The-Ozone, Ohio State Football, Wrestling, Softball, Basketball, Hockey, Baseball and More

Men's Hockey
It’s No Mystery What Buckeyes Must Do In Alaska
By Craig Merz

While the Buckeyes are hunkered in Alaska for the weekend they can still see Detroit from their backyard.

That’s how close No. 14 Ohio State is to the CCHA Final Four and its first trip to Joe Louis Arena since losing the 2005 championship game to Michigan.

Yet, there’s a big block of ice in the form of the Nanooks in their way. Alaska boasts the stingiest defense in the nation (1.34 goals per game) and will try to shut down the sixth-best offense (3.58) when the CCHA quarterfinal best-of-three series begins at 11:05 p.m. (Columbus time) Friday.

Game 2 is also at 11:05 p.m. Saturday and if the third is needed it will be at 10:05 p.m. Sunday for all you night owls. WOSU-AM 820 (wosu.org) will air all the games.

This is exactly the situation the Buckeyes (22-12-4, 13-11-4-3 CCHA) wanted to avoid but a loss in the regular season finale at home to Miami left them one point shy of fourth-place Alaska (15-13-6, 13-10-5-3).
The Nanooks got the first round by last week while the Buckeyes made quick work of Bowling Green 5-4 and 7-1 in the OSU Ice Rink to set up a second trip to Alaska in the past six weeks instead of hosting the Nanooks in Value City Arena.

Experienced Travelers

Back on Jan. 30-31, Alaska won the opener 4-1 against a fatigued group that had to endure 32 hours of travel over the previous two days. The refreshed and regrouped Buckeyes responded with five goals in the first period the next night en route to 6-2 win.

“They’re very proud of their defense so I’m sure they remember that as much for giving up six goals as we do for scoring six,” OSU coach John Markell said. “We have to remember what we did there to be successful and apply it all weekend.”

Thankfully, the trip north was much smoother this time and the team arrived on Wednesday evening.

Alaska plays on the wider (200 feet by 100 feet) Olympic-size ice surface in the Carlson Center and likes to attack east-to-west, relying on outside speed rather than clogging the middle. It has not been very successful since the Nanooks average just under two goals (1.94) per game.

The Buckeyes can match their speed but are a north-to-south attacking team, having a more direct approach and winning battles in front of the crease. The smaller Nanooks do not like to be hit and the Buckeyes took full advantage on the second game to overpower the home team. The only downfall is Alaska is prone to fall easily and if the officials are duped it could be a continuous trek to the penalty box for Ohio State.
However, Alaska is only converting 9 percent of its power plays. The Nanooks are excellent on the penalty kill, though. Their 88.1 percent is seventh in the nation. Meanwhile, the Buckeyes ended a 0 for 27 scoreless streak with the man-advantage with two goals in the series clincher against BG.

“It’s when you get them that counts,” Markell said.

Bubble Trouble ?

The Buckeyes are tied for 14th with Colorado College and St. Lawrence in the Pairwise Rankings that mimic the NCAA selections. That’s right there for the final spot.

A series sweep for OSU would almost certainly guarantee a place in the NCAA Tournament but it’s not known if taking two of three would hurt since Alaska is only rated 25th.

It shouldn’t. OSU is oneof six teams nationally with 22 wins and trails only Notre Dame (27) and Michigan (26) in the CCHA. The Buckeyes split with each of those two schools last month.

If Alaska wins the series but not the CCHA championship it is unlikely the Nanooks will receive a bid.

Ice Chips

Senior forward Zach Pelletier is suspended for Friday’s game and freshman forward Ian Boots for the first two games as a result of being ejected from Saturday’s game during a second-period brawl…. Fairbanks native Hunter Bishop had a goal in the second game against Alaska in his first collegiate series back home… The Buckeyes have scored at least five goals in the each of the past four games… Senior Corey Elkins has six goals in the past three games.

Long Way Home

If these were better economic times and the athletic department wasn’t facing a shortfall it might have been easier and wiser to schedule a charter to Fairbanks rather than go commercially. As it is, each ticket cost more than $2,000 because of the short notice.

Worse is the wear and tear on the student-athletes. Even if the series ends Saturday night, the team won’t fly home until 1:25 a.m. Alaska time (5:25 a.m. Columbus) Monday morning.

The trip takes them to Seattle then Detroit before arriving in Columbus at 6:20 p.m. Monday, the start of finals week for the winter quarter.

If the Buckeyes do advance to Detroit, there are scheduled to practice in Joe Louis Arena on Thursday before playing Friday.

Take A Bow

With success comes recognition from the league.nMarkell is a finalist for coach of the year along with first-year Alaska coach Dallas Ferguson and Notre Dame’s Jeff Jackson. Markell won the award in 1998 when OSU made its first trip to the Frozen Four.

Sophomore forward John Albert was an honorable mention selection to the All-CCHA team. He led the Buckeyes and ranked fourth in the league with 29 points in 28 conference games. Overall, he finished second in OSU scoring to Corey Elkins with a career 39 points, including 28 assists.

Albert is the first Buckeye to earn league all-conference honorable mention honors since Sean Collins and Dave Caruso in 2006.
Defenseman Matt Bartkowski and forward Zac Dalpe were voted to the All-Rookie Team and forward Ian Boots was an honorable mention choice. Bartkowski and Dalpe are the first Buckeyes to earn a spot on the all-rookie first team since Tom Fritsche in 2005.

Dalpe is also a finalist for the league’s rookie of the year award. He had 25 points (13-12) in 33 games. The other finalists are Billy Maday of Notre Dame and David Wohlberg of Michigan.
Also, Elkins is the team’s choice for CCHA Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

The winners will be announced at the CCHA Awards Banquet March 19 at historic Fox Theatre in downtown Detroit.

Return to the-Ozone Columns and Features

Return to the-OZone Front Page