Prep standout enjoys solid junior hockey debut

SOLDOTNA — Adam Friese had quite a weekend.

On Saturday night, the Wasilla High School senior forward got his first junior hockey start and first shootout score, then on Sunday Friese picked up his first junior point with a second-period assist against the Kenai River Brown Bears.

“The kid can play,” Alaska coach Jamie Smith said following the weekend series.

Friese’s Avalanche debut was made possible by the fact that he’s a member of the team’s AAA Midget squad, and as an “exempt” player Friese didn’t count against the team’s roster. With Wasilla High on Thanksgiving break, the weekend series was an ideal time to give Friese a chance to step up to a higher level of play.

By all accounts, Friese’s debut was a solid one.

“He’s a good player,” Alaska defenseman Kent Detlefsen said Saturday. “He’s got a lot of potential and he’s young. I think he has a bright future in this league.”

Friese got the start Saturday alongside fellow Valley products Jeremiah Dargis (Wasilla) and Larry Kincaid (Houston). He skated a regular shift and had several scoring chances, then got called upon by Smith to take a shot in the shootout, calmly burying the puck to help the Avs pick up the

win.

On Sunday, Friese again skated meaningful minutes throughout the entire game, and got his first junior point when he hooked Kevin Anger up with a perfect feed in the first period to put Alaska up 2-1.

While he may have looked like a veteran in his brief two-game stint with the Avs, the 18-year-old admitted he wasn’t exactly calm before the puck dropped Saturday.

“I was nervous,” Friese said. “Not like, puking nervous, but nervous.”

Detlefsen, 20, said Friese’s performance at such a young age was impressive.

“I remember playing at that age and it was nerve-wracking,” he said. “He actually stood up and had some scoring opportunities.”

Friese said that from the opening puck drop he could see a marked difference in the new level of play.

“The biggest difference is the speed. In high school you have a lot of time to think about it, but here you’ve just got to react,” he said.

Once he got the hang of things, Friese said he started to enjoy himself.

“I had a blast,” he said.

Making the transition easier, he said, was the warm reception he received among the Avalanche players.

“I feel like I’m fitting in,” he said. “They accepted me right off the bat.”

That’s a good thing, because it appears Friese may not have played his final game in an Avs sweater.

“He could play for us right now,” Smith said.

Friese said his plan is now to return to the Warriors and help the team as it looks to claim a North Star Conference title. But after two games of North American Hockey League play, he said he’s already got his eye on taking the next step after high

school.

“Now I know what I have to work on to do my best at this level,” Friese said.

Contact Matt Tunseth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth

@frontiersman.com