WASILLA — Dave Boitz has had to get a little creative with the Alaska Avalanche practices lately.

It’s been about 10 days since the Avs last took the ice, and Alaska has had to endure its third break of the young season that’s lasted about two weeks.

“I’ve never dealt with this type of schedule, honestly,” Boitz, a longtime junior hockey coach, said on Monday. “It’s tough to keep the guys focused.” By the time Alaska starts its three-game series against the Wenatchee Wild at the Curtis C. Menard II Memorial Ice Arena on Thursday, the Avs will have had 12 days off.

But the long break is about to be over for the Avalanche.

Alaska’s three-game set starts a stretch in which the Avs will play 13 games in 29 days.

Alaska gets back on to the ice as rivals Fairbanks and Kenai River have been slowly climbing the North American Hockey League West Division standings.

As of press time Monday, Alaska stood in second place in the West at 8-4-0 with 16 points.

Fairbanks, winners of a pair of games against the Wild over the weekend, are in first at 9-4-3 with 21 points.

The Kenai River Brown Bears, who hosted Wenatchee in a two-game series that started Monday, stood in third at 7-9-1 with 15 points.

But considering the discrepancy in games in the West, the standings are a bit deceiving. Alaska has skated in just 12 games this year, and by the time the Avs play on Thursday, Kenai River will have played in seven more games than Alaska. Fairbanks has played in four more than the Avalanche.

“The big thing is you just got to get the points when you can,” Boitz said.

Boitz said a goal for the Avs is to have the best winning percentage in the West at the mid-year break. The team with the top winning percentage in each division at the break can nominate the most players for the NAHL Top Prospects Tournament, the league’s version of an all-star game.

On Thursday, Alaska will see a Wenatchee team that was 4-7-1 as of Monday evening.

Three of Wenatchee’s first four wins came during a three-game sweep of Wichita Falls earlier this month.

The games against the Wild will be Alaska’s first against an opponent other than Kenai River since Sept. 20.

Boitz said he expects Wenatchee to bring a different approach than Kenai River to the Menard Arena.

“They play a different kind of game,” Boitz said. “They’re kind of the opposite of Kenai. Kenai is real offensive and Wenatchee is more of a defensive team.”

A strength for Wenatchee, Boitz said, is goalie Mathieu Dugas. In nine games this season, Dugas is 3-4-1 with a 3.47 goals against average and .892 saves percentage.

Alaska will try to erase a two-game losing skid on Saturday. Earlier this month, Kenai River swept the Avs in a two-game series at the Menard Arena.

Forward Tyler Currier currently leads Alaska with 10 goals (five goals, five assists). Currier is one of 13 Alaska players with five or more points.

Alaska acquires goalie

Alaska has acquired goaltender Dylan Woodring in a trade with the Alexandria, Boitz said on Monday.

The Avs sent forward Kyle Politz to Alaska to complete the deal.

Woodring has posted solid numbers in limited action for the Blizzard this season. The 5-foot-9 and 155-pound netminder is 2-1-0 with a 2.11 goals against average and .931 saves percentage in four games this season.

“He’s a hard working kid,” Boitz said. “We felt he’d be a good player to bring in.”

Politz, who finished the season with the Avs last season, had been skating for Tri-City of the United States Hockey League this year. Boitz said Politz recently became available and Alaska still owned the forward’s NAHL rights.

Considering Alaska’s talent on the front line this year, Boitz said the Avs used this as an opportunity to add depth to the goalie position.

“We do really have a lot of forwards,” Boitz said. “I felt like this gives us another option.”

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