Palmer native earns USHL honor

PALMER — The first hat trick of his United States Hockey League career helped a former Palmer High standout earn some recognition from the Tier I Junior A league.

Lincoln Stars forward Jared Hanson was named the CCM Offensive Player of the Week by the USHL earlier this week.

Hanson, who played two years of prep hockey at Palmer before graduating to the Tier I league, netted his first USHL hat trick during a 4-3 overtime win over Waterloo on Dec. 10. The 18-year-old scored midway through the first period to give the Stars the 1-0 lead and midway through the third to tie the game at 3.

Hanson scored the game-winner just more than two minutes into overtime to complete the hat trick.

Hanson posted a plus-2 rating during the win and was a combined plus-5 in three games. Hanson also collected a pair of assists and a plus-2 rating during a 5-2 win over Sioux Falls on Dec. 9.

Hanson is in his second season with the Nebraska team.

“Coming into this year, I feel way more confident,” Hanson said before the beginning of the 2011-12 season. “The game seems slower to me.”

Before the beginning of his second season, Hanson said he found a home with the Stars.

“I felt like I really belonged there. I felt comfortable,” Hanson said. “This year, I feel even more comfortable.”

Hanson’s 5-point week gives him nine goals, eight assists and 17 points through the Stars’ 5-4 loss to Dubuque on Friday. He already has as many goals through 19 games as he did in 53 last year. Hanson tallied 9-15-24 totals during the 2010-11 season.

Hanson is being recruited by Division I hockey programs.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.