First off, apologies to Alaska Aces rookie center Ben Lake, who some dope (ME!) typed as Patrick Lake in the game story in Thursday's edition of the ADN (it's been fixed online). Nice brain fart there. And who, you might reasonably ask, is Patrick Lake? He was the 2001 Alaska Player of the Year for Dimond. And how did my screw-up happen? Got me. Gonna plead old age because I can't think of anything better -- well, maybe mini-stroke. (Oh, and stick tap to @TheBrianSison for identifying that I butchered Ben's name -- seriously, appreciate it.)
Guess that was my version of the Aces long, long shift that ended up worse at shift's end in the second period Wednesday. Lake's line, with wingers Justin Breton (team-leading six goals) and David Eddy, and defensemen Felix-Antoine Poulin and William Wrenn, got hemmed in their own zone for what seemed like forever. Utah didn't score, really didn't even get many great looks on that shift, but it took forever for the Aces to get out of their end. And once they did, don't ya know it, they were tagged with a penalty for too many men on the ice when the puck ended up in the front of their bench as they made a change.
In any event, the Aces, who fell 4-2 to the Utah Grizzlies on Wednesday night -- BEN Lake scored one of Alaska's goals -- take on the Grizzlies again Friday and Saturday nights at Sullivan Arena on Military Appreciation Weekend. The Aces on Thursday Tweeted that tickets are going fast. We shall see. Attendance has been weak for Aces' home games this season -- attendance was announced at a mere 2,607 of Wednesday. Sure, it was a mid-week game, but sub-3,000 has been a very rare thing in the franchise's history.
Moving on, how about former UAF All-America D Colton Parayko, who is tearing it up for the NHL's St. Louis Blues. It's early, but he leads rookie D is just about everything, with 4-5--9 totals and a +7 rating in 13 games. His tires are getting fully pumped in the media, and already he's being mentioned as a candidate for the Calder Trophy as Rookie of the Year (Parayko's teammate, veteran center Scott Gomez of Anchorage, won the Calder in 2000). Here's one of many stories that have been written on Parayko lately.
Next, you can catch up on Anaheim Ducks center Nate Thompson of Anchorage, who is back in practices after offseason shoulder surgery. Here's a clip of him talking about getting back to practice. (Oh, and full marks to Nate -- former Ace! -- for doing the interview with his tooth out. That, and the beard, and he looks very...hockey).
Catching up on Alaska's two entries in the North American Hockey League, they continue to go opposite directions -- the Fairbanks Ice Dogs are killing it, and the Kenai River Brown Bears are getting killed.
Fairbanks is 13-2-1 and its .844 winning percentage ranks second on the circuit to only Wichita Falls (21-1-2, .867). The Ice Dogs average 4.56 goals per game and have the top three scorers in the league -- Rensselaer commit Todd Burgess (13-13--26 in 16 GP), Ryner Gorowsky (8-16--24 in 16 GP) and Logan Coombs (8-16--24 in 15 GP). And Cayden Cahill of Anchorage is tied for second in the league in goals with 11.
Kenai River, meanwhile, sits last in the league at 1-15-0, gives up 5.56 goals per game and allows opposing power plays to operate at 34.29 percent efficiency.
On the international scene, former college standouts and current pro forwards Zoe Hickel and Jordan Smelker are playing for the U.S. women's national team at the Four Nations Cup in Sweden. Smelker played in the USA's 3-0 win Thursday over Canada and Hickel played in its 4-2 win Wednesday's 6-2 win over Sweden.
Lastly, note a couple of Anchorage guys are off to strong starts in the Western Hockey League. Lane Bauer, in his third season with the Edmonton Oil Kings, leads his club in goals and is second in points with 7-8--15 totals in 17 games. And Justin Gutierrez, in his first season with Lethbridge after three seasons with Tri-City, has delivered the Hurricanes 4-6--10 totals in 15 games.