Avalanche tender six Alaska hockey products

April 13, 2007

By Jeremiah Bartz/ Frontiersman

WASILLA - Last season, as Jamie Smith sat and watched the title game of the Robertson Cup tournament - the event that crowns the North American Hockey League champion - he saw a handful of Alaska products on the ice.

&#8220In the final game there were seven Alaska kids on those rosters,” Smith said.

This year, the Alaska Avalanche head coach and general manager wants to make sure the top Alaska talent continues to skate in the Last Frontier.

Smith and the Avalanche organization have taken a step toward achieving that goal by signing six players who are among the top Junior A eligible athletes in the state of Alaska.

Smith said the Avalanche have tendered a pair of local products - Track Palin and Jeremiah Dargis - and four Anchorage players - Kyle Pichler, Dylan Jones, T.J. Wilson and Nathan Corey.

The players are signed as tenders. In junior hockey, tenders can be compared to free agents in other sports. Each junior team is allotted a certain amount of tenders per season. The Avalanche dealt a handful of veterans during the 2006-07 season to acquire additional tenders.

The additions are key to the organization in a number of ways, Smith said. From a marketing standpoint, the Avs are keeping six of the top players from Southcentral Alaska at home. And that means the fans who followed these players at the youth and prep levels, can continue to watch them play junior hockey.

But Smith also said these players will prove to fill glaring holes on the Avalanche roster.

&#8220This addresses a bunch of needs,” Smith said. &#8220These are obviously young guys, but these are going to be impact guys. Maybe not right away, but throughout the season.”

Alaska's most apparent needs on the ice are speed and scoring punch, which the Avalanche missed tremendously during the 2006-07 season, Smith said.

&#8220Our top scorers only had about 40 points,” Smith said. &#8220Any of these (forwards) could easily have 20-40 point seasons.”

Five of the six players the Avalanche signed are forwards.

Among those forwards are a pair of players who are accustomed to skating on the ice of the Menard Memorial Ice Arena.

Palin and Dargis each played three seasons at Wasilla High School before traveling outside for their senior seasons.

Palin posted 22 goals and 26 assists in 61 prep games before moving on to play hockey at the Midget AAA level in Michigan this season. Palin played for Team nXi, an elite-level squad for the midget age group in Southern Michigan.

Smith compared Palin to another Valley product who just finished his first season with the Avalanche, former Houston High School standout Larry Kincaid.

&#8220What he brings is grit to our team,” Smith said.

Like Kincaid, Smith sees Palin as a player who can park in front of the net, and get the deflections. He's also the type of player that will head into the corners, and win the battles for the puck.

Dargis had 69 points (24 goals and 45 assists) while playing 63 games at both forward and defense in three seasons at WHS. Following his junior season, Dargis left to play at a prep school in the Lower 48.

&#8220(He has) fantastic offensive skills - unbelievable puck handling skill, as good as they get,” Smith said. &#8220This is a kid who could score 40 or 50 points. He's got that much skill.”

Pichler, Jones and Corey helped lead South Anchorage to its third-straight large-schools state title in February.

Pichler and Jones skated on the top South Anchorage line that accounted for 134 total points.

Pichler, South's captain, posted 12 goals and 23 assists in 28 games for the 26-0-2 Wolverines.

&#8220He just works his tail off,” Smith said of Pichler.

Jones, an assistant captain, posted 45 points (17-28-45) in 28 games.

&#8220Jones is another one with unreal speed,” Smith said. &#8220He may be one of the fastest players at the rink.”

Corey was regarded as the top goaltender in the state. In 16 wins, Corey posted an obscene 0.41 goals against average. He stopped 97 percent of the shots he faced, and posted 11 shutouts.

Smith said Corey, a first-team all-state netminder also stood out at the comp level.

&#8220In big games, he's stepped up and played fantastic,” Smith said of the young goalie. &#8220He was MVP of a couple tournaments. He'll make a nice transition (to juniors).”

Wilson, another talented forward, played his high school hockey at East Anchorage.

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