Hockey

In high-school hockey action Saturday night, Dimond edged out South 2-1 to finish the year unblemished, while Chugiak topped Service 3-1. The Cook Inlet Conference tournament is set to begin next week. Contact Charlie Sokaitis at csokaitis@ktuu.com

Service gave Dimond all it could handle, but the Lynx prevailed, 3-2 on Wednesday night at Ben Boeke Arena.  The result clinches the CIC hockey regular season title for the Lynx ( 13-0-0 in conference ). The Cougars took a 1-0 lead less than three minutes into regulation on a tally by Jeremy Smith, although the Lynx were able to tie it up by period's end.   Dimond took a lead it would not relinquish in the second, when Tyler Thompson scored with 4:51 left in the frame.  Austin Browning made it 3-1 early in the third and Dimond held on from there to collect the victory.

University of Alaska Anchorage hockey coach Dave Shyiak has talked about stringing wins together during the break, and his team had a chance to do so Saturday in a rematch against Colorado College. A Seawolves power play was hugely successful in Friday’s game against Colorado -- and it worked again Saturday, as Tommy Grant threw a saucer pass over to Craig Parkinson to draw first blood for UAA. That 1-0 lead would hold until 20 seconds into the third period, when the Seawolves’ Curtis Leinweber fired off a shot and Alex Gellert stuffed it home, giving UAA a two-goal cushion.

The University of Alaska Anchorage hockey team entered the second half of the season with one of its best performances, showing no signs of a 35-day layoff. The Seawolves blistered 17th-ranked Colorado College, 4-1, scoring all four goals on special teams. UAA's power play ranked dead last in the WCHA, coming in at just under 13 percent, but the Seawolves scored three times on the man advantage against the Tigers. Tommy Grant buried a power-play strike and an unassisted shorthanded goal in the first period to give UAA a 2-0 lead.

The winning raffle ticket at a charity hockey game over the weekend sent chills throughout the audience, and brought the coach of a New York Police Department team to tears. For the 11th annual Guns 'n Hoses charity hockey game, members of the Anchorage police and fire departments joined forces Sunday night to play against the NYPD. During the intermission a raffle was held and the winning ticket, drawn randomly from hundreds of tickets, belonged to the NYPD -- number 911. NYPD players purchased 20 raffle tickets.

The Dimond hockey team kept rolling on Wednesday night, turning in a 10-0 rout of Bartlett.  The CIC-leading Lynx move to 5-0-0 in league play, while the last place Golden Bears drop to 0-5-0.   Shilo Vega and Adrian Ramos each buried two goals for Dimond, which only led 1-0 after the first period.  The score, lopsided as it was, could have been even more decisive if not for William Andariese's 54 saves for Bartlett.

You can't blame anyone for wanting to get out of Fairbanks these days.  Temperatures in the Golden Heart City bottomed out to minus 30 degrees on Thursday.  However, two of the interior's high school hockey programs found things quite chilly in Anchorage as well.   In a rematch of last year's state quarterfinal, South defeated Lathrop, 4-1, in a game highlighted by a penalty shot goal by the Wolverines Justin Gutierrez.  Quest Bain added a goal and an assist for South. Also in non-league action, East received two goals from Alex Jackstadt in a 4-1 victory over West Valley.

The UAA hockey team’s 2-1 win Friday over 15th-ranked Wisconsin gave the Seawolves a chance to jump up in the WCHA rankings and earn a weekend sweep in Saturday’s rematch at Sullivan Arena. The game was scoreless until the second period, when a one-timer shot from the Badgers’ Justin Shultz scored first blood for Wisconsin. An extra attacker for Wisconsin helped to repeat the trick as Craig Smith sank another one-timer, sending the Badgers into the third period with a 2-0 lead.

The youth of the University of Alaska Anchorage’s hockey team should not be confused for weakness -- a fact displayed by the Seawolves’ 3-6-1 record in WCHA play this season. UAA is staying competitive with freshmen in major roles. Matt Bailey and Jordan Kwas are tied for the team lead with 10 points apiece, and their play has helped the Seawolves in the clutch. The Seawolves have posted overtime victories in consecutive series to rise into a tie for seventh in the league -- one spot behind this weekend's opponent, Wisconsin.

On most Thanksgivings in Alaska, a backyard game of football is out of the question. Kids have to find something else to play, and they do -- thanks to the Turkey Shootout, one of Alaska's largest youth hockey tournaments. With 63 teams in nine age-group divisions, some 130 games will be played across Anchorage between Thursday and Sunday. “My coach says if you don't skate hard in practices, you won't play well in games, and I don't want to let my team down,” said player Jacqueline Daniel.