UAF's stalwart Hockey players recently traveled across the country for the CCHA playoffs and the Super Six championship. The journey was a rollercoaster for the Nanooks ending in a spectacular third-place finish.

Devout fan Henry Cole takes us game by game, shot by shot, through the wins and loses of the Nanooks' exciting Road to the Joe!

STEAMROLLING BOWLING GREEN

The UAF Nanooks, although denied in their bid for home ice for the CCHA playoffs, swept the Bowling Green Falcons in two games to secure their entrance to the CCHA championships at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan, for only the second time in Nanook history. In the Championships, the Nanooks played strongly, notching a 2-1 record, with victories over the Northern Michigan Wildcats and the Michigan State Spartans, and securing third place in the CCHA.

This is the strongest a Nanook team has ever performed in the playoffs, with the only previous Nanook trip to Detroit being cut short by a first round loss to Ohio State in overtime at the close of the 2001-2002 season.

The fifth seed Falcons were the favorites to win the preliminary games, with the dual advantage of having home ice and having swept the eighth seed Nanooks in the two teams' only other matchups this season, 6-1 and 6-2 in early January. The Nanooks came out on top this time, however, winning both games by a score of 6-3.

During Friday night's playoff game, the Nanooks took an immediate lead, as Ryan McLeod broke the CCHA record for the earliest goal in an NCAA playoff game, by scoring a goal at the 00:05 mark, beating Gord Flegel's 1983 mark of nine seconds. Just eight seconds later, he shattered two more records: the quickest two goals by a single player, previously set by Adam Hall, with 38 seconds in 1999; and the quickest two goals to start a game by a single player, set by Danny Felsner with 3:56 in 1992. Both goals were assisted by Kyle Greentree.

The Nanooks were now up 2-0 after just 13 seconds of play. Slightly over three minutes later, at 3:19, Kelly Czuy scored his first goal since February's win over Northern Michigan, this time assisted by Curtis Fraser. The Falcons were down, and had been given three heavy blows, but were not out of the fight yet, and BG's Alex Foster scored an unassisted goal at 6:56 to narrow UAF's lead to 3-1.

In the second period, the Nanooks widened their lead with two more goals. Jared Sylvestre notched a power play goal at 3:34, with assists from McLeod and Greentree, and Lucas Burnett scored at 17:03, this time assisted by Jason Grinevitch and Nathan Fornataro. The 'Nooks took a 5-1 lead into the third period.

At 3:37 in that period, UAF's Curtis Fraser scored the second power play goal of the night, assisted by Corbin Schmidt. This gave the Nanooks a five goal lead over the home team. The Falcons, however, were not done yet, and managed two more goals on UAF's goaltender Wylie Rogers. Jonathan Matsumoto and Ben Geelan each scored once, narrowing the deficit to 6-3, but UAF was able to hold on and grab the victory.

During the second game of the series, the following Saturday, the Nanooks were unable to jump out ahead as early as they had in the previous game. Aaron Lee scored the first goal of the night on a power play at 15:44 in the first period, on assists from Schmidt and Fraser. Ryan Muspratt added a second goal at 19:08, assisted by Schmidt and Sylvestre.

In the second period, the Falcon's James Unger notched a goal at 7:50, cutting the 'Nooks' lead to 2-1. Greentree then took a pass from McLeod on a 2 to 1 chance and shot it past BG goalie Jonathan Sigalet.

Early in the third period, the Falcon's Mike Nesdill scored a power play shot. At 11:00, Lee balanced it out again with a shot from Kelly Czuy, making the score 4-2. Two minutes later BG's Matsumoto scored on another power play, making it again a one-goal game. At 18:58, Fraser was able to weaken BG's chances by scoring on a pass from Sylvestre. The final blow, though, was an unassisted empty net goal by Jason Grinevitch at 19:40, after Sigalet had been pulled to give the Falcon's the extra attacker.

ON TO THE SUPER SIX

The victory gave the Nanooks the chance to travel to the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit for the CCHA Championships, the Super Six. The now sixth seed Nanooks were matched up against the third seed Wildcats of Northern Michigan, and their standout goalie, Toumas Tarkki. Tarkki was named the CCHA player of the year, and is probably the best goaltender in the league. Until that game, he had not allowed more than three goals in a game all season long, and he had allowed the fewest goals against in the league.

In the first period of the game, the Nanooks' McLeod again took advantage of an early opportunity, scoring on a power play at 7:26, this time assisted by Grinevitch and Rogers. The Wildcats struck back early, however, and notched two goals of their own in that period, one by Rob Lehtinen at 10:18 and a power play mark by Tim Hartung at 12:21. McLeod, however, was not done either, and scored a second power play goal, assisted by Sylvestre and Grinevitch, to tie the game at 2.

At 2:18 in the second period, Lee scored the go-ahead goal for the Nanooks, on assists from Fraser and Rogers. The assists gave Rogers his first multiple point game of his collegiate career.

Ten minutes later Grinevitch gave UAF an insurance marker on a power play, assisted by McLeod and Greentree. The Wildcats kept in the fight, and Nathan Oystrick scored his team's third goal of the game at 19:04.

The 'Nooks took a 4-3 lead into the third period, and made the best of it. At 8:36, while the Wildcats were on a power play, Fornataro broke away and took a pass from Troy Newton and Darcy Campbell for a shorthanded goal. At 18:55, with their time running out, the Wildcats pulled Tarkki from the net for the extra attacker. This backfired, as Greentree, assisted by Campbell and Muspratt, was able to mark an empty net goal to seal the victory.

This win was the Nanooks' third consecutive road victory, and their first ever win at the CCHA championships in Detroit.

SEMIFINALS' DISAPPOINTMENT

In the second round of the playoffs, UAF faced the regular-season champion University of Michigan Wolverines, who had received a first-round bye. The Nanooks put up a tremendous fight, led by goalie Rogers, but despite the freshman's excellent performance, were downed by a score of 3-1.

Coach Macmillan described the game, "The Wolverines are good. They're just very good. They're not only skilled, they work very, very hard." Both MacMillan and UM coach Red Berenson gave the Nanooks credit for playing strongly against the "Number one team in the country."

The first period of the semi-final game was scoreless, although the Wolverines outshot the Nanooks 13 to 6. In the second period, UM took a two goal lead from Brandon Kaleniecki and Jeff Tambellini at 12:13 and 19:41, respectively.

The third period opened with the Nanooks down by two goals, but at 2:43, McLeod came through again, scoring an unassisted goal to close the Nanooks deficit. The Wolverines' Chad Kolarik notched a power play goal at 5:37 to make the score 3-1. Despite several strong drives by the Nanooks, they were unable to score any additional goals, but Roger's excellent goaltending kept the game from being a blowout. Rogers was able to make 43 saves, while UM goalie Al Montoya was only called upon for 12.

THIRD PLACE FINISH

With the Nanook defeat at the hands of Michigan, the team now faced the Michigan State Spartans in the battle for third place in the CCHA, in Saturday's afternoon game. MSU had finished the regular season in sixth place, and were seeded fifth.

In the first period of the final game of the season, UAF took the lead on a shorthanded goal from Sylvestre, assisted by Grinevitch. Early in the second period, UAF's Adam Powell scored his first goal since a 3-1 victory over Nebraska-Omaha in November. This time it was a power play shot, assisted by Schmidt and Fornataro.

Just over a minute later, MSU's Tommy Goebel scored on a rebound in front of Rogers. The Nanooks defense struck down several solid drives by the Spartans, and at 15:10, Lee scored again, assisted by Burnett, giving UAF some insurance. This left the score at 3-1.

In the third period, MSU's Adam Nightingale closed the gap with a goal at 11:54, but his teammates were unable to score any further goals, despite outshooting the 'Nooks 38 to 26.

The 3-2 victory gave the Nanooks third place in the CCHA Championships, their best finish ever. Michigan secured first place with a 4-2 victory over Ohio State University, winning the Mason Cup, and OSU finished in second. The win also improved the Nanooks record to 17-16-4, their third winning season in the last four years.

"It's an interesting way for a team that's not winning the CCHA championship or going on to the NCAA tournament (to finish the season)," said Coach MacMillan of his team's third-place finish. "Very few student-athletes get to finish their career or seasons with a win and this is the first time these guys have been able to do it. It's kind of a neat feeling."

Two Nanooks players, freshmen Ryan McLeod and Wylie Rogers were honored by being named members of the 2005 CCHA Championship Team. They are the only freshmen to have received that honor this season. The team will be holding its annual end of season banquet at the Westmark Hotel on April 16. For further information, please call Barbara Milles at 479-3391.

Thanks for a great season, Nanooks. See you next October!

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