Junior hockey: Spirit make roster moves

JEREMIAH BARTZ/ Frontiersman sports editor

Wasilla head coach Dean Larson has said throughout the season that, by no mean, will the Spirit roster be set - at any point during the year.

As the franchise builds toward its goal of putting together a playoff-caliber hockey team, the roster has been juggled.

There are currently seven players on the team who did not start the season with the Spirit. Three of those athletes have been added in the last three weeks to help give Wasilla much needed depth on the blueline.

Larson and general manager Corey Millen added a pair of Alaska products, and traded for another defenseman.

Taylor Sutherlin and Daniel Sirra, who both hail from Anchorage, were added to the Wasilla roster. Sutherlin was added prior to Wasilla's eight-game road trip earlier this month.

Sutherlin started the season at the major junior level, skating for the Spokane Chiefs of the Western Hockey League. After just two games in Spokane, Sutherlin moved on to South Surrey, British Columbia to play for the Surrey Eagles of the British Columbia Hockey League. Larson said Sutherlin was not happy playing for the Eagles, and the Spirit took the opportunity to grab a player with major junior experience.

Two years ago, Sutherlin appeared in 49 games for the Portland Winter Hawks, another team in the WHL. He tallied a goal and three assists, and recorded a +7 rating.

Sutherlin has played in nine games for the Spirit, and scored his first Wasilla goal in a 3-1 loss to the Fairbanks Ice Dogs on Friday.

Siira, an honorable mention all-state selection as a South Anchorage Wolverine last season, has a goal and four assists in 15 games for the Spirit.

Earlier this month, Wasilla also traded forward Matt Staehly to the Springfield Junior Blues for blueliner Adam Mueller. As a part of the Spirit, has a power play goal and an assist in 10 games.