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Largen: “Yeah. Get us on the schedule!”

“We’re not at that point where we’re looking at it and saying, ‘Hey, we’ve got to get in the national tournament,’” Nanooks coach Erik Largen said.

There could hardly be a better fit to guide the Nanooks through this stage than Largen, a perpetually upbeat former goaltender whose coaching journey through the junior ranks included two years with the North American Hockey League’s Fairbanks Ice Dogs.

As Largen sat on a bench outside the locker room in Mariucci Arena the day before the first game of the series, Minnesota assistant coach Garrett Raboin walked by with a greeting and a question about how the team was spending the remainder of the afternoon.

“Nothing. Just grabbing some lunch. Try to say a couple prayers tonight,” Largen said, playfully exaggerating Alaska’s underdog status for the weekend.