Palmer hockey title, all-Valley final remembered 25 years later

WASILLA — Earlier this month, the Wasilla Warriors earned a third-place finish in the ASAA First National Cup 4A state hockey tournament. It was only the third time in history that a Valley team had posted a top-3 finish in the state. Before that, hockey fans would have to go back 25 years to find the others.

A quarter of a century ago, the Palmer Moose edged Wasilla 4-3 in overtime to win the 1989 state hockey championship. Palmer’s title and Wasilla’s runner-up finish in 1989 mark the only appearances by a Valley hockey team in Alaska’s 4A state final.

Feb. 25 marked the silver anniversary of Palmer’s thrilling win over Wasilla on a night in which blue and red filled Anchorage’s Ben Boeke Arena and the Valley owned Alaska hockey. The game stands as the Valley’s most memorable night of prep hockey, and maybe one of the more notable moments in Valley prep sports. It was the first Alaska high school state championship to feature two Valley teams. That feat has only been matched once, Wasilla’s win over Colony in the 2007 4A boys state basketball championship game.

“Obviously, being from a hockey background, I’d rate it right there No. 1,” said former Moose goaltender Bill Fletcher, who backstopped Palmer’s run to a state title as a senior. “Palmer football state championship is high up there. (State cross-country champions) Norm Rousey and Chris Gilbert, icons like that. The Wasilla girls’ basketball team, what they’ve done. But this is one, we were not expected to even be there.”

Fletcher said the game still comes up in conversation from time to time, especially since a number of the players from the 1989 game are still involved locally in the sport.

“Normally on an annual basis. The biggest reason is so many of us there in that game are still around. That’s kind of the neat thing about it. The small Valley community, between the Palmer and Wasilla boys, at least a quarter of us are still around. Whenever you get sitting around drinking a beer and (talking), it always comes up,” Fletcher said.

Chris Carney, a senior defenseman in 1989, scored the game-winning overtime goal to lead the Moose to the 4-3 win over the Warriors. About 10 seconds into overtime, Carney skated up toward the blue line and rocketed a shot into the Wasilla defensive zone. The puck found its way into the Wasilla net, and Palmer celebrated its first state hockey title.

“We won the face-off and my partner got the puck. I cut across the blue line and was trying to dump it in deep,” Carney said recently. “I wasn’t even shooting. I threw it in (the defensive zone) and it went in.”

Carney, a local youth coach, is one of a number of veterans of the 1989 state title game who are still actively involved in Valley hockey. Carney said he still thinks about the state title game from time to time.

“I think it’s a huge deal. I thought it would happen again before now,” Carney said. “We’ve been close a couple times. I thought Wasilla might do it this year.”

Palmer had get past Dimond and Service (regarded as the top two teams in the state heading into the tournament) before meeting Wasilla in the final. The Moose edged Dimond 5-4 in double-overtime in the quarterfinals and blanked Service 2-0 in the semifinals.

“We were not expected to beat either one of those teams,” Fletcher said.

Wasilla opened the state tournament with a 4-2 win over East Anchorage, and beat West Valley in the semifinals.

That left Palmer and Wasilla meeting for the title.

It was also the sixth meeting of the year between the two teams. With a small region, Palmer and Wasilla met four times during the regular season. Palmer also beat Wasilla 6-4 to win the region championship.

In the championship game, Palmer skated a 1-0 lead into the third period. During the third, former Wasilla captain Brian Seims scored Wasilla’s second goal during a 30-second span to give the Warriors the 3-2 lead. Palmer’s Lee Shanahan tied the game at 3 with 2:35 left in regulation. Senior Cotton Gore finished with a goal and two assists in the game.

Fletcher said it was a tough tournament for the Moose. Palmer was shorthanded after losing one of its top defensemen early in the tournament. The Moose also had to survive two overtimes with Dimond, and blanked Service despite being outshot by about a 3-to-1 ratio.

“We were beat up. It’s not like another hockey week where you have a week to recoup,” Fletcher said. “I remember going into the locker room between periods. We were so beat up, so run down and tired. Everybody was doing everything they could to get back going. We went back and fought throughout the game.”

Fletcher said that regardless of the adversity, Palmer prevailed.

“We were not expected to be there. We were not expected at all to win,” Fletcher said. “We had heart.”

It’s an attribute both teams could boast, said Trent Schachle.

“It was hard-nosed hockey,” said Schachle, a Wasilla junior on the 1989 team and the current head coach of the WHS hockey program. “We played hard.”

Schachle said Wasilla had a successful program during that era. As a sophomore, Schachle skated on a team that won a region title and placed third in state. The Warriors were second during his junior season and fifth his senior year.

“We had strong teams,” Schachle said.

Fletcher said the Palmer program steadily progressed during his four years with the Moose.

“Our freshman year, we got in there, made it to state and played Service. We got beat 15-1. I’ll never forget that,” Fletcher said.

Palmer wasn’t able to compete with the Services of the state early in his career, but the program improved.

“It was definitely a building process,” Fletcher said.

Former Palmer High School activities director Michael Janecek credits a handful of parents and Palmer coaches for developing the talent that would go on to win the state title. Brian Hastings, a native of Massachusetts, coached the team for about four years, Janaeck said. Clint Mauthe served as the head coach of Palmer for two years, and led the Moose to the 1989 state title. Both were key, said Janecek, who also noted supporters of the program such as Neil Shanahan and Bert Gore.

“They were real instrumental in the developing of those kids,” Janecek said of Shanahan and Gore, who both had sons on Palmer’s state title team.

Janecek said Shanahan went as far as to build his own rink for the players to skate on, Janecek said.

Carney said players in his era group up with parents as their coaches, but when Hastings arrived at Palmer, Valley hockey was able to take the next step.

“It started when Brian Hastings came from the East Coast. He started an actual program, developed hockey players,” Carney said. “That was the start. The next year Steve Gasparini arrived at Wasilla and started developing hockey players.”

Gasparini was Wasilla’s head coach in the 1989 championship game, and was named the 1989 Alaska Coach of the Year.

In addition to high school hockey, members of the Moose and the Warriors were also playing on the same Mat-Su Amateur Hockey Association competitive club team.

“Palmer-Wasilla, we’d play each other on Friday. On Sunday, we were on the comp team. The majority of us made up one comp team,” Fletcher said.

That took the rivalry to another level.

“That actually heightened the competition,” Carney said. “You didn’t want to lose to your buddy.”

Janecek said the 1989 season was at the heart of a special era for Valley hockey.

“When we played at the Brett (Arena), you couldn’t fall over and hit the floor,” Janecek said of the standing-room-only crowds.

Hockey was a big draw for Valley students and fans.

“Those Palmer-Wasilla games, before Colony was even around, there’d be anywhere from 700 to 1,000 fans in that rink. Those big Friday night rivalry games,” Fletcher said.

That era also produced a number of players who skated at the next level. Gore (the 1989 Alaska Player of the Year who netted mind-blowing totals of 46 goals, 44 assists and 90 points as a senior) played four seasons at UAA after a pair of seasons with the Madison Capitols of the United States Hockey League. Gore also skated for three seasons in the Western Professional Hockey League.

Schachle followed his high school career with two seasons with the United States Hockey League’s Dubuque Saints. He played in more than 100 career games for Division I UAF, and skated in three different professional leagues during a six-year pro career.

Carney and Wasilla goalie Brian Fish also played for UAF.

The 1989 All-State team was full of Valley players. Gore was a first-teamer at forward, in addition to being named player of the year. Carney and Wasilla blueliner Davin Koivunen were first-team defenseman. Fletcher was the first-team goalie.

Shanahan and Seims were second-team forwards. Palmer defenseman John Bingham was second-team defense and Fish was named second-team goalie.

Wasilla forwards Toby Merrill and Dan Massie, Palmer forward Peter Dahl and Wasilla defenseman Don McRoberts were all named honorable mentions.

The storybook season for the Moose and Wasilla’s run to the all-Valley hockey final was soon followed by change. It was before Valley prep sports was expanded when Colony High opened its doors, and before Houston began to dominate the 3A hockey level.

“It was a surprise for everybody that we met in the state title, and it went into overtime. They could have just as easily won,” Carney said. “I’m glad to come out on top, but I don’t think anybody lost that game.”

Contact Jeremiah Bartz at 352-2273 or sports@frontiersman.com. Follow him on Twitter @Matsu_sports.