Valley products off to a strong start to NAHL season

WASILLA — A trio of former Valley skaters are off to a strong start to the 2017-18 North American Hockey League season.

Former Wasilla High forwards Tanner Schachle and Colton Fletcher and former Colony High forward Josh Boyer are among scoring leaders for their respective teams in the Junior A Tier II league.

Schachle, a second-year player with the Fairbanks Ice Dogs, made news earlier this month, officially committing to attend UAA and play for the Division I Seawolves.

“I talked to a few other programs, but UAA expressed the most interest,” Schachle said earlier this month. “It’s the right fit for me as a hockey player.”

For more on Schachle, see tinyurl.com/ybut5cd3.

In 21 games for the Ice Dogs, Schachle has scored a team-high nine goals. He also has nine assists, giving him 18 points, third-best on the squad. Since committing to UAA, Schachle has scored five goals and an assist in four games.

As of Nov. 28, the Ice Dogs were tied for first in the NAHL Midwest Division with 30 points in the standings. The Dogs are 13-5-2-2.

Fletcher, who skated with Schachle in high school, has collected seven goals and 10 assists in 22 games for the Aberdeen Wings. He’s second on the team in assists, and third in both goals and points. Fletcher is in his second season with the Wings. Last season, he collected 4-13-17 totals in 31 games win the Wings, after starting the season with Fairbanks. Fletcher scored five goals and six assists in 21 games with the Ice Dogs last year.

Fletcher started his Junior A career with the Kenai River Brown Bears.

Aberdeen is second in the Central Division.

Boyer, who started his prep career at Colony, is currently tied with a team-high 19 points for the Brookings Blizzard. Boyer has eight goals and 11 assists in 21 games. Boyer also played for the Ice Dogs last season, bagging a goal and an assist in 20 games.

Brookings is currently fourth in the NAHL Central with a 12-10-0-1 record.

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