North to Alaska

The rush is on to Anchorage, but PucKato won't be there (deadline and budget issues). However, I'll try to have some game-night blogs and links to other coverage on the blog. Meanwhile, here are a few things to know about this weekend's series:

As the Mavericks look for their first win of the season, they will have six freshmen in the lineup Friday. Forwards Jason Wiley and Mike Louwerse are out with injuries, and senior forward Matt Tyree and junior Blake Friesen are on the trip but out in the opener because of a few poor choices at Michigan Tech. Coach Troy Jutting said he is benching players who take bad penalties. He sat defenseman Nick Canzanello last Saturday; Tyree and Friesen are his next examples. "We need to do a good job staying out of the box," Jutting said. "That's why those guys aren't playing Friday."

Senior defenseman and regular penalty killer R.J. Linder says he likes his coach's policy: "I agree with it totally. For us to be successful and meet our goals, you can't be sitting in the box." You can read more about Linder in Friday's Free Press.

So the six freshmen in the lineup will include defensemen Ben Youds, Kurt Davis and Channing Boe and forwards Andrew Sackrison, Rylan Galiardi and Brett Peterson. Peterson, an Elk River native who played with Indiana of the USHL, will be making his college-hockey debut.

Other news and notes: Jutting said Mike Zacharias will start in goal Friday. Dan Tormey is also on the trip. ... Jon Kalinski is the Mavericks' active leading scorer against Anchorage with four goals and three assists. ... More to come.