ALASKA ANCHORAGE (7-12-3, 6-10-2 WCHA) vs. MINNESOTA (10-9-3, 7-7-2 WCHA)
Jan. 28-29, 2011 at Mariucci Arena
MEDIA COVERAGE
Live Stats - GoSeawolves.com / Gophersports.com
Live Radio - Kurt Haider - KTZN 550 AM / GoSeawolves.com ($)
Live TV - GCI Channel 1 / Fox Sports North
Live Webcast - None
Game Updates - UAA Facebook & Twitter
THIS WEEK: The Alaska Anchorage Seawolves will continue their four-game road stretch when they face the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Mariucci Arena in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association series on Jan. 28-29. The games are scheduled to start at 4:07 p.m. AST both nights.
THE SERIES – UAA vs. UM
OVERALL: UM, 49-16-7 AT DU: UM, 26-7-3
LAST MEETING: Jan. 30, 2010 (UAA won, 2-1) STREAK: UAA 1
NOTES: The series will mark the first and only regular season meeting between the teams ... the teams met for two series last season with the Gophers taking six points (3-1-0) ... the last time UAA won at Mariucci was on Nov. 17, 2007, while the last UAA sweep on the road was on Feb. 18-19, 1994 ... in the last 10 games, UAA is 2-6-2 against UM.
SCOUTING MINNESOTA: The Gophers will entertain the Seawolves after having last weekend off ... UM is currently tied for 6th in the WCHA standings with 16 points and received 23 votes in the latest USCHO.com poll ... the last time UM saw action was on Jan. 14-15 against North Dakota ... the Gophers defeated the Fighting Sioux on Jan. 14, 3-2, before losing, 4-1 ... UM faced non-conference opponents Union (2-3) and Ferris State (2-2) over the holidays after seeing Minnesota Duluth on Dec. 10 and 12 (3-2, 2-2) ... the Gophers are 2-2-2 in the last six contests ... in the WCHA overall stats, UM ranks in the middle of the pack in most categories – 5th in power play (21.6), 7th in scoring offense (3.05) and penalty minutes (13.7), and 9th in scoring defense (3.05) ... the Gophers are led offensively by senior forwards Jay Barriball (11-11–22), Jacob Cepis (7-12–19) and Mike Hoeffel (9-8–17) ... leading from the blueline is senior D Cade Fairchild (3-8–11), while junior G Kent Patterson (16 gp, .915 sv%, 2.60 gaa, 8-4-3) and senior G Alex Kangas (9 gp, .894 sv%, 3.17 gaa, 2-5-0) have seen time between the pipes.
LAST TIME OUT: The Seawolves will take on the Gophers after being swept by then-No. 4 Denver on Jan. 21-22 in Colorado ... the Pioneers defeated the Seawolves 3-2 on Friday, and 5-1 on Saturday ... DU took seven points in the series this season (3-0-1) ... on Friday night, the Seawolves twice came from behind to tie the Pioneers, but DU added the game winner half way through the third and managed to hold off UAA in the final minutes ... scoring for UAA was sophomore F Mitch Bruijsten and freshman F Brett Cameron ... on Saturday, the Seawolves struck first on a goal by sophomore F Chris Crowell and held the lead until the last four minutes of the first when DU scored three unanswered goals ... the Pioneers then added one goal in the second and third frames.
LAST TIME VS. MINNESOTA: Kevin Clark netted the game-winning goal, lifting UAA over UM, 2-1 at the Sullivan Arena ... the Gophers struck first in the opening stanza, but the Seawolves responded with two special-team goals in the second period, giving UAA the league victory ... Josh Lunden tied the game with a power-play strike early in the second before Clark picked up a short-handed goal on a breakaway against UM goaltender Alex Kangas.
SEAWOLF BITES: The series against UM will mark UAA's first non-ranked opponent since Nov. 26-27 (Colorado College) ... the loss to DU on Jan. 21 broke a three-game unbeaten streak ... UAA's strength of schedule is currently ranked No. 2 in the RPI rankings ... after going 4-for-7 in the Colorado College series on Jan. 14-15, UAA was held scoreless on the man advantage in eight attempts against DU ... the Seawolves kept the Pioneers scoreless on the power play in seven tries – good for a three-game streak ... the Seawolves have scored first in four of the last five games ... UAA allowed a season-low-tying six shots in the 2nd period on Jan. 21 ... the loss on Jan. 22 was UAA's first when allowing 30+ shots on net – they are 3-1-1 when doing so ... prior to Saturday, UAA had held opponents to under 30 shots on net for eight straight games ... the 32 shots on net from DU was the second-most allowed this season, while the 16 shots in the third frame were also a season high ... following last weekend, the Seawolves hold a 3-8-2 record against ranked opponents this season ... to date, the Seawolves have only been swept twice – against Minnesota Duluth in their season opener and at Denver – and split four league series – Bemidji State, St. Cloud State, Colorado College and Wisconsin ... UAA also picked up one point in the series against Minnesota State and Denver ... UAA has played in six overtime games this season for a 2-1-3 record in extra minutes ... 15 of UAA's 20 games have been decided by one goal or have ended in a tie.
PLAYER NOTES: Picking up a multi-point game against DU on Jan. 21 were senior F Nick Haddad (0-2–2) and freshman F Matt Bailey (0-2–2) – his first career multi-assist game and fourth multi-point night ... scoring his third goal in four games was sophomore F Mitch Bruijsten, while freshman F Brett Cameron recorded his first goal since scoring at Bemidji State on Nov. 12 ... senior F Tommy Grant went scoreless over the weekend, breaking a team and career-high six-game point streak ... Grant continues to lead UAA in points (20) and goals (10) ... senior F Craig Parkinson was also held scoreless on Jan. 21, breaking a season-high three-game point streak ... Parkinson went on to pick up an assist on Saturday, giving him six points in the last five games (2-4–6) ... scoring his first collegiate point and goal on Jan. 22 was sophomore F Chris Crowell ... suiting up between the pipes for the ninth and 10th straight games was freshman G Rob Gunderson ... Gunderson is now 6-9-2 on the season with a .896 save percentage and a 2.58 goals-against average ... from Lethbridge, Alberta, Gunderson is currently ranked at No. 11 on the UAA all-time single-season list for save percentage.
CHN TEAM OF THE WEEK: The Seawolves were named the College Hockey New's Team of the Week after sweeping then-No. 17 Colorado College at home on Jan. 14-15 (4-1, 2-1).
WCHA PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Alaska Anchorage senior F Tommy Grant (Offensive) and freshman G Rob Gunderson (Rookie) came away with WCHA Player of the Week honors after sweeping Colorado College on Jan. 14-15 ... Grant led the team with a five-point weekend (2g, 3a), while Gunderson stopped 38 of 40 shots for a .950 save percentage, and allowed just one even-strength goal over the weekend.
LEADING BY EXAMPLE: The senior class (5 representatives) is leading the Seawolves in scoring with 22 goals and 35 assists for 57 points ... the seniors also lead in game-winning goals (4) and are tied with the freshmen with six power-play goals ... the freshmen are second in points (17-31–48), followed by the sophomores (11-15–26) and the juniors (2-11–13).
BY THE NUMBERS: After 22 games, the Seawolves (7-12-3) hold a .386 winning percentage ... UAA has six conference wins thus far – three more W's will tie head coach Dave Shyiak's all-time best ... the Seawolves' all-time record stands at 434-547-91 ... since joining the league in 1993-94, UAA is 134-314-62, while the 500th WCHA game came on Nov. 20, 2010 against St. Cloud State.
WCHA STANDINGS: Currently the Seawolves are two points out of a four-way tie for No. 6 with Colorado College and Minnesota ... UAA is ranked 5th in penalty minutes (13.9), 10th in penalty kill (80.0) and scoring offense (2.36) and 11th in scoring defense (3.14) and power play (14.6) ... senior F Tommy Grant is tied for No. 6 in game-winning goals, No. 20 in goals and No. 31 in scoring ... freshman F Jordan Kwas is tied for No. 10 in freshman scoring, No. 27 in assists and No. 28 in power-play points ... senior D Luka Vidmar and sophomore D Scott Warner are tied for No. 30 in defenseman scoring ... rookie G Rob Gunderson is ranked No. 7 in goals against and No. 12 in save percentage and winning percentage.
NATIONAL POLLS: In the latest polls, Yale continues to lead both the USCHO.com and the USA/Today polls ... 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 of weekly release.
2010-11 CAPTAINS: The Seawolves are led this season by senior co-captains Tommy Grant and Craig Parkinson and junior Brad Gorham and sophomore Chris Crowell.
NEXT UP: The Seawolves return home to face the Michigan Tech Huskies on Feb. 4-5 at the Sullivan Arena.
