The 2016–17 Alaska Nanooks men's ice hockey season was the 68th season of play for the program, the 33rd at the Division I level and the 4th in the WCHA conference. The Nanooks represented the University of Alaska Fairbanks and were coached by Dallas Ferguson, in his 9th season.
Season Alaska began the season poorly, losing four straight after opening with a win over Alaska Anchorage. The team rebounded with a win over #9 Minnesota State but could then only win two of their next eleven games. The Nanooks' offense was subpar during the first half of the season, scoring more than 3 goals in only four of their twenty games while averaging just over two and half goals per game. While the two goaltenders, Jenks and Jones, kept the team in most games, inconsistent play had led to Jenks supplanting the senior as the primary netminder in the first half of the year.
After a couple of bad outings around new year's, Jones was back in as the starter and didn't relinquish the job for the rest of the year. While the team's offense didn't get any better, the defense got stronger as they year went along and helped the team improve to 6th in the standings by the end of the season.
Entering the postseason, Alaska was hoping to continue giving Minnesota State fits, having defeated the Mavericks twice during the regular season. Unfortunately, the offense was absent from the series and the Nanooks were only able to record a single goal in two games.
Departures Josh Atkinson Defenseman Graduation (signed with Atlanta Gladiators) Jasen Fernsler Defenseman Transferred to Ferris State Alec Hajdukovich Forward Graduation (signed with Alaska Aces) Shawn Hochhausen Forward Left program (retired) Nolan Huysmans Forward Graduation (signed with Huntsville Havoc) John Keeney Goaltender Graduation (retired) Peter Krieger Forward Transferred to Minnesota–Duluth J. D. Peterson Defenseman Graduation (retired) Colton Sparrow Forward Transferred to Regina
Recruiting Tyler Cline Forward 21 Blaine, MN Niko Della Maggiore Goaltender 21 Gilroy, CA Aaron Herdt Forward 21 Moorhead, MN Kylar Hope Forward 21 Lashburn, SK Danny Kiraly Defenseman 21 Glendale, AZ James LaDouce Defenseman 21 Saginaw, MI Colton Leiter Forward/Defenseman 20 Edmonton, AB Kyle Marino Forward/Defenseman 21 Niagara Falls, ON Anton Martinsson Goaltender 20 Klippan, SWE Tristan Thompson Defenseman 19 Canmore, AB Troy Van Tetering Forward 19 Carstairs, AB
Roster
Standings
Schedule and results
!colspan=12 style=";" | Exhibition
!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular season
!colspan=12 style=";" |
!colspan=12 style=";" |
|- align="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0" |colspan=12|Alaska Lost Series 0–2
Scoring statistics C 36 8 13 21 21 D 36 5 15 20 79 RW 33 9 10 19 39 LW 36 8 6 14 6 C/LW 35 4 10 14 12 C/RW 28 4 8 12 24 D 30 3 9 12 35 LW 34 2 10 12 18 C/D 35 7 4 11 29 LW 35 4 6 10 38 RW 32 7 2 9 38 LW 31 4 4 8 97 D 24 2 6 8 14 LW 27 3 3 6 12 D 31 2 4 6 33 D 31 2 4 6 16 D 25 0 6 6 8 C/LW 27 3 2 5 54 D 14 0 3 3 22 D 25 2 0 2 23 F 30 0 2 2 21 C/LW 12 0 1 1 2 D 1 0 0 0 2 G 1 0 0 0 15 G 17 0 0 0 4 G 20 0 0 0 0 Bench - - - - - 8 Total 79 128 207 670
Goaltending statistics 20 1190 6 11 3 54 562 1 .912 2.72 17 992 6 9 1 55 436 0 .888 3.33 Empty Net - 11 - - - 4 - - - - Total 36 2194 12 20 4 113 998 1 .898 3.09
Rankings
PollWeekPre1234567891011121314151617181920212223 24 25 (Final) USCHO.comNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR-NR USA TodayNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR USCHO did not release a poll in Week 24.
References