Men’s Hockey Video: Alaska Trip Revisited – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/28/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
In December, the men’s hockey team traveled nearly 4,000 miles for a 2-game series with the University of Alaska in Fairbanks. The Buckeyes pocketed one point on the trip, but came away with several memorable experiences.
Watch a video about the team’s trip to the 49th state at the link above and take a look back at Ohio State’s week in Alaska below …
Tuesday, Dec. 11, the Buckeyes left Value City Arena early in the morning to head to Port Columbus airport. The squad flew from Columbus to Minneapolis, then from Minneapolis to Anchorage and then to Fairbanks. The flight from Minneapolis was delayed, causing the team to miss its flight to Fairbanks, and its assigned practice time at the Carlson Center, home of the Alaska Nanooks. It all worked out, though, as the team, along with most of the support staff, got to play pond hockey on an outdoor rink at Big Dipper Arena. The group braved the cold weather for about a 30-minute skate while it was snowing. As one member of the group said “It was beautiful. Bliss as a hockey player.”
Wednesday, Dec. 12, morning, after a breakfast that was followed by a snowball fight, the team visited the Trans-Alaska Pipeline (http://fairbanks-alaska.com/trans-alaska-pipeline.htm), about 10 minutes outside the city of Fairbanks. The 800 mile pipeline, which has a 48-inch diameter, links Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic Ocean with the terminal at Valdez, the northernmost ice-free port in the Western Hemisphere. The flow from the pipeline accounts for roughly 20 percent of U.S. oil production annually.
After seeing the pipeline, the team stopped at a muskox farm to check out the animals.
After practice at the Carlson center that afternoon and dinner, the team headed about 60 miles east to visit and take a dip in the Chena Hot Springs and the Aurora Ice Museum. The natural outdoor hot springs rock lake averages 106 degrees year round. The Ice Museum, created from more than 1,000 tons of ice and snow, was completed in January 2005 and is consistently 20 degrees Fahrenheit.
Thursday, Dec. 13, morning, the team visited Santa Claus House in North Pole, Alaska, about 20 miles south of Fairbanks. The players took pictures with Santa, in addition to picking up some for holiday gifts for friends and family. After practice Thursday afternoon, most of the group went to the local movie theater.
Friday, Dec. 14, and Saturday, Dec. 15, were typical college hockey gamedays, with breakfast, morning skate, pregame meal and games at night.
The group was up very early Sunday morning to pack the bus for the airport and begin the long journey back to Columbus.
Once the team was finally back on campus, the players were released for their 12-day holiday break. The student-athletes will return to Columbus Dec. 26 and get set for the second half of the season, beginning with the Ohio Hockey Classic Dec. 29 in Value City Arena.
