Palmer draws North Pole in first round of DII state hockey tourney

PALMER — The Alaska Schools Activities Association is hosting its first Division II state tournament, and the Palmer Moose will be a part of it.

Palmer earned an at-large bid and has been seeded fourth in the tournament, which starts Thursday at the Menard Arena in Wasilla. The Moose meet fifth-seeded North Pole, the top squad in the Aurora Conference, Thursday at 5 p.m. in the quarterfinals.

Palmer finished 4-6 in Railbelt Conference play during the regular season. The Moose were 2-0 against Aurora teams this season. That included a 9-3 victory over North Pole, Palmer’s first-round opponent in the state tourney.

Palmer shares the top side of the bracket with top-seeded Soldotna and eight-seeded Delta, which open tourney play Thursday at noon. SoHi finished first in the Railbelt. The Stars were 2-0 against the Moose during the regular season, winning each game 3-2 in overtime.

ASAA reclassified hockey during the offseason, and created Division I and Division II levels. Hockey classes had been called 4A and Greatland in the past. Palmer is one of a half-dozen Division programs that were at the 4A level last year. Railbelt foes Soldotna, Juneau, Homer and Kenai were also 4A last year. The list also includes North Pole.

Soldotna, Juneau and Homer earned the Railbelt’s automatic berths, and are the top 3 seeds in the DII tourney. North Pole finished first in the Aurora. Glennallen and Tri Valley also scored automatic berths from the Aurora. Delta grabbed the final at-large bid.

The bottom side of the bracket features third-seeded Homer meeting sixth-seeded Glennallen at 2:30 p.m. Thursday. Juneau, the second seed, will face seventh-seeded Tri Valley in the nightcap Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

The Division I tournament, which will feature both Wasilla and Colony, starts Feb. 7 at the Menard.

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