another penalty for tripping, again putting the 'Nooks on the power play. This time it was Sylvestre who was able to score, assisted by Adam Powell and Jason Grinevitch.

With the Griffins' Kiel Gatenby and Jeremy Richardson both serving time in the penalty box, UAF's Czuy scored his second goal of the game, assisted by Fraser and Nathan Fornataro.

After the goal, the Griffins remained one man short, allowing the Nanooks another goal, this time by Sylvestre on assists by McLeod and Powell. Between then and the end of the period, there was one more penalty, with the 'Nooks' Grinevitch getting a holding call at 2:21. This power play was what the Griffins finally needed to score, as Daryl Bowers, assisted by Waldner and Matt Jacques broke the shutout.

As the clock stopped at the end of the period, a second fight broke out on the ice. The officials broke up the fight, and discussion ensued about how to rule. Fornataro, Czuy, and Fraser of the Nanooks, along with Waldner, Richard Kelly, and Scott Taje of the Griffins were each given two penalties, one each for roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct. In addition, Hendry and the Griffins' Scott Stewart were penalized once for roughing.

The third period opened with a Griffin goal, scored by Geoff Kilburn, and assisted by Bowers, bringing the score to 5-2. The Nanooks scored at 17:26, but this goal was overturned, due to an after-the-fact tripping penalty given to Rogers. But Sylvestre quickly came through for the third time, scoring a hat trick, on an assist by McLeod and Corbin Schmidt.

The third period saw a continuation of the pattern of penalties that had dominated the game, with each team getting a pair of two-minute penalties, including one for Powell with 00:05 remaining. UAF also suffered a 5-minute major penalty to Hickey for high-sticking.

At 8:06, Greentree scored his second goal, assisted by Czuy and Darcy Campbell. At 5:28 Kelly of the Griffins scored another goal, on an assist by Taje and Chris Cusack, and the Griffins' Joel Becker scored the final goal of the high-scoring game at 3:16, assisted again by Taje and Jacques.

The game featured a pair of fights, lots of aggression, 12 goals, and well over an hour of penalties, but nonetheless, it was a Nanook victory, and the 3,619 fans in attendance left the Carlson Center to the sounds of the Nanook Pep Band and 'Celebration.'

The next Nanook game is this Friday, in Kalamazoo, MI, as they play the Western Michigan Broncos. Their next home game is Oct. 29, in another non-conference game against British Columbia.

Photo by Chris Cruthers/ Sun Star
Freshman, Ryan Muspratt moves the puck Friday, Oct. 8, 2004 at the Patty Center. The Nanooks defeated Grant MacEwan College in exhibition play.

Comment on this story...