Kelly Cup

Scott Howes, the player who was cast aside by two ECHL teams before finding a home with the Alaska Aces and becoming the Most Valuable Player of the 2011 Kelly Cup Playoffs, has re-signed with Alaska. Howes led the team in postseason scoring with 7 goals and 12 assists as Alaska won its second ECHL title in May.  The Aces acquired him early in the regular season from Stockton and he went on to more than double his career high in points, finishing as the club's third leading scorer during the regular season with 22 goals and 36 assists.

By virtue of winning the ECHL's regular-season points title, the Alaska Aces earned a first-round bye in the Kelly Cup playoffs. They finally have an opponent for round two: the Idaho Steelheads. Idaho defeated the Las Vegas Wranglers 3-1 in Tuesday's winner-take-all Game 5, thus sending the Steelheads to Alaska for Games 1 and 2 of the series. The schedule for the Western Conference Semifinals is as follows: Game 1 - Friday, April 15, 7:15pm AKST at Sullivan Arena Game 2 - Saturday, April 16, 7:15pm AKST at Sullivan Arena Game 3 - Wednesday, April 20, 5:10pm AKST at Qwest Arena Game 4 - Friday, April 22, 5:10pm AKST at Qwest Arena Game 5 - Saturday, April 23, 5:10pm AKST at Qwest Arena Game 6 - Tuesday, April 26, 7:15pm AKST at Sullivan Arena Game 7 - Wednesday, April 27, 7:15pm AKST at Sullivan Arena =if necessary The Aces and Steelheads have met three times in the postseason since joining the ECHL in 2003-04.  Most recently, Alaska swept Idaho in the 2008 playoffs.

Matt Keetley of the Bakersfield Condors posted the first shutout of the Alaska Aces since January 18th as the Condors began a three-game series at Sullivan Arena with a 4-0 win.  Keetley's 42 saves sent the defending Kelly Cup champions to a third straight loss, now 5-3-0 overall. Matthew Sisca and Scott Freeman each tallied a goal and two assists for the Condors, who improve to 4-3-1. Scott Howes, the reigning MVP of the Kelly Cup Playoffs, made his season debut for Alaska after off-season shoulder surgery and finished minus one with four shots on goal.

Reigning ECHL Goaltender of the Year Gerald Coleman stopped 25 shots, and rookie Chris Bruton scored the Aces only goal of regulation as the 2011 Kelly Cup champions opened their title defense with a 2-1 shootout win over the Las Vegas Wranglers at Sullivan Arena.  Wes Goldie and Dan Kissel buried shootout goals and Coleman set aside four of five Wranglers attempts in the shootout.   Bruton got the scoring underway with a power play strike at 17:58 of the first period.  Bryan Miller and Steve Ward assisted on the goal.  Scott Campbell scored off an Aces turnover to evening things up in the second.  Opening night also featured the unveiling of the Aces 2010-11 Kelly Cup championship banner.  The players will receive their championship rings prior to Saturday's rematch.

The Alaska Aces are one of the ECHL's best teams, but on Wednesday night they ran into another squad that looks like a contender for the Kelly Cup. The Elmira Jackals received goals by Patrick Coulumbe and Andrew Sweetland in a 2-1 victory over the Aces. The win gives the Jackals a record of 10-2-4, while the Aces drop to 9-5-1. Wes Goldie tallied Alaska's only goal of the night, the 298th he's scored in the ECHL. The Aces resume their eight-game road trip Friday, also in Elmira.

Curtis Fraser is returning to the Alaska Aces. The Aces announced the signing of the 6’2” 200 pound forward today. Last season, Fraser couldn’t get healthy enough to stay on the ice. A shoulder injury caused the former UAF standout to miss all but 17 regular season games. When he did see action, Fraser was an effective offensive weapon, scoring eight goals and 13 points. Fraser is only one of three players currently signed who return from last season’s Aces team, joining Scott Burt and Bryan Miller.

Brian Swanson's homecoming to Alaska resulted in a Kelly Cup title.  Now, the former Chugiak High standout seeks a repeat ECHL championship with the Alaska Aces.  Swanson, who a year ago returned home for the first time in 17 seasons, has re-signed with the Aces after scoring 24 goals and adding 46 assists in his first ECHL season.  That point total represented the 11th highest in the league last season. The 35 year old has nearly 700 pro games to his credit, including stops in the AHL, NHL, and European pro leagues.  He has been around long enough that he was once teammates with new Aces coach Rob Murray while both were playing for Hamilton of the AHL.  Swanson becomes the eighth member of last year's Kelly Cup champions to announce his return, and he is also the fourth veteran player to commit to Alaska.  the Aces begin defense of their championship Friday, October 14th at home versus Las Vegas.     

The defending Kelly Cup champion Alaska Aces have re-signed one of the biggest factors in last year's run to the championship. Gerald Coleman, the 2010-11 ECHL Goaltender of the Year, has committed for a second season with Alaska. After using four different goaltenders in the 2009-10 season, Coleman gave Alaska stability in net, winning 30 of 47 starts and posting a league-best 2.19 goals against average. Coleman also tied teammate Adam Courchaine for the ECHL high in shutouts with four.

Watch out of the Idaho Steelheads if the Aces meet them in the Kelly Cup Playoffs.  Idaho beat Alaska for the fourth straight time on Friday, snapping the Aces' nine game winning streak, 4-2.  The Aces other defeats to the Steelheads this season all came in shootouts or overtime. Wes Goldie scored twice for Alaska, giving him 22 goals for the season.  Goldie is now within 11 of tying the ECHL's career record of 368 goals, held by Rod Taylor.  However, Idaho's Jerry Kuhn stopped everything else, made 33 saves, and the Steelheads received the game-winning goal from Jacob Cepis at 6:35 of the third period.  The Steelheads improve to 18-7-3 overall, while the Aces still lead the ECHL at 29-6-5.           

It's no surprise that Alaska Aces netminder Gerald Coleman was awarded ECHL Goaltender of the Year on Thursday. The 26-year-old was named First-Team All-ECHL last week, as well as ECHL Goaltender of the Month for March. This award is a first for Coleman; the only other time he came close was in 2008-09, when he was runner-up to then-Aces goalie J.P. Lamoureux. Coleman has participated in 145 ECHL games with numerous clubs, posting an overall record of 79-47-11 with eight shutouts, a 2.65 goals-against average and a save percentage of .907.

Goaltender Gerald Coleman has signed on for a third season with the Alaska Aces hockey team.  He is the first returning player the team has signed for the 2012-2013 season.  In a press release put out by the team Coach Rob Murray praised his netminder saying "(Coleman) is not only the best goaltender in the league, but he also makes the rest of our team better. " Gerald Coleman was the 2011 ECHL Goaltender of the year, his efforts in net helped the team capture the Kelly Cup that same season.  Thursday at the Aces offices Coleman said "if you use LeBron James as an example, it kind of fuels you once you win one, you want to win more....because you feel like if you don't win, it's a letdown, it's a disappointment....so for me, every year I expect to win. " Last Season the 6'5" puck stopper played 27 games for the Aces as he went back and forth between the ECHL and AHL.  While in the Glacier Blue and White Coleman compiled a record of 18-5-4 with a 1.93 GAA and a .926 save percentage.

Despite their status as top seed, the Alaska Aces will open the ECHL's Western Conference Finals against the Las Vegas Wranglers as the road team.  Game seven of the series, if necessary, will also be held in Las Vegas because of scheduling conflicts in both home arenas, the series will have an unusual 2-4-1 format. Alaska, by virtue of having the best regular season record in the ECHL, will still enjoy the maximum number of four home dates compared to three for Las Vegas.  Western Conference Finals: #1 Alaska vs. #3 Las Vegas (All Times AKT)

Although the Aces are still in the second round of Kelly Cup playoffs, defenseman Kane Lafranchise has already claimed a title of his own.   The HockeyNews.com's "Name of the Year Tournament" featured 64 active hockey players from all over the world, open to fans to vote for their favorite.  Starting the tournament as a No. 4 seed, Lafranchise began his quest for the crown against Ryan Thang, then advancing over Hunter Shinkaruk, Jagger...

For the second straight season, the Alaska Aces have sewn up the regular season crown in the ECHL's Western Conference and a first round bye in the Kelly Cup playoffs.  James Reid won his fifth consecutive start, and Alaska received goals from Matt Ambroz, Nick Mazzolini, and Blair Yaworski in a 3-2 victory over the Bakersfield Condors to clinch the Western Conference top seed.  With two games to play, Alaska owns a record of 43-17-10,...

The Alaska Aces moved one step closer towards clinching the regular season conference title and a first round bye in the Kelly Cup playoffs on Tuesday night.  Ironically, they lost a game in doing so. The Las Vegas Wranglers scored three times in less than six minutes in the second period to beat the Aces, 4-2.  The loss prevented the Aces from clinching the number one seed in the ECHL's Western Conference. However, the team chasing Alaska, the Ontario Reign, also lost in a 3-0 decision to the Colorado Eagles.  With only three games remaining, Ontario trails Alaska by four points in the standings.   The Aces fall to 10-3-3 in the last 16 games and can still clinch the first round bye by winning in Bakersfield on Wednesday.  Brian Swanson and Tyson Marsh scored goals for the Aces.  Adam Miller notched a goal and two assists for the Wranglers.

Chris Langkow scored 36 seconds into regulation in his first hockey game in nearly four months, but the Alaska Aces were silenced the rest of the way in a 4-1 loss to the Bakersfield Condors.  The Aces have dropped five of their last six games and fall to 33-14-6 overall, still five points better than Las Vegas for the most in the ECHL. Matt Keetley stopped 49 of Alaska's 50 shots in his second victory at Sullivan Arena this season.  He also blanked the Aces, 4-0 on November 2nd.  Parker Stanfield scored twice for the Condors, including the go-ahead goal in the second period.  Kyle Calder buried a back breaking goal just 32 seconds later to make it 3-1.  Langkow was a playoff hero for the Aces during last year's run to the Kelly Cup, scoring eight goals in Alaska's final eight postseason games.  He began the season in the AHL, but prior to Friday night, he had not played since late October because of an injury.

Watch out of the Idaho Steelheads if the Aces meet them in the Kelly Cup Playoffs.  Idaho beat Alaska for the fourth straight time on Friday, snapping the Aces' nine game winning streak, 4-2.  The Aces other defeats to the Steelheads this season all came in shootouts or overtime. Wes Goldie scored twice for Alaska, giving him 22 goals for the season.  Goldie is now within 11 of tying the ECHL's career record of 368 goals, held by Rod Taylor.  However, Idaho's Jerry Kuhn stopped everything else, made 33 saves, and the Steelheads received the game-winning goal from Jacob Cepis at 6:35 of the third period.  The Steelheads improve to 18-7-3 overall, while the Aces still lead the ECHL at 29-6-5.           

4 out of 5 KTUU panelists agree:  The Alaska Aces trump all comers in the top stories stories of the year poll, just as they did to ECHL opponents during the regular and postseason.  The Aces run to the 2011 championship began with a roster overhaul in the summer of 2010 that landed the team, among others, sniper Wes Goldie, and goaltender Gerald Coleman.  All told, the Aces brought back only two players from the previous season.  Alaska started off...

The Alaska Aces went trough the first two round of the Kelly Cup Playoffs undefeated, and after an opening game blowout in the finals against Kalamazoo, the Eastern Conference champions put up a memorable battle in game 2 of that series.  The Aces took a 2-0 lead early in the second period on goals by Chris Langkow and Curtis Fraser.  The K-Wings battled back, and tied the game on an extra-attacker goal by Andrew Fournier with 25 seconds to play in...

Matt Keetley of the Bakersfield Condors posted the first shutout of the Alaska Aces since January 18th as the Condors began a three-game series at Sullivan Arena with a 4-0 win.  Keetley's 42 saves sent the defending Kelly Cup champions to a third straight loss, now 5-3-0 overall. Matthew Sisca and Scott Freeman each tallied a goal and two assists for the Condors, who improve to 4-3-1. Scott Howes, the reigning MVP of the Kelly Cup Playoffs, made his season debut for Alaska after off-season shoulder surgery and finished minus one with four shots on goal.