Avs trade veterans

WASILLA — If one thing was apparent to Alaska head coach and general manager Jamie Smith during his team’s 11-game road trip last month, it was the need for help on the defensive end of the ice.

After completing a series of deals within the last week, Smith can now feel more confident about the Avalanche blue line.

Alaska has traded Kent Detlefsen to the Wichita Falls Wildcats for three players, a tender and cash considerations.

“We got a ton of value for him,” Smith said on Friday, while watching second-day action of the ASAA First National Cup State Hockey Tournament.

The Avs do lose their leading scorer in the deal and the top scoring defenseman in the North American Hockey League. But in return, Smith said, the Avs get three high-end prospects and were able to quickly deal the tender for a stay-at-home defenseman, something the Avs desperately need as the team enters the final stretch of the 2007-08 season.

During that road trip, the worst span of the season for the Avalanche, Alaska surrendered 67 goals during a 10-game losing streak.

“We need some help on the back end,” Smith said. “We’ve been playing three (defenseman). You can’t play three (defenseman), you’ll get killed.”

Detlefsen, undoubtedly one of the most skilled blueliners in the NAHL, was certainly an offensive-minded defenseman. Smith said Alaska needs to go in a different direction and play a more stay-at-home style on the back end.

A problem Alaska has had, Smith said, is if one defenseman charges into the offensive zone, the other is hung out to dry.

“He’s such an offensive guy, it sometimes hurt us on our own end,” Smith said.

To obtain Detlefsen, Wichita Falls sent defenseman Bill Colclough, forward Pat Colclough and forward Tyler Tosunian to Alaska.

Bill and Pat Colclough, twin brothers, are veterans of several levels of hockey. Each played for the Tulsa Rampage of the Tier III Junior A Western States Hockey League this season in addition to their time with Wichita Falls.

Tosunian, 17, is a very young player who was a standout on the L.A. Junior Kings Midget AAA squad. He also skated in 13 games with the Wildcats, posting a goal, an assist and a +1 plus-minus rating.

After completing the deal with Wichita Falls, Smith and the Avalanche traded the tender received in the Detlefsen swap for former Fargo-Moorhead blueliner Tim Niedzielak. The Chicago native is 6-foot-3, 220 pounds and in the stay-at-home defenseman mold the Avs need.

“I feel good about what we’ve got,” Smith said, reflecting back on the deals he made before the league’s early February trading deadline. “I wish we had the defensive corps we have right now a month-and-a-half ago. We’d be in a lot better shape now.”

Smith has also added two more younger players in recent weeks. He signed Andy Schroeder, a Wisconsin native who has been skating for a midget select team in California, and K.C. Kranz, a highly regarded prep player from Minnesota who had been playing in the Minnesota Junior Hockey League.

Kranz played in two games during the road trip and recorded a +1.

Depth on the blueline was not the lone motive for the Detlefsen deal, Smith said. The team is also trying to get younger and build for the future.

“This makes us a little younger,” Smith said. “For us, if we make the playoffs, great. But we’re building for next year.”

Smith has been eager to lure young talent to Alaska, and bring players into the program that will compliment the young stars Alaska already has — players such as forwards Jeremiah Dargis and Kyle Pichler.

With the same reasoning, Alaska also dealt forward Dustin Skinner to North Iowa for a second- and third-round selection in the 2008 NAHL draft.

Skinner has been solid for the Avs, posting eight goals and nine assists in 24 games, but the Andover, Minn., native is also 20 years old and in his final season at the Junior level. Smith said the Avs have a few 18 year olds who he’d like to see get more ice time.

Skinner made his North Iowa debut on Friday, and grabbed an assist in a 4-1 win over Southern Minnesota.

Detlefsen also debuted in his new sweater on Friday, scoring a goal in Wichita Falls’ 7-3 win over Kenai River.

Smith said Wichita Falls was eager to land Detlefsen, just judging by the amount the team was willing to give up for the Lakeview, Minn., product.

At 29-12-2, Wichita Falls has an eight-point lead over second-place Fairbanks in the NAHL South Division standings.

Avs sign Service standout

The Alaska Avalanche have tendered Service forward Ryan Kowal, Smith said on Friday.

Kowal, who scored Service’s first goal in a 3-1 win over Lathrop in the ASAA First National Cup quarterfinals on Thursday will join fellow Cougar Logan Rounds as Avalanche tenders.

Rounds was tendered by Alaska earlier this year.

“(Kowal) brings the same things Rounds does,” Smith said. “He’s very aggressive, fast and creates a ton of things. He’s excited about playing in the state in front of his family and friends.”

Former Hawk joins Alexandria

Former Houston High School star Larry Kincaid has joined his third NAHL team of the 2007-08 season.

Kincaid, a former member of the Alaska Avalanche, was traded to North Iowa in January. He played six games with the Outlaws, totaling a goal and assist, before his release.

Alexandria is 16-17-3 and in fourth place in the NAHL Central Division.

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