In today's Fairbanks Daily Newsminer paper...

Linnell makes commitment to Nanooks
By Danny Martin
Published Wednesday, July 22, 2009


The Alaska Nanooks may be getting their first second-generation player, as Jared Linnell said he has verbally committed to the Central Collegiate Hockey Association program.
“I’m really excited that they are interested in me playing for them in the future,” the 5-foot-10, 160-pound forward said in a telephone interview Tuesday.
Linnell, a center, made the commitment on July 15 and he is eligible to play for the Nanooks in the 2011-12 season. College coaches, according to NCAA rules, cannot comment on players who make verbal commitments.
Linnell, 16, is entering his junior year at North Pole High School, which he led last season with 53 points from 16 goals and 37 assists. His father, Derek, a North Pole assistant coach, was a Nanooks defenseman from 1989-92. However, it was more than a family connection that attracted the younger Linnell to the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ hockey program.
“Over the years, they’ve been getting better,” Jared Linnell said. “It’s a (NCAA) Division I team, and I’ll be playing the same (D-I) teams. Plus, it’s in my hometown.”
Last season under first-year head coach and CCHA Coach of the Year recipient Dallas Ferguson, the Nanooks placed fourth in the regular season and advanced to the CCHA Championship Tournament in Detroit.
Jared Linnell was one of three Interior players who participated in the USA Hockey Select-16 Boys Development Camp in Rochester, N.Y., earlier this month. He provided two goals and two assists in six games for the Kelly Green team.
Linnell played youth competitive hockey last season with the Alaska All-Stars of Anchorage and is scheduled to skate comp this season with the Arctic Lions of Fairbanks. He’s also slated to practice this season with the Fairbanks Ice Dogs of the North American Hockey League and play later in the season for the junior-level program.
Linnell was selected in two junior leagues’ drafts last year and this year. The Prince George (British Columbia) Cougars selected him in the 10th round and 214th overall in the 2008 Western Hockey League Bantam Draft. Wade Klippenstein, a former Nanooks teammate of Linnell’s father, is the hockey operations director and assistant general manager of the major junior team.
Linnell was also picked in the third round and 28th overall by the Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Rough Riders in May in the United States Hockey League Futures Draft. The USHL is a Tier I junior league of 14 teams in the Midwest.
Lathrop High School goaltender Stephon Williams and forward Tayler Munson were also involved in the Select 16 camp in Rochester. Williams compiled a 3.36 goals against average and .898 saves percentage in six games for the Royal team and Munson contributed 2 assists in as many games.


Community Discussion
data345
7/22/2009, 4:03 a.m.
It's nice to see a local kid deciding to stay in Fairbanks. I have nothing against kids that decide to go somewhere else, but it's still nice when one decides to stay.