Palmer senior earns top hockey honor

WASILLA — Plenty of hockey hardware came back to the Valley following the three-day North Star Conference Championships in Soldotna last week.

The Colony Knights scored the top prize, a North Star Conference title, and a Valley player and a pair of local coaches also garnered top honors.

Palmer senior Darren Fish was named the North Star Conference Player of the Year. The senior forward bagged 16 goals and 18 assists, both team highs.

Palmer head coach Jeff Varvil had a list of reasons that allow Fish to have that type of success.

“He’s incredibly smart, incredibly smart with the puck,” Varvil said. “He knows how to finish. He’s one of those players who has a nose for the puck. He always seems to be in the right position at the right time.”

Varvil said Fish also possess the intangibles, in addition to the skill.

“He shows tremendous leadership. He calms guys down. Hockey’s an emotional game, but he’s able to stay even-keeled through tough times.”

With his team-high 34 points, Fish, a senior captain, averaged nearly two points per game. Fish had at least one point in 16 of his 19 games. His senior season included a five-point effort, two goals and three assists, during a 5-4 win over Soldotna in December.

Varvil and Wasilla bench boss Trent Schachle garnered co-coach of the year honors.

Palmer placed a league-best four players on the first team. Chris Dojka, Josh Meyers and Noah Richards joined Fish on the first team. Meyers was fourth on his team with 14 points (5-9-14) totals. Dojka tallied 7-6-13 totals, while Richards finished his season with 5-8-13 totals.

Region champ Colony placed three players on the first team. Sophomore Cooper Smith, and seniors Cy Eller and Jake Branch each earned first-team honors. Smith tied for the team-lead with 34 points. He scored 11 goals and added 23 assists. Eller tied for the team lead with 14 goals, and had six assists to finish with a 20-point total. Branch had four goals and 11 assists. Each skated in all 25 of Colony’s varsity games.

The Wasilla Warriors also placed three players on the first team.

Freshman Porter Schachle, junior Garrett Conroy and senior Cody Butcher were all named first-team all-conference. Schachle finished with 15 goals, a team-high 14 assists and team-best 29 points. Conroy had 27 points, adding 11 assists to his team-high 16 goals. Butcher added four goals and nine assists.

Colony won the North Star title for the second straight year, with a 3-0 win over Soldotna in the championship game.

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

All-North Star Conference

Player of the Year: Darren Fish, Palmer.

Co-Coach of the Year: Jeff Varvil, Palmer; Trent Schachle, Wasilla.

First-team:

Darren Fish, Palmer; Porter Schachle, Wasilla; Cooper Smith, Colony; Cy Eller, Colony; Chris Dojka, Palmer; Garrett Conroy, Wasilla; Josh Meyers, Palmer; Noah Richards, Palmer; Jake Branch, Colony; Cody Butcher, Wasilla; Bill Yoder, Soldotna.

Second-team:

Russell Harren, Wasilla; Otto Theile, Colony; Dawson Roberts, Homer; Larsen Tubbs, Wasilla; Bowen Webb, Palmer; Taylor Foster, Palmer; Dayne Cole, Colony; Greyson Holohan, Wasilla; Valary Dietz, Palmer; Hunter Tillion, Homer; Joey Diltz, Colony.

Honorable mention:

Cameron Knowlton, Soldotna; Tristan Bulot, Kenai; Ethan Brown, Soldotna; Cooper McLaughlin, Colony; Cole Crandall, Soldotna; Jacob O’Brien, Kenai; Cody Grogan, Palmer; Riley Swanson, Homer.

Good sport team:

Darren Fish, Palmer; Wyatt Vrana, Colony; Emily Warner, Soldotna; Danny Wiest, Homer; JT Lott, Kenai.