Baskin' in ability

JEREMIAH BARTZ/Sports Editor

Some may liken Bree Baskin to a cheerleader. She's petite and does not fit the stereotype given to many girls who excel in sports - not to mention girls who excel in the sport of hockey.

But in reality, Baskin prefers the pucks over the pom pons, and she stands out in the sport of hockey. And not just with the girls, Baskin - a standout defenseman - has proven she can play with the boys.

"I've been called a cheerleader," Baskin, the captain of both her Palmer High School varsity boys' team and Alaska Selects U-19 squad, said. "I think when people meet me off the ice, they're very skeptical because of my appearance. They don't expect me to be able to play at the level I play at."

Once Baskin laces up the skates and puts on her helmet, skeptiscm is often laid to rest. Baskin holds her own with the boys and has established herself as one of the top female hockey players in the state of Alaska.

"She's one of those special girls," Alaska Selects head coach Steve MacSwain said.

MacSwain, coach of the U-19 squad for the last three seasons, said Baskin is making a name for herself in not only the Alaska hockey community, but on the national hockey scene. MacSwain said even coaches of the United States women's Olympic hockey team have great things to say about Baskin.

Baskin's abilities have led coaches and scouts to compare her to another former high school standout and defenseman, Kerry Weiland, who skated from the Alaska prep ranks to become an NCAA Division I All-American and member of the U.S. National Team.

"(Bree is) comparable to Kerry," Jamie Smith, former coach of both Weiland and Baskin, said. "She's pretty athletic. She has got some speed and that's what a lot of girls lack. She plays heads up hockey."

Smith said even though Baskin may not have the pure speed Weiland did at that age, her skating skills rank her at the top of her class.

"She's got some world class legs there," MacSwain said.

That speed, that skill, her ability to move the puck are just a few reasons why Baskin is receiving national attention and offers from some of the top Division I women's hockey programs in the country. MacSwain said he has already spoken with coaches from Vermont, Boston College, Connecticut and Wisconsin on Baskin's behalf and Baskin also listed Yale, New Hampshire and Minnesota as possible choices.

Weiland established herself as one of the top defenseman in the nation during her four-year career at the University of Wisconsin and now is skating for the Brampton Thunder of the National Women's Hockey League. Weiland and Eagle River native Pam Dreyer have been named to multiple national teams and now there are more than a handful of female hockey players from the 49th state skating at the Division I level. Baskin very well could be the next.

Baskin, who had an older sister who also played hockey, started skating in organized hockey as a 9-year-old in the squirt program of the Big Lake Hockey Association. Baskin's home growing up was right on a lake and she started skating when her sister began to play hockey.

Baskin continued in the youth programs and began skating for a girls' competitive team and the Houston High varsity team during her freshman season.

"I grew up playing with the kids, I knew the coach and they had another girl, so that was an incentive," Baskin said.

After her sophomore season, Baskin chose to skate for the Palmer High varsity squad.

"It was a good environment for me practice-wise, but I never got to play in any of the games," Baskin

said.

Baskin chose to play for a Palmer squad that lacked the numbers of Houston.

"We had nine defensman, might have been a good move for her as far as getting exposure, getting playing time," Smith, Houston's head hockey coach, said. "She's got a lot of talent, she'll definitely play at the next level."

During her junior season at Palmer, Baskin teamed with another female defenseman, Katy Aplin, to form the only all-girl defense pairing at the prep level in Alaska. And the Baskin-Aplin pair was one of the better blueline sets in Region III.

Finding girls in the sport of hockey is becoming much less of a rarity in the state of Alaska and Mat-Su area. In recent years, girls have become more prevalent at the prep level and in youth leagues in the high school age group. There are now four girls' prep squads in Anchorage, and Smith said a girls prep hockey squad in the Mat-Su area is a legitimate possibility for the future. But among the female hockey players from the Mat-Su area, Smith said, Weiland and Baskin are the best he has seen in 15 years of coaching.