Aces sign Colony grad

March 11, 2007

By Jeremiah Bartz/ Frontiersman

ANCHORAGE -Since his days at Colony High School, Jake Luthi has been back to his home state only once to play hockey.

But now Luthi has an opportunity to hit the ice once again in the 49th state.

Just a week after completing his college hockey career at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Luthi has signed a professional contract to play with the Alaska Aces of the East Coast Hockey League.

Luthi made his first appearance with the Aces on Saturday against the Long Beach Ice Dogs, marking the chance for one of the top hockey players to come out of the Mat-Su Valley to play with the state's lone professional pucks team.

&#8220I was talking with a few other teams, but my first choice was to come back here and play,” Luthi said Saturday afternoon.

The Aces face Long Beach again today at 5:05 p.m. at the Sullivan Arena.

Luthi is playing at the Sullivan Arena for the first time since his junior year at RPI when the Engineers participated in the NYE Frontier Hockey Classic, the tourney hosted by UAA.

Luthi enjoyed a stellar senior campaign at RPI. The 6-foot, 195-pound defenseman finished tied for the team lead in scoring with 27 points, and posted a team-high 23 assists in 36 games.

Three of his four goals during the season came on the power play.

&#8220It was a fun year,” Luthi said. &#8220I really enjoyed my time at RPI. It was tough to see it come to an end.”

Luthi broke into the Engineer lineup as a sophomore. He led all blueliners on his team with six goals, and added six assists in 37 games. After the season he was named the team's most improved player.

As a junior Luthi posted three goals and eight assists in 37 games.

Luthi said midway through his senior season, he began to put serious thought into taking his hockey career beyond the Division I level.

Luthi's agent put the word out he was looking for a place to play, and Luthi considered a couple of ECHL teams. But Alaska was the first choice.

Before RPI, Luthi skated for the Sioux Falls Stampede of the Junior A United States Hockey League. He recorded seven goals, 14 assists and 150 penalty minutes in 60 games during the 2002-03 season.

As a member of the Colony hockey squad, Luthi was named the Region III player of the year twice, and was tabbed all-state as a senior.

Luthi said he also factored academics into his decision to play professional hockey. He is currently in his final semester at RPI and is scheduled to receive his degree in industrial engineering this spring.

&#8220First and foremost I've got to get all the school work done,” Luthi said.

Luthi said he is working with his professors to make sure he gets all the necessary work completed.

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