Spirit can't fight off Fairbanks

DARRELL L. BREESE/ Frontiersman reporter

WASILLA - Went to a fight the other night - we all know how the old Rodney Dangerfield joke ends - a hockey game broke out.

In fact there was more than one fight.

The Wasilla Spirit Junior A hockey team wrapped up its three-game preseason series against the Fairbanks Ice Dogs Sunday with a dramatic 3-2 shoot out loss at the Curtis C. Menard Memorial Ice Arena, Sunday.

Wasilla controlled the action for the first two periods behind the stellar goaltending of Jerry Kuhn, and a pair of exciting goals.

But the visiting Ice Dogs turned up the aggressive play, leading to a series of glove-shedding melees.

The Spirit grabbed an early lead when David Gault (Detroit, Mich.) scored on the powerplay, off a pass from defenseman Bill Brennan (Rochester Hills, Minn.). Gault redirected a bullet pass from the blueline between the pads of Ice Dogs goalie Will Wood.

Brennan again assisted Gault in the second, when he sent the puck across the ice, with a diving swipe in the second. Gault, alone on the left side, lifted the puck over the blocker of Woods, giving the Spirit a 2-0 lead.

First-year coach Dean Larson was impressed with his teams' play in the first half of the game.

"We started a little flat, but after five minutes we picked things up," Larson said. "I think we were playing our best hockey so far this year during the second. But then things changed."

The change Larson referred to was an increase in hitting by the visiting Ice Dogs.

"They turned up their hitting and knocked us off our game plan in the middle of the period," Larson continued. "We lost focus and let them back into the game."

Both teams were hitting hard and often before the Spirit's Robert Thomas took exception to a hit from Mike Johnson of the Ice Dogs, resulting in the pair dropping their gloves and igniting the 900-plus spectators. Their scuffle was the first of four incidents where officials had to separate fighting players.

Increased aggression also resulted in an increase in penalty minutes. The two teams were whistled for 8 minutes of penalties before the fight and 42 minutes afterward.

"I really liked seeing the players stand up for themselves," Larson said. "But I would like to see a little more control."

Brendan Olinyk broke up Kuhn's shutout bid two minutes into the third, scoring on the first shot of the period. Former Chugiak High standout Shane Wheeler tied the score with 8:20 left to play, setting up a shootout.

Before the third, Kuhn was stopping everything, turning away 28 shots.

"Jerry was incredible for us tonight," Larson said. "He was stopping more shots than we could ask."

Kuhn finished with 32 saves.

The game deciding shootout went eight players deep before Mario Mjelleli lifted a backhand shot over the sprawling Kuhn. That gave the Ice Dogs a 3-2 win, and a sweep of the three game series.

Larson felt that a rivalry was born out of the series, despite the Spirit coming up short in all three games.

"We play each other 14 times in the regular season," Larson said. "And hockey players have good memories when it comes to hard hits and losses. I think the level of intensity between the two teams can only increase as the season progresses."

The first puck of the regular season drops Friday, as the Spirit hosts the Northern Iowa Outlaws.

The teams also play on Saturday. Game time both nights is 7:30 p.m.

at the Menard Arena.

Darrell L. Breese can be reached at darrell.breese@frontiers-man.com.