BEMIDJI – Raythan Robbins remembers Olivier Mantha’s difference-making performance against North Dakota vividly.

On Oct. 7, 2017, Mantha, a senior goaltender for Alaska Anchorage at the time, stopped 32 shots in a 1-1 tie against UND. Jordan Xavier scored the tying goal with 75 seconds left in regulation to prevent a loss against the nation’s seventh-ranked program.

Robbins, an Anchorage native, was 16 years old when he attended the game at Sullivan Arena.

“Olivier Mantha was unbelievable,” Robbins said. “That’s the one game I really remember watching up there.”

For as much as college hockey has changed in Anchorage, the communal feeling is still abundant for local fans. Collegiate and junior hockey players are viewed as icons in the only state north of the lower 48.

“It’s the biggest

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