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 29 years.

Contact: dwoody@adn.com

Aces v. Idaho

Alaska's Zach Harrison races Idaho's Jace Coyle into the corner in the first period. The Alaska Aces played the Idaho Steelheads in Anchorage on Friday, January 20, 2012.

The Alaska Aces played the Idaho Steelheads in Anchorage on Friday, January 20, 2012.

Aces 3 Stockton 1

Lured out of retirement to aid his injury-depleted former team, Matt Shasby celebrates after scoring the first goal of the game for the Alaska Aces during first-period action against the Stockton Thunder Friday evening January 13, 2012 at Sullivan Arena. Shasby had last scored a goal April 24, 2009, and had last played a game June 5, 2009, the seventh game of the Kelly Cup finals.

Matt Shasby scores a goal and Jim Dahl earns an assist in a 3-1 Alaska Aces win over Stockton January 13, 2012 at Sullivan Arena.

The Blog Is Going Dark For A Spell - 2/6/2012 11:00 pm

This Aces Roadie Isn't Like The Last One - 2/6/2012 5:05 pm

Aces Lose, Seawolves Win - 2/4/2012 11:01 pm

Pre-Game Brawl In Utah; Plus, Minor-League Notes - 2/4/2012 6:32 pm

Where The Aces Stand Historically At The Two-Thirds Pole - 2/3/2012 10:25 pm

J.T. Brown 4, UAA 1 - 2/3/2012 10:18 pm

Coleman's Killer Performance Leads Our Roundup Of Aces In The AHL - 2/3/2012 7:00 pm

An Injury And Its Trickle-Down Effect On Alaska Goalies Conklin And Pearce - 2/3/2012 11:39 am

Alaskans In College Hockey: 66 Of Them (36 Men, 30 Women)

It's time for our annual survey of how many Alaskans are playing U.S. college hockey -- "annual'' in the sense that, until whatever year I get tired of looking at the computer for a couple hours to compile the list -- and the number is basically status quo compared to last season.

In all -- after perusing rosters on collegehockeystats.net, uscho.com and various school sites -- we came up with 66 Alaskans playing at colleges. That's a Mario Lemieux sweater number worth of folks (66). Man, hope I didn't miss a kid because a Max Pacioretty reference just ain't gonna play.

The breakdown: 36 men, 30 women. For comparison's sake, last year we came up with 64 Alaskans, 35 men and 29 women.

Not that this list is definitive. If you don't see someone you think should be on the list, give me an e-mail shout, I'll take another look around the series of tubes and update the list as necessary.

In any event, know that I took one for the team. Something's up with my right eye -- little swollen, looks like Scott Burt or Justin Johnson gave me a light smack in the head -- but I sucked it up today (and hopefully, Dr. Ed fixes me up tomorrow). This is the journalistic equivalent of playing hurt, particularly in this electronic age when we can't make excuses about paper cuts.

One last breakdown: Anchorage leads the way with 36 players, followed by Fairbanks (13) and Eagle River (7). The others: Wasilla (3), Soldotna (2), Sterling (2), Palmer (1), Homer (1) and Kenny Lake (1).

Anyhow, here's the list, with leagues, teams, names, years, positions and hometowns:

DIVISION I MEN

Atlantic Hockey
American International: Jason Cohen, Fr. D, Anchorage.
UConn: Brad McInnis, Jr. G, Anchorage.

CCHA
UAF: Steve Thompson, Fr. G, Anchorage.
Derek Bradish, Soph. D, Fairbanks.
Bryant Molle, Jr. D, Anchorage.
Cody Butcher, Soph. D, Anchorage.
Dustin Molle, Sr. D, Anchorage.

Northern Michigan: Billy Smith, Sr. F, Sterling.
Ohio State: Hunter Bishop, Jr. F, Fairbanks.

College Hockey America
Colgate: Nathan Sinz, Fr. D, Anchorage.
Union: Jason Shaffer, Sr. F, Eagle River.

WCHA
UAA: Scott Warner, Soph. D, Anchorage (transfer).
Brad Gorham, Soph. D/F, Anchorage.
Nick Haddad, Soph. F, Fairbanks.
Tyler Currier, Fr. F, Anchorage (redshirt).
Bryce Christianson, Jr. G, Anchorage.

Colorado College: William Rapuzzi, Fr. F, Anchorage.
Denver: Adam Murray, Fr. G, Anchorage.
William Wrenn, Fr. D, Anchorage.

Minnesota State-Mankato: Eli Zuck, Fr. F, Anchorage.
North Dakota: Evan Trupp, Jr. F, Anchorage.

DIVISION I WOMEN

College Hockey America
Mercyhurst: Anna Johnson, Soph. D, Fairbanks.
Niagara: Kayla Colang, Soph. F, Fairbanks.

ECAC
Harvard: Cori Bassett, Sr. D, Anchorage.
Quinnipiac: Jordan Elkins, Soph. D, Wasilla.
Rensselaer: Amanda Castignetti, Soph. D, Anchorage.

Hockey East
Maine: Ashley Norum, Soph. D, Fairbanks.
Northeastern: Ginny Berg, Sr. D, Sterling.
Katy Applin, Sr. D, Palmer.

Providence: Jessica Cohen, Fr. F, Anchorage.

WCHA
North Dakota: Holly Perkins, Fr. F, Soldotna.
Candace Molle, Fr. D, Anchorage.

Ohio State: Teal Bishop, Jr. D, Fairbanks.
St. Cloud State: Katie Kemmerer, Sr. F, Anchorage.
Wisconsin: Alev Kelter, Fr. D, Eagle River.
Derya Kelter, Fr. F, Eagle River.

DIVISION III MEN

ECAC East
St. Michael's: Zach Gieszler, Soph. F/D, Fairbanks.
Tully LaBelle-Hamer, Jr. F/D, Fairbanks.

ECAC Northeast
Franklin Pearce: Justin Adams, Soph. F, Homer.
Wentworth: Geric Brodt, Jr. F, Anchorage.
Casey Shade, Soph. F, Anchorage.

Western New England: Joe Deptula, Soph. D, Anchorage.

MASCAC
Fitchburg State: Bryan Canter, Soph. F, Anchorage.
Framingham State: Trevor Johnson, Jr. F, Anchorage.

MCHA
Milwaukee School of Engineering: Michael Johnson, Sr. D, Eagle River.

MIAC
Gustavus Adolphus: Isaiah Carlson, Soph. F, Kenny Lake.
St. Olaf: Caleb Harrison, Soph. D, Fairbanks.

NCHA
St. Norbert: Shane Wheeler, Sr. F, Eagle River.
Micah Wheeler, Soph. F, Eagle River.
Sam Tikka, Sr. D, Soldotna.

Wisconsin-Eau Claire: Larry Kincaid, Soph. F, Wasilla.
Michael McCurtain, Soph. F, Eagle River.

Wisconsin-Superior: Mike Rosett, Sr. G, Anchorage.

DIVISION III WOMEN

ECAC East
Plymouth State: Tina Worley, Soph. F, Anchorage.
Salve Regina: Danika Williams, Jr. F, Fairbanks.

ECAC West
Oswego: Lana Peterson, Fr. G, Anchorage.
Bryanna Forest, Fr. F, Anchorage.
Emi Williams, Jr. G, Anchorage.

MIAC
Hamline: Cortney Hanson, Jr. F, Anchorage.
St. Benedict: Katelyn Bounds, Soph. D, Anchorage.

NCHA
Adrian: Erin Winters, Soph. D, Fairbanks.
Lake Forest: Rosy Fujimoto, Fr. D, Wasilla.
Chelsea Thompson, Fr. F, Anchorage.

Wisconsin-River Falls: Cassi Campbell, Jr. G, Anchorage.
Melissa Deardorff, Soph. G, Anchorage.

Wisconsin-Stevens Point: Kayla Weber, Soph. F, Fairbanks.

© Copyright 2011, The Anchorage Daily News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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