Alaska Hockey Kicks Off This Weekend

Story and stats from Alaska Ice Hockey. Great action shot of #34 Goalie Wylie Rogers in perfect position taken by Paul McCarthy.

Nanooks Headed To Anchorage For Governor's Cup Opening Series

Governor's Cup series to be televised in Fairbanks on Fox 7

Oct. 17, 2007

• The Nanooks begin regular-season play in Anchorage on Friday with the first test in the four-game series for the Governor's Cup. Their five-year stranglehold on state bragging rights was broken last season when Alaska Anchorage beat them in three out of four meetings.

• It marks the first time since the 2003-04 season that Alaska will kick off its regular season with a series against UAA.

• In the last three years, the Nanooks are 4-1-1 in season-openers, including a 2-1-1 mark while making their season start on the road. This weekend's series marks the 10th time (since 1979) the Nanooks will face the Seawolves in a curtain-lifter. Alaska is 6-10-2 against UAA in season-opening series and just 1-5-1 in openers played in Anchorage.

• Despite faltering last season against the Seawolves, the Nanooks lead the Governor's Cup Series 8-6, and will look to (re)claim their sixth cup in the past seven years.

• Alaska trails UAA in the all-time series 48-75-10 and the series in Anchorage 18-43-5, although they have claimed eight of the 14 Governor's Cups. The Nanooks are just two games down in the Fairbanks series, which stands at 30-32-5.

• The teams will rematch in Fairbanks New Year's Eve Weekend at the Carlson Center on Dec. 28-29 to determine this year's Cup Champion.

• When the teams met on Oct. 20-21, 2006, the Nanooks were upset in the opening game 6-5 in overtime and then forced a 1-1 overtime tie in the rematch. The loss on Oct. 20 snapped a five-game home unbeaten streak and was their first loss to UAA at the Carlson Center since Dec. 10, 2003.

• There have been four shootouts in the Cup's history to determine its champion, with the most recent happening in Anchorage on Mar. 6, 2004 (Nanook won 3-2). The Nanooks have a 3-1 advantage in Governor's Cup shootouts and are unbeaten in the last two at the Sullivan Arena.

• SR G Wylie Rogers is 5-3 in his career against the Seawolves with a .936 save percentage and 1.87 goals-against average. He has recorded two of his program record six shutouts against UAA. The first was on Oct. 23 in Anchorage, when Alaska blasted UAA 6-0 (21 saves) and the second was a 3-0 blanking in Fairbanks on Dec. 31, 2005, when he stopped 33 shots to help the Nanooks capture their fifth consecutive Cup in a five-year span.

• With the Alaska schools new hockey tournament scheduling agreement, the Governor's Cup series will return to a two-game series format in the 2008-09 season. The first six Governor's Cups were decided by two-game series, before the four-game format superseded its predecessor during the 1999-2000 campaign.

GO NANOOKS!