December 19, 2008
Better Times for Nanooks
UAF Improving With Third Coach in as Many Years
by Courtney Lewis/CHN Reporter
Back in September, the media ranked Alaska 11th of 12 teams in the CCHA’s preseason poll. The coaches had the Nanooks tied for 11th. And it’s pretty easy to see why. The Nanooks lost 21 games last year and started this season with a dozen freshmen and their third head coach in as many years.
But Alaska’s players and coaches saw something else. “I think everybody on the team expected us to do really well,” senior Chad Johnson said.
And so far, they have.
As Alaska gets ready to wrap up the first semester, it sits fourth in the CCHA standings, is ranked 18th in a national poll and hasn’t lost in more than a month. Johnson’s stingy play in net and the tight defense in front of him are big reasons for the turnaround, along with the new attitude instilled by first-year head coach Dallas Ferguson.
“We knew what Coach Ferguson brings to the program,” Johnson said. “We knew he was extremely smart; we knew he was going to bring the systems to do well.
“I think everybody believes we can do well.”
Leader in net
The Nanooks have started 8-4-4, and a sweep of Western Michigan this weekend would give them more wins than they had all last season. They’ve won this year by keeping pucks out of their net — they lead the nation with 1.25 goals allowed per game. That stellar defense has been anchored by Johnson between the pipes.
The 6-foot-3, 200-pound Calgary, Alberta native has a 1.40 GAA, which puts him fourth nationally, and his .949 save percentage is second-best. During Alaska’s current six-game unbeaten streak, Johnson has allowed just five goals.
“Chad’s playing really well,” Ferguson said. “If you look at the numbers, he’s just had an outstanding start to the season. He’s obviously big in size, and he’s very technical. He forces shooters, if they beat him, to make a good shot. Because of his size and his skill level, he’s very tough to beat, especially on first shots this year.
“You want your goalie to stop the shots he’s supposed to, and then stop a couple each game that he’s not supposed to. Chad’s done that and then some.”
Because of a high ankle sprain suffered last December, Johnson played in just seven games his junior year. He posted an 0-6 record. But Ferguson said he was “100 percent confident, with (Johnson’s) ability and who he is as a person, that he’d come in and be our starter.”
Ferguson was an Alaska assistant for four years before he was named last spring as Doc DelCastillo’s successor. The Nanooks had two freshman goalies, Scott Greenham and Eric Babcook, coming in. Johnson said when they talked after Ferguson was promoted, the coach didn’t guarantee him the starting job, but he said he had high expectations for him.
“With Coach Ferguson named head coach last year, he kind of told me it was my year,” Johnson said. “He always knew my capabilities as a goalie — that was one thing I was excited about. He knew what I’m capable of. He recruited me. The confidence he had in me, he let me know he expected a big year for me.”
Johnson said he was motivated by the fact that he had to sit most of last year. Plus, the Pittsburgh Penguins draft pick hopes to play beyond college hockey, and he knows this is his best chance to prove himself.
He spent his first two years and the beginning of last season splitting ice time with Wylie Rogers, who was a year ahead of him. Johnson said Rogers was also a good goalie and they understood why both played, but it was sometimes hard for either to get in a good rhythm.
Johnson said one of the biggest reasons that he’s played so well this season is just getting the chance to be in goal almost every night.
“The mindset is a little different when you know you’ll play a lot of games during the season,” he said. “Even in practice. The beginning of the week, I can focus on trying to make myself better so I’m ready for the weekend, not compete against Wylie Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. That’s one thing I’ve noticed — I can really focus on preparing myself.”
Dedicated to defense
The Nanooks averaged 3.0 goals against per game last season. In 16 games this year, they’ve allowed more than two goals just twice. And they’ve done it with a young group, especially on defense. The team lost four defensemen who played significant minutes last season, including would-be senior Tyler Eckford and would-be sophomore Jeff Penner, both of whom signed pro contracts. Senior Steve Vanoosten and junior Dustin Molle are the only veterans in the back end.
“With such a young team — 12 freshmen — it’s been important for our goaltending to lead us through the first part of the season until guys get comfortable at the college level,” Ferguson said. “Defensively, we’ve had three freshmen playing a lot of minutes, and (Johnson) has given them a comfort level back there, knowing if they make a mistake, he’s there to help them. You can see their development moving in the right direction, and that has a lot to do with Chad.”
And Johnson said his success has a lot to do with the defensemen. “They’ve played amazing in front of me,” he said. “They let me see shots. They block a ton of shots.”
Ferguson is a former defenseman, and he worked with the blueliners and the penalty killers as an assistant. He said he didn’t install a new defensive philosophy when he took over, but the players have committed to playing tough defense.
“Defensively with him, nothing really changed,” Johnson said. “But I think it’s guys’ dedication to defense, their willingness to pay the price and stick with the game plan. That’s the biggest thing — they’re more willing to pay the price for Coach Ferguson.”
Ferguson said they’ve been so solid in their own end because it’s not just the blueliners who focus on defense.
“Our team defense has been really good,” Ferguson said. “Everybody’s committed to working from our net out. That’s a big thing. We’ve been happy with all five guys on the ice. They’ve been committed to doing the things we’re asking of them.”
A new atmosphere
While their defensive statistics are sterling, the Nanooks’ offensive numbers are downright pedestrian. The Nanooks have lit the lamp 34 times. They’re eighth in the CCHA in scoring offense and 48th nationally. They pride themselves on being a defense-first team, but Ferguson said they need to bury more shots and get the power play going.
“We’re averaging just over two goals (per game), so we’re not content with that,” Ferguson said. “But we want to take care of the defensive side of the game. When you talk about defense all the time, it sounds like you’re not having scoring opportunities. But we have been getting scoring opportunities, and the challenge now is to capitalize.
“We’re focusing on getting pucks off the stick quickly, getting pucks to the net, getting second opportunities and rebounds. That’s definitely something we need to improve to be successful in the second half and through the playoffs.”
Both Ferguson and Johnson said the Nanooks don’t really talk in specifics about just how successful they can be this season. Johnson did briefly mention trying to contend for the CCHA title and make the NCAA tournament. Mostly, the Nanooks subscribe to the well-worn credo of focusing on one weekend at a time, but even the way they do that has changed this year.
“That expectation — not necessarily saying that we expect to win, but that feeling you have when you show up to the rink — I just feel that. The atmosphere, the attitude in the room — we expect to win games,” Johnson said. “I think in years past since I’ve been here, if we’d win one game on the weekend, we’d almost get too excited or make too big a deal of it. Like we weren’t expecting to win.
“Now we show up and, if we won on Friday, we expect to win the Saturday night game. That’s the attitude we have this year. And it’s kind of nice to be a senior and experience that, knowing that the past three years it wasn’t necessarily like that, where we expect to win.”
