newsminer.com

FAIRBANKS — Scott Greenham smiled like a child unwrapping presents on Christmas morning. The Alaska Nanooks freshman goaltender marveled at his new helmet after a recent practice in the Patty Center.

“Coming in here and getting all the new equipment right away, it’s a good feeling,’’ Greenham said. “It really is like Christmas.’’

Another gift for the 21-year-old from Addison, Ontario, is an opportunity to play this season for the Central Collegiate Hockey Association team.

If senior Chad Johnson needs a break during the regular season or is struggling in a game or the Nanooks are well ahead on the scoreboard, the 6-foot-2, 180-pound Greenham will most likely get the call to step in and be the last line of defense for the Nanooks.

Greenham is among a CCHA-high 12 freshmen this season who are expected to step in and step up for the Nanooks.

The other 11 newcomers this season are Eric Babcook, a goaltender from Centennial, Colo.; right wing Justin Brossman of West Linn, Ore., and four centers — Carlo Finucci of Burnaby, British Columbia; Adam Cardwell of Long Beach, Calif.; Justin Filzen of Proctor, Minn., and Ron Meyers of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan — and five defensemen (Cody Butcher of Anchorage; Aaron Gens of Baudette, Minn.; Scott Enders of Edmonton, Alberta; Joe Sova of Berwyn, Ill., and Derek Bradish of Fairbanks).

This year’s group of freshmen is the largest for Alaska since the 11-member class in the 2004-05 season. That group featured two players in NHL training camps recently — Darcy Campbell and Kyle Greentree — and goaltender Wylie Rogers.

The 2004-05 season was Ferguson’s first with the Nanooks coaching staff and he sees similarities between that group of freshmen and this season’s.

“The chemistry they bring reminds me of four years ago,’’ Ferguson said recently. “As a head coach, it’s very important for me to have a good lockerroom and have guys that play hard for each other and for the program. That’s what I see right now — a group of kids that come in here and really like being here.”

Ferguson also sees maturity in the freshmen, because 10 of them are age 20 or older.

“I don’t see a lot of panic in them, and I think that comes with their age,’’ he said.

The 2008-09 rookies consist of two players who can keep the puck out of the net and several who can put it in the net.

Last season, Greenham posted a 27-3-3 record with a 2.32 goals against average and .923 saves percentage for the Oakville Blades of the Ontario Provincial Junior Hockey League. Finucci led the British Columbia Hockey League in scoring with 33 goals and 69 assists for 102 points in 60 games for his hometown Burnaby Express, and Cardwell did likewise in the North American Hockey League, producing a 32-59-91 scoring line for the Wichita Falls (Texas) Wildcats. Gens received the NAHL Defenseman of the Year award after contributing 12-46-58 totals for the league runner-up Topeka (Kan.) RoadRunners.

Enders also brings international experience to Alaska, as he skated for Canada West last November in the World Junior A Hockey Challenge in British Columbia. The level of play in the tournament, he said, was similar to what awaits him in college hockey this season.

“It just made me more accountable and a little more confident in myself,’’ Enders, who played last season with Lloydminster in the Alberta Junior Hockey League, said. “All four lines were really good, everyone could handle passes and everybody was really fast.”

Finucci continues to adjust to college hockey, though he contributed to last Saturday’s 4-0 exhibition win over the U.S. National Team Development Program Under-18 Team at the Patty Center.

In the first two weeks of practice, the freshmen went from being eased in to college hockey to learning systems.

“We were just getting used to the way coach Ferguson wants us to do things out there in the defensive zone, neutral zone and the offensive zone ... just being in the right places,’’ Finucci said. “You’ve just got to listen when he corrects you and you’ve got to make sure you do it right the next time.’’

Finucci showed last Saturday that he listens well, because he provided the game’s first goal with a backhand at the left post. Greenham also flourished, stopping 14 shots in relief of senior starter Chad Johnson to preserve the shutout.

Any contributions from the newcomers will be welcome on a Nanooks squad that last season, under then head coach Doc DelCastillo, finished 9-21-5, including a CCHA ninth-place mark of 8-16-4.

Alaska also ranked 10th in the 12-team league with 2.18 goals per game, and lost its second and third-leading scorers last season in defenseman Tyler Eckford and wing Landon Novotney.