As most fans of the Nanook hockey team know, all of the team's games are broadcast live on KSUA, the student-run radio station, which has been covering UAF hockey for five years now. Games are available on the internet to listeners outside the station's range, and not once has a game been interrupted or pre-empted by other programming.

Other than a handful of temporary drops due to technical difficulties, KSUA has covered each and every minute of Nanook hockey, from the opening face-off to the final buzzer.

There is a possibility that all of this could change within the next year or so. Rumors are floating around that certain commercial radio stations, namely New Northwest Broadcasters, are trying to take control of UAF hockey from KSUA. If KSUA's contract is not renewed and allowed to expire, it could possibly be put up for bid. It is a battle that KSUA would be unlikely to win given the financial differences between a student-funded public station and an ad-funded commercial station. No one involved with KSUA, the University, or New Northwest Broadcasters was willing to make a comment on the issue.

Despite the potential for losing its flagship programming, KSUA is doing an outstanding job in the eyes and ears of many who think the station deserves the chance to continue.

"We've picked up every game, superseding anything else, in three words, 'Hockey Is King,'" said KSUA's faculty advisor, Channon Price, or C.P., as he is known.

"KSUA is very proud to carry UAF hockey, and we try to do the best we can," said Nick Brewer, the station's general manager.

KSUA has won 10 Goldie Awards, the annual awards given out by the Alaska Broadcasters Association, for the hockey broadcasts alone, more than the entire lineup of most other radio stations.

"We have many people in the UAF hockey program who are world class," said Price. "Bruce Cech is one of them." Cech, sometimes known as "Checker," has been the voice of Nanook hockey for 17 years. "We really appreciate all that Bruce and the program as a whole have done for us," added Brewer.

"I think it is great that we have a non-commercial station in Division I hockey. We are the only ones with free web streaming available," said Cech. "Hey, it's a university product on a university station. For the past five years, KSUA has made UAF hockey available worldwide, and now all of a sudden, Nanook hockey is a really big deal." As many as 400 people listen over the internet to games, in addition to those living within the station's broadcast range, which stretches as far away as Tok and Healy.

"KSUA is a college radio station that wants to broadcast its college team, and there's no better place for it than right here," said Patrick Frymark, the chair of the ASUAF Media Board, which oversees KSUA. "It's very deserving."

In addition to the radio coverage given to hockey, KSUA also provides on-campus TV coverage of several Nanook sports. Hockey, of course, is on the lineup, but so is volleyball and swimming. Next year, men's and women's basketball will be added to the list. "Our programming can only expand exponentially from this point," said Brewer.

KSUA's mission statement includes three parts: providing programming desired by the students of UAF, providing programming that is otherwise unavailable to the community at large, and providing training and radio broadcast experience to students interested in the field. The hockey coverage fits all of these categories like a glove. "Live sports is right there at the top of radio broadcasting—you don't know what's going to happen," said Price.