Langkow returns to Aces

Langkow, who as a rookie last season was instrumental in the Aces' march to the Kelly Cup championship, is back in Anchorage and is expected to play this weekend when the Aces return to Sullivan Arena for the first time in nearly a month.

The Aces host Bakersfield in a three-game series that begins tonight with their first home game since Jan. 21.

The game could be the first this season with Langkow, who skated with the Aces on Thursday, in the lineup. He's been in the American Hockey League all season, though an injury has kept him on the bench since Oct. 22.

Whether Langkow is here for the duration of the season or just long enough to shed any rust he's accumulated is uncertain.

"He's played very well at the next level so we don't know what the future holds with him. But he's here indefinitely," said Josh Bogorad, the team's director of media relations.

Langkow, a 22-year-old forward, led Alaska and ranked second in the ECHL with eight postseason goals last season and finished the playoffs with 11 points in 13 games. In 56 regular-season games with the Aces, he recorded 36 points (15 games, 21 assists) to rank sixth in scoring.

That productivity earned him a call-up to the American Hockey League. He went through training camp with the Peoria Rivermen before being loaned to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at the start of the season. He scored five points (1 goal, 4 assists) in seven games before suffering an upper-body injury.

Langkow will be a welcomed addition to a team that's coming off an 11-game road trip during which it struggled to a 3-7-1 record.

"When you're a player as talented as Chris, you'll make your team better," said Bogorad.

Despite the rough road trip, the Aces still boast the best record in the 20-team ECHL. At 33-13-2, the Aces have 72 points, five more than Pacific Division leader Las Vegas (31-17-1 for 67 points).

The Bakersfield series, which includes games Saturday and Sunday, is part of a six-game homestand that marks the beginning of the end of the Aces' regular-season home schedule. After a three-game series next week with Las Vegas, the team plays just two more times at Sullivan during the regular season, March 9-10 against Colorado.

Reach Beth Bragg at bbragg@adn.com or 257-4335.