The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, November 22, 2000 - 10 ALASKAN TRAVELS BY JON SCHWARTZ 1 DAILY SPORTS WRITER t's a long and winding road that leads from Fairbanks, Alaska to Ann Arbor. By air, it's a 13-hour experience that starts in Fairbanks and heads to Anchorage, Alaska and then to Seattle, next to Detroit and finally to the home of the University of Michigan. It's a grueling 4,200-mile journey that, when combined with the four-hour time difference, is extremely difficult on the body. But for the Alaska-Fairbanks hockey team, it's just another roadtrip to the Midwest. One of the cornerstones of the acronym CCHA is the first letter - Central, as in the central United States. Compared to the league's other 11 teams, Fairbanks, Alaska is anything but central, but that didn't stop the Nanooks from being granted admis- sion to the conference before the 1992-1993 season on a preliminary basis, and then becoming a full member before the 1995-1996 season. Since that time, the players have had to deal with exhausting weekend roadtrips that require tremen- dous amounts of physical adjustment and maturity as they develop their bodies to handle the travel. "I'm really not used to it quite yet:' right wing Paul Austin said. "Bein a freshman, it's something new. I played junior hockey in Manitoba, and most of our games were pretty close. It's something new, but it's an experience and it's quite exciting." Somehow, the players do find a way to get accus- tomed to what is a hellish amount of work and com- mitment. By the time they reach their senior year, they develop an appreciation for the experience that playing for the program affords them. "I love coming down here -- It's just a lot of fun,' assistant captain Ryan Reinheller said. "I'xec never been down here except to play hockey and now it's my fourth year. I don't really worry about the jet ag anymore. It's just kind of routine now. I just come ready to go" But the Nanooks' stoiy is far more interesting than the team's travel schedule. There are so many intrigu- ing questions surrounding the program that makes it by far the most unique ofthe 12 CCHA schools. With only one other Divison I hockey program in the state, the Nanooks were in -many ways a team without a center when they began play in 1979. They played different schools and clubs from around the United States and Canada before becoming a charter member of the Great West Hockey Conference in 1985, along with Northern Arizona, Alaska-Anchorage and U.S. International. While the Nanooks were successful in their new conference, winning the GWIHC crown in 1988, they chose to head for the greener pastures of the CCHA, college hockey's midwestern conference, in 1992. Meanwhile, Alaska-Anchorage, the other Division I program in Alaska, joined the Western College Hockey Association. But convincing the league's members that accepting them into the league would be a good idea was one of the tougher tasks that the Fairbanks athletic department faced. An agreement was reached that the school would subsidize CCHA teams' trips to the Last Frontier. Now, Nebraska-Omaha. the newest member of the conference, is the only team that pays to fly to Fairbanks. But for the team that makes the transcontinental flight the most. the struggles are on a much larger scale than adjusting to and paying for the flights. Often the student gets left out of the phrase stu- dent athlete. For Alaska-Fairbanks hockey players, playing about 15 games a season in the Midwest makes being a student extremely difficult. When Michigan goes on the road to play a con- terence game at a school such as Ohio State, the PETER CORNUE/Daily The Alaska Fairbanks hockey team travels from Alaska to the schools of the CCHA in sometimes exhausting fashion. ----_ _ '4 41a~ki a , p ea a F A R A N K S The Alaska Fairbanks hockey team is located more than 4.000 miles away from most schools in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. Yet despite the great distance and huge cost, the Nanooks joined the conference in 1992. A few facts about the program: Shares airfare and lodging expenses for nine-of- 10 CCHA teams. . Flies more than 15 transcontinental flights per season. Relies on corporate sponsors, fundraisers and donations for all expenses. Earned its first victory in eight years over Michigan at Yost Ice Arena this past Saturday. team leaves Ann Arbor on Friday, plays the Friday night game, stays over through the Saturday night contest and dives home either Saturday night or Sunday. It translates into one class day missed, and since most athletes don't schedule classes on Friday, there is little concei for missing anything. Thingos are not so easy up in Alaska.. This past weekend's trip to Ann Arbor saw the Nanook players leaving Fairbanks at II p.m. Wednesday night. Alaska time. They arrived at Detroit Metro Airport at 3:55 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday. 'Tihe team practiced at Yost from 7:00 to 7:50 p.m. before heading out for a team meal and then retiring to the Days Inn Ann Arbor for the night. "I'm looking forward to getting to bed tonight,. freshman Ryan C ampbell said upon landing in Detroit. Because of the long travel times, the players have to find ways to make their studies fit in with their strenuous schedules. "We alyays try to bring some books on the road, Reinheller said. "If we're going to miss any- thin g. we alwavs make it up when we get back. We just try to work with (our professors) and they work with us:' To play for Fairbanks requires a motivation toward work that few student athletes around the country can claim to have. Especially when the team was on the road for three out of the past four weekends. The Nanooks' last road trip before Michigan was a trip to Bowling Green on October 27-28. With a shoxvdown in Columbus the next weekend the teami chose not to go back to Fairbanks only to return to the Midwest the next weekend. Instead, the Nanooks staved in Columbus through the two game series with the Buckeyes and in the process, missed eight days of classes. Still, the players find a way to persevere. "It's not too bad." sophomore goaltender Lance Mayes said. "The teachers understand our circum- stance and they help us deal with that. They let us make up our tests and so forth. "Even last week, we had study sessions in Ohio State so that allowed us time to use the computers and catch up on things that needed to be done'" With all of the trials of'playing for Alaska- Fairbanks, one would think that a weekend at home is complete bliss for the players. Oddly, according to coach Guy Gadowsky, that is not always the case. "In Fairbanks, hockey is kin," lie said. "If you're a Division I hockey player in Fairbanks, everybody knows you so there are a lot of demands on your time and this xvav they get a chance to relax, catch up on some studies and catch up on some rest. "I actually look forward to it to get some rest and I think some of the guys feel the same way. There are no rinks, there's no weight room and no classrooms." -Sometimes, there's also the added bonus of escaping the frigid Fairbanks weather. When the players got off the plane on Thursday they were wearing their standard issue short- sleeve polos with the Alaska-Fairbanks logo. Few wore a coat to face the 40-degree temperatures. The predicted weather for Fairbanks this week is about 10- to 15-degrees colder than that in Ann Arbor. But during the later winter months. when the average temperature in Fairbanks is around 12 degrees, a trip to Ohio State might just as well be Miami. J.unior Bobby Andrews sunImmed up the difter- ence in climate very simply. "It's a lot colder there than it is here, that's for sure," he said. And at the end of the day, the experience of playing for A laska-Fairbanks is about as expansive as they come. For a predominantly Canadian group of college students, the program offers the chance to visit parts of the United States - say, Ferris State's Big Rapids -- that probably fall short of typical vacation spots. i The best jazz for the best price. o ,. WARREN HILL Love Life You RCHOICE 3 99 I CD' LARA & REYES STEVE COLE World Jazz Between Us THE MANHATTAN TRANSFER The Spirit Of St. Louis 'M' golf snatches up two more recruits The Michigan men's golf team has signed two golfers for next season. Michigan coach Jim Carras broughtJ in Jimmy Wisinski out of Forest Hills Northern in Grand Rapids and Mark McIntosh from Gavlord. "I couldn't be happier to have Jimmy and Mark join the program," Carras said in a released statement. "Mark has a solid game and just needs to get some experience. Jimmy is a strong player with a lot of experience. Both need maturing, but I am very pleased that they are coming aboard. Wisinski finished third in the state at Division I state finals. McIntosh finished loth. BRONCOS Continued from Page 9 Michigan was successful in doing this as Moore and Young scored seven of the Wolverines' first 10 points. Moore finished with nine points and six rebounds in 22 minutes of play. "I liked the pace tonight Ellerbe said. "It kept us fresh, it allowed us to do some things offensively." After Michigan built a cushy 84-57 second-half lead, the Broncos used a late run to cut the margin down to 84- 70. But a 3-pointer by Groninger ended any upset hopes Western Michigan might have had. Michigan's next game is at home against Wagner on Saturday at 2 p.m. Wagner scored at least 110 points in every game this season. "I just want to worry about tomor- row," Ellerbe said. GARRER-A'.I Tixw: Last night's vic- tory had more firsts than just the first win of the season for Michigan. The game also marked the first time junior walk-on Ron Garber has played in an organized game since middle school ICERS Continued from Page 9 glorious scoring chances on just poor coverage comiing back. "When you recruit highly-skilled players like we do, and then you have to teach them how to check, some of them just can't get the puck out of their heads. As soon as theW puck turns over, they sleep." 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