At This Very Moment...

Aaron Voros is tied for the lead league in NHL scoring.

I just wanted to capture this moment in history.

UBC Back on the Table

The University of British Columbia will head to Alaska this weekend to play an exhibition game against each of the Alaska schools. Those games will take on some added intrigue as each side will be checking each other out for a possible bid by UBC to join the NCAA in coming years.

Alaska Defends Us from Teenagers; Also Russians, Probably

The University of Alaska started off the Dallas Ferguson Era with a convincing 4-0 exhibition win over the US NTDP U18 team.

Earlier this week, I mentioned that it could be a very difficult season in Fairbanks, but last night seemed to show a lot of promise. Freshman Carlo Finucci showed promise as an offensive force, and could create a powerful second line to play behind the two Knelsen brothers and Dustin Sather. Both Sather and Finucci led their respective Jr. B leagues in scoring. The Nanooks should also have good goaltending in senior Chad Johnson.

They likely won't be competing at the top of the league this year, but they may be able to surprise some people and win a few more games than expected.

Figuring Out Fairbanks' Roster

Looking at the University of Alaska roster is like trying is like trying to decipher the scorecard of a 12-inning National League baseball game. Names are crossed out, switched, added in. Who could have guessed that going through three coaches in three years would lead to such turmoil?

Danny Martin of the Daily News-Miner tried to wade through the mess.

The biggest news that wasn't already known is that Nathan Lawrence left the program for "financial reasons". Lawrence--along with Landon Novotney, who also left during the summer--was one of Alaska's most promising freshmen last season. The team also lost one of their top recruits in forward Jordan VanGilder, who will instead play another year of junior hockey and look for options elsewhere.

The article also confirms the pretty poorly kept secret that Simon Olsson and Jordie Benn weren't able to qualify academically to play NCAA hockey.

All in all, it looks like it is shaping up to be a very rough first year for new coach Dallas Ferguson.

New Commits

I don't think I ever mentioned that goalie Joe Howe committed to Colorado College for the 2009 season. Howe played high school hockey in Wayzata, Minnesota before moving on to the USHL last season. He'll replace Drew O'Connell who graduates next season, and could step in as a starter if Richard Bachmann has another great year and decides to turn pro.

Justin Filzen committed to play for Alaska this season. Filzen played his high school hockey for Proctor High School, near Duluth and made a nice name for himself playing junior hockey last season.

Traverse City forward Kyle Jean committed to Lake Superior. He's a local kid with a lot of potential. A very nice pick-up for LSSU.

Keegan Meuer committed to Wisconsin. The World of Junior Hockey notes that Wisconsin has a recruiting pipeline with the Waterloo Blackhawks, now having four recruits from that team, as opposed to just three from every other team.

NTDP U17 defenseman Adam Clendening committed to Boston College. He's a small fast defenseman from Buffalo that played hockey in Toronto last year.

CHL Import Draft

I mentioned Stepan Novotny signing with Kelowna earlier this week after being taken in the CHL Import Draft, but there were two other NCAA names of interest in the Import Draft.

Luca Cunti, who spent most of the past year petitioning the NCAA to be ruled eligible to play for St. Cloud, was selected by Rimouski Oceanic.

Cunti's Chicago Steel teammate Simon Olsson was also selected by a QMJHL team. He had a verbal commitment to Alaska, though his commitment surprised a lot of people since he wasn't academically eligible to play college hockey, and he never showed much interest in trying to become academically eligible.

Alaksa: It's Ferguson

Dallas Ferguson will be announced as the new head coach of Alaska at a press conference today, beating out Wisconsin assistant coach Kevin Patrick for the job.

Ferguson palyed for the Nanooks from 1992 to 1996 and has been an assistant coach there since 2004. He'll now get a shot to run the program at his alma mater.

Alaska Coaching Finalists

Alaska interim head coach Dallas Ferguson and Wisconsin assistant coach Kevin Patrick are the two finalists to replace Doc DelCastillo as head coach at Alaska.

Kevin Patrick recently withdrew his name from consideration for the vacant head coaching position of the Green Bay Gamblers in the USHL to focus on this job.

Both coaches will participate in public forums this week, and athletic director Forrest Karr hopes to make a final decision by the end of next week.

If I had to take a guess, I think Ferguson will be the one named head coach. I'm not saying Patrick isn't qualified, because he most definitely is qualified to be a head coach somewhere, but I don't see him getting the job. During last year's coaching search, it seemed like there was a big push from locals/alums for a change in direction in the program, which probably helped DelCastillo get hired. But after the disaster of DelCastillo's one year(regardless of if you believe the speculation about why he left, the fact remains that he didn't leave a lot of friends behind when he left Alaska), I think there's going to pressure for Alaska to stay with "one of their own". That sounds like it has been the case so far with a lot of alumni throwing their support behind Ferguson.

Fairbanks Coaching Search

I'm probably following this closer than necessary, but we're pretty much in full off-season mode now, so it's this or nothing.

News-Miner beat writer Danny Martin talked with Alaska athletic director Forrest Karr about the search committee for selecting the new head coach. The committee will basically be the same as last time, with a couple additions.

Added to the committee will be a player representative("“He can go back to the team and talk to them about the steps taking place,” Karr said.), team athletic trainer Mike Curtin("“The first one is that over my four years, I’ve really grown to valule Mike Curtin’s judgment on a variety of topics,” Karr said, “and the second one is I wanted someone to represent the staff that works directly with the head hockey coach.”), and assistant athletic director for finance and business operations Kim Anderons("“She can gauge the candidates’ experiences working with administrative staffs,”)

This is speculation on my part, but looking at the new additions to the search committee probably provides some clues into what some of the issues with DelCastillo were.

More from Alaska

There hasn't been a lot to come out of Fairbanks this past week on the resignation of head coach Doc DelCastillo, other than a number of pieces basically saying "This doesn't add up."

Bob Eley of the Daily News-Miner gets first linkage for quoting me. Yes, I'm shameless like that.

Adam Raeder wrote probably the best piece I've seen on the story on his blog, detailing an experience a week before DelCastillo's resignation that led him to believe Doc wasn't ready to walk away.

And Doyle Woody of the Alaska Daily News also questions the resignations. There's been quite a schadenfreude in Anchorage this past week over the state of Alaska's program. But I will say this. At least nobody has been suggesting that Fairbanks get kicked out of the CCHA.

I haven't heard much in terms of DelCastillo's replacement. Dallas Ferguson is the interim coach right now, and according to the school newspaper's blog, some feel that Ferguson should get the job. That might be a pretty big jump for a guy that hasn't been a head coach at any level, and only a college assistant for three years.

The other finalists for the job last time around were Wade Klippenstein, now with the Prince George Cougars in the WHL, St. Cloud assistant coach Eric Rud, and Wisconsin assistant Kevin Patrick. Fairbanks-native and Michigan State assistant Brian Renfrew was also mentioned, but he withdrew his name from consideration. There's a lot of good potential choices in that pool, but how many would be interested in going through the same process as they did last summer?

DelCastillo Out

I've received word that Doc DelCastillo is no longer the head coach at Alaska, and it looks like USHR is also reporting it as well.

It sounds like the reason for the coaching change wasn't hockey-related, but some sort of Human Resources issue.

That said, it was a tumultuous year in Fairbanks for DelCastillo, and while he is a very smart coach, and excellent recruiter, I don't think he ever really gained the respect of the players he inherited, or got the support of the local community, which is probably more important in Fairbanks than in most places(If you'll recall, part of the interview process in Fairbanks last summer involved meeting and fielding questions from the community). Even if that wasn't the reason for his downfall, it certainly didn't help his cause.

As far as a potential replacement, the short list shouldn't be too hard for the school to figure out, since they interviewed some excellent candidates less than 12 months ago. The only problem is that the job probably looks a little less attractive now, with a number of the team's better players leaving the program, and over 20 recruits already promised a spot on the team.

Doc on Thin Ice

Alaska beat writer Danny Martin wrote an article discussing head coach Doc DelCastillo's tenuous future in Fairbanks.

The meat of the article came from vice chancellor for university advancement Jake Poole who said:

“To be honest with you, we’re talking about all the different options, so nothing has been decided. So, we’re waiting to talk some more with Doc over the next couple of days. This is the time of year that we’re talking to everybody.

“We’re going to figure out if there’s going to be a continuation or an extension.”

It doesn't sound like any decisions have been made yet, but that's not exactly a ringing endorsement.

It sounds like some of the players on the current team weren't particularly pleased with DelCastillo's coaching style and didn't appreciate their lame duck status on the team, with an entire new cast of players lined up to join the team.

Normally, I'd say this kind of publicity could hurt future recruiting, but Alaska could probably go 5 years without recruiting another player and they'd be ok.

Penner Signs with Bruins

Alaska freshman defenseman Jeff Penner signed with the Boston Bruins. He'll report to the Providence Bruins next week.

The expected attrition in Alaska continues, though it's not like Penner is being cast off to the wolves, since he's signing with an NHL team. He'll be on a two-way contract, but it's still a great opportunity for him.

New Commits

Via Chris Heisenberg...

It's been a couple weeks, so why the hell not? Alaska got another recruit. This time it's Chicago Steel forward Simon Olsson. Olsson is a Swede, playing in his second season in the USHL. He was one of Chicago's leading scorers with 46 points this year.

Western Michigan got a commitment from NAHL veteran PJ Kavaya. Kavaya originally hails from California.

Alaskan Attrition Starts

It became obvious, with the almost absurd amount of recruits committed to Alaska, that there would be a few unexpected offseason departures for the Nanooks. Tyler Eckford's signing with the Devils wasn't a surprise, but news of the first unexpected departure came today.

Freshman forward Landon Novotney has left the Nanooks. Of all the players to leave, Novotney was probably one of the last players Alaska fans wanted to see go. Novotney scored a team-leading 16 goals this year, on a team that struggled offensively. They scored a CCHA-worst 80 goals, and were tied for second-to-worst in conference scoring.

Novotney said he will consider either playing professional hockey, or joining the work force. Best of luck to him at whatever he chooses.

Eckford Going Pro

Rumors out of Alaska have indicated that Alaska junior defenseman Tyler Eckford has signed with the New Jersey Devils. Eckford was a 7th round draft choice of the Devils in 2004.

Eckford quietly had an outstanding year for the Nanooks on the blueline, finishing second in team scoring with 31 points in 35 games. Last week, he became the first ever Nanook to be named to the All-CCHA first team.

I haven't seen anything yet to confirm the rumors, but given the high probability of Eckford signing, I expect that we'll hear an announcement soon.

Update: It's official that Eckford has signed with the Devils.

UNO Takes A Lead

Nebraska-Omaha won the first game of their first round playoff series with Alaska by a score of 4-3 tonight to take a 1-0 lead in their best of three series. The game had to be moved up a day to Thursday because of a concert booked at the Qwest Center tomorrow night. Playing a night earlier did seem to hurt UNO at the box office, as the listed attendance was only 4034, which is a little lower than what UNO would draw for a Friday-night home game.

This series is interesting for two reasons. First, UNO and Alaska are considered clustermates by the CCHA, meaning they meet four times per year. And Alaska head coach Doc DelCastillo is responsible for recruiting most of the players on UNO's team this year.

UNO's leading scorer Bryan Marshall remains out with a knee injury, though forward Brandon Scero returned from a knee injury and scored the game's first goal.

The two teams will break tomorrow, and then play on Saturday, and then Sunday if necessary.

New Commits

Hotchkiss Prep defenseman Mac Bennett committed to Michigan. He'll join the Wolverines in 2010. He recently visited Michigan during their series against Northern Michigan.

Colorado College got a commitment from Russell Stover AAA forward Scott Winkler. He was ranked 132nd on NHL Central Scouting's Mid-term rankings, which is pretty impressive for a player playing Midget AAA hockey.

Alaska got a commitment from BCHL forward Carlo Finucci. The 20-year-old forward currently leads the BCHL in scoring with 99 points in 56 games this year.

Since my recruit postings are syndicated over at College Hockey News, I'll throw in a few Eastern notes as well.

Cornell got commitments from Jordan Kary and Sean Collins.

Luke Grenier and Daniel Moriarty committed to Harvard.

Jeffrey Vellaca and Ryan Flanigan committed to Merrimack.

Linkorama

Tuesday was the 40th anniversary of the death of Bill Masterton. Let's Go DU had some nice coverage. As did TNABACG.

The big news on Monday was that the NCAA opened the door to Canadian schools joining the NCAA. It's certainly a step in the right direction, but we're still probably four or five steps away from seeing Canadian schools playing college teams and in a major conference. If college hockey wants to expand, Canada is probably the most likely place.

Now is the time of year when some of the top NAHL players start committing to colleges. The most recent is Wichita's Adam Cardwell, who leads the league in scoring. Cardwell committed to--is it Wednesday again already?--Alaska.

Also, Lincoln's(USHL) JJ Crew committed to Western Michigan and Stouffville's(OPJHL) James McIntosh committed to Bowling Green.

The Blog that Yost Built pointed out that Michigan has set a new record for consecutive 20-win seasons with 21, surpassing Minnesota's 20 consecutive between 1977-1997.

Arguably the best high school team in Minnesota, Roseau, faced off against the best high school team in North Dakota, Grand Forks Red River, and Roseau narrowly escaped with a win. The Rams tied the game with an extra attacker goal with 24 seconds left and won the game in overtime.

USHL Central Scouting released draft lists for 1992 birthdates and 1993 birthdates.

College Hockey Recruit Exchange lists some top available '92 birthdates.

The Denver Post's Mike Chambers points out that Randy Schmidt messed up a call against Denver on Saturday.

Saturday's game between Michigan and Notre Dame at the Palace is already heating up with a band controversy.

What's former INCH CCHA writer James Jahnke up to these days? Pissing off Michigan fans. And then Jahnke defended himself.

If, like me, you're interested in the history of hockey, here's a great story on former Red Wing Larry Aurie, who had his number retired by the Red Wings, though the current Wings ownership refuses to acknowledge it.

New Commits

Via Chris Heisenberg...

Nebraska-Omaha added two more recruits from their favorite hockey hotbeds. Forward Brent Gwidt from the Indiana Ice, and forward David Morley of the Aurora Tigers in Ontario will both be joining the Mavericks. Gwidt is a 6th round draft pick of the Washington Capitals. Morley is a smaller forward, that likely won't join the Mavericks until 2010.

Northern Michigan added Alberta defenseman Bob Lindemulder for either next year or the year after.

Traverse City(NAHL) forward Clinton Bourbonais committed to Air Force. It's an interesting commitment because Bourbonais was listed as a 'player to watch' by NHL Central Scouting, which most Air Force Cadets are not. Bourbonais is a talented player, and also an excellent student, so he should fit in well at the Academy.

And finally, it wouldn't be a post about commitments if Alaska wasn't involved. The Nanooks added NAHL defenseman Aaron Gens for next season. That brings the unofficial list of players committed to Alaska to 17, nearly enough to field an entire team.