Avs sign former South star

WASILLA — It’s long been a priority of the Alaska Avalanche to keep the state’s top hockey talent in Alaska.

And on Friday, that’s exactly what the Avs did.

The Wasilla-based North American Junior Hockey league franchise signed former South Anchorage star Robb Haider, a player viewed by most as the top high school player in the state for the last two seasons.

“This is a big signing for us,” Alaska president and general manager Jamie Smith said on Friday. “It’s huge.”

Smith said the addition of Haider is important for several reason.

There’s the obvious — as a senior, Haider was second in the Cook Inlet Conference in scoring with 48 points (27 goals and 21 assists), he led the Wolverines to their fourth state title in four years and he earned state player-of-the-year honors for the second straight season.

But it’s also a coup for an organization that has banked its reputation on luring Alaska’s top players to the Avalanche program, and trying to win with Last Frontier talent.

“It gives us some validity, getting the best player in state of Alaska,” Smith said. “Between him and (Dylan) Jones and (Kyle) Pichler and (Tyler) Currier and (Alex) Young, they’re paving the way for kids in our state.”

Jones and Pichler are former teammates of Haider at South, and Currier and Young also hail from Anchorage.

“It’s paving the way for us to get the marquee players in the state of Alaska,” Smith said.

While the Avs are thrilled with the signing of the two-time defending state player of the year, Haider is looking forward to the opportunity of playing junior hockey in his home state.

“I’m really excited actually,” Haider said on Saturday. “It’s really nice that I could do this here in Alaska, with the way the program is going in the positive direction.”

This is not the first opportunity to play junior hockey that Haider has had. Last year, prior to his senior season at South Anchorage, Haider was tendered by the NAHL’s St. Louis Bandits, the winners of the last two NAHL Robertson Cups. But rather than skating for the Bandits, Haider opted to stay in Anchorage for his senior year, a decision that he is more than happy with.

“One hundred percent no regrets,” Haider said. “I had the option to go to St. Louis, and hockey development in high school can’t compare to the NAHL, but for me it was more about academics and the overall high school experience.

“It was huge for me,” Haider continued. “I wanted a shot at four straight. I finished all my classes and everything paid off.”

Following his senior campaign, Haider said he took a shot at the United States Hockey League — which is recognized as the elite junior hockey league in the U.S. — and attended some USHL prospects camps.

“The USHL is still a goal for me in the future, but right now this is the right fit,” Haider said.

By signing with the Avalanche, Haider will reunite with Pichler and Jones. Haider said the thought of skating with his former teammates on the same line once again is exciting.

“We’ve got the chemistry,” Haider said. “During my junior year, their senior years, me and Pichler and Jones put up 131 points. That’s a lot of points.”

Smith said the thought of the “all-Wolverine” line has certainly crossed his mind.

“You could see all three back on a line tearing it up,” Smith said. “If that happens, fantastic.”

The addition of Haider caps a busy offseason for the Avs, who have revamped a defense to build around a budding offense and brought in a new head coach, Dave Boitz, the former North Iowa mentor.

The Avs recruiting efforts have now provided the Avalanche with three of the CIC’s top scorers of the 2007-08 prep hockey season. In addition to Haider, the Avs will also have former Service standout Logan Rounds who led the CIC with 50 points (31-19-50) and his teammate Ryan Kowal who was sixth in the CIC in scoring with 42 points (17-25-42).

Plus there’s former Wasilla star Adam Friese, who in addition to his part-time duty with the Avalanche, posted 20 goals and 26 assists as a senior at WHS.

That young talent is expected to compliment Alaska’s heap of returning forwards. The Avs are set to have five of their top six front-liners back.

“I think this year on the ice there will be a real different product that everyone is used to,” Haider said. “I think a lot of the public have a negative image. Over the years, they’ve finished near the bottom. But Jamie Smith and (Alaska director of hockey operations) Keith Morris have done just an outstanding job of cleaning up the organization, polishing its image. The organization is moving in a real positive direction here.”

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.