Avs sign state player of year

WASILLA — When the Alaska Avalanche coaches watched Blake Mendenhall during his junior season of high school, they really like what they saw of the West Anchorage High School goaltender. But the Avs coaches thought he was still a year away from competing a the junior level. After seeing Mendenhall as a senior, they hoped they didn’t wait too long.

As it turns out, they didn’t.

The Avalanche have tendered Mendenhall, the reigning Alaska player of the year, and the 6-foot-1, 185-pound netminder will compete for a spot on the 2010-11 Alaska roster.

“He’s a winner,” Alaska general manager Dave Boitz said recently. “We’re excited to have him.”

Boitz said he was impressed with the number of big games Mendenhall won during his senior year. During the high school season, Mendenhall led the Eagles to an ASAA 4A state title. He backstopped his Alaska All-Stars U-18 AAA team to a state title and the USA Hockey Pacific Division championship.

“He won all three and he stood on his head,” Boitz said. “He’s a guy that wins games.”

Mendenhall finished 15-6-1 with a 1.79 goals against average and .926 saves percentage as a member of the All-Stars. His numbers were equally impressive with the Eagles, recording a 13-5-1 mark, 1.71 GAA and .936 saves percentage as a high school senior.

Mendenhall posted two shutouts and an overtime win during the 2010 high school state tournament.

The Avalanche made remarkable upgrades at the goalie position during the 2009-10 season. At times both Kale Robertson and Landon Peterson were ranked among the top-10 goalies in the state. Robertson finished the season 17-9-2 with a 2.82 GAA and .910 saves percentage. Peterson was 13-9-5 with a 2.94 GAA and .911 saves percentage.

Robertson set franchise single-season records for wins and goals against average. Peterson’s average was also much lower than the team’s previous record for goals against average, the 3.06 originally set by Andrew Volkening in 2005-06.

Mendenhall is the second Alaska high school player of the year to be signed by the Avs in the last three years.

Former South Anchorage standout and two-time Alaska player of the year, Robb Haider, recently capped his two-year career with the Avs.

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