Alpena captain off to D-III River Falls

Former Alpena IceDiggers captain Nolan Craner has committed to play at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, a Division III school, next season.

The Plainwell native spent three seasons with the IceDiggers and served as captain for two of the three seasons. In 143 career games, the power forward scored 38 goals and assisted on 66 for a total of 104 points. His best offensive season came in 2007 when he scored 25 goals and 40 assists for 65 points.

"Nolan is a first-class kid who was the type of player you want the rest of the team to look up to," said Alpena head coach Kenny Miller. "He will make an impact right away at the college level and I couldn't be happier for him and his family."

Craner, Ricardo Yesue and Miller were the only three from the IceDiggers organization to make the move from Toledo to Alpena three seasons ago. Both players will spend the next four years together at River Falls.

The Falcons compete in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association and complied a record of 21-6-2 last season.

Craner and Yesue join Zach Barron (UMass-Boston), Justin Stadler (Adrian), Korey O'Brien (Wisconsin-Stevens Point) and Chris Hendrickson (Finlanda) as members of the 2006-2007 IceDiggers club that have moved onto the D-III level for next season.