The 29th season of Seawolf hockey gets under way this weekend as the Seawolves host Boston University, Robert Morris and Wayne State at the Nye Frontier Classic, Oct. 12-13 at Sullivan Arena. The Seawolves open their 2007-08 campaign against Wayne State on Friday, Oct. 12 at 8:07 p.m., and will play Boston University on the concluding night of the tournament, Oct. 13, at 7:07 p.m. The opening game of the tournament features No. 8-ranked BU against Robert Morris at 5:07 p.m. on Friday.
TOURNAMENT QUICK HITS
● UAA has won three of the last four tournament titles
● UAA is 11-3-2 all-time in its opening game of the Classic
● UAA is unbeaten in its last six tournament-opening contests (4-0-2)
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 ALL-TIME AT THE NYE FRONTIER CLASSIC:
All-Time Record: 16-12-6
Titles: 5 (1988, 1990, 2003, 2004, 2006)
Classic Notes: UAA has participated in all 16 previous Classic tournaments ... the Seawolves have won the tournament title three of the last four years ... UAA is 3-3-1 all-time against Hockey East opponents in the Classic (0-1-0 vs. BU) and 2-0-0 versus teams from College Hockey America ... the tournament was started in 1983 and ran annually until the 1992-93 season ... the 1989-90 Classic was cancelled due to the volcanic eruption of Mt. Redoubt ... after a five-year hiatus, the Classic returned for the 1999-2000 season ... the Seawolves have had four different players named the Classic's Most Outstanding Player?goaltender Paul Krake (1988 and 1990), forward Mike Scott (2001), forward Dallas Steward (2003) and forward Shea Hamilton (2004).
UAA IN SEASON OPENERS: The Seawolves are unbeaten in their last six season-opening games at 5-0-1 ... UAA is 15-10-3 all-time in season openers ... Friday's opener marks the 24th time in program history UAA has opened its season at home ... in opening games of the Classic, the Seawolves are 11-3-2. UAA defeated Merrimack 6-2 to begin the Classic last season.
SEAWOLVES AGAINST 2007 NYE OPPONENTS: UAA has previously faced just one of its two Nye Classic opponents ? falling to Boston University 5-3 in 1999. The Terriers went 2-0-0 in the tournament that year to claim the title. The meeting with Wayne State will be the first and only match between the two clubs as WSU has announced it will drop men's hockey at the conclusion of the 2007-08 season.
SCOUTING THE 2007 NYE CLASSIC FIELD:
Boston University - Attempting to win its second Nye Frontier Classic title is perennial Hockey East powerhouse Boston University. The Terriers, who are making their first trip to Anchorage since 1999, look to challenge for both a league title and NCAA berth in 2007-08 as they return 20 letterwinners from their 20-10-9 squad of a year ago. On offense longtime BU head coach Jack Parker has the luxury of having six of the team's top 10 leading scorers back in the lineup, including a pair of 30-point producers. Senior forward Pete MacArthur, a Second Team All-Hockey East selection last season, posted team-best totals in all three scoring categories as a junior at 16-20?36. BU's other 30-point returnee is junior forward Chris Higgins, who posted 13-19?32 figures. On the defensive end, 2006-07 Hockey East First Team selection Matt Gilroy returns to patrol the blueline. Gilroy finished second among league defensemen in points a year ago, recording 26. Replacing 2006-07 Hockey East Player of the Year John Curry at the goaltender position will be the greatest obstacle for BU to overcome as returnees Karson Gillespie and Brett Bennett saw action in only five games combined last season.
Robert Morris - A first-time visitor to both Anchorage and the Nye Frontier Classic is Robert Morris University out of College Hockey America. Hailing from Pittsburgh, Pa., the Colonials begin the program's fourth season of NCAA play in 2007-08. Fourth-year head coach Derek Schooley nearly led the Colonials to their first-ever NCAA Tournament berth a season ago, falling an overtime goal short from claiming the CHA Tournament title and automatic NCAA bid. A seasoned RMU squad returns 20 letterwinners from its program-best 14-19-2 team of 2006-07, including three of its top five leading scorers. Senior forward Ryan Cruthers recorded a team-best 17 goals and 37 points last season, ranking him No. 6 overall among CHA skaters in points. Also back up front are 26-point scorer senior Sean Berkstresser and 21-point producer junior Chris Margott. The Colonial defense will be anchored by senior team captain Chris Kaufman (6-8?14), while the goaltending duties will be in the hands of senior Christian Boucher (3.58 GAA, .899 save percentage, 9-13-2). Kaufman tied for seventh in the CHA for points by a defenseman while Boucher was fourth in save percentage.
Wayne State - Making its inaugural appearance at the Nye Frontier Classic is Wayne State University from Detroit, Mich. The second member of College Hockey America playing in this year's tourney, the Warriors are coming off a 12-21-2 campaign, including going unbeaten at 5-0-2 the last seven games of the 2006-07 regular season. Head coach Bill Wilkinson, who's entering his ninth season at WSU, heads into 2007-08 missing seven of his top 10 leading scorers from a year ago, including four 20-point scorers. All is not lost however, as 11 letterwinners return to the lineup, headlined by the team's No. 3 and No. 5 point producers last season ? sophomore forward Jared Katz (11-12?23) and senior Derek Bachynski (7-14?21). Shoring up the defensive side of the ice for WSU are 2006-07 CHA All-Rookie Team selections defenseman Jeff Caister and goaltender Brett Bothwell. Caister finished second among Warrior blueliners in points last season with 16 (2g, 14a) and tied for fifth overall in the league in points by a defenseman. Bothwell posted a .889 save percentage and 3.57 GAA in 18 games as a freshman, going 8-9-1 overall and rating No. 3 overall in the CHA in goalie winning percentage.
SEAWOLVES TROUNCE SAIT IN EXHIBITION OPENER: Senior Merit Waldrop scored three goals and sophomore Josh Lunden and senior Peter Cartwright recorded three points each to help power UAA to a dominating 8-0 win over Southern Alberta Tech in its only exhibition tune-up Oct. 5 at Wasilla. UAA held a decisive edge on special teams, shutting out the Trojans on all six of their man-advantage chances while going 2-for-6 on its on power play. The Seawolves, who held a lopsided 47-15 edge in shots on goal, also scored two shorthanded goals. Waldrop put the Seawolves ahead 2-0 with back-to-back shorthanded goals in the first 11:23 of the game and freshman Tommy Grant would connect for a power-play score at 16:52, making the score 3-0 at the first break. Cartwright tallied the first even-strength score of the night at 3:25 of the second, putting UAA ahead 4-0, before Waldrop would get the hat trick by netting a power-play chance at 7:44. Sophomore Ken Selby would use a nifty wrap-around move at 19:23 of the period to give the 'Wolves a commanding 6-0 advantage heading into the final period. Freshman Craig Parkinson and sophomore Kevin Clark would add two more goals in the third for UAA. Lunden recorded three assists and Cartwright netted one goal and two assists. Sophomore goaltender Jon Olthuis made 12 saves in two periods of play while freshman Matthew Gordon made three in 20 minutes of action.
CLASSIC HISTORY: In 16 previous tournaments, seven teams that have played in the Classic have advanced to the Frozen Four that same season ... the 2000-01 Classic field featured two teams that went on to the Frozen Four (Michigan and Michigan State) ... on two occasions the defending NCAA Champion participated in the Classic (Northern Michigan, 1991-92; Boston College, 2001-02) ... 16 Classic teams all-time have qualified for the ensuing NCAA Tournament. On four occasions (1987-88, 1991-92, 2000-01 and 2002-03) half of the four-team field participated in the national tournament ... 11 of 16 Classic tournaments have featured at least one NCAA qualifier.
SEAWOLF NOTES: The Seawolves are 16-15-2 all-time against current Hockey East teams and 2-0-0 against teams from the CHA ... UAA returns 15 letterwinners from last year's team that finished 13-21-3 overall and 8-19-1 in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, including home sweeps over North Dakota and Alaska Fairbanks ... the overall win total marked a seven-game improvement from the previous season ... UAA also claimed its own Nye Frontier Classic Tournament as well as the annual Alaska Governor's Cup series against instate rival UAF ... the Seawolves also posted their first winning season on home ice (9-8-1) in six seasons ... UAA scored 22 more goals and increased its shots on goal by 193 attempts, while also producing five 20-point scorers for the first time in five years ... UAA lowered its opponents' shots on goal average from 37.3 shots per game in 2005-06 to 29.8 a year ago and upped its offensive output by 11 points ... Wayne State is the ninth team from the state of Michigan UAA has faced all time, while BU is one of five teams from Massachusetts it has played ... the Seawolves are 40-48-12 all-time against opponents from Michigan and 13-4-1 versus opponents from Massachusetts.
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.)
ON DECK: The first round of the annual Alaska Airlines Governor's Cup series against rival Alaska Fairbanks commences Oct. 19-20 at the Sully. The Seawolves won the Cup last season after posting a 3-0-1 season series against the Nanooks. The 2007-08 campaign marks the last season the two Alaska schools will play each other four times a year as the series will be cut back to two games beginning next season.
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).
