NAHL hockey: Avs thump Ice Dogs

March 6, 2007

By Jeremiah Bartz/ Frontiersman

FAIRBANKS - The Alaska Avalanche found a heck of a way to end their brutal 18-game season series against the Fairbanks Ice Dogs - a 6-2 win over their intrastate rival.

Six different players scored for Alaska (14-31-6) in the four-goal upset victory over the Ice Dogs (32-20-3) at the Big Dipper Ice Arena in Fairbanks on Sunday.

&#8220We're playing this last month like it's our playoffs,” Alaska coach and general manager Keith Morris said.

Tyler Currier posted a goal and an assist in his debut with the Avalanche.

&#8220Honestly, I can't believe he wasn't on this team in September,” Morris said of the 18-year-old Anchorage native who initially tried out for the team before the start of the 2006-07 season. &#8220He can really skate, has a nose for the puck and can shoot.”

Currier, who had been playing at the Midget AAA level in Colorado before joining the Avs last week, assisted on Alaska's first goal and gave his team a 3-0 lead in the second period.

Currier set up Johnny Spellman's score midway through the first on an odd-man rush.

Late in the third, Currier slipped the puck underneath the crossbar on a breakaway.

Morris is thrilled to have another quality Alaska product on his roster. He said he hopes the Dimond High School standout can continue his career in Southcentral Alaska.

&#8220He should have been on the team all year,” Morris said.

Richard Leitner, Larry Kincaid, Trevor Tolibas and Victor Nordenson also scored for Alaska.

Nordenson also had two assists in the win.

Goaltender Adam Kraus stopped 27 shots, and earned the win.

Alaska now hosts the Alexandria Blizzard in a three-game series that starts Thursday at the Curtis C. Menard II Memorial Ice Arena.

The Blizzard (20-29-3) are in last place of the North American Hockey League's Central Division.