Avs cap 10-game trip with series at Alexandria

WASILLA — As Jamie Smith prepared his young Alaska Avalanche squad for its first road trip of the season, the head coach and general manager thought if the Avs could return from their 10-game, 27-day road trip with eight points, he’d be pretty happy.

After skating to two wins and into overtime in another contest, the Avalanche now have five total points and could reach Smith’s eight-point goal with some success in a two-game series against the Alexandria Blizzard that starts today in Alexandria, Minn.

“We need to take care of that first game,” Smith said Monday by cell phone. “And then we have a good chance of taking two from them.”

A win or two could push Alaska (2-6-1) ahead of Texas (3-5-0) and into fourth place in the North American Hockey League South Division standings.

Smith won’t deny it’s been a work in progress for the Avs, throughout the first nine games of the season. But Smith and his coaching staff have a team made up primarily of players with little or no Junior A experience.

“It’s going to take us 20 games to get moving,” Smith said. “We’ve only got five kids who have played Junior A hockey.”

But with improvements on the ice and some roster moves, Smith feels his team his moving in the right direction.

“It’s going to take some time. We’re going to have to be patient,” Smith said.

The Avs’ play in a two-game series against Southern Minnesota last week reinforces Smith’s opinion of the club.

“What I felt good about is we had control of both games to the end of the game,” Smith said.

Alaska grabbed a 3-2 win on Oct. 6, and Southern Minnesota scored a pair of late goals to post the 4-2 win over the Avs the following night.

Alexandria is off to a slow start this season. With just a 1-5-0 mark, the Blizzard sit in last place of the Central Division. Fargo-Moorhead swept the Blizzard, winning 4-2 and 5-1, last weekend.

Alaska beat Fargo-Moorhead 5-4 in September.

A pair of local products currently lead the Avalanche in scoring. Former Wasilla standout Jeremiah Dargis has a team-high seven points (three goals and four assists), while former Houston star Larry Kincaid (2-4-6) has six points.

Anchorage natives Kyle Pichler (2-3-5), Tyler Currier (3-1-4) and Alex Young (2-2-4) are also among team leaders.

The Avs face the Blizzard both tonight and Saturday at 4 p.m. AST. Live coverage of the game can be accessed via the B2 Networks. Go to the Alaska Avalanche Web site, www.akavalanche.com for a link.

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