Back to work

WASILLA — There were only a handful of familiar faces on the ice when the Alaska Avalanche skated in an intersquad scrimmage on Thursday at the Curtis C. Menard II Memorial Ice Arena.

Gone is more than 80 percent of a roster that battled through a roller coaster 2006-07 season that ultimately ended with a last-place finish in the Southern Division of the North American Hockey League.

“It’s a new start,” first-year head coach Jamie Smith said as he was watching his new squad work through the third day of its preseason training camp.

Only five players survived a virtual revamp of the roster that began when Smith was hired as Alaska’s head coach and general manager following last season.

“We wanted to bring in kids who buy into what we’re doing,” Smith said.

Smith said he met with each member of last year’s squad who was eligible to return to junior hockey. If the player did fit into what Smith and his staff were trying to build, the athlete was either dealt or released.

The result is a group of players Smith said are, “willing to work their tails off.”

“We brought in kids willing to come to the rink, put on their hard hats and get to work,” Smith said.

That work ethic, Smith said, could help avoid potentially disastrous problems the Avs fought through last season — such as the inability to win close games.

“We lost 23 games by one goal last year,” Smith said. “Win half of those, and you’re in the playoffs.”

Since his hire, Smith has also vowed to lure the top junior-aged talent in Alaska to Wasilla.

Fourteen players from the 49th state are among 28 players on Alaska’s preseason roster. There were five other Alaskans on the ice Thursday who skate for the Alaska Avalanche Midget AAA squad, a first-year Tier I U-18 program.

“The Alaska kids are fantastic,” Smith said.

A perk to having an abundance of local talent in the organization, Smith said, is a new affiliate rule adopted by the league. The Avalanche can have six players who swing between the Junior A and midget squad, and the team is not forced to make major roster moves to make room for these players.

Three of the five returners hail from Alaska. Houston High School graduates Larry Kincaid and Sean Ranum are both back, as well as Tyler Currier, a former Dimond skater.

Forward Travis Stevens and defenseman J.C. Richardson are also returning.

On Saturday, the Avs are hosting an intersquad scrimmage that is open to the public. The first puck is set to drop at 7:30 p.m. at the Menard Arena.

Alaska opens the 2007-08 season on the Kenai Peninsula, facing the Kenai River Brown Bears — a first-year franchise — at the Soldotna Sports Center on Sept. 14 at 7 p.m. That contest starts a string of 11 straight road games. The Avs suit up for four games in the annual NAHL Showcase in Blaine, Minn., later this month, and follow with road series’ at Southern Minnesota and Alexandria.

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