Shortridge Signs with San Jose Sharks

Andrew Shortridge (Quinnipiac) will not be returning to an NCAA net. The junior goaltender, who backstopped the Bobcats to the ECAC Hockey regular-season title and the NCAA Tournament this year, has passed on his final season of college eligibility to sign an entry-level contract with the NHL's San Jose Sharks, according to USCHO.com. He is expected to report to the AHL's San Jose Barracuda.

The Anchorage, Alaska native, who started the 2018-19 season as a backup but later emerged as Quinnipiac's No.1 netminder, went 18-7-2 with four shutouts in 27 games this past season, and was
among the national leaders with a 1.51 goals-against average and a .940 save percentage. In three campaigns in Hamden, Conn., he finished 42-26-4 with 10 shutouts in 78 appearances (1.97, .923).

Shortridge, 23, who prepped with Vernon (BCHL) prior to enrolling at Quinnipiac, finished his collegiate career this past weekend at the 2019 NCAA Midwest Regional in Allentown,
Pa. The 6-foot-4 goaltender made 20 saves in a 2-1 semifinal win over Arizona State, and then posted 23 stops (one empty-net goal against) in a 3-1 regional final loss to defending NCAA champion Minnesota Duluth in his Quinnipiac finale.

Two Clubs Back in Contention, One Set to Sweep

Jonathan Quick (Massachusetts) made 28 saves on Monday night as the Los Angeles Kings climbed back into their Western Conference quarterfinal series of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 2-1 overtime win at San Jose. The Sharks, who had won the first two games in Los Angeles, now lead the best-of-seven series, two games to one. Game 4 is Wednesday in San Jose.

In Minnesota, the host Wild stormed back from a 2-0 first-period deficit to register a 5-3 victory over the Dallas Stars yesterday. Erik Haula (Minnesota) had a goal and assist to lead the Wild, while Charlie Coyle (Boston University) picked up an assist. Patrick Sharp (Vermont) scored twice for Dallas, which leads the series, two games to one, and will again try to extend its lead in Game 4 on Wednesday in St. Paul.

Lastly, the Washington Capitals, the NHL's top team during the regular season, tallied five power-play goals to move to the brink of a first-round sweep of the Philadelphia Flyers with a 6-1 triumph in Pennsylvania. Jay Beagle (Alaska Anchorage) scored the final goal for the Caps, who now lead the Eastern Conference quarterfinal series, three games to none, and will look to close it out on Wednesday.

Nanooks Earn Governor's Cup, Last WCHA Playoff Berth

The University of Alaska (Fairbanks) Nanooks claimed their seventh consecutive Governor’s Cup with a 3-2 victory over in-state rival Alaska Anchorage on Friday night at the Carlson Center in Fairbanks. For good measure on Saturday night, they posted another 3-2 victory while also claiming the final Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoff spot and ending the Seawolves’ 2015-16 season.

Peter Krieger's third-period power-play goal with just over five minutes remaining in regulation Friday stood up as the game-winner for Alaska (10-20-4 overall, 8-16-4 WCHA), while Davis Jones made 28 saves for the Nanooks. Jones finished with 19 stops on Saturday, and made an early third-period score by Justin Woods stand up as the decisive marker shortly after UAA (11-20-3, 8-18-2) had forged a 2-2 tie. Woods sat out last season while being treated for Ewing’s Sarcoma.

Alaska is 3-3-0 in its last six outings overall following a five-game losing skid. The Seawolves, meanwhile, lost 13 of their final 16 games to fall out of playoff contention. UAA needed just two points over the weekend to advance to the postseason, and also went 0-3-1 overall against the Nanooks this season.

Alaska will now face top-seeded and 13^th-ranked Michigan Tech in a best-of-three WCHA series beginning on Friday in Houghton, Mich. The Huskies defeated the visiting Nanooks on Feb. 26-27 by 6-5 and 3-2 scores. Alaska missed the playoffs last season due to NCAA sanctions.

Sun Devils Earn First NCAA Win over Nanooks

Arizona State made Alaska (Fairbanks) its first victim in NCAA play as the Sun Devils defeated the Nanooks, 2-1, on Saturday in the Kendall Classic in Anchorage. Ryan Belonger, who set up ASU’s tying goal early in the third period at Sullivan Arena, connected for the game-winner with 34 seconds remaining in regulation. Ryland Pashovitz made 37 saves for the Sun Devils (1-1-0), while Tyler Morley scored the lone goal for Alaska (0-2-0), which won last year's Classic.

In one of the bigger shockers of the day , Union won, 5-3, over No. 3 Boston University as Matt Wilkins scored the go-ahead goal and assisted on an insurance marker, both in the final three minutes of regulation. Also out east, No. 19 St. Lawrence topped RIT, 5-1, with Gavin Bayreuther scoring the game-winner and adding an assist.

No. 18 Quinnipiac downed Holy Cross, 4-2, after Thomas Aldworth notched one goal and set up two more for the Bobcats. New Hampshire ran roughshod over American International, 7-3, as Tyler Kelleher had a four-point night, while Alabama-Huntsville scored a 5-2 victory over UConn for a series split, thanks to 29 saves by Carmine Guerriero.

Elsewhere on Saturday, Michigan State defeated Lake Superior State, 4-1 at the Icebreaker Tournament in Portland, Me. thanks to 29 saves from Jake Hildebrand. Mackenzie MacEachern notched the game-winning goal for the Spartans, Mason Appleton had two assists, and JT Stenglien posted a goal and an assist. Also, No. 10 Omaha completed a two-step sweep at No. 6 Minnesota State with a 2-0 victory, powered by two goals from Jake Randolph and 40 saves by Evan Weninger.

 

 

UAF Wraps Up 2014-15 Season This Weekend

Alaska Fairbanks faces the end of its season this weekend with two games at rival Alaska Anchorage to decide the annual Governor's Cup. UAF (17-13-2 overall, 12-12-2 WCHA), which stands in fifth place in its conference, is ineligible for the WCHA and NCAA postseason races due to academic violations from 2008 to 2012.

The Nanooks, who dropped a pair of games to UAA by 2-1 and 3-2 (OT) counts in Fairbanks on Jan. 16-17, need to win both games this weekend at Sullivan Arena in Anchorage to force a Cup-deciding shootout. UAA (8-20-4, 5-19-2 WCHA), on the other hand, sits in last place in the WCHA, and can only advance to the league playoffs if it sweeps UAF, and both Alabama-Huntsville and Lake Superior State are held pointless.

As part of its capitulation regarding the NCAA violations, UAF had to vacate two of its past Governor's Cup victories over UAA, along with its appearance in the 2010 NCAA Tournament where the Nanooks fell in the first round to eventual national champion Boston College.

ADDENDUM: UAF won, 3-2, on Saturday night and then won, 1-0, in the ensuing shootout to claim its third straight Governor's Cup.

Tales from the Road

Pretty good piece at USCHO.com about the trials and travails of college hockey teams traveling earlier this month, particularly the University of Alaska Anchorage.

Stuck in Minneapolis after not making their connecting flight from Wisconsin in time, the Seawolves eventually arrived home 24 hours before they swept Minnesota State—which was already in the 49th State, having played Alaska (Fairbanks) the weekend before—even though UAA had to express mail its equipment home.

Having spent my first year after graduating from Boston College at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, I can personally relate that traveling from the Great White North to the rest of the NCAA hockey world had and still has its own unique challenges, even normally. Connecting flights are just a cost of doing business to compete at the Division I level with the rest of the Lower 48.

In November 1991, UAF headed east to play Army, which was an East Coast homecoming for me. The itinerary? Leave Fairbanks International Airport at midnight Alaska time (which is 4 a.m. ET). Get into Anchorage in about 45 minutes, then leave for Seattle about a half-hour later. Get into Seattle 5 a.m. Pacific time, when barely anything is open in the airport (as a long-time Seahawks fan, I probably should have gone to see the Kingdome then, before it got imploded in 2000). Then off to Salt Lake City, before flying to Chicago, and then getting into Newark early that evening.

Play at Army, sweep the series, then head up to Maine (I didn't make that leg of the trip). Then go home in reverse, again taking about 15-18 hours total with layovers. Then repeat again a few weeks later to Alabama-Huntsville. Then again to Kent State—and again. And again. (And then personally, do it one more time in Jan. 1996 with Michigan State for a three-game trip to Fairbanks.)

You don't really see NHL teams do that.

UAA Names Four Finalists for Head Coach

According to the Anchorage Daily News and other media outlets, the University of Alaska Anchorage has announced the four finalists for the Seawolves’ vacant head men’s hockey coaching position. They include Augsburg (Minn.) head coach Chris Brown, Air Force assistant coach Mike Corbett, Utica College head coach Gary Heenan, and Michigan Tech assistant coach Damon Whitten.

Brown, who was an assistant coach at UAA from 1997 to 2000, has been head coach at Augsburg since 2005. Prior to that he was the head coach at both Hamline (Minn.) and Marian, and was originally an assistant coach with Augsburg before going to Anchorage. In 12 seasons at the helm of the Auggies, he has gone 144-146-23 overall, and won an NCAA Division III national championship as a player with Wisconsin-River Falls in 1994.

Corbett has been on the Air Force staff as an assistant coach since 2003, and served as associate head coach this past season. He has helped the Falcons to five NCAA Tournament berths, including to within an overtime goal of the NCAA Division I Frozen Four in 2009. Prior to joining Air Force, he was the associate head coach with Sioux Falls of the United States Hockey League, after head coaching stints with both Butte (Mont.) and Billings in the former America West Hockey League. He played collegiately as a defenseman at Denver.

Heenan has been the only coach Utica has known since it began play in 2001. This past season, he led the Pioneers to 21 wins, a share of their first ECAC West regular-season conference title, and their first-ever berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament. The Pioneers defeated Bowdoin in the quarterfinal round before falling to eventual national champion Wisconsin Eau Claire in the Division III Frozen Four. Heenan, who also had a brief flirtation with an assistant coaching position at Union in 2005 before ultimately returning to Utica, played at Hamilton College, and is 165-119-29 in 12 seasons with the Pioneers.

Whitten, who served as an assistant coach at UAA from 2006 to 2008, has been at Michigan Tech the past two seasons. Prior to his tenure in Anchorage, he also served as assistant with both Michigan State and Wayne State.  A high school goaltender, Whitten later shifted to forward and skated four years at that position at Michigan State, ultimately going to two Frozen Fours with the Spartans.

The Seawolves have been to the NCAA Division I tournament three times in their history, but have not had a winning season since 1992-93, their last as an independent before joining the WCHA. They are seeking a successor to Dave Shyiak, a former Northern Michigan player and assistant coach who was let go by UAA last month after posting an 80-177-33 record over eight seasons in Anchorage.

New Season Finally Underway

Following a plethora of exhibition games this past week, and a handful of non-conference (and even conference) contests, the 2012-13 NCAA hockey season kicks into full gear this weekend, a weekend when the NHL itself should have been starting regular-season play. Alas ...

The beginning of the year also means early-season college tournaments, with the most way-out one being the Kendall Hockey Classic at the Sullivan Arena in Anchorage, Alaska. The host Alaska Anchorage Seawolves will welcome in-state rival Alaska (Fairbanks), along with Canisius College and Air Force Academy. Friday's games will pit Alaska against Air Force, and Canisius against UAA. The second night will feature Alaska against Canisius, and UAA versus Air Force.

Next weekend, Alaska (the former UAF) will do the hosting honors for its own Alaska Goal Rush, as the Nanooks will entertain UAA, North Dakota and Merrimack at the Carlson Center in Fairbanks.

Penn State also begins its varsity sojourn this weekend when it hosts American International College, one week after the equally new Penn State women's team won their inaugural game at Vermont.

The start of the new year also marks the beginning of the end for the current men's college hockey landscape. A year from now the WCHA will have a vastly different look, the new NCHC and Big Ten Conference will both get underway, and the CCHA will be just a memory after more than 40 years of competition and eight national titles to date.

But there's six months to go between now and then, when the NCAA Division I men's champion will be crowned in Pittsburgh. Onward and upward—and drop the puck.

Nanooks Win Governors Cup Once More

The annual trophy emblematic of Alaska college hockey supremacy will remain in Fairbanks for another year.

Nic Yaremchuk's deciding goal in a tie-breaking shootout on Saturday night before a sold-out crowd at the Carlson Center lifted Alaska (Fairbanks) to its third consecutive Governors Cup over archrival Alaska Anchorage. The shootout, won by a 3-2 count by UAF, was needed after the two 49th state rivals split back-to-back, home-and-home meetings this weekend.

The Seawolves won at home by a 3-2 score on Friday at Sullivan Arena in Anchorage, before the Nanooks responded with a 3-1 victory on Saturday in Fairbanks that forced the shootout immediately after. Andy Taranto kept the Nanooks alive after they fell behind by a 2-1 margin, and Yaremchuk then put it away to close out a successful Senior Night for UAF's seven seniors, including goaltender Scott Greenham. Two years ago, as a sophomore, Greenham backstopped the Nanooks to their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament, where they were edged by eventual national champion Boston College.

UAF (sorry, can't just call it Alaska) won the very first Governors Cup back in 1994 at Sullivan Arena, also in a shootout. The Nanooks have now won 11 of the 19 Governors Cups to date, including a record five titles in a row from 2002 to 2006.

This weekend marked the only meetings of the 2011-12 regular season between the Nanooks and Seawolves, although they will face each other far more often beginning in 2013-14 when UAF joins the revamped Western Collegiate Hockey Association.

Both schools now head to their respective conference playoff tournaments next weekend, with UAF visiting Lake Superior State in the first round of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association championship, and UAA heading off to Bemidji State for the first round of the WCHA championship.