Ty Conklin’s virtue isn’t just that his body is holding up. The guy can tend a little goal, too.

With Pascal Leclaire still out after arthroscopic knee surgery last month and Frederik Norenna temporarily shelved with a groaning groin, Conklin, 30, of Anchorage, backstopped the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 3-2 shootout win at Vancouver on Tuesday night. Ty stopped 35 shots and the goals he did allow were both power-play markers. He only allowed one goal on three shots in the shootout.

Elsewhere around the NHL, New Jersey Devils center Scott Gomez of Anchorage contributed an assist in a 5-4 shootout loss at Atlanta. Gomez was –1 with three shots and just eight face-off wins in 19 draws over 17:35 of ice time. And in San Jose, Sharks rookie defenseman Matt Carle of Anchorage was even with one shot in 22:54 of ice during a 3-2 shootout loss to Dallas. Ugh – the Sharks uncharacteristically blew a 2-0 lead. Doubly painful: They gave up the game-tying goal with Dallas using an extra attacker and just three seconds left in regulation.

Bummer news for former UAA Seawolves winger Dallas Steward -- the third-year pro with the ECHL's Pensacola Ice Pilots is shelved with a broken left wrist.

The Ice Pilots placed Steward, 26, on the 30-day injured reserve list after he suffered his injury in the first period of a 5-4 overtime win against the Columbia Inferno on Friday night. In 41 games, the 5-foot-6, 180-pound Steward produced 10-13--23 totals and was -5. Last season with Pensacola, he was 10-12--22 in 69 games.

If this is Monday, the Alaska Aces must be in -- oh, who the hell knows? Probably not them, thanks to an ECHL schedule that would be a joke if it weren't so brutal.

Check it out: On Jan. 18, the Aces flew to Los Angeles for a game the following night against Long Beach. After beating the Ice Dogs (one of 94 teams in North America, it seems, with that nickname that's not really that clever), the Aces hopped on a bus for the 360+ miles of travel to Stockton, Calif., where they arrived at their hotel about 4:30 a.m. Saturday. They played a game that night against the Thunder, then another the next afternoon (Sunday).

Man, talk about a tough week for former UAA Seawolves captains in the ECHL.

First, the Alaska Aces gave center Jimmy Dahl the gate, trading him to Stockton. (Actually, might be good for Jimmy, a good guy who was having trouble cracking the Aces lineup regularly; besides, Stockton is a strong, young team).

Then came word Sunday that the Las Vegas Wranglers traded defenseman Lee Green of Soldotna to the Reading Royals.

Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Ty Conklin will likely get the start Tuesday night in Vancouver, courtesy of his health and strong play of late.

Conklin, an Alaskan -- the Columbus web site calls his hometown Anchorage, but nhl.com calls it Eagle River -- is the only healthy NHL goalie the Blue Jackets have at the moment. Frederik Norrena went down with a groin injury Saturday -- Conklin came in during the second period and back-stopped the rest of a 3-2 win over Minnesota -- and Pascal Leclaire is still rehabbing after having his left knee scoped at the end of December.

Scott Gomez and Matt Carle on Friday picked up where they left off before the NHL All-Star break.

Gomez, the New Jersey Devils center from Anchorage, earned the primary assist on Brian Gionta’s game-winning goal in a 2-0 win over Tampa Bay (Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur recorded his ninth shutout of the season and four millionth of his career – OK, I think it was his 89th career bagel, off the top of my rapidly thinning scalp). That gives Gomez, who also fired four shots and – hold on to your helmets! – two hits, 9-28—37 totals in 41 games. Plus, he’s plus-7.

Former UAA Seawolves winger Curtis Glencross was traded Friday, bouncing from the NHL's Anaheim Ducks' organization to the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Glencross earlier this month made his NHL debut for Anaheim, scoring a goal on his first shot, which came on just his second shift. He played a second NHL game before returning to the Portland Pirates of the American Hockey League, where he has compliled 6-10--16 totals in 31 games.

Our man Turnpike Timmy Wallace is back in the American Hockey League, skating for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Wallace, the 22-year-old forward from Anchorage, owns 3-4--7 totals and is +3 in 15 games with the Penguins, impressive for a rookie who was an undrafted free agent coming out of Notre Dame and went to the Pittsburgh Penguins' training camp on a tryout.

Wallace has shuttled between Wheeling of the ECHL and Wilkes-Barre. In Wheeling, Wallace is 6-11-17 and even in plus-minus in 19 games.

OK, puckheads, if you're flying on Alaska Airlines in the next week, reach into the seat pocket in front of you, pull out the January edition of Alaska Airlines Magazine, and dig on the story about the Alaska Aces.

The story charts the team's journey from rags to riches -- from being offered on eBay to becoming ECHL Kelly Cup champions.

In the interest of full disclosure, this most excellent story, this power play of pucks perspective, was written by Josh Niva, a reformed ADN sports reporter who is now editor of our weekend Play magazine. (Oh, and Josh is one of my boys, so, yeah, I'm pumping his tires. Besides, he helped me get this blog started and is efforting to get me to make it more expansive with bells and whistles -- he'll probably chirp me because I've failed to link to his mugshot).

Matt Carle of Anchorage earned some face time – and two goals, too – Tuesday in the NHL’s YoungStars Game, which was played at, shall we say, a leisurely pace.

Let’s put this way: None of the skaters were in danger of pulling a groin from too much effort. That made for so-so television on the strangely named cable network Versus. Anyhow, Carle, the 22-year-old San Jose Sharks rookie who leads all first-year defensemen in scoring, bagged a short-handed goal and an even-strength goal for the West team, which – wait, wait, let the suspense build – lost to the East team 9-8.

Our man Nate Thompson, the Providence Bruins center from Anchorage, got to business lickety-split Sunday, dropping the gloves and fighting Portland’s Zenon Konopka just four seconds into an American Hockey League game in Providence, R.I. Talk about a fight literally right off the opening draw (both guys are centers, so does anyone really think either of them was concerned with winning possession? Of course, that four-second mark was just shy of the three seconds it took in the ECHL on Friday for Stockton's Adam Huxley to dance with Fresno's Riley Day -- maybe the ref in the game in Stockton was just quicker on the whistle than the ref in Providence?)

The young bucks of Alaska hockey have put on a sweet show this week.

Check out the UAA Seawolves’ 3-2 win over visiting Michigan Tech on Friday night. UAA’s goals came from freshmen Paul Crowder (he also added a helper), Josh Lunden and Kevin Clark. Crowder, 21, leads the team and is second in points with 10-10—20 totals in 25 games. Lunden, 20, checks in with 8-8—16 in 25 games to rank third on the squad in points. And Clark, 19, owns 6-5—11 totals in 24 games.

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Matt Carle’s resurrection continued apace Thursday night, when the rookie defenseman from Anchorage scored a goal and went +2 for the San Jose Sharks in a 5-2 win over the visiting Phoenix Coyotes.

In his third NHL game after a two-game tune-up in the American Hockey League, Carle registered his third point since his return and tied for the team high in shots on goal with five in 17 minutes, 16 seconds of ice time.

SAN JOSE, Calif. – After the San Jose Sharks sent rookie defenseman Matt Carle of Anchorage to the minors for a tune-up earlier this month, he’s returned to the NHL with his game in gear.

Caught the Sharks’ 3-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche here on Monday night, when Carle assisted on Joe Thornton’s third-period power-play goal and played well. He was on the ice for all three San Jose goals – the Sharks’ league-leading power play furnished all three goals and was, well, spellbinding with its puck movement and backdoor plays – and fired two shots in his 14:30 of ice time.

According to this New York Post story, the NHL’s St. Louis Blues coveted emerging rookie center Brandon Dubinsky of Anchorage, but the New York Rangers had no interest in parting with their second-round draft pick in exchange for Martin Rucisnky.

Dubinsky, 20, who skates for the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League, is hitting his stride after a slow start – San Jose Sharks defenseman Matt Carle of Anchorage told me Dubinsky impressed him when he played against him in the AHL recently. In 39 games, Dubinsky owns 9-10—19 totals and 41 penalty minutes, and is +4.

Sunday may be a day of relaxtion for most folks, but Providence Bruins center Nate Thompson of Anchorage was a busy boy.

In just his third game back since missing nearly a month of American Hockey League games with injuries, Thompson contributed an assist in the Bruins' 4-3 shootout win at Bridgeport. He was clearly back in the, well, swing of things -- he also got in a fight. Saturday night, Thompson had one goal and one assist in a 8-1 win at Binghampton. In 30 games, Thompson, who earlier this season made his NHL debut, owns 4-8--12 totals.

In his first game back in the NHL after a short stint in the American Hockey League, San Jose Sharks rookie defenseman Matt Carle of Anchorage wasted little time proving the big league is where he belongs.

Carle scored his fourth goal of the season and went +2 in the Sharks' 4-1 win at Phoenix.

His smooth game was mirrored by New Jersey Devils center Scott Gomez of Anchorage, who provided the game-winning overtime goal in a 2-1 road win against the New York Islanders. Gomez's forechecking forced the turnover gobbled up by linemate Patrik Elias, whose deft pass left Gomez with an open net from just outside the right post.

Former UAA Seawolves winger Curtis Glencross finally arrived in the big-time Saturday, making his NHL debut for the Anaheim Ducks and promptly scoring a goal against Colorado on his second shift and first shot on goal in the world's best league.

Glencross, 24, played two seasons at UAA before signing with Ducks -- his deal included a $750,000 bonus -- after a 21-goal season as a sophomore in 2004.

Midway through the Alaska Aces' 3-2 win over the Victoria Salmon Kings on Friday night, a text message arrived from New Jersey Devils center Scott Gomez of Anchorage.

We'd touched base with Gomez on Thursday to see if he had any advice for Aces captain Mike Scott, who had gone 19 games without beating a goaltender (Scott did have two empty-net goals in that span). Anyhow, Gomez's text message was a joking thanks -- he'd gone six games without a goal before scoring a power-play goal Friday in a 2-1 win over the Atlanta Thrashers. Kiddingly, he said to be sure to call before the next game -- hockey superstition and all that, presumably.

Matt Carle's short stint in the American Hockey League is over, and the promising rookie defenseman is back in the NHL.

The San Jose Sharks have recalled the Anchorage native from AHL Worcester, where he was assigned recently.

Carle, 22, played three games in Worcester and registered two assists. The Sharks had sent him East after he began the season hot but struggled in December.

Carle still leads Sharks defensemen in scoring with 3-18--21 totals in 39 games. The Sharks have a game Saturday in Phoenix -- Carle is expected to be in the lineup, according to the Sharks -- then return to San Jose for a three-game homestand that begins Monday night with a game against Colorado.