Kendall Hockey Classic: Tournament 101

The Nye Frontier ... opps Kendall Hockey Classic begins this Friday night with UAF facing the Michigan Wolverines at 5:07 AST. At 8:07 AST our beloved Seawolves take on the Mercyhurst Lakers. On Saturday at 4:07 AST the UA_ Nanooks face Mercyhurst and at 7:07 AST the Seawolves take the ice to defeat the oft vaunted ugly helmets. Notice the difference? Go to the rink an hour earlier on Saturday.

See how I got all of the most important information in the first paragraph? Any current or past UAA Journalism and Public Communications folks reading here will like that. There's lots of other stuff to mention so ...

The picture above is the cover of the 09/10 Seawolves Media Guide. I haven't been through it yet but I'm sure it will prove useful during the season. The media folks at UAA must work their asses off to get that done every year.

Speaking of people working their asses off, I spoke with Derek Donald today and he is definitely buried in Kendall tourney preparations so I'll get with him sometime next week and then write up something more extensive detailing what we can expect in the way of promotions. Derek mentioned some of that today. I know they'll be handing out magnetic schedules on Friday night and roll-out schedule/banner combo's on Saturday night.

Both UAA contests will be on TV. GCI Channel 1 as usual or if you're out of town you can get them across the series of tubes. If you're in Anchorage, go to the games eh? Don't sit at home and watch them just because you can. Kendall is giving away a Toyota Venza at the tournament. A chance to win that is enough reason to go.

The Seawolf Athletic Association is hosting a luncheon on Friday at 11:30 at the Firetap Grill and Alehouse on Old Seward near O'Malley. Call the UAA ticket office @ 786-1250. Red Berenson, Rick Gotkin, Dallas Ferguson and Dave Shyiak will all be addressing the luncheon. I'm sure the food will be excellent after reading this positive review from the Anchorage Press.

It should be worth going just to hear the competing Anchorage/Fairbanks jokes. Hopefully, UAA Athletic Director Dr. Steve Cobb has been working on a good one. He's always good for a quote. I still like what he said when the Shyiak job opening hoohaw first came out. He said, "Hey if you know you gotta eat a bug today, you might as well do it first thing in the morning."

Also on the eating front. Suze noted in the previous comment string that on Thursday @ 11:30 the Seawolf Athletic Association is hosting a "Kickoff to Homecoming 2009" BBQ in front of the UAA Bookstore.

Tomorrow night (Wednesday) on 550 KTZN "The Zone", Kurt Haider will have the first ever UAA Seawolves Hockey Preview Show. Kurt tells me it will start "around 8" immediately following the baseball game. I dunno and could care less which baseball game that is. I'm guessing it's Seattle? They have a team there right? So mark your calendar, set your Blackberry alarm or write it on the back of your hand with a sharpie. If you do miss the show tomorrow night, you can catch it again on Friday around 12:30 and before the regular pre-game show that evening.

Kurt is the best announcer in the WCHA. Not listening to this show would be a sin. Unlike me, I bet Kurt listened to the WCHA teleconference this morning at 7:30 am. No. I wasn't asleep. I was however otherwise occupied and missed it. My first chance to feel like an actual media person and I missed it? Oh well.

Obviously, there wasn't anything earth shattering to come out of it or some other site would have covered it. The only thing of note I've read is that referees will no longer have their names on the backs of their jerseys. That makes it reasonable to substitute your favorite euphemism where you would have formerly used their actual name. I guess that "Hey #38 you suck" is somehow better than "Hey Shep you suck" in the WCHA's mind.

I'll have a Mercyhurst/UAA preview sometime tomorrow and a Michigan/UAA preview sometime Thursday. I will not have any UA_ related preview. I'm mean that way. I'll be watching both Nanook games and will probably offer some post game commentary here. Probably. I think. As long as it doesn't keep me from watching Stargate Universe ... otherwise screw the Nanook coverage eh?

And now to satiate the overwhelming number of requests (actually just one person ... I'll protect his identity like a journalist would). Here is a totally gratuitous hockey (umm ..err ... hockey-related?) picture.

Gawd, I hope I didn't miss anything. If I did, please provide any relevant details in the comments section. It's been a long day.