Valley Grown: Former Palmer goalie enjoying big stretch in the NA3HL

PALMER — During his days with the Palmer Moose, Cody Grogan had a knack for stringing together saves. This season, Grogan has taken his skill set to the junior hockey level.

And Grogan is enjoying a terrific start to 2018.

Since making his first start of the new year on Jan. 5, Grogan is 6-2-1 with the Gillette Wild of the North American 3 Hockey Junior Hockey League.

On Feb. 2, Grogan stopped more than 50 saves for the third time this season. The rookie made 53 saves to help lead the Wild to a 6-2 victory over the Helena Bighorns.

"Pucks seem to find my glove," Grogan recently told Roy Frazier of the Gillette News Record, referring to his recent play. "They seem to hit, me I guess."

During his current nine-game stretch, Grogan has made 329 saves while allowing only 22 goals. On Feb. 11, Grogan stopped all 36 shots he saw during a 6-0 win over the Missouri Junior Bruins.

In 21 games this season with the Gillette, Wyoming, based Junior A Tier III team, Grogan is 11-6-0-1 with a 3.55 goals against average and .911 saves percentage. He’s faced 776 total shots, and has 707 saves.

As of press time, Gillette is 18-19-2-2 in the NA3HL Frontier Division.

Grogan is one of about a half-dozen Valley products currently on an NA3HL roster, a league one step below the Junior A Tier II North American Hockey League, which includes Alaska franchises Fairbanks and Kenai River. Former Wasilla High standout and 2017 North Star Conference Player of the Year Garrett Conroy skated in 18 games for the Wild this season, producing three goals and eight assists.

Other NA3HL Valley connections include Larsen Tubbs, a former Wasilla player, who has four goals and four assists n 36 games for Breezy Point.

A pair of defenseman, Valary Dietz (Palmer) and Shawn Mitchell (Colony) play for the Helena Bighorns. Dietz has two goals and 17 assists in 35 games. Mitchell has six goals and seven assists in 35 games.

Cole Bloemer, a former Colony player, was recently traded from the Louisiana Drillers to the Rochester Ice Hawks. After logging eight goals and eight assists in 27 games in Louisiana, Bloemer is scoreless in two games in Rochester. Former Palmer player Hayden Moistner was also part of a recent NA3HL trade. Moistner tallied five goals and 19 assists in 29 games with Missoula before he was dealt to Bozeman in late January. He is yet to hit the ice with his new team.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com. Roy Frazier of the Gillette News Record contributed to this story.