[2] U.S. International followed Northern Arizona into ice hockey oblivion in 1988, leaving the two Alaska schools to play as independents for several years.

[5] While none of their games were counted in the conference standings, the stabilization of their schedule provided a solid footing for the Nanooks to build their program.

Dave Laurion, who had replaced Lucia in 1993, led Alaska for their early tenure in the CCHA but couldn't get the team out of the cellar.

Gadowsky left to take over at Princeton in 2004 and the program began to slip back down the standings until Dallas Ferguson was introduced in 2008.

[8] The CCHA disintegration continued when Northern Michigan was approved for membership in the WCHA,[9] and the conference began scrambling to find a way to survive.

[11] Later in the year, administrative officials at Alaska discovered that the school had failed to properly monitor the academic eligibility of several players from multiple sports dating back to 2007.

The violations were immediately brought to the attention of the NCAA and an investigation began to determine the size and scope of the failure.

In 2014 the NCAA concluded their findings and determined that UAF was 'lacking in institutional control' and had failed to update an 'inadequate compliance system' despite warnings to that effect.

The school admitted guilt and was required to pay a fine, suspend several scholarships and forfeit all wins and ties in games where ineligible players participated.

[12] As a result, the ice hockey program now has no wins from 2007–08 through the 2011–12 season and was forced to vacate their lone NCAA tournament appearance in 2010.

The second decade of the 20th century continued to be unkind to the Nanooks; despite finishing with winning records during several seasons, Alaska lost every single playoff round they participated in from 2011 through 2020.

With Alaska being approximately 3,000 miles away from the nearest opponent (excluding Anchorage) the Nanooks were in jeopardy of returning to independent status.

The tournament is held at the Carlson Center in Fairbanks, Alaska, and is hosted by University of Alaska-Fairbanks hockey team.

The hockey team from the University of Alaska-Anchorage is a regular participant and serves as an unofficial co-host, while two guest schools round out the tournament field every year.