We're Going Up Pretty Far

CHIEF
Captain? Just how far up this
river are we going?

WILLARD
That's classified, Chief. I can't
tell you. We're going up pretty
far.

CLEAN
Is it gonna be hairy?

WILLARD
I don't know, kid. Yeah, probably.

CHIEF
You like it like that, Captain?
When it's hot, hairy?

WILLARD
Fuck.
(a beat)
Maybe you'll get a chance to know
what the fuck you are in some
factory in Ohio.

Nobody wanted to be in this position, leaving Houghton with 1 goal, 0 points, and a whole lot of unanswered questions. It's an ugly position to be in. But I love it. I'm counting down the minutes just waiting for the next opportunity. Because you can't know what the fuck you are when things are easy. You are defined by what you do when things get hot and hairy.

Maybe it's poetic that the Mavericks are in Alaska this weekend. What better way to forget about a miserable weekend in the WCHA's far eastern outpost than by heading out to the WCHA's far western outpost? It's probably best to get as far away as possible from last weekend.

And what better place to forge together as a team than the Last Frontier? Heading out into the wild as a group of boys and coming back as a steely-eyed group of men. Ok, maybe cosmopolitan Anchorage isn't exactly a frozen, barren wasteland, but it's still not an easy trip.

This weekend won't be easy. In fact, very little this year will be easy. But it should give us a pretty good idea of who this team is.