Avs set for Wild series

WASILLA — Things could get wild at the Curtis C. Menard II Memorial Ice Arena this week.

The Alaska Avalanche host the Wenatchee Wild in a pivotal two-game set that starts tonight in Wasilla at 7 p.m..

Second-place Wenatchee and third-place Alaska are separated by just three points in the North American Hockey League West Division. But if that’s not enough to motivate, the Avs are entangled in an increasingly heated rivalry with their new-found foes.

“There’s no love lost,” Alaska head coach Dave Boitz said of Wenatchee, a first-year NAHL franchise.

Alaska has struggled in its six meetings with Wenatchee, posting a 1-4-1 mark, but its the antics that go beyond the average play that have Boitz and the Avs aggravated.

During a prior meeting with Wenatchee, Boitz said the Wild sent one of their players after Alaska forward Tyler Currier.

“They sent one of their guys after our leading scorer,” Boitz said of Currier, who has five goals and four assists in six games against Wenatchee this season.

Boitz said Wenatchee’s actions are a prehistoric practice that just aren’t tolerated in the game anymore.

“Those days are long gone,” Boitz said. “There’s no way you do things like that anymore, especially in junior hockey. Guys remember that.”

Boitz also said members of the Wild swiped an Avalanche jersey to mock on the team’s Web cam.

All funny business aside, Boitz said his players are eager to post a few wins over a team in which they feel Alaska should have a much better mark against.

Of Alaska’s losses to Wenatchee, one came in overtime and two others also came by just one goal. Alaska has outshot Wenatchee in five of the six meetings, averaging a solid 36 shots per game.

“We outshot them terribly,” Boitz said.

Alaska played Wenatchee is six straight games in late November and that span came during the Avs’ worst stretch of hockey of the year.

“Those games kind of sent us into our little tailspin,” Boitz said. “We’re definitely playing a lot better right now.”

Alaska is riding a franchise-record six-game winning streak, and Boitz feels his players are competing at a higher level in all facets of the game, from the front line all the way back to the play between the pipes.

Tonight’s contest is the first of eight games remaining against Wenatchee. The Avs will host the Wild in another Tuesday-Wednesday series on March 10-11, and will travel to Washington for a four-game series later that month.

Tonight’s game also begins a busy week for the Avalanche. Following this series, the Avs travel north for a pair against the Fairbanks Ice Dogs in the Interior.

Friday, Fairbanks hosts Alaska in the first in NAHL’s first outdoor game in the history of the league.

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