Prep hockey: Colony returns a stable of forwards

PALMER — Last season marked the start of the Jamie Smith era in the Colony High School hockey program.

With Smith, a longtime head coach at Houston High who led the Hawks to five state titles, and a new staff on the bench, the Knights were starting from scratch.

But with a season under the belt, Smith feels Colony is headed in the right direction and should contend in the North Star Conference this year.

“The first year everything was pretty new,” Smith said recently. “I think we’re better than we were last year.”

The Knights did graduate leading goal-scorer, Daryl Belanger, who netted 20 pucks during his senior season, but the Knights welcome back five of their top six scorers from the 2010-11 season.

Colony’s leading scorer, Trevor Naylor, returns. Naylor collected six goals and a team-high 29 assists last year. Morgan McJimsey tallied 13-16-29 totals and Kevin Hartley added 11-6-17 totals.

Jonathon Boyer (3-4-7), Anthony Kolendo (5-1-6), Donovan Parker (1-1-2) and Alex Svoboda (1-1-2) are also among key veterans returning.

Smith said he feels the Knights have one of the top goaltenders in the conference, senior Forrest Savel. Last year, Savel finished with a .903 saves percentage. Smith said Savel brings more to the team that his ability to stop the puck.

“He’s an unbelievable leader,” Smith said.

Smith is also excited about his reserve goalies, Colton Beebe and Kevin Hale.

While Colony has a veteran-laden front line, the Knights are young on the blue line. The Colony defense is led by veterans Parker and Lincoln Mattson, but will feature three freshmen in the regular lineup.

The Knights will have freshmen Curtis Foster, Stephen Kempinski and Logan Sanders on defense.

Colony is off to a 2-1 start this season. The Knights opened with a 4-0 win over Bartlett. Savel stopped 24 shots to earn the shutout.

Last Friday, West Valley skated past Colony 4-1, but the Knights rebounded to beat Houston 5-2 the following day. Five different Knights scored in the win.

Editor’s Note: The is the first piece of a four-part series previewing the seasons of the local 4A high school hockey teams. See upcoming editions of the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman for more. Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.