Feb. 20, 2008

Lake Superior State Series Notes

• The Blue and Gold make their longest trek of the year this weekend, about a 22-hour trip from Fairbanks to Sault Saint Marie, to face off against the Lakers of Lake Superior State.

• The Nanooks trail the Lakers in the all-time series 21-10-4 (15-6-0) in the Soo. Alaska tied and beat LSSU last year in Fairbanks after getting swept on the road the previous season.

• November 13, 2004 was the last time the Blue and Gold defeated the Lakers on their turf. Then-rookie Wylie Rogers was the goalie of record, nabbing his second career shutout in a 2-0 blanking at LSSU. Alaska closed out the 2006-07 season with a pair of losses at the hands of the eventual CCHA Tournament champion Notre Dame. For the visiting Nanooks, they could not match their feat from the previous year's playoffs, when they swept Notre Dame in the first round of postseason play and extend their season for another week.

• The Nanooks power-play goal at 8:24 of the first period last Saturday snapped an 0-for-17 drought in their previous five games.

• Saturday's 1-1 tie broke a seven-game losing skid against the Irish.

• Alaska has a blistering plus/minus rating of +34 in its last six games, with junior defenseman Tyler Eckford leading the pack at +7.

• Senior goalie Wylie Rogers 40-save performance Saturday brought his season saves total to 756. He needs 63 saves to break the program-record for single-season saves (818), a mark he set as a freshman during the 2004-05 season. The Nanooks backstopper leads conference goalies overall in save-per-game average (30.6).

• Scoring his team-best 14th goal of the year Saturday night gave freshman forward Landon Novotney the lead for overall markers amongst the CCHA's rookies. Novotney has been a spark for Alaska in its last six games, netting four goals and an assist in that span.

• Alaska's five-member senior class composed of goalie Wylie Rogers, defenseman T.J. Campbell, defenseman/forward Brandon Gawryletz, forward Ryan Muspratt and forward Aaron Lee played in their final regular-season home game Saturday night. The quintet have been a part of some of program's greatest successes: four wins against No.1 ranked teams, three first-round road playoff upsets, two Alaska Airlines Governor's Cup titles that accounted for the program's fourth and fifth consecutive titles, one trip to Joe Louis Arena and a third place finish in the CCHA Super Six.

• Although he has already doubled his goal output from a year ago, sophomore forward Dion Knelsen is just two assists shy of a new career best for helpers. The second-year skater is second on the team for goals (10) and assists (16). He is also just two points shy of his 50th career point.