Rookies spark Avalanche

PALMER — It was an interesting offseason for the Alaska Avalanche.

As owner Mark Lee turned over the reins of the franchise to first-year head coach Corey Millen and new assistant Josh Petrich, it was easy to wonder how much turnover would impact the Avs during the new season.

Many of the top players from a 2010-11 squad that finished third in the North American Hockey League West were skating in their final season of junior eligibility. The Avs lost the top scorer among the players who could return to the lure of the United States Hockey League. Forward Matt Friese took his 23 goals and 18 assists to the USHL’s Lincoln Stars. Forward Eliot Grauer also moved on to the USHL, while forward Derek Whitehill and defenseman Chase Van Allen opted to play in other junior leagues.

Those losses were compounded by injuries to a pair of Alaska’s top returning forwards, Brandon Brossoit and Evan Hesse. Brossoit finally made it back to make his season debut Nov. 4. Hesse has only played in two games this year.

But despite all of the turnover and injuries, Alaska currently sits as the top team in the NAHL West, and a big reason for that is the play of the Avs’ 2011-12 rookie class.

“As a whole the rookie class has been a blessing,” Petrich said.

When first-place Alaska (18-9-1, 37 points) skates into a key weekend home series with third-place Kenai River (16-7-1), the Avs will feature four rookies among their top-5 scorers.

Of the nine skaters on the roster who are first-year juniors, four have 21 or more points and seven have played in 22 or more games.

Forward Evan Janssen leads the list with team leads in both goals (14) and points (28). Janssen is eighth in the league in scoring and second among rookies.

Forward Gage Christiansen leads the team with 17 assists.

Alaska’s nine rookie forwards and defensemen have tallied a total of 46 goals, 70 assists and 116 points this season. That’s good enough for half of the team’s goals, 42 percent of the assists and 45 percent of the points.

Did the coaches expect this production? Petrich had a two-part answer.

“Yes and no. You never expect rookies to supersede the veterans. You never expect rookies to be leaders and top-end scorers,” Petrich said. “But at the same time, everyone at our main camp said how deep our camp was, how deep our team was. The first-year kids are a big reason for that.”

Alaska’s rookies are no strangers to attention. Ryan Dau (5-16-21) has already committed to Division I Air Force. Dau, Janssen and Mitch Kontney (13-8-21) were top talents in their home state of Wisconsin. Christianson’s father and brother both played at Division I UAA. Forward Jordan Watt skated in the high-profile Quebec Major Junior Hockey League before putting together big numbers for the LA Selects AAA squad.

Blueliner Jesse Kessler was a touted player in the North American Prospects Hockey League.

Defenseman Bryan McFarlane is the son of a University of Wisconsin hall of famer. Another defenseman, Chris Buchanan, is on the NHL Central Scouting players to watch list. Newcomer Kristpas Bazevics, who joined the Avs in November, is considered among the top defenseman in his age group in his native Latvia, and was a high pick in the major junior Western Hockey League draft.

“There are a lot of good bloodlines,” Petrich said.

The rookie class also includes goalie Bodhi Engum, who has been stellar as a first-year junior. The Burnsville, Minn., native is 9-3-0 with a 2.83 goals against average and .896 saves percentage.

Millen and Petrich have been able to find some of this talent. Petrich coached against Kontney’s high school team. They also found Watt and Bazevics.

Petrich said he and Millen do that they owe former Avs coaches Brian Huebel and Sean Fish, and former Avs general manager Dave Boitz Christmas cards for tendering the likes of Janssen, Dau, Buchanan and Kessler, drafting McFarlane and trading for Christianson.

Despite the success players enjoy at the midget or prep level, it’s often hard to tell how those players’ talents will translate. Janssen scored more than 150 points during his high school career, but the Avs couldn’t guarantee that production in Palmer. But all have proved their worth, and many have an impact since the Avs first dropped the puck on the season.

“Janssen was by far the best player at the Showcase,” Petrich said of the NAHL Showcase, an event that featured every NAHL team during a four-day stretch in September. “The kid single-handedly kept us in every game.”

Petrich said the play of the rookies helped ease the absence of players such as Brossoit and Hesse early in the season. Connor Wright, another veteran, also returned to the team late.

Kontny has been the player to watch as of late. He has at least a point in seven straight games and has scored a goal in five of those seven games. Petrich said Kontny simply has a knack for being in the right place at the right time. Often, that’s around the net.

Engum has been the leader of the freshman class, often a calming influence for the first-year players, Petrich said.

He’s also exceeded expectations, earning a share of the duties between the Alaska pipes.

The Alaska rookies will help lead the Avs on to the ice against the Kenai River Brown Bears Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the MTA Events Center in Palmer.

The Avs will be sporting special holiday themed jerseys, and those jerseys will be available for purchase during an auction between periods each night.

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