ALASKA ANCHORAGE (5-9-2, 4-7-1 WCHA) vs. No. 9/10 DENVER (11-5-2, 8-3-1 WCHA)
Dec. 10-11, 2010 at Sullivan Arena
MEDIA COVERAGE
Live Stats - GoSeawolves.com
Live Radio - Kurt Haider - KTZN 550 AM / GoSeawolves.com ($)
Live TV - GCI Channel 1 - tape delayed
Live Webcast - http://seawolves.gci.net/
Game Updates - UAA Facebook & Twitter
TICKETS: Receive four (4) complimentary tickets for both of the UAA vs. Denver games for a small handling fee of $3.50 per order at Ticketmaster.com. See link at right (FREE Ticket Offer) for more information.
PROMOTIONS
Dec. 11 - Seawolf Knit Beanie Night – First 1,000 fans in attendance. For a list of ongoing promotions surf to GoSeawolves.com.
THIS WEEK: The Alaska Anchorage Seawolves will entertain the No. 9/10-ranked Denver Pioneers for a pair of Western Collegiate Hockey Association games on Dec. 3-4 at the Sullivan Arena in part of a six-game homestand. The games are scheduled to commence at 7:07 p.m. AST on both evenings.
THE SERIES – UAA vs. DU
OVERALL: DU leads, 41-15-6 AT UAA: DU leads, 18-8-4
LAST MEETING: Jan. 9, 2010 (DU won, 3-2) STREAK: DU 1
NOTES: The meeting between the Seawolves and Pioneers this weekend is the only regular season series scheduled ... last season the teams met for two series, with DU owning a 2-1-1 record ... UAA and DU split on Nov. 6-7, 2009 (2-3, 7-3), before UAA tied DU on Jan. 8, 2010 (1-1) and lost on Jan. 9, 2010 (3-2) ... the last UAA win was on Nov. 7, 2010, when the Seawolves recorded a season-high seven goals - tying their most ever against DU ... UAA has not swept DU since Dec. 11-12, 1998 (5-1, 2-1) at home ... in the last 10 meetings, DU leads, 7-2-1 – only two of those 10 games were played in Anchorage.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT: The No. 9/10-ranked Pioneers enter the series with the Seawolves with a 11-5-2 overall record and a 8-3-1 stint in league play ... DU is coming off of a split with then-No. 1 Minnesota Duluth, with DU winning on Dec. 3 (5-4), before dropping a 2-1 contest on Dec. 4 ... the previous weekend, DU hosted the Denver Cup, defeating Lake Superior (6-3) and Air Force (3-1) ... so far this season, the Pioneers have swept Bemidji State (Nov. 19-20) and Minnesota State (Nov. 12-13) and have split with Colorado College (Nov. 5-6) and North Dakota (Oct. 29-30) ... the Pioneers are led offensively by sophomore F Drew Shore (13-11–24), freshman F Jason Zucker (12-6–18) and senior F Anthony Maiani (5-13–18) ... to date, eight Pioneers have registered 10+ points this season ... freshman D David Makowski (3-10–13) leads DU from the blueline, while freshman G Sam Brittain (.929 sv%, 2.08 gaa, 10-4-2) has suited up for 16 games in the crease ... DU is 14/78 (.179) on the power play, 77/91 (.846) on the penalty kill and holds a 3.17 goals / game average.
WISCONSIN RECAP: The Seawolves and Badgers split their WCHA series on Dec. 3-4, with UAA winning on Friday night, 2-1, before dropping a 3-1 game on Saturday night ... on Dec. 3, UAA was first to score with a shorthanded strike by senior F Craig Parkinson in the second frame ... 10 minutes later, UW knotted the game at 1-1 and the teams battled back and forth until the final seconds of the game when senior F Tommy Grant netted the game winner with nine seconds left in regulation ... on Dec. 4, UW opened the scoring with a pair of power play goals in the second frame for the 2-0 lead ... with nine minutes left in the third, UAA pulled netminder Rob Gunderson for the extra attacker and the gamble paid off as Grant scored three minutes later ... UAA was unable to find the equalizer and UW forged the split with an empty net goal with one second left in the game.
SEAWOLF BITES: On Dec. 3, the Seawolves broke a 12-game winless streak against the Badgers with the 2-1 win ... the last time UAA had defeated UW was on Nov. 4, 2006 at the Sullivan Arena (2-1) ... UAA scored its fourth shorthanded goal of the season – tied for 2nd in the league with Denver ... on Dec. 4, the Seawolves fell to Wisconsin (3-1), picking up their fourth straight league split ... UAA allowed a season-high 18 shots on net in a period (2nd) and posted a season-low-tying 4 shots on net in the second frame ... UAA was tagged for a season-high 12 penalties ... UAA has won the last four Friday night contests, defeating their WCHA counterparts by one goal apiece, before dropping the Saturday night games ... UAA is 4-3-1 in games on Fridays and 1-6-1 in games on Saturdays ... the Seawolves are 4-5-1 in the last 10 games and are 1-5-1 against ranked foes, with the only win coming against then-No. 15 Wisconsin on Dec. 3 ... the senior class leads UAA scoring efforts with 15 goals and 25 assists, while the freshman class is second with 14 goals and 23 assists ... in the WCHA, UAA holds ranks of 11th in scoring offense (2.38), tied for 8th in scoring defense (3.25), 7th in penalty minutes (13.5), 12th in power play (8/75, 10.7) and 10th in penalty kill (58/76, 76.3) ... to date, UAA has outshot its opponents 416-409 and holds a slight lead over its opponents in penalties (86-87).
PLAYER NOTES: Dec. 3, UAA received goals by senior forwards Craig Parkinson and Tommy Grant ... Parkinson netted his third career shorthanded goal and 24th career goal overall, while Grant claimed the game-winning goal for the second time in three games – the only Seawolf with 2 GWG ... Grant is also tied with freshman F Jordan Kwas for first in points for UAA with 12 ... following a multi-goal weekend, Grant is tied for No. 46 on the all-time list with 70 career points, and tied for No. 34 on the all-time list with 35 career goals ... Grant and freshman F Matt Bailey's team-high six goals rank them tied for No. 22 on the WCHA scoring list ... in addition to 12 points, Kwas also leads UAA in assists with 10 ... Kwas's 12 points ties him for No. 7 on the WCHA freshman scoring list ... adding his first multi-point game of the season and his second of his career was senior F Luka Vidmar on Dec. 3 – last multi-point game was on March 5, 2010 against UMD (0-2–2) ... making his 10th and 11th starts in the crease over the weekend was freshman G Rob Gunderson ... Gunderson owns a 4-6-1 record – good for a tie at No. 12 in the league ... Gunderson is also ranked No. 12 in save percentage at .901 and No. 9 in goals against (2.54) ... Gunderson is currently ranked No. 8 on the all-time single-season saves percentage list, trailing Kevin Reiter's 2003-04 season (.902), and No. 2 on the goals-against average behind Gregg Naumenko's 1998-99 season (2.31).
NATIONAL POLLS: In the latest polls, Yale took the top position in both the USCHO.com and the USA/Today, leapfrogging WCHA member Minnesota Duluth (No. 2) ... nine of the 12 WCHA members are ranked in the top 20 or receiving points ... UAA had received points in one of the polls on Oct. 11. See complete poll on page 6.
