As a senior, an assistant captain, the UAA hockey program's leading active scorer and its top-line center, Blake Tatchell is expected to produce points, and also help mentor and lead a young team.
Saturday afternoon, in difficult circumstances, he delivered.
After traveling home to North Battleford, Saskatchewan, to attend the funeral of his great aunt Thursday and the funeral of his grandmother Friday, Tatchell's one goal and two assists spearheaded UAA's 4-2 victory over No. 12-ranked Bowling Green at Sullivan Arena.
Tatchell departed Anchorage on a red-eye flight late Tuesday night that took him to Seattle, where he caught a connection to Calgary, Alberta, and then another to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and then made the one-hour drive home.
After attending prayer services and funerals for his great aunt, Pierrette "Perry'' Beckman, and his grandmother, Tillie Beckman, Tatchell flew out of Saskatoon on Friday afternoon and arrived in Anchorage about 1:35 a.m. Saturday, less than 12 hours before the 2:07 p.m. puck drop.
"(Friday) I sat on the plane'' – and here Tatchell exhaled – "and I was so drained.''
Fortunately for the Seawolves, instead of the customary Friday-Saturday series in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, the series against Bowling Green is a Saturday-Sunday set. That rare arrangement meant Tatchell would not miss a game.
"The heavens were smiling on us with a Saturday-Sunday series,'' said Seawolves coach Matt Thomas.
With Tatchell's family watching the game back home online, he opened the scoring 94 seconds into the game – he beat Tommy Burke with a slot wrister off the left post and in – and added principal assists on goals from Cam Amantea and Chase Van Allen.
Because UAA traveled home Sunday from Huntsville, Alabama, and took Monday off, Tatchell had not even put his skates on until he went out for warmups Saturday. Even so, Thomas called Tatchell's performance Saturday his best of the season – and remember, Tatchell two weeks ago furnished a career-best four points, two goals and two assists, in a 6-2 win over American International.
"It's all adrenaline,'' Tatchell said. "I can't really explain it. I honestly will never forget this week. You score that goal, and it's a memory you'll never forget.''
Senior defenseman Blake Leask, who has been Tatchell's roommate all four years at UAA, said he tried to help his buddy Tuesday by keeping him occupied before Tatchell's flights home.
"Give him some space, and try to get his mind off it as much as possible,'' Leask said.
Leask said they binge-watched the television series "Entourage'' – "a good six, seven episodes, so we finished off the eighth season, and it's on to the movie.''
UAA (5-1-1, 2-0-1 WCHA) extended its unbeaten streak to five games (4-0-1), the first time it has gone unbeaten in five games since a string of five straight wins in February and March, 2011.
And the last time UAA went unbeaten in its first three WCHA games of the season? Never.
The Seawolves also received a goal from Tad Kozun, who along with Tatchell leads the team in goals with four. Olivier Mantha made 22 saves, surrendering only Chris Pohlkamp's first-period goal and Mitch McLain's mini-breakaway in the final minute.
Through seven games, UAA is averaging 3.57 goals per game, a dramatic increase from last season's 2.06 per game.
"It's just a team effort,'' Tatchell said. "Not one guy sticks out. Lots of people are playing big minutes, and young guys are getting a lot of time.''
Still, Tatchell, who led UAA in scoring as a freshman and a junior, leads the Seawolves again with 4-6—10 totals. His 90 career points in 115 games are more than three times as many as any current teammate.
"He's an important piece,'' Thomas said. "We've got six (games) in a row at home, and we need to make the most of it.''
Tatchell said after the game he planned to phone home to talk to his family. And then he was headed for bed.
"I think I'll sleep pretty good,'' he said.
Seawolves notes
Freshman right wing Jeremiah Luedtke assisted on Tatchell's goal for his team-leading seventh helper. His 1-7—8 totals rank him second in team scoring.
Sophomore center Matt Anholt didn't register a point for the first time this season.
Tatchell centered Kozun and Luedtke for the first six games this season, but Thomas switched Kozun at left wing Saturday on a line with center Nicolas Erb-Ekholm (assist) and Austin Azurdia (assist). Freshman Mason Mitchell (assist) moved to left wing on Tatchell's line.
Thomas said he juggled lines because he felt Tatchell, Kozun and Luedtke had begun to wait for one another to make a play instead of being assertive, and he figured Kozun could help get Azurdia going.
Thomas on Tatchell's game Saturday: "I thought he worked harder to make more opportunities for himself.''
Mantha faced just 24 shots, and his biggest saves came early, particularly when, with UAA leading 1-0, he snuffed consecutive point-blank rebound shots by Mark Cooper.
After Bowling Green's Pohlkamp tied the game 1-1 with less than three minutes left in the first period, Amantea just 41 seconds later batted his own rebound out of mid-air for his first college goal. That's the fastest UAA has answered an opponent's goal.
Van Allen's goal was a power-play beauty -- he snapped a wrister from the high slot over the blocker-side shoulder of Tommy Burke, off the crossbar and in. Kozun's goal came off Azurdia's 2-on-1 pass.
Reach Doyle Woody at dwoody@alaskadispatch.com, check out his blog at adn.com/hockey-blog and follow him on Twitter at @JaromirBlagr
Bowling Green 1 0 1 2
UAA 2 2 0 4
First Period – 1, UAA, Tatchell 4 (Mitchell, Luedtke), 1:34; 2, Bowling Green, Pohlkamp 1 (Friedman, Spezia), 17:25; 3, UAA, Amantea 1 (Tatchell), 18:06. Penalties – McDonald, Bowling Green (hooking), 9:19; Hubbs, UAA (hooking), 13:13.
Second Period – 4, UAA, Van Allen 1 (Tatchell), 6:27 (pp); 5, UAA, Kozun 4 (Azurdia, Erb-Ekholm), 18:16. Penalties – Cooper, Bowling Green (interference), 4:23; Walker, Bowling Green (interference), 5:41.
Third Period – 6, Bowling Green, McLain 1 (Walker), 19:01. Penalties – Mitchell, UAA (unsportsmanlike conduct), 2:00; McLain, Bowling Green (unsportsmanlike conduct), 2:00; Sevalrud, UAA (holding the stick), 3:56; Conti, UAA (tripping), 7:00; Mitchell, UAA (elbowing-contact to head), 10:29.
Shots on goal – Bowling Green 9-7-8—24. UAA 9-11-3—23.
Power-play Opportunities – Bowling Green 0 of 4. UAA 1 of 3.
Goalies – Bowling Green, Burke, 2-1-0 (20 shots-16 saves); Nell, enter 0:00 3rd period (3-3). UAA, Mantha, 4-1-1 (24 shots-22 saves).
A – 1,378. T – 2:12.
Referees – Josh Lupinek, Dan Kovarik. Assistant referees – Travis Jackson, Carl Saden.