University of Alaska Preview

Sadly, there will be no Q & A this week to get you ready for the Michigan/Alaska games. I was unable to track down a UA fan who was interested in previewing the weekend. I was successful, however, in tracking down an Anchorage fan who was interested, but alas, is an Anchorage fan, and we're not playing them. That's what I get for sending emails at 1 am.

So based on information I've been able to pull from the internet, here are the 10 things you should know about the Alaska Nanooks:

10. They currently sit at 0-4-0 on the season after being swept by Alaska Anchorage and Michigan State.

9. Their top returning goal scorer had 6 goals last year and their top returning point-getter had 22 points last year.

8. Chad Johnson and Wylie Rogers are splitting time. We'll probably see both of them this weekend. They posted pretty similar numbers last year with a slight edge to Rogers, but Ocho Cinco has been better this year.

7. Curtis Fraser is finally gone, so the Yost crowd has to find someone else to hate.

6. Their new coach, Doc DelCastillo played for St. Cloud and coached under Mike Kemp at UNO.

5. They were 3-7-2 last year in their first weekend in the lower 48 states after playing at home but were 5-5-2 the year before and 6-8-0 the year before that. So it seems they actually play fairly well the first games into a road trip. I can't decide if that surprises me or not.

4. Players to watch for: Defenseman Tyler Eckford is their leading scorer with 5 points in 4 games and is the top returning scorer on the team. Freshman Landon Notovney leads the team in goals with 3.

3. Michigan is 33-6-0 all-time against the Nanooks with a 17-3-0 record at home.

2. Chad Kolarik has 10 points in 9 career games against UA to lead Michigan. Billy Sauer has a 3-2-0 record with a 2.42 goals against and a .913 save percentage.

1. Alumnus of the then UAF program, Shawn Chambers, is the worst player in the history of video game hockey. Despite a pretty decent NHL career, EA Sports gave him a 1 rating in NHL 93.

Friday night's game will air on Comcast Local in Michigan while Saturday's game will be streamed for free courtesy of WOLV-TV on MGoBlue.com