To most Ohio State fans, “that state up north” is known as Michigan. That’s not necessarily the case for John Markell’s hockey Buckeyes. For No. 15 Ohio State, there’s a whole other meaning to that phrase.

Fresh off an emotional weekend of hockey at home against No. 4 Michigan State, a series in which the two teams tied 3-3 both nights, the OSU men’s hockey team now sets their sights on the Great White North – a trip northwest to Alaska.

The Buckeyes (14-10-4, 9-7-4 CCHA) left Wednesday for Fairbanks, Alaska, and made the four hour time zone jump where they have been prepping for a weekend series with the No. 14 Nanooks.

Alaska Fairbanks (16-10-2, 12-10-2 CCHA) sits fourth in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, while the Buckeyes enter play tied for fifth place, four points behind the Nanooks.

While the competition waiting in Alaska appears to be stern, the Buckeyes must overcome the travel factor and mental challenges of being away from campus for a five-day span.

“From what I hear, it’s unbelievably brutal travel, and by the time you get adjusted, it’s time to leave again,” sophomore goalie Mike Betz said.

Betz said the Buckeyes will try to put all the distractions behind them this weekend.

“It’s a huge series,” Betz said. “The CCHA season is so short that crunch time really starts in the beginning of November. We’re not approaching this weekend any differently.

“The season is winding down, but it’s still just another two-game series and we know how important every game is since the beginning of the season, so we’re just going out there to do our jobs again,” Betz said.

Junior forward Luke Pavlas looks at the trip a bit differently. Pavlas, a native of Anchorage, Ala., is returning home.

“It feels good to be going home, although, I don’t know how excited I am about going home in February,” Pavlas said. “It’s going to be fun to go up there to Fairbanks, and play at a place where I grew up watching the Nanooks play. It is kind of a dream to play in a place where as a youth hockey player, you watched all the big schools that play up there.”

Pavlas also played for the Buckeyes his freshman year when OSU made the journey northwest, the last time they traveled to Fairbanks.

“These four points are huge,” Pavlas said. “We’ve got to go up there with our mind set on four points and no less than that. That’s going to take 120 minutes of hockey to beat these guys. They’re a good hockey team.”

Markell thinks the trip will present another challenge for his team.

“We’ve got to think about scholastics right now, make sure the guys bring their books, and stay up with school work,” he said.

“That’s a concern of mine too, missing three days of school,” Markell said. “We’ve got to make it worth our while to miss all these days; we’ve got to come back with points.”

Markell deemed Fairbanks a well-rounded team that is difficult to face.

“They’re a highly offensive team, they have good goal-tending, and they are spirited,” Markell said. “They have only four games left, two of which are with us. We have four games in hand on them, so they want to use these games wisely.

“They also might be nervous, because they know they are limited in their games,” Markell said.

Another aspect of the trip the Buckeyes will have to adjust to is the Olympic size rink Fairbanks skates on.

“That’s going to take a little getting used to,” Pavlas said. “The goalies have different angles and the same for the shooters. We’ll get a couple of practices in up there and I think we’ll be pretty comfortable with it come game time.”

The puck drops at 11:05 p.m. EST tonight and tomorrow at the Carlson Center in Fairbanks.