Colony hopes to have found man in net

JEREMIAH BARTZ/ Sports Editor

WASILLA -- The Colony Knights never seem to have a problem finding talent at the forward and defense positions, but in the last several seasons the Knights have had trouble finding their every day goaltender.

The Colony goaltenders were either young with little varsity experience and in some cases inexperienced with nearly no time between the pipes at all. And the Knights overall struggles often coincided with their struggles in goal.

But now Colony hopes those days are over, and judging by Tyrel Henkel's performance so far this season, they just might.

Since returning to the Knight lineup, Henkel -- a junior netminder, has led the Knights to a 2-1-1 record, helping Colony post a tie against the 3A defending state champion Houston Hawks and a able a tremendous 4-2 win over the Wasilla Warriors.

Henkel stopped 36 of 39 to help the Knights tie Houston, a team that normally puts an obscene amount of goals on the board against 3A and 4A teams alike. Henkel rode the confidence and momentum gained from the Houston tie and stopped 18 shots in a win over Wasilla on Wednesday. He didn't allow an even strength goal in the win over the Warriors.

In his first start of the season he allowed eight goals in an 8-0 loss to early-season power South Anchorage, but Henkel was hammered with 41 shots and gave up four of his scores on the power play.

But with each game, Henkel's confidence in himself and his teammates' confidence in him continues to grow.

"That kid, I have so much more respect for him. ever since that Houston game," Colony captain Garrett Wilkins said. "He's played phenomenal."

And that confidence is making Colony better and Henkel a better goaltender.

"It's huge," Henkel said. "(Confidence) can either make or break you."

Colony's confidence in their man in net has allowed coaches to institute a more aggressive style in the schemes and in the play.

"We know we have a goalie who can stop the puck," Wilkins said. "We can change things up."

Colony has already changed things up by bringing in a new power play scheme that creates more pressure on the opponent's net, but takes away some of the protection from their own goal. Henkel's play allowed Colony to use the scheme, and the scheme proved to be a success as Colony notched a pair of key power play goals against Wasilla.

"When he is back there we have the confidence in him to try different things," Colony assistant coach Bill Sturdevant said. "If something gets away from us, we know he's going to be back there."

And as Colony, a team that loves to play an aggressive style of hockey, sees Henkel succeed, Sturdevant said the Knight netminder proves to be a spark for the Knights success as a team.

"His play sparks our team. When he's making big saves, our whole team feeds of that," Sturdevant said.

Henkel said he has little explanation for his play, other than his increased confidence and experience at the varsity level.

"I can't say I have really done anything much different," Henkel said. "I developed, playing at this level."

Henkel said he has concentrated on becoming a quicker goaltender, seeing the puck better and finding his way through screens.

Sturdevant said focus, in addition to confidence have keyed the play of Henkel.

"His focus during practice is like any other kid, but come game time he's the most focused kid on our team," Sturdevant said.