GOOD BOYS: Palmer brothers make fast break into hockey

PALMER — While many of the Mat-Su Valley’s top hockey players seem to be born with a pair of skates on, Ivan and Ashton Good got a late start to their hockey careers. But since a chance meeting at an open skate about five years ago, the Good brothers have made the fast break into Alaska’s high school hockey elite.

Last Saturday, the Goods helped the Palmer Moose win the North Star Conference title with a 5-3 win over Valley rival Wasilla. The day before, Ivan, a junior forward, was tabbed the NSC Player of the Year. Ashton, a freshman goalie, was named second-team All-NSC. The honors came only about five years removed from the brothers being largely unfamiliar with the game.

Jamie Smith, who has coached both Ivan and Ashton in the competitive Junior Avalanche program, attributes the Goods’ fast success to a variety of reasons.

“The biggest thing is they come from a phenomenal family, just fantastic,” Smith said. “They are character kids who just work their tails off.”

The brothers are also simply naturally gifted, Smith said.

“They’re both really good athletes and they’re so heavily competitive,” Smith said. “They study the game, they’re rink rats.”

A Good start

Aside from the occasional skate on a frozen pond during winter in the Valley, Ivan and Ashton Good had no connection with the sport of hockey. The Goods weren’t really involved in sports in general. They’d play a little football or baseball, Ivan said, but that was basically in their yard with friends.

Ivan and Ashton have been homeschooled their entire lives. During the 2005-06 school year, the brothers were invited by family friends to an open skate at the Palmer Ice Arena with other homeschoolers. Steve MacSwain, the Palmer Ice Arena manager who is now an assistant coach with the Palmer High prep program, saw something in the Goods and invited them to return. Ivan and Ashton returned to the rink every Monday for the homeschoolers’ shinny hockey game, and they were hooked.

“We played baseball and football (at home), but got bored with it. We both liked to skate, which helped. And Steve made it to where every week, we wanted to go back,” Ivan,17, said.

Ashton, 14, said he never paid much attention to sports before, but there was something about hockey that drew him in.

“It’s rough and fast,” Ashton said.

After the Goods moved to Alaska, Ashton said, some of the first people they met were the McQuillin family. Ashton said it’s the McQuillan’s son, Sam, a former Palmer High goalie, who urged him to try the position.

“He asked me to try goalie, and I really liked it,” Ashton said. “I thought it was fun.”

The following year, Ivan and Ashton’s parents got them involved with local youth hockey programs. Ivan tried out and played for the Palmer Amateur Hockey Association Bantom D team, and Ashton played for PAHA’s Squirt D squad.

Before their time with MacSwain, Ivan and Ashton knew very little, if anything, about the game, But that soon changed.

“We had no clue about anything about (hockey),” Ivan said. “But we caught on real quick.”

Ivan gave a big chunk of the credit to MacSwain, as well as a number of other coaches the brothers have had during their relatively short careers.

“He’s been huge, the No. 1 influence,” Ivan said. “He teaches you life lessons, everything about the game.”

While his younger brother chose a spot between the pipes, Ivan was a natural fit at forward. Ivan said skating has always been a strength.

Ivan said his time with the Bantom D program was important. A great deal of time there is spent on individual skill, and that helped him catch up on what he’d missed by not getting an earlier start in his hockey career.

Skating forward

After a year in the PAHA recreational program, the Good brothers ascended to more competitive leagues. Ivan and Ashton’s parents enrolled them in the Matanuska Amateur Hockey Association, where Ivan played for the Mat-Su Eagles Bantom B team and Ashton suited up for the Squirt B team.

As a freshman in high school, Ivan made the first big jump of his hockey career. Instead of playing on a U-16 squad, Ivan tried out for Smith’s U-18 AA team and made the squad. Ivan averaged more than a point per game that season, posting eight goals and eight assists in a dozen games.

Ashton manned the goal for MAHA’s U-12 AA squad, and his play was nearly flawless. Ashton finished 12-0-0 with four shutouts. He allowed only 12 goals on 153 shots, good enough for a 1.10 goals against average and .922 saves percentage.

As a sophomore in high school, Good made the jump to the U-18 AAA level, and posted 2-3-5 totals in 12 games for the Junior Avalanche program. Ivan was also named first-team All-NSC during his second season with the Moose.

Ashton also made a leap of his own, graduating to the U-14 level with the Alaska All-Stars. He was 11-5-0 with the All-Stars, and posted a 1.19 GAA and .901 saves percentage. Ashton also made the Alaska Select Team in 2009 and the Pacific Select Team in 2010.

Ashton was invited to attend the USA Hockey Developmental Camp in Rochester, N.Y., in 2010, and was ranked sixth among goaltenders for the 14-year-old age division.

“I was pretty excited,” Ashton said. “It’s pretty cool to be nationally ranked.”

This year, in addition to playing together with the Moose, Ivan and Ashton are also on the same Junior Avalanche U-18 AA comp team. The Junior Avalanche association didn’t field a U-18 AAA team and the Good family considered shuttling Ivan into Anchorage to play for another AAA program. But ultimately, Ivan said he wanted to play with his brother.

“I wanted to stay with him,” Ivan said. “He pushes me, I push him.”

With the U-18 team, the 14-year-old Ashton has the opportunity to play with athletes two and three years older.

“I think it helps me a lot,” Ashton said.

Ivan has put together 6-7-13 totals in 12 games with the Jr. Avs this season, while Ashton is 4-2-1 with a 1.71 goals against average and .917 saves percentage.

Breaking away

Both have quickly accelerated in the sport, and both hope to keep on moving up the ranks. This weekend, Ivan and Ashton will help lead the Palmer Moose into the ASAA/First National Bank 4A State Hockey Championships.

Ashton has received an invite to play on the Team Canada West team in the Premier Hockey 2011 New England Chowder Cup in Boston, Mass., this summer. Ashton has also been invited to the national development camp in Rochester again this year.

Ashton said he’d like to be playing junior hockey as a 16-year-old. He said he’d love the chance to play in the major junior Western Hockey League or Ontario Hockey League.

Ivan would also like to hit the junior level some day soon, he said.

Late last year, while at the Richmond International Hockey Tournament, a scout from the British Columbia Hockey League’s Surrey Eagles spoke with both Ivan and Ashton. Ivan said he’s open to options — maybe even his hometown Alaska Avalanche.

Ivan said he just wants the opportunity to get better.

“Playing with better kids makes you better,” Ivan said. “I enjoying learning, and in juniors you’re constantly learning.”

Even though his younger brother got an earlier start, Ivan said it’s great to see Ashton’s success. He’s also happy he found his way to the rink. For Ivan, it’s better late the never. And he said he’s happy to have shared some of the moments with his brother along the way.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/sports.