Alaska is hockey heaven -- the Alaska Aces are perennial ECHL contenders, the UAA Seawolves play in the nation's premier college league and NHL star Scott Gomez headlines a contingent of pros. Join the conversation about the Aces and Alaska hockey with Doyle Woody, who has covered the game here at all levels for 27 years.
Contact: dwoody@adn.com
The Alaska Aces host the Victoria Salmon Kings in their 2009 hockey season opener on Friday October 16, 2009 at the Sullivan Arena.
11/20 7:00 PM
11/25 5:05 PM
12/3 7:00 PM
12/4 7:00 PM
12/11 7:15 PM
It's A Small, Small Hockey World (Just Ask Kris Tebbs And Kevin Nastiuk) - 11/20/2009 4:09 pm
On The Matt Robinson Merry-Go-Round: Back To Johnstown - 11/20/2009 3:49 pm
Brett Hemingway Lands With CHL Arizona (Debuted Tonight) - 11/19/2009 7:22 pm
Ex-UAF Blueliner Eckford Makes NHL Debut (Plus, Notes On UAA And UAF Players Who Made NHL) - 11/19/2009 6:55 pm
ECHL Cincy Picks Up Matt Robinson - 11/19/2009 2:43 pm
Former Eagle River Skater Nick Curry Headed To UMass-Lowell - 11/18/2009 8:44 pm
AHL Updates (Stefanishion, Johnson, Crowder, Mat Robinson, Lamoureux) - 11/18/2009 6:43 pm
Former Nanook Blueliner Eckford Called Up To NHL (Plus, Fun Draft Facts & UAA-Aces-Alaska Connections) - 11/18/2009 4:26 pm
On The Good-News, Bad-News Front, We Go Mat Robinson-Matt Robinson - 11/18/2009 3:49 pm
Glencross Returns From Suspension - 11/18/2009 9:38 am
Ovechkin's Return Is The Big News, But Former UAA Center Jay Beagle Is Back In The NHL - 11/17/2009 3:15 pm
Stefanishion Promoted To Peoria - 11/17/2009 9:26 am
Easy, There, Cowbell Crew: Aces On Same Pace As Last Season - 11/16/2009 4:13 pm
Nanooks Fall One Spot To No. 10 - 11/16/2009 11:17 am
Former Nanook Eckford AHL Player Of The Week - 11/16/2009 10:24 am
Former Nanooks Flourishing In AHL (Johnson, Eckford, Penner) - 11/14/2009 6:52 pm
Gutierrez Getting His Game In Gear (ECHL Notes) - 11/14/2009 6:35 pm
UAA On TV: Um, Sometimes - 11/14/2009 5:38 pm
Hey, Cowbell Crew: You're Welcome To Vent Here On The Aces' Run Of Injuries - 11/13/2009 11:07 pm
Aces Release Brett Hemingway - 11/12/2009 3:25 pm
Our Man Justin Bourne Pumps Davis Payne's Tires - 11/12/2009 10:31 am
Our Man Gino Guyer Pays A Visit - 11/12/2009 10:18 am
NOVEMBER 20, 2009 - 4:09 PM
Further evidence that the hockey world is a tiny place comes out of the Central Hockey League, where the Corpus Christi IceRays have jettisoned one former Alaska Aces goaltender and replaced him with another.
The IceRays have released former Alaska tender Kris Tebbs, 28, who played for them all last season and this season went 2-2-2 this season, with a 3.69 goals-against average and .882 save percentage.
Into his spot went former Aces tender Kevin Nastiuk -- the Aces released Nastiuk in training camp in October. Nastiuk, 24, debuted for Corpus Christi earlier this week with a victory, so
NOVEMBER 20, 2009 - 3:49 PM
Man, we can barely keep up with the Matt Robinson news this week, and today brought an update on the former Alaska Aces winger, who earlier this week was released by ECHL Johnstown and then picked up on waivers by ECHL Cincinnati.
Well, now Robbie's headed back to Johnstown, at least on paper. He was returned to the Chiefs "pursuant to Playing Rule 71(a),'' according to the league.
Pretty sure that means Robinson didn't pass his physical with Cincinnati. (That was the rule cited when Idaho defenseman Riley Weselowski was returned from Victoria to Idaho this season -- Weselowski failed his physical with Victoria). Not sure what's up with Robinson, but about a year ago he underwent major knee surgery.
NOVEMBER 19, 2009 - 7:22 PM
Former Alaska Aces winger Brett Hemingway, released by the ECHL club last week, landed with the Arizona Sundogs of the Central Hockey League and made his CHL debut on the road tonight.
Hemingway contributed a power-play assist in Arizona's 4-2 loss at Allen, and had one shot on goal, but also went -3.
One of Hemingway's new teammates is former UAA defenseman Matt Hanson.
Anyhow, best of luck to Brett.
NOVEMBER 19, 2009 - 6:55 PM
Former UAF defenseman Tyler Eckford, a second-year pro, made his NHL debut tonight for the New Jersey Devils in a 3-2 shootout loss at Nashville.
Eckford logged 9:01 of ice time, including 1:32 on the power play, earned an even rating and blocked three shots.
He also took a hooking penalty late in the second period that led to a go-ahead goal by former Devils center Jason Arnott early in the third period. That marked Eckford's late shift of the game -- he didn't see the ice in the third period or overtime.
The Devils promoted Eckford from Lowell of the American Hockey League earlier this week.
NOVEMBER 19, 2009 - 2:43 PM
Former Alaska Aces winger Matt Robinson, released by ECHL Johnstown earlier this week, found a soft landing -- ECHL Cincinnati picked him up.
That is all.
NOVEMBER 18, 2009 - 8:44 PM
Forward Nick Curry, who grew up in Eagle River but now claims Bettendorf, Iowa, as home, has committed to begin playing college hockey next season at nationally-ranked UMass-Lowell.
Curry, 20, is third in the North American Hockey League in points, and second in assists, with 9-21--30 totals and a +6 rating in 22 games for the Springfield (Ill.) Jr. Blues. Last season, the 6-foot, 185-pounder, whose brother Mike played at Minnesota-Duluth and briefly for the Alaska Aces, finished fifth in the league in helpers and 12th in points with 15-41--56 totals in 55 games.
Lowell is currently ranked No.
NOVEMBER 18, 2009 - 6:43 PM
Erstwhile Alaska Aces winger Matt Stefanishion suited up for the Peoria Rivermen of the American Hockey League tonight, but put up zeroes across the board -- which was kind of how Peoria rolled in a 1-0 road loss to the Houston Aeros.
The Rivermen mustered just 16 shots on goal. 'Course, they only surrendered 21. In any event, Houston copped a power-play goal with about nine minutes to go to prosper.
Elsewhere in the 'A,' former UAF goaltender Chad Johnson, a rookie with the Hartford Wolf Pack, absorbed a 2-1 shootout loss to visiting Binghamton. Still, he stopped 35 shots. He's 8-4-1, with a 2.07 goals-against average, .928 save percentage and three shutouts. Hartford got to extra time courtesy of a late power-play strike by former UAA center Paul Crowder, another rookie, who bagged his third goal of the season but got denied in the shootout. Making his AHL debut for Binghamton was former UAA defenseman Mat Robinson, who rolled all zeroes.
NOVEMBER 18, 2009 - 4:26 PM
Former UAF defenseman Tyler Eckford, a second-year pro tearing up the American Hockey League, today was called up by the NHL's New Jersey Devils.
The Devils next play Thursday at Nashville, so that could be the site of Eckford's NHL debut.
Eckford, who is fourth among AHL defensemen in points with 5-10--15 totals and a +9 rating for the Lowell Devils, was a seventh-round draft pick of New Jersey's in 2004. He was taken 217th overall, which makes him seem like a longshot to make it to the NHL.
But nine guys from the seventh round in 2004 already have played in the NHL, not to mention five guys from the eighth round that year and six guys from the ninth, and final, round.
NOVEMBER 18, 2009 - 3:49 PM
It's as if Mat Robinson and Matt Robinson are linked not just by their Anchorage connections, but by time, too.
Today brought news on both Robinson fronts.
Mat, the former UAA defenseman, was promoted to the Binghamton Senators of the American Hockey League, getting called up from the ECHL's Elmira Jackals. Mat has furnished Elmira with four assists in 14 games, though he's a team-worst -9.
Meanwhile, Matt, the former Alaska Aces winger, was released by the ECHL's Johnstown Chiefs despite being tied for second in team scoring with 3-6--9 and -1 totals in 14 games. (This is the bad news part, unless Matt requested a release).
NOVEMBER 18, 2009 - 9:38 AM
After sitting out a three-game suspension for his blind-sided hit on New York Rangers center Chris Drury, former UAA winger Curtis Glencross returned to the ice for the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night and earned an assist in a 3-2 loss to Colorado.
Glencross was even, with four shots on goal, in 15:12 of ice time.
In 16 games, Glencross owns 4-3--7 totals and a +8 rating.
NOVEMBER 17, 2009 - 3:15 PM
Just turned on Versus to check out Alexander Ovechkin's return to the NHL from injury and got a nice surprise -- in the starting lineup for Ovechkin's Washington Capitals was none other than former UAA center Jay Beagle.
Tonight is Beagle's first NHL game this season. (UPDATE: He just assisted on Matt Bradley's game-winning goal late in the third period for his first NHL point in the 4-2 Caps win. Beagle logged 10:16 of ice time, fired one shot, won 5 of 9 draws and went +1). Last season, he made his NHL debut with three regular-season games for the Caps and four in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
NOVEMBER 17, 2009 - 9:26 AM
Alaska Aces winger Matt Stefanishion, tied for second on the ECHL club in goals and third in points, has been called up to Peoria of the American Hockey League.
Stefanishion flew out of Anchorage early this morning headed to Houston to join the Rivermen, who play the Aeros there on Wednesday.
Stefanishion owns 6-3--9 and +3 totals in 14 games. The fourth-year pro owns 18 games of AHL experience, including 15 last season.
NOVEMBER 16, 2009 - 4:13 PM
Well, the early season has produced the usual hand-wringing and fretting from Alaska Aces fans. Love the passion and the concern, but the whining gets a little much, especially in November, when no one ever won anything in hockey.
They have complained about the preseason release of Luke Erickson. Ditto for the regular-season release of Brett Hemingway and lamenting how it might concern his older brother, Colin -- this is one of my favorites, so many people believing they have some insight into what's going on in Colin's head. (Short version -- he's not happy his brother is gone, but he's a pro and will deal with it like one.) Moans about letting Moises Gutierrez go. Some aren't sold on first-year coach Brent Thompson. Then there was that nine-game stretch without a win in regulation, the longest such skid in six-plus ECHL seasons for the franchise. All those injuries on the blue line -- oh, the humanity!
NOVEMBER 16, 2009 - 11:17 AM
Coming off a weekend road split at Bowling Green -- those games were UAF's first Outside matches of the season -- the Nanooks (7-2-1) dropped one spot in a pair of national polls to come in today at No. 10.
UAF received that ranking in the USCHO.com poll and the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll.
Miami (Ohio) remained No. 1. North Dakota is No. 2 and Denver No. 3.
On the UAA (4-8-0) front, it has faced four teams currently ranked -- NoDak, DU, Wisconsin (No. 15) and Michigan (No. 16/15). The Seawolves, coming off two road losses at Wisconsin and entertaining Minnesota State-Mankato this weekend, are 2-5-0 against ranked teams -- 1-1 vs.
NOVEMBER 16, 2009 - 10:24 AM
Ex-UAF blueliner Tyler Eckford was named the American Hockey League's Player of the Week today after bagging three three-point games last week.
Eckford, a second-year pro who left school early to sign with the New Jersey Devils, earned 2-7--9 and +6 totals in three games last week for the Lowell Devils.
Eckford's 5-12--17 totals in 18 games ranks third in points among AHL defenseman and tied for 10th in points overall.
Couple other Alaska connections were nominated for the award: Rookie goaltender Chad Johnson, late of UAF, who went 2-1-0 and earned back-to-back bagels for the Hartford Wolf Pack (Rangers affiliate); and former UAA forward Eric Walsky of Anchorage, who furnished three assists and a +5 rating in two games for the Manitoba Moose (Canucks affiliate).
NOVEMBER 14, 2009 - 6:52 PM
Former UAF goaltender Chad Johnson bagged his second shutout in two nights tonight to lead the highlight reel for former Nanooks in the American Hockey League.
Johnson, a rookie who last season was the CCHA Player of the Year, stopped 35 shots tonight in a 4-0 win at Worcester and stopped 26 shots in a 2-0 win over Manchester on Friday. He's 8-4-0 with a 2.17 goals-against average, .923 save percentage and three bagels.
And he isn't the only former Nanook flourishing.
Former UAF blueliner Tyler Eckford furnished three assists and a +2 rating tonight for Lowell in a 5-3 win over visiting Providence.
NOVEMBER 14, 2009 - 6:35 PM
Erstwhile Alaska Aces winger Moises Gutierrez of Anchorage -- he played only one game (10 minutes actually), got a two-game, league-imposed suspension and was released -- is finding smoother going for ECHL Johnstown.
After failing to register a point in his first three games with the Chiefs, and going -4, he's erupted for three goals in the last two nights. He bagged his first as a Chief on Friday, then scored twice and went +3 in a 6-5 OT win over Wheeling tonight.
Also, former Aces winger Matt Robinson scored one goal and set up two others for Johnstown, and went +2. Robbie owns 3-6--9 totals in 12 games, a season after undergoing major knee surgery.
NOVEMBER 14, 2009 - 5:38 PM
For the second time in two WCHA road series, a UAA game alleged to be televised was, in fact, not televised.
Today's match at Wisconsin was supposed to be broadcast live on GCI Cable Channel 1. Instead, when I tuned in at 4 p.m., there was some black-and-white documentary on Alaska that looked like it was made in the early 60s.
UAA officials say that in both instances when a promised broadcast did not materialize, they were told ahead of time by GCI that the game indeed would be broadcast. Whatever. Bottom line -- promises made but undelivered is bad business.
Of the four league road games so far that were supposed to be broadcast, just two actually have been. Two of four is great if it's a shooting percentage. As TV goes, that's lousy follow-through.
NOVEMBER 13, 2009 - 11:07 PM
First things first: Save the Friday the 13th references. We can come up with enough cliches on our own.
Still, tough one for the Alaska Aces tonight, and not just because they fell 3-2 in overtime to the Bakersfield Condors, and not just because former Aces center Gino Guyer -- one of the really good guys -- authored the game winner for Bako.
Nope, the bigger deal is the Aces lost defenseman Tyson Marsh to a cut above his right ankle late in the third period. He left the arena with his leg in a boot and using crutches, and was headed to the hospital for further evaluation. He's a tough guy -- he tried to hop to the bench on one leg -- but right now we'd have to say he's out indefinitely.
NOVEMBER 12, 2009 - 3:25 PM
Unable to find a trade partner for Brett Hemingway, the Alaska Aces released the third-year right winger today.
Hemingway, who played for the Aces in each of his three seasons, becomes a free agent.
Here's to hoping he finds a soft landing.
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