Valley prep teams look forward to Menard Memorial

WASILLA — If an overflowing parking lot at the Brett Memorial Ice Arena Friday was any indication, the Valley is excited for the return of prep hockey.

It was standing room only at the Brett as Wasilla and Colony High fans packed the arena for the first rivalry game of the young 2012-13 season and watch the Warriors top the Knights 6-0, thanks in large part to a 6-minute scoring frenzy that saw Wasilla net five puck as the second period wound down. Obvious to the fans and coaches was that although the season has just begun, Wasilla had already played four games against top prep programs. It was Colony’s season opener.

Add a 2-1 win over Service on Saturday, and the Warriors are off to a quick 4-2 start and go into this weekend’s ninth annual Curtis C. Menard II Memorial Hockey Tournament having won three straight. It’s a good start for a young Wasilla squad that returns just three seniors and an abundance of underclassmen who saw significant playing time last season, said head coach Bill Sturdevant.

“Going into this year, we knew we had our core group of kids coming back because we had a lot of freshmen and sophomores from last year,” he said. “We lost about five seniors who graduated, but we have our core group back.”

That core group helped Wasilla skate to a fourth place finish in the large-schools division of the state hockey championships last season.

“That was a high point for us considering how we finished in the region and were able to knock off one of the top teams in SoHi (Soldotna High),” Sturdevant said.

Warriors to watch include forwards Tanner Schachle, Adam Apangalook and Colten Fletcher, a trio of aggressive sophomore forwards. They each scored two goals against Colony on Friday and have a ton of upside as the season progresses, Sturdevant said.

“I like the energy of this team and what they bring to practice,” he said. “We do a lot of team-oriented work and drills to build as a cohesive unit rather than the individual stuff. That’s key off the ice as well. This team has a whole different outlook on how they take the dry-land training.”

The youth movement at Wasilla continues with a pair of sophomore goaltenders, Lauren Massie and Dillon Schoenberg. Massie got the shutout on Friday and win in SoHi.

Although he doesn’t have a wealth of varsity experience, Sturdevant said he has a lot of confidence in Massie as the Warriors’ No. 1 goaltender.

“We worked him in slowly last year and he took over just after Christmas in that No. 1 role,” he said. “He’s ready for it and he’s been playing fantastic. He’s done everything we’ve asked of him. … One thing I can say is Lauren shows up and he gives us a chance every night to win.”

Wasilla starts Menard tourney play Thursday at the Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center. The Warriors play East Anchorage in a 12:30 p.m. game.

Colony Knights

Although the Knights opened with a loss to cross-Valley rival Wasilla, head coach Jamie Smith said after the game he saw some things Colony can build on as the season progresses.

While challenging his first two lines to step up their play, he praised his third and fourth lines for their play. He also thought the score wasn’t entirely reflective of Colony’s effort. One goal came on a power play with no time remaining on the first period clock, and the Knights’ other five came in a 6-minute flurry of offense near the end of the second.

Colony returns a mix of seniors and underclassmen, including senior captain Jonathan Boyer. Other names familiar to Knights fans are defenseman Morgan McJimsey and forward Kevin Hartley.

In goal for Colony is junior Colton Beebe.

The Knights play the nightcap game to open the Menard tournament on Thursday, dropping the puck at 7:15 p.m. against Lathrop.

Houston Hawks

For a coach of a team that’s sitting at 0-3 to start the season, Houston’s Mike Styers is optimistic and upbeat about the Hawks’ chance to compete for a state title.

Reclassification has dropped Houston into the small-schools division, a place that that school’s enrollment justifies. That doesn’t mean the Hawks won’t continue to schedule as many large-schools teams as it can, Styers said.

“I want tough games,” he said. “When we aren’t playing in our league, we’re going to be playing teams that will challenge us. The only small-schools teams we play are our league games.”

Houston can do its share of challenging as well, Styers said, as was shown this past weekend at a tournament in Homer. Houston started with a 3-2 overtime loss to Hutchinson, then fell 4-3 to Kenai and then 5-3 to host Homer.

Setting high goals is what Houston is about, he said.

“Our goals for the Hawks are obviously to win the state tournament,” said Syters, now in his 13th year coaching Houston, seven as head coach and six as an assistant. “That’s always the overriding goal. … We’ve scheduled as much large-schools competition as we can and we’ll see that pay off at the state tournament.”

Five of Houston’s six seniors were on the squad last year, the coach said. Center Lane Styers already has six goals and an assist in three games. And the coach expects to see plenty of offense from junior forward Jonathan Lovelance.

“He’s a real offensive threat. He’s a small guy, but very talented and has great hands,” he said. “He’s always in the right play at the right time.”

Defenseman Tim Daletsky is expected to return soon, “and he’ll be our No. 1 when he gets back,” the coach said. “He’s great with the puck and he’s not afraid to step up and hit people.”

A welcome addition is a familiar face to Warrior hockey fans. Junior Rhys Jones was at Wasilla last year, but has transferred and is the No. 1 goaltender for the Hawks.

“Our goaltending overall is much improved,” Styers said of Jones and sophomore keeper Aaron Allred. “Rhys is a solid goaltender and he doesn’t get wound up. He’s always confident, composed.”

Houston is the host of this year’s Menard memorial tournament and starts play Thursday with a 5 p.m. game against Homer in a rematch from last weekend.

Palmer Moose

Of rematches, the Moose will have one of their own on Thursday when they take on South Anchorage at 2:45 p.m. It’s a quick rematch of the first game of the season, a 7-0 win for South. Since then, the Moose (1-2) have rebounded to beat Chugiak in overtime and fall in overtime to Eagle River.

Looking forward for 2012-13, head coach Brad Hanson said Palmer is also cultivating a large crop of new talent.

“We’re awful young and we’re looking to get better day to day and have some fun playing hockey,” he said. “We have eight freshmen who are going to be playing for us regularly. We lost a lot of guys to graduation, a couple to injuries.”

Of those lost to graduation are three-year captain Ivan Goode and Myles George. But the Moose return a few solid varsity veterans, including junior goalkeeper Ashton Goode, Hanson said. Goode can be an equalizer for a young team as it gains experience.

“It’s critical with a group this young (to have good goaltending) and Ashton is recognized as one of the better ones in the state, and we’ll be leaning on him a lot. I expect him to play like he always has, which is good, solid goaltending and good leadership.”

Goode will have help on defense from Travis Dreyer and Sam Piopple.

The South rematch will be an early litmus test, Hanson said.

“South took it to us and they’re one of the better teams in the state,” he said. “But we’ve played a couple of games since then and maybe we can see some improvement.”

Contact reporter Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.

Curtis C. Menard II Memorial Hockey

Tournament

Thursday-Saturday, Wasilla

Thursday

Game 1: Colony vs. Lathrop 7:15 p.m.

Game 2: Palmer vs. South 2:45 p.m.

Game 3: Houston vs. Homer 5 p.m.

Game 4: Wasilla vs. East 12:30 p.m.

Friday

Game 5: Loser game 1 vs. loser game 2 12:30 p.m.

Game 6: Loser game 3 vs. loser game 4 2:45 p.m.

Game 7: Winner game 1 vs. winner game 2 5 p.m.

Game 8: Winner game 3 vs. winner game 4 7:15 p.m.

Saturday

Game 9: Loser game 5 vs. loser game 6 12:30 p.m.

Game 10: Winner game 5 vs. winner game 6 2:45 p.m.

Game 11 (3rd-place game): Loser game 7 vs. loser game 8 5 p.m.

Game 12 (championship game): winner game 7 vs. winner game 8 7:15 p.m.