Junior hockey in the Valley?

J's World, by Jeremiah Bartz

For the last six months people in the Mat-Su Valley have heard rumors of a junior hockey club coming to Wasilla. Not a great deal of information is official and the word is mostly hearsay.

There seems to be more one than one group interested in bringing a franchise to the Mat-Su Valley, with Brain Leigh, Steve MacSwain and the Arctic Ice group looking as the leading candidates-- as of today.

With the question of who will come, still remaining, there are even more important questions to be asked. Most notably, can a franchise survive in the Valley and will the community buy into it?

I am a proponent of this idea, for several reasons.

First it is a great opportunity for local athletes. Right now most hockey players in the state of Alaska with any hope playing at the Division I level or beyond are forced to play outside of the state. This is a tremendous cost to the families and also forces athletes to change schools.

This also brings a family activity to the Valley and another brand of quality hockey to this community. Judging by the success of the youth and prep teams, and the support all of the teams receive -- the Mat-Su Valley is a great hockey community.

Those opposing the move of a junior team to Wasilla will most likely first bring up the trainwreck known as the Mat-Su Sinbad Sailors. The team was not managed or marketed properly and received poor ice time because the Valley had only one indoor rink during their tenure. It was also junior B hockey, something that is completing different from junior A.

It was 60 minutes of fighting with the occasional goal scored.

For an organization to survive, the team will have to be marketed extremely well. The squad will have to find a tremendous amount of financial support, and a big portion of it may have to come from outside the Mat-Su Valley.

Local businesses are already contributing a great amount to the local prep and club teams, and in many cases the well has already run dry.

A junior hockey franchise in the Mat-Su Valley would certainly have its work cut out, but could put a quality team on the ice and provide and entertaining brand of hockey for local fans.

Jeremiah Bartz is Frontiersman sports editor.