Spirit hockey: Playoff series starts Friday night

JEREMIAH BARTZ/ Frontiersman sports editor

FAIRBANKS - The Wasilla Spirit junior hockey squad is about to embark on the first playoff series in the history of the young franchise.

Wasilla's best-of-five first-round playoff series against Fairbanks is a first for the Spirit. But games against the Ice Dogs have been pretty common for Wasilla.

Wasilla faced Fairbanks in three exhibition games before meeting the Ice Dogs 14 times during the regular season. The Spirit made four trips to the Interior during the season to play the Ice Dogs at the Big Dipper Ice Arena in Fairbanks. Wasilla as played in the Dipper so much, it is almost taking part of the home ice advantage away from the Dogs.

&#8220We've played them so many times, it's almost like second home,” Wasilla goaltender Andrew Volkening said on Wednesday.

The final two games of the regular season pitted Wasilla and Fairbanks together in a home-and-home series. That series, which had each team posting a 1-0 victory, was the prequel of the series that starts tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Dipper.

&#8220It's going to be a battle,” Volkening said. &#8220It's everything you want from a good series. I wouldn't have it any other way.”

The Spirit (20-33-2) enter their first playoff series as the third-seed from the North American Hockey League's West Division. Fairbanks (30-18-10) is the division's second seed.

In the last five games the Spirit have notched wins against three teams with 70 or more points in NAHL play. Wasilla beat Southern Minnesota, the NAHL Central Division champ, 2-1. The Spirit topped Texarkana, the second seed in the South Division, 5-2. Last week Wasilla earned a 1-0 shootout win over Fairbanks. Wasilla has two losses in that span, but both were by just one goal.

&#8220We've been playing really well lately,” Wasilla forward Mike Glaesmer said after Wasilla's 1-0 win over Fairbanks.

Glaesmer scored the shootout goal that gave the Spirit the victory.

&#8220It's good to get on a roll right before the playoffs.”

With 17 goals and 11 assists, Glaesmer is second on the squad in scoring. David Gault leads the squad with 17 goals and 19 assists. The Spirit may not have one player that ranks high in any of the conference scoring categories, but the team does boast a well-rounded attack. Nine players have 19 or more points this season. The Spirit roster doesn't possess any of those 60 or 70-point scorers, and instead relies on a more defensive style of hockey.

&#8220We're obviously not going to win games 6-5. It's got to be 2-1, 1-0 or 3-2,” Volkening said.

Volkening has allowed the Spirit to have success with that style of play. He didn't start the season with Wasilla. But since joining the team he has posted 15 wins and stopped 1,164 shots in 37 games. He is averaging 31.4 saves per game.

Jeff Dimmen leads the Spirit blueliners. He's also contributed on offense with a team-high 20 assists.

Fairbanks has a bit more of a scoring pop, posting 40 more goals this season than Wasilla. Leading the Dogs at the offensive end is Shane Wheeler. The former Chugiak High School standout has 24 goals and 42 assists in 56 games. Mike Johnson leads the Fairbanks defensemen with 31 points.

Bryce Christanson and Shane Malodora have split time in net for Fairbanks. Christanson is 14-13-7 with a 2.92 goals against average, while Malodora is 16-5-3 with a 2.49 GAA.

The Ice Dogs host the Spirit in the first two games of the series. The teams also play on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in the Interior.

Next week Wasilla and Fairbanks will face off on Friday, April 7 at the Subway Center in Anchorage. If the Spirit notch at least one win in the first three games, the teams will also play the following night in Anchorage. If necessary, the best-of-five series would conclude in Fairbanks on April 9.

The Subway Center will have to be Wasilla's home away from home for the postseason. Scheduling conflicts with the Wasilla Multi-Use Sports Complex have prevented Wasilla from playing on its home ice of the Menard Arena for the playoffs.