Avalanche continue road trip with stop in Wichita Falls

WASILLA — This weekend the Alaska Avalanche will continue on what could be the junior hockey squad’s most important road trek of the 2007-08 season.

After splitting a pair of games against the Fairbanks Ice Dogs at the Big Dipper Ice Arena in Fairbanks last week, the Avs now face Wichita Falls, the team that currently sits on top of the North American Hockey League’s South Division.

The Avs begin a two-game set against the Wildcats today in Wichita Falls, Texas. The first puck is set to drop at 4 p.m. AST, and the series continues tomorrow at the same time.

Alaska will stay in Wichita Falls through the week and face the Wildcats again on Jan. 18-19.

The road trip continues with a two-game series at the Texas Tornado, and a two-game set against the Topeka RoadRunners in Topeka, Kan.

“This whole trip coming up is huge for us,” Alaska head coach and general manager Jamie Smith said last week. “This could make or break our season.”

Alaska goaltender Dusan Sidor stopped a season-high 53 shots to lead the Avs to a 5-1 win over the Ice Dogs last week, on the opening night of Alaska’s 11-game road trip.

Sidor recorded 31 saves in the first two periods, and did not allow a goal until Aaron Stonacek slipped a puck into the Alaska net at the 10:53-mark of the third period.

Wasilla’s Jeremiah Dargis led the Avs offensively with two goals.

Jason Cohen, Larry Kincaid and Joe Harren also scored for Alaska.

Dustin Skinner led the squad with two assists.

Stonacek tallied the game-winner midway through the third period the following night to lead the Ice Dogs to a 3-2 win over the Avs.

Sidor was stellar in net, once again, stopping 37 shots in the loss.

Skinner and Kyle Pichler each scored for Alaska.

Today, the Avs will be facing a Wichita Falls squad that sports the third-high scoring offense in the NAHL (123 goals), but the Wildcats are also allowed 103 goals.

The Wildcats are also the most penalized squad in the 18-team league, with 1,112 penalty minutes.

Wichita Falls forward Adam Cardwell currently leads the NAHL in scoring with 20 goals and 32 assists in 32 games.

The Wildcats have four players with 38 or more points. Forward Luke Salazar is second on the squad with 46 points (21 goals, 25 assists).

Goaltender Mike Jarboe is 18-9-1 with a 2.76 goals against average.

Defensemen Kent Detlefsen continues to lead the Avs in scoring with 28 points (13-15-28).

Dargis (11-13-24), Alex Young (8-15-23) and Tyler Currier (11-11-22) also have 20 or more points.

NAHL announces coaches for

Top Prospects Tournament

Fairbanks head coach and general manager Rob Proffitt will serve as an assistant coach at the first Top Prospects Tournament, scheduled for Feb. 17-19 at the Ice Cube in Ann Arbor, Mich.

The inaugural tournament will feature all-star teams from the each of the NAHL’s three divisions and a squad from the U.S. National Team Development Program.

The tournament will feature a round-robin tournament.

Proffitt will stand alongside Wichita Falls head coach John Bowkus on the South Division bench.

The head coach of the North Division squad is St. Louis head coach Jon Cooper, who will be assisted by Mahoning Valley head coach Bob Mainhardt.

On the Central Division bench, North Iowa head coach Dave Boltz will be the head coach, and Southern Minnesota head coach Matt Romaniski will assist.

Each all-star team will feature a 20-man roster. The number of players representing each franchise on the all-star squads will depend on their place in the standings on Jan. 1.

For example, Alaska stood in fourth place on Jan. 1 and will have three representatives on the South All-Star team.

First-place Wichita Falls will have five representatives, second-place Fairbanks will receive four, third-place Topeka and the fourth-place Avalanche will each get three, while fifth-place Kenai River and sixth-place Texas will each have two all-stars.

All-star teams will be chosen later this month.

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