Alaska Anchorage begins defense of its Alaska Airlines Governor's Cup title as it hosts rival Alaska Fairbanks for the first two tilts of the four-game series Friday and Saturday (Oct. 19-20) at the Sullivan Arena. The Seawolves, who went 1-0-1 in their opening weekend of play, swept the Nanooks in Anchorage last season. Faceoff Friday is 7:37 p.m., while Saturday's game begins a half hour earlier at 7:07 p.m. 

SEAWOLF HOCKEY ON THE NET: You can find information on UAA hockey, including player bios, stats and results, along with KTZN radio broadcasts on the internet at www.GoSeawolves.com. Streamed live statistics will be available for all UAA home games on GoSeawolves.com. Live and archived video game streams will also be available on the web to GCI internet subscribers at www.gci.net.

UAA HOCKEY ON GCI: For the third straight year GCI will both televise and stream all UAA home games and select road series. All televised games will be broadcast on GCI Cable Channel 1. Home games will be aired tape delay, showing at 10:30 p.m., while road dates will be shown live. GCI will also show replays of every televised game the following day at 1 p.m. All internet broadcasts are streamed live on GCI.net (link provided on GoSeawolves.com).

All-Time: Alaska Anchorage  leads 75-48-10    

At Anchorage: Alaska Anchorage leads 43-19-5

First Meeting: UAA 13, UAF 3 (11/16/79 at Anchorage)

Last Meeting: UAA 4, UAF 2 (12/30/06 at Anchorage)

Last 5: UAA leads 3-1-1                        

Last 10: Tied at 4-4-2

Series Notes: The Seawolves went 3-0-1 last year against UAF on the way to winning the Alaska Airlines Governor's Cup for the sixth time overall ... UAA's two-game home sweep over the Nanooks was its first on home ice since taking two in March 2000 ... the longest win streak by the Seawolves against UAF is 16 games (11/16/79—2/28/81) ... UAA's current four-game unbeaten stretch in the series is the second longest since the Governor's Cup series began in 1993-94 ... the 'Wolves recorded a seven-game unbeaten mark (6-0-1) from 10/16/99 to 3/3/01 ... last season's 1-1 tie in Fairbanks (10/21/06) was the lowest-scoring game ever played in 133 all-time meetings between the two Alaska schools ... ... there have been only six shutouts in the entire series history (UAF-5; UAA-1) ... the two schools were members of the Great West Hockey Conference for three seasons from 1985-86 to 1987-88. Each team won one conference title before the league disbanded. Sophomore F Paul Crowder leads active UAA skaters in goals against UAF with four.                     

SCOUTING THE NANOOKS: UAF enters the 2007-08 season under the guidance of first-year head coach Doc DelCastillo, who previously served as an assistant at Nebraska-Omaha ... the Nanooks return 16 letterwinners from their 11-22-6 squad of 06-07, including three 20-point scorers ... sophomore forward Dion Knelson and junior defenseman Tyler Eckford are the team's top returning scorers, having each produced 5-17-22 totals last season ... UAF also returns two solid goaltenders in senior Wiley Rogers (6-15-4, 3.06 GAA, .891 sv%) and junior Chad Johnson (5-6-2, 3.11, .883).

ABOUT THE ALASKA AIRLINES GOVERNOR'S CUP: The battle for the 15th Alaska Airlines Governor's Cup begins this weekend in Anchorage. UAA holds a 21-18-5 overall edge in the series since the inception of the Cup in 1993. The Seawolves have won six Cups, while the Nanooks have eight. The teams played just twice a season for the first six years of the Cup. Since the 1999-2000 campaign, UAA and UAF have played four times a year. The 2007-08 season marks the last the two Alaska schools will square off four times a season as the schedule will be reduced back to two games starting in 08-09.

GOVERNOR'S CUP HISTORY:

Year                Winner             Results                                                    

1993-94           UAF                 Tied 1-1, UAF wins shootout, 3-1

1994-95           UAA                 Tied 1-1, UAA wins shootout, 2-1

1995-96           UAA                 UAA wins, 1-0-1

1996-97           UAA                 UAA wins, 2-0-0

1997-98           UAF                 UAF wins, 1-0-1

1998-99           UAF                 Tied 1-1, UAF wins shootout, 2-0

1999-00           UAA                 UAA wins, 3-1-0

2000-01           UAA                 UAA wins, 3-0-1

2001-02           UAF                 UAF wins, 3-1-0

2002-03           UAF                 UAF wins, 3-1-0

2003-04           UAF                 Tied 2-2, UAF wins shootout, 3-2

2004-05           UAF                 UAF wins, 2-1-1

2005-06           UAF                 UAF wins, 3-1-0

2006-07           UAA                 UAA wins, 3-0-1

LUNDEN EARNS WCHA OFFENSIVE HONORS: Forward Josh Lunden, who produced five points while earning Most Outstanding Player honors at the Nye Frontier Classic last weekend, has been named Red Baron® WCHA Offensive Player of the Week. A 6-2, 202-pound sophomore from Port Coquitlam, B.C., Lunden was named the Classic's Most Outstanding Player after scoring three goals and setting up two others, as the host Seawolves defeated Wayne State, 5-2, last Friday and tied Boston University, 4-4, last Saturday at Sullivan Arena. He assisted on teammate Kevin Clark's game-winning goal against WSU while recording a career-best three points, and then scored two goals against the Terriers, including the game-tying tally with just two minutes remaining in regulation. Lunden has posted 5-2–7 totals in four career Nye Frontier Classic games and has a point in four consecutive games dating back to last season. The award is the first in the offensive category for Lunden, and second WCHA Player of the Week honor of his career (Rookie, Nov. 21, 2005).

SEAWOLVES STREAKS EXTENDED: The Seawolves 5-2 win over Wayne State Oct. 12 extended their current unbeaten streak in season-opening games to seven at 6-0-1. UAA, which is 16-15-3 all-time in season openers, hasen't dropped its first game of a season since falling to Michigan State 5-4 in 2000. The 'Wolves also extended their current unbeaten streak at the Nye Frontier Classic to four games (2-0-2) after earning a win and tie last weekend. UAA is 7-1-2 in its last 10 Classic games and is unbeaten in eight consecutive non-conference contests at 5-0-3.  

PLAYER NOTES: Four UAA skaters produced multi-point games last weekend, led by sophomores Kevin Clark and Josh Lunden, who scored three points each against Wayne State ... Clark and Lunden also collected two points each against Boston University ... Clark has scored a point in a team-best five consecutive games dating back to last season's WCHA first round playoff series and has scored 11 points in his last eight ... two of the three goals Lunden racked up last weekend came on the power play. He leads all active UAA players in power-play goals with eight ... sophomore F Paul Crowder tallied two assists against WSU and senior F Peter Cartwright chipped in two assists versus BU ... Clark's two-goal outing Oct. 12 was a career-best, as was Lunden's two-goal showing Oct. 13 vs. BU ... three freshmen—Winston DayChief, Brad McCabe and Craig Parkinson—all recorded two points last weekend, with each posting a goal and an assist ... senior Chris Tarkir scored his first goal in 27 games last Saturday with a second-period score against BU.

TEAM NOTES: UAA's 5-2 victory over Wayne State improved it to 3-0-0 all-time against teams from College Hockey America, while its 4-4 tie with Boston University moved it to 16-15-3 versus Hockey East schools ... UAA, which went 3-for-10 on the power-play last weekend, scored power-play goals in consecutive games for the first time since Dec. 29-30, 2006 (vs. UAF) ... the 13 shots UAA held WSU to Oct. 12 were the lowest total it has held an opponent attempt since allowing 11 to Air Force on Dec. 5, 1988.

UAA EARNS WIN, TIE AT CLASSIC: UAA went 1-0-1 at its own season-opening Nye Frontier Classic tournament last weekend at the Sullivan Arena, defeating Wayne State 5-2 last Friday and tying No. 8 Boston University 4-4 Saturday. Against WSU the Seawolves would explode for three unanswered goals in the second period to break open a 1-1 deadlock. Sophomore Kevin Clark tallied two goals, including the game winner, while freshman Craig Parkinson, freshman Brad McCabe and sophomore Josh Lunden would add the others. Sophomore G Jon Olthuis posted 11 saves in the win. UAA fought back from 1-0, 3-2 and 4-3 deficits to earn the tie. Lunden scored the second of his two goals of the night with two minutes remaining in regulation to force overtime. Also scoring for the Seawolves were freshman Winston DayChief, and senior Chris Tarkir. Olthuis made 26 saves, including three in the overtime session. Despite going unbeaten, UAA was unable to defend its Classic title as Robert Morris would go 2-0-0 to win the trophy. Clark earned a spot on the all-tournament team while Lunden was named the Classic's Most Outstanding Player after recording 3-2--5 totals.

COACHES SHOW DEBUTS THIS WEEK: A weekly coaches show featuring UAA head coach Dave Shyiak debuts this Wednesday night at 8 p.m. on GCI Cable Channel 1. Hosted by David Tuttle, the 30-minute program is slated to discuss and review the previous weekend's series, including highlights, as well as preview upcoming games. Coach Shyiak and at least one Seawolf player per week will be interviewed each show. Replays of the coaches show will also be aired one hour prior to each game telecast on GCI.

THE CAPTAINS: Wearing the captain “C” in 2007-08 for Alaska Anchorage is senior defenseman Luke Beaverson (Vadnais Heights, Minn.), . ... the assistant captains are senior forward Peter Cartwright (Anchorage), junior defenseman Mat Robinson (Calgary, Alberta) and senior forward Blair Tassone (Castlegar, B.C.)

SEAWOLVES TABBED FOR 10TH: UAA was picked to finish 10th by the league's coaches in the 37th annual Grand Forks Herald WCHA Coaches Poll. 2007 NCAA Frozen Four qualifier North Dakota was picked to win the regular-season title. UND forward and 2007 Hobey Baker winner Ryan Duncan was selected the preseason WCHA Player of the Year and Wisconsin's Kyle Turris was chosen the league's preseason Rookie of the Year.

 
ON DECK: The Seawolves dive into WCHA play for the first time in 2007-08 next weekend as they host Minnesota State for a two-game series at the Sully. UAA split its series with the Mavericks last season, going 2-2-0. Since joining the league the Seawolves are 1-13-0 all-time in conference openers.