Goal-Scoring Nate Thompson Leads Our Rink Roundup

Posted by adn_aces

Posted: November 28, 2008 - 10:31 pm

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Settle in for a moment, get comfortable and take a deep breath, because we're about to take a long tour around the North American hockey world to check in with Alaska-connected cats.

We begin at the NHL level -- where by now serious puckheads might already know that winger Joey Crabb of Anchorage made his NHL debut Friday night with Atlanta -- and welcome center Nate Thompson of Anchorage back to the New York Islanders lineup. After missing nine games with a strained groin, Thompson notched his second career goal in a 7-2 loss to Boston.

Also in the NHL, Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Matt Carle of Anchorage, offered an assist in a 3-2 loss to Carolina that included 24:09 of ice time for our boy. New York Rangers center Brandon Dubinsky rocked the face-off circle by winning 11 of 12 draws in a 4-3 shootout win at Florida. He fired six shots and was +1 in 18:10. Teammate Scott Gomez, who recently won 19 of 23 draws (if memory serves) in a game, won just 7 of 22 Friday, but had an even rating and five shots in 25:26. And fomer UAF Nanooks winger Aaron Voros snagged his eighth goal and was +2 in just 7:33.

Moving to the American Hockey League, some of the Alaska Aces' call-ups to the Peoria Rivermen contributed in a 5-4 shootout win against visiting Rockford. Josh Soares had one goal and one assist and Alexandre Imbeault added a shootout goal. That game was flush with Alaska connections -- also playing for Peoria were former Aces Ryan Reaves (goal, assist), Julian Talbot (assist), Eric Neilson and T.J. Fast, as was former center Curtis Fraser. Oh, and former UAF defenseman Jordan Hendry, down from NHL Chicago, scored his first goal of the season for Rockford.

Meanwhile, former Aces sniper Chris Minard and winger Tim Wallace of Anchorage each earned an assist for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in a 4-3 win at Norfolk. Minard owns 16-12--28 totals in 20 games, leads the league in goals, is second in points and has provided at least one point in 18 of 20 games. Former UAF winger Kyle Greentree furnished his eighth goal for Quad City in a 6-4 win over San Antonio. And former Aces defenseman Patrick Wellar, on call-up from ECHL Reading, played for Hershey in a 3-2 overtime win at Albany. And former UAF defenseman Jeff Penner scored for Providence in a 5-3 win over Worcester.

In the ECHL, former UAA Seawolves captain Luke Beaverson played his first career game on that circuit after being sent down from AHL Rochester. He was +1 for Florida in a 4-0 win at Reading. Former Aces defenseman Peter Metcalf had an assist and was +2 for the league-leading Everblades. Also in the ECHL, former Aces center Olivier Filion provided the primary assist on the game winner in Victoria's 3-2 OT win at Utah.

And, finally, on the college front, North Dakota sophomore Evan Trupp of Anchorage scored his first goal of the season and added three helpers in a 7-3 win over Cornell. And Notre Dame goaltender Jordan Pearce of Anchorage stopped 21 shots in a 4-1 win over Western Michigan. Pearce is 9-3-1 with a 1.84 goals-against average and .929 save percentage for the No. 2-ranked Irish.

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