Former Avalanche standouts meet in NAHL final four

May 4, 2007

By Jeremiah Bartz/ Frontiersman

FAIRBANKS - Although the offseason is more than a month old for much of the North American Hockey League, four teams still have their eye on the Robertson Cup - the prize awarded annually to the league champion.

Two of those teams feature former members of the Alaska Avalanche.

Ex-Avalanche standouts, defenseman Jeff Dimmen and forward Jesse Bryant, met in the first round of the Robertson Cup at the Big Dipper Ice Arena in Fairbanks Thursday as Dimmen's current club, the St. Louis Bandits handed Bryant and the Southern Minnesota Express a 3-1 defeat.

The Avalanche traded Dimmen to St. Louis and Bryant to Southern Minnesota, in January to not only add young talent to the Avalanche roster, but to give the two players competing in their final season of junior hockey a change of pace.

&#8220(Jeff Dimmen) has been an outstanding ambassador as both a player and a leader for us,” Alaska director of hockey operations Keith Morris said in January. &#8220He wanted to do something different for the last three months of his junior career.”

Dimmen took immediate advantage of his opportunity to play for St. Louis, the league's South Division champion. The Canisius-bound blueliner posed seven goals and 23 assists in 29 regular season games with the Bandits. In eight playoff games, he has 10 points (2-8-10).

This week Dimmen was named first-team All-NAHL.

Bryant has a goal and an assist in eight playoff games with the Express, and added two goals and 13 assists in 25 regular season games.

Joining Dimmen on the first team are Southern Minnesota defenseman Jeff Carlson, a UAA recruit, St. Louis forward Pat Maroon, Fairbanks forward Kyle Schmidt, Mahoning Valley forward Dustin Cloutier and Mahoning Valley goaltender Ryan Zapolski.

The UAF-bound Tibor Kutalek, a Santa Fe forward leads the list of players recognized on the second team. Also named to the squad were St. Louis goalie Pat Nagle, St. Louis defenseman Scooter Vaughn, Sprinfield forward Ryan Kretzer, Southern Minnesota forward Andy Inderieden, Mahoning Valley forward Derek Graham, and Fairbanks forward Andy McCabe.

Another former Avalanche player, Brad McCabe, was listed among the top draft-eligible players by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau. McCabe, who was traded by Alaska to Texas in January, is listed at No. 199 among North American skaters.

McCabe has signed a National Letter of Intent to play hockey at UAA.

The 2006 Robertson Cup concludes on Sunday, with the championship game slated for 5 p.m. at the Big Dipper.

Avalanche set dates for first camp

The Alaska Avalanche are hosting their first camp of the offseason, May 18-20 at the Subway Center in Anchorage.

Alaska head coach and general manager Jamie Smith said the event is an open camp, and interested players can download a registration form from the team's Web site, www.akavalanche.com.

The team is hosting its annual tryout camp July 13-15 at the Mariucci Arena in Minneapolis, Minn.

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