Veterans, future combine to send Warrior seniors out with victory

WASILLA — It’s almost like Chancie Hanson was passing the torch.

During the final seconds of the third period Saturday, the Wasilla senior captain, playing in the final game of an illustrious prep career, stood with the puck near the blue line. The Warriors were skating with the two-man advantage and Hanson, sitting all alone, could have easily thrown the puck on the net. Instead, the three-time first-team All-North Star Conference defenseman sent a sharp pass to the right side of the net, a pass sophomore Troy Verplancke easily tapped in for a goal.

Hanson, the leader of a small but stellar senior class, bagged a goal and two assists to lead the Wasilla Warriors to a 4-0 win over the West Valley Wolfpack in the ASAA/First National Cup fourth-place game at the Curtis C. Menard II Memorial Ice Arena in Wasilla.

“That was a beautiful pass by Chancie. He could have definitely taken that shot late in the game, and you can’t blame him being a senior. The fact he had the awareness to look for (Verplancke) on the back door was excellent,” Wasilla head coach Bill Strudevant said. “But Troy coming in next year as an upperclassman, he’ll be looked to (by) all those kids. The freshmen will be a year older. I hate to see teams leave like this, changing over like they do, but it’s always exciting to look forward to next year.”

Hanson and his fellow seniors (Brandon Trush, Rell Sturdevant and Dylan McRee) found a great way to cap their high school hockey careers. But a handful of underclassmen gave the Warriors a glimpse of their hockey future.

Freshman Colton Fletcher scored for the third time in the tournament, freshman Luke Schruf collected a pair of assists and freshman Lauran Massie made 21 saves to earn the shutout.

That combination of veterans and youth helped Wasilla earn its highest finish in the state tournament since Wasilla placed fourth in 2008.

“It’s nice to go out with a win,” Sturdevant said. “We’ve been there before when we didn’t. It’s nice to see those seniors get a chance to go out with a win, a shutout win. They all chipped in.”

Hanson said it was good to also secure an elusive win in the state tourney. This marked the senior group’s third trip to the state tourney. Before this year, the Warriors were a combined 0-4. This year, with wins over Chugiak and West Valley, Wasilla finished 2-1.

“We wanted to keep it going. It feels good,” Hanson said. “Everybody came out and played hard.”

Trush sparked the Warriors early, scoring on the first shift of the game. Just 29 seconds into regulation, Cooper Hanson wrapped the puck around the net, and Trush poked it in to give the Warriors the 1-0 lead.

“To put us up like that was tremendous,” Sturdevant said. “I said to (assistant coach Jeff Urban) when he scored that, there goes Treshy again, scoring the first goal of the game. It’s happened four, five times this season.”

Hanson said that’s the type of work the Warriors have seen from Trush all season.

“He’s one of those guys in practice you don’t have to worry about,” the senior captain said of Trush. “You never have to worry about Trush.”

McRee gave Wasilla its explosive skating throughout the tournament. He scored a shorthanded breakaway goal against Dimond on Thursday, marking the only goal scored against Dimond during the first two rounds.

“That was a perfect example of his speed. That’s what he’s showed the whole second half of the season,” Sturdevant said.

Rell Sturdevant used his grit and smart play to help the Warriors finish with a winning record during the tourney.

“He does things a little quiet, he doesn’t get a lot of points, but he’s smart and plays hard,” Bill Sturdevant said. “He does a lot of things that go unnoticed.”

The win was even more special for Bill Sturdevant, who had the chance to watch his younger brother, Rell, go out with the win.

He said it’s tough coaching a sibling, but it was worth it.

“You’ve got a minefield to navigate coaching your brother, but I’ve enjoyed it. He might not known how much fun I’ve had coaching him,” said Bill Sturdevant, who was 17 when Rell was born.

Trush, Fletcher, Hanson and Verplancke scored goals, but Massie kept the Wolfpack out of the net, using 21 saves to earn the shutout. Following a 6-1 loss to Dimond, Massie allowed only one goal during consecutive wins over Chugiak and West Valley.

“It speaks volumes for the way he stepped up and played,” Sturdevant said. “The tournament as a whole, he was real solid.”

Wasilla led by a goal deep into the second period, but Fletcher pushed his team to a pair with a power-play goal with six seconds left in the period. Fletcher, at the left wing circle, took a pass from Chancie Hanson and hammered into the net.

Hanson scored his first goal of the tourney early in the third period when he threw in a puck from the blue line near the wall.

“Chancie’s the heart and soul of this team,” Sturdevant said. “It means a lot to us, means a lot to him, the team in general.”

Hanson said it felt good to get the goal and the win to cap his career. He’ll also look forward to keeping an eye on Wasilla’s bright hockey future.

“It’s going to be unreal,” Hanson said. “They’ve got the solid leadership, and the seven little guys, all they can do is get bigger and better.”

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com and follow him at twitter.com/matsu_sports.

Wasilla 4, West Valley 0

ASAA/First National Cup

Saturday, Wasilla

First period — 1. Wasilla- Trush (Co. Hanson) 14:31.

Second period — 2. Wasilla- Fletcher (Ch. Hanson) pp 0:06.

Third period — 3. Wasilla- Ch. Hanson (Schruf) 11:11; 4. Wasilla- Verplancke (Ch. Hanson, Schruf) 0:03.

Shots on goal: Wasilla 6-8-16—28, West Valley 8-4-9—21; Saves: Wasilla- Massie 8-4-9—21, West Valley- Taylor 5-7-14—26.

Wasilla 4, Chugiak 1

ASAA/First National Cup

Friday, Wasilla

First period — 1. Wasilla- Harren (Trush) 11:03; 2. Wasilla- Co. Hanson (Harren, Cooley) 10:27.

Second period — 3. Chugiak- Tomacevic (unassisted) 10:27; 4. Wasilla- Fletcher (Hansen) 1:18.

Third period — 5. Wasilla- Fletcher (unassisted) 6:16.

Shots on goal: Chugiak 18-5-8—31, Wasilla 10-16-10—36; Saves: Chugiak- Lindquist 8-15-9—32, Wasilla- Massie 8-4-8—30.