Three years ago, the University of Alaska (Fairbanks) Nanooks missed the NCAA tournament by the barest of margins while competing as a Division I independent. As 2026 began, UAF was 5-13-1 overall, far from the nationals, after closing out its fourth and final East Coast trip of the current campaign.
How times change. After claiming their 15th consecutive Alaska Airlines Governors Cup in their intrastate rivalry with Alaska Anchorage, the Nanooks are 14-15-2 and in range of the .500 mark, not counting four exhibition wins. After a series at Cornell on Jan. 9-10, they went 9-2-1 against fellow independents back home.
None of those wins would have been possible without the goaltending tandem of senior Lassi Lehti and freshman Calvin Vachon, on a team that averages just under three goals scored per game.
“It’s been a good schedule, with some good teams and good buildings,” said Lehti in early January. “It’s not the results we’ve wanted, but there’s been a lot of close games, and I think we’ve improved as the season has gone on.”
Lehti, 24, arrived in central Alaska in 2022 after spending the previous season in the North American Hockey League. The Espoo, Finland, native originally plied his trade with Grankulla IFK, then spent two winters at St. Andrew’s College in Ontario. He appeared in a single game with UAF as a freshman, then skated in seven games as a sophomore before going 7-3-2 in 13 games last year with a 2.04 goals-against average.
Through the first three-plus months of this season, the Nanooks had logged more than 32,000 air miles, indicative of representing America’s northernmost university.
“It’s a little bit unique,” said Lehti of road trips. “You leave on Mondays and come back on Sundays, and it’s a bit challenging at times, especially if you have a lot of exams. That’s where time management comes in, and you prepare before you leave and get some study time in.”
Lehti’s first 12 games this season included a 2-1 victory against No. 8 Quinnipiac on Oct. 10, where he turned aside 33 shots to boost the Nanooks into the Icebreaker Tournament title game. He then made 35 saves the next night as UAF fell to 15th-ranked host Arizona State.
The 6-foot-4 backstop stymied Quinnipiac again on Nov. 4, stopping 39 shots in a 2-2 tie. Three weeks later, he led Alaska to the Adirondack Winter Invitational crown in fabled Lake Placid, rejecting 40 of 42 shots in all in wins over St. Lawrence and Clarkson to give the Nanooks their first tournament title in a decade. It also earned him Independent Co-Goalie of the Week accolades.
“It was a big weekend for us,” said Lehti. “It’s a great facility in a nice little town, and it was lot of fun, beating two teams and getting a trophy for our group.”
Vachon, 20, originally from Redondo Beach, Calif., took his own roundabout route to the 49th State. He prepped with the Los Angeles Jr. Kings, then starred for Shattuck St. Mary’s and Waterloo (USHL) in the Midwest before moving to Fairbanks last fall.
If his last name sounds familiar, it’s because you’ve undoubtedly heard of his famous grandfather — Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender Rogatien “Rogie” Vachon, who played in more than 800 NHL regular-season and playoff games, recording more than 350 wins in all, the bulk of them with the Los Angeles Kings. He also won three Stanley Cups and a Vezina Trophy with the Montreal Canadiens.
“He lives with us now, in Montana on the farm,” said Calvin Vachon. “It’s brought us closer, watching games together and hearing what the league was like back in the day.”
“The way Calvin plays, the way he reacts mentally, I can see a similarity between us,” said Rogie Vachon to NHL.com in 2021. “He doesn’t quit on anything.”
Calvin’s father, Nick, played forward at Boston University in the early 1990s.
“He just wanted what was best for me,” said UAF’s No. 32. “My mom wanted me to get an education, but he just wanted me to do my best and enjoy the game.”
The 5-foot-11 Vachon’s also gotten used to traveling, although UAF takes it to an extreme.
“It’s definitely a lot different, but it’s fun being on the road for two or three weeks with the guys,” he offered. “Travel days are crazy, but a lot of good stories have come out of them, and it’s been fun.”
Vachon skated in six games this season before earning his first career victory as a Nanook, a 43-save effort in a 5-1 win at No. 16 Providence on Jan. 3. He then almost helped UAF to a tie at 14th-ranked Cornell, before the Big Red scored three times in the final two minutes, including two empty-net goals.
There are other family ties on the Nanooks this year, the 100th in UAF Hockey history. The third goaltender, Zak Brice, a freshman from Fairbanks, is the son of former Nanook netminder Alba Brice. The team captain is forward Chase Dafoe, a Providence College transfer whose father is former NHL goaltender Byron Dafoe.
Both Lehti and Vachon are majoring in business administration, with Lehti also having a concentration in finance and a minor in accounting. Both netminders have found a second shared home in the Alaskan interior, minus-40 temperatures and all.
“It’s not as cold in Finland as it is in Fairbanks, but the darkness is similar,” said Lehti. “It wasn’t a big adjustment—but there’s more snow, and it’s pretty dark and cold.”
“It’s been much different,” said Southern California native Vachon. “I might be at the beach if I was back home now. I was used to snow (in prep school and juniors), but it’s definitely much colder here.”
Both said they chose UAF in part due to the coaching staff, led by head coach Erik Largen, himself a Fairbanks native and former Nanook goaltender.
“Lassi and Calvin have given us exactly what you hope for from your goaltending group—consistency, competitiveness, and confidence. We can win with whoever is in net,” said Largen. “They prepare the right way every day and push each other in practice, and because of that they give us a chance to win every night, especially playing one of the top-ten toughest schedules in the country.”
After its barnstorming start to the season, with all but six games played on the road, UAF played its last dozen regular-season games in Alaska, all against fellow independents. That included eight games against UAA, with UAF winning six and tying a seventh to claim another Governor’s Cup, in a rivalry that stretches back to when the two programs started in 1979.
“The community shows up when we play Anchorage, and it’s a big goal to win the Governor’s Cup,” said Lehti, who saw the bulk of the action down the stretch, playing in 10 straight games and recording seven victories.
On Feb. 27-28 against UAA at Fairbanks’s Carlson Center, Vachon earned his first career shutout with 22 saves in a 2-0 win in the opener, while Lehti stopped 27 shots the next night in a 5-1 victory in his final home game. For the season, Lehti is now 12-9-2 with a 2.32 GAA, and 23-13-4 with three shutouts over 44 career outings with UAF.
With the NCAAs out of reach this year, the Nanooks will still take to the road one last time in early March, as the top seed in the inaugural United Collegiate Hockey Cup in Missouri against the other four Division I independents — Lindenwood, Long Island, Stonehill and UAA.
“I’m excited for it,” said Vachon. “I have lot of family in the area, with cousins and a grandmother, and it’s another chance to win a trophy and finish the year on a high note.”
That chance will depend largely on Lehti and Vachon.
“Their consistent play has allowed our team to compete with anyone in the country,” said Largen.