So, what does a hockey team do in Alaska for 11 days? Kill time…lots and lots of killing time. The Beavers left Bemidji on Thursday, December 31st. The bus pulled out of the lot at the Sanford Center at 9:45am. Four hours later, we were at the Minneapolis airport, going through the ticketing process at the Alaska Airlines counter.

From there, it was on to TSA. They don’t like people taking pictures of their work, so you’ll just have to take my word for it. Then, aboard a plane bound for Seattle. That three hour flight was relatively painless. The wait in Seattle, though, had to last a bit longer than planned. Being New Years Eve, there was a lot of traffic on the roads in Seattle. So much traffic, that the pilot was stuck in it…and was late for our flight!

Once we got airborn again, it was another three hours until Fairbanks. We landed in Fairbanks at 10:40pm AST. We got our bags, dropped off the equipment at the Carlson Center, and by the time we got checked into the hotel, it was 12:15am AST…that’s 3:15am Bemidji time! That’s an 18 hour travel day!

From that point on, the Fairbanks weekend was a normal travel weekend. Practice Friday…game Saturday…game Sunday.

We left Fairbanks at 2pm Monday. In the winter, by bus, the trip to Anchorage from Fairbanks is about a 7-8 hour drive. By plane…45 minutes!

We landed in Anchorage to find NO SNOW! NONE! NOT A TRACE (except for the mountains)! Our bus driver said it poured rain Saturday and Sunday in Anchorage. The ski area about 30 miles south of Anchorage normally has 300 inches of snow by now (that’s what he said…that’s hard to fathom). This year, they hardly have any. The mountains, he said, normally have 700 inches of snow. This year, not nearly as much.

The team is practicing at the UAA practice facility yesterday and today. The Sullivan Arena is hosting a UFC fight tonight, so the ice isn’t available. They will have practice at the “Sully” tomorrow and a pregame skate on Friday morning.

The players don’t have any school work to do (it’s semester break) and really only have 3 hours of their day accounted for on a daily basis so far this week. What have they done to pass the time?

Last night, we ate dinner at a pizza place called The Moose’s Tooth. When we walked in, a man came across the restaurant to greet us. I wish I would have caught his name, but he’s from Anchorage, but played basketball at BSU in the 1970’s.

A big thanks to former BSU student athletic trainer Mary Graham…she’s from Anchorage and is inviting the whole team to dinner tonight. She’s cooking up some Alaskan Salmon tonight for the team!

Being away from family for 11 days is tough on all of us. But, the far-reaching Beaver-Nation Family has taken care of us on the road!