Woody on Hockey

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


Aces vs. Idaho

Matt Stefanishion of the Alaska Aces, left, collides with Ashton Rome of the Idaho Steelheads during second-period action Friday evening October 30, 2009 at Sullivan Arena in Anchorage, Alaska. Idaho claimed a 5-3 win in ECHL action.

Idaho defeats the Aces 5-3 Friday evening October 30, 2009 at Sullivan Arena.

Aces vs. Kings

The Alaska Aces host the Victoria Salmon Kings in their 2009 hockey season opener on Friday October 16, 2009 at the Sullivan Arena.

Anchorage's Matt Carle Leads NHL In Plus/Minus - 11/23/2009 6:26 pm

UAA: Lafranchise Injury Not Serious - 11/23/2009 6:15 pm

Smelker, Nauheim Headed To Women's Division I - 11/23/2009 6:11 pm

Former Seawolves Center Beagle Bags 1st NHL Goal - 11/23/2009 6:01 pm

UAF Slips To No. 12; Yaremchuk CCHA Rookie Of Week - 11/23/2009 5:50 pm

Eagle River's Shane Wheeler Leads Division III No.1 St. Norbert - 11/22/2009 4:57 pm

Gomez Day-To-Day With Lower-Body Injury - 11/21/2009 5:45 pm

Say Unkle: Aces, Seawolves Both Get Bum-Rushed - 11/20/2009 11:12 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

Aces: Crum Catches A One-Game Suspension (That's A League-Leading 5 Games Worth So Far For Alaska)

Comments (0) |

Alaska Aces defenseman B.J. Crum will sit out Friday's series opener against the Idaho Steelheads after the ECHL suspended him one game and fined him the usual "undisclosed amount'' for a third-period charging major and game misconduct he received in Saturday night's 6-3 loss at Las Vegas.

Crum ran into Wranglers goaltender Michael Ouzas midway through the period and got the gate. Later, Ouzas went snap-city when Aces captain Scott Burt was assessed a goalie interference penalty and Ouzas got the gate for a match penalty (intent to injure). Ouzas racked a one-game suspension, too.

Looks like the Aces could be down to five defenseman for the series opener with Idaho, which has raced to a 5-0-0 start that ties for the best start in the league (Kalamazoo, Elmira are 5-0-0, too). But the Aces could have six D if Ryan Turek (shoulder) returns to the lineup.

Six games in, the Aces are in midseason suspension form with a total of five games via suspension -- three to winger Lance Galbraith and one each to Crum and rookie center Chris Morehouse.

That makes the Aces the ECHL leaders in suspensions in the early season -- their five games worth of suspensions (out of 15 games worth of suspensions to date) amounts to one-third of all suspensions the league has issued. Gwinnett has bagged four games worth (stemming from one preseason incident by one player, Dan Sullivan, for abuse of officials); Wheeling, Las Vegas and Victoria each have accounted for two games worth of suspensions.


By submitting your comment, you are agreeing to adn.com's user agreement.