DOYLE WOODY
Aces won't shrink from high expectations
The quality of the Alaska Aces' nearly decade-long portfolio can be quantified by this simple measurement: The club made it to the ECHL's conference finals, just one step removed from vying for the Kelly Cup it seized last season, and somehow that ranked as disappointment.
DOYLE WOODY
After 13 seasons in the pros, Aces captain Swanson retires
Brian Swanson, dressed in street clothes late Wednesday night, stood in a hallway outside the Alaska Aces dressing room at Sullivan Arena, surrounded by his children. His eyes were moist, a little red, and that signaled something deeper than his hockey club's elimination from the ECHL playoffs.
PRO HOCKEY
Goldie says he's likely to retire
Friday was a good day in the goaltenders' union -- Wes Goldie, who tortured its members for a dozen pro hockey seasons and became the most prolific sniper in ECHL history, said he is almost certainly retiring.
PRO HOCKEY
Las Vegas knocks Aces out of championship contention
Las Vegas' 3-1 victory over the defending champion Aces on Wednesday -- their third straight win on Alaska's home ice at Sullivan Arena -- earned the Wranglers the Western Conference championship.
Alaska pays the price again for a slow start
For Alaska Aces fans, a disturbing trend has developed in the ECHL's Western Conference finals. In each of the Aces' three losses to Las Vegas, early goals from the Wranglers have put the Aces in a hole too tough to escape.
PRO HOCKEY
Wranglers push Aces to the brink in playoffs
Following Tuesday night's 3-2 loss to the Las Vegas Wranglers, the Alaska Aces find themselves teetering on the brink of the postseason abyss, just one stumble from ending their season. Only four ECHL teams have come back from a 3-1 series deficit.
Alaska pays the price again for a slow start
ECHL PLAYOFFS
Margin of error thin for Wranglers and Aces
Just three games into the Western Conference finals, the difference between the Wranglers, who lead 2-1 in the best-of-7 showdown entering Game 4 Tuesday night, and Aces has been as thin as a skate blade.
Las Vegas sniper Eric Lampe scored 3 minutes, 11 seconds into overtime Sunday night to give the Wranglers a 3-2 victory that earned them a 2-1 edge over the Alaska Aces in the ECHL's best-of-7 Western Conference finals.
If history is a decent guide -- if nothing else, it's a talking point -- the home-standing Alaska Aces are sitting in favorable position entering Sunday night's Game 3 against the Las Vegas Wranglers in the ECHL's Western Conference finals.
PRO HOCKEY
Aces fall to Vegas, return home with conference finals tied 1-1
The Las Vegas Wranglers unleashed a degree of urgency from the outset that the Aces failed to rival -- Las Vegas bagged two goals in the first four minutes and three in the first period -- and that made for a predictable result. Wranglers 3, Aces 0.
PRO HOCKEY
Cruthers leads Aces to Game 1 ECHL playoff win in Las Vegas
With the ECHL trade deadline looming last month, Alaska Aces coach Rob Murray acquired center Ryan Cruthers for his scoring in general and his playoff pedigree in particular. That move paid off Thursday in Las Vegas.
ECHL HOCKEY PLAYOFFS
Western Conference finals smells like it could go seven
As the Western Conference finals open tonight at Orleans Arena in Sin City, it's easy to peg the Aces as the favorites. They're the defending champs. Yet that does not even remotely mean the Wranglers are Team Underdog.
ECHL PLAYOFFS
Rookie blueliner Shields hitting his stride
David Shields stepped into the lineup and delivered two assists and a plus-2 rating in Alaska's Game 5 elimination of the Stockton Thunder in the Western Conference semifinals. "Short snapshot: He looked a lot more confident in himself,'' coach Rob Murray said. "He was excellent.''
Howes returns to Aces, will play in Vegas
The end of one hockey season has bridged into the start of another for Scott Howes. The ECHL's reigning Kelly Cup Most Valuable Player is headed back to the Alaska Aces.
ECHL PLAYOFFS
Aces lose some advantage in semis against Las Vegas
The schedule for the Alaska Aces' ECHL conference finals against the Las Vegas Wranglers is not good. Because of rink availability issues, the series starts with two games in Vegas even though the Aces own home-ice advantage.
ECHL HOCKEY PLAYOFFS
Alaska-Vegas series schedule holds bad news for Aces fans
The schedule for the Alaska Aces' ECHL conference finals against the Las Vegas Wranglers is not good. Because of rink availability issues, the series starts with two games in Vegas even though the Aces own home-ice advantage.
Alaska Aces: Conference finals constant
The Alaska Aces' series-clinching 4-1 victory in Stockton on Saturday night pushed the defending Kelly Cup champions into the conference finals for the third time in the last four seasons and the sixth time in their nine ECHL seasons.
PRO HOCKEY
Their tenure in the ECHL covers just nine hockey seasons, yet the Alaska Aces treat advancing to the conference finals -- just one precious step removed from the championship round -- as if it were a franchise birthright.
PRO HOCKEY
In pushing the Stockton Thunder to the cliff's edge of elimination with two straight road wins -- the second one a come-from-behind, 4-2 shove to the precipice Friday night -- the Alaska Aces have proved particularly dominating and lethal in the last two periods.
PRO HOCKEY
Aces expect Thunder to come out physical
Thursday was a day off in California for the Alaska Aces -- no practice -- but they don't expect much leisure time Friday night in Game 4 of their ECHL Western Conference semifinal series with the Stockton Thunder.
PRO HOCKEY
The What's-Not-To-Like file was startlingly thin for the Alaska Aces by game's end Wednesday night.
For two hockey seasons now, the Alaska Aces' identity has been forged in the defensive zone -- they yield minimal scoring chances, and what few they do are usually snuffed by goaltender Gerald Coleman.
ECHL PLAYOFFS
Aces bolster roster with a pair of Rivermen
With the Peoria Rivermen failing to qualify for the American Hockey League's playoffs, rookie winger Chris Bruton and rookie defenseman David Shields are rejoining ECHL Alaska in time for Wednesday night's Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Stockton Thunder.
PRO HOCKEY
Alaska's Coleman displays flying-kick save
Gerald Coleman made numerous nice saves for the Alaska Aces on Saturday at Sullivan Arena, but one of his 26 provided an acrobatic highlight that few onlookers will forget.
PRO HOCKEY
Eyebrow-raising moments abounded -- from a ninja kick save for the ages to an improbable breakaway and even a long-range crossbar kisser at the buzzer ending regulation -- but Saturday night's delicious ECHL playoff hockey game at Sullivan Arena ended on a note of normalcy.
PRO HOCKEY
Ward and Langkow knocking off rink rust
Getting into playoff form after 13 days without a hockey game was no doubt tough for all the Alaska Aces, but for defenseman Steve Ward and forward Chris Langkow, there was an added challenge.
PRO HOCKEY
On their march to the Kelly Cup last season, the Alaska Aces won all six of their playoff games at Sullivan Arena. This regular season, they fashioned the ECHL's best home-ice record. And, historically, they are always a difficult bunch to beat on the Olympic-sized rink they call home, where they seem to get a lift from their raucous, cowbell-ringing supporters.
WOODY ON HOCKEY
Stockton is worthy foe for Aces in ECHL semifinals
Evidently, two professional hockey teams will meet in a playoff game Friday night at Sullivan Arena, which no doubt comes as blessed relief for puckheads who have been jonesing for their next fix.
PRO HOCKEY
Aces look to recharge power play
The Alaska Aces' march to the ECHL's Kelly Cup last season hinged significantly on special-teams superiority -- their power play prospered and their penalty killers, well, killed it.
PRO HOCKEY
Mazzolini aims to be part of long playoff run
For third-year pro Nick Mazzolini, these playoffs represent a do-over of sorts, because his first go-round for the Aces in the ECHL postseason was short and painful.
PRO HOCKEY
New Ace finding his place on the team
Ryan Cruthers' first two hockey games with the Alaska Aces -- the only two home matches he has played since being acquired in a trade-deadline deal -- did not come in circumstances favorable for a first impression.
PRO HOCKEY
From college to the ECHL playoffs
Just past noon last Thursday, shortly after he got out of a class at Michigan State in East Lansing, defenseman Brock Shelgren talked by telephone to his agent and then to Alaska Aces coach Rob Murray.
WOODY ON HOCKEY
Aces coach shares honor for best in the ECHL
Not long after Rob Murray arrived in Anchorage in August as the new head coach of the Alaska Aces, he quickly discovered his gig came with expectations that were about as subtle as a two-hander to the teeth.
WOODY ON HOCKEY
Murray named co-Coach of the Year in first year with Aces
First-year Alaska Aces coach Rob Murray was named co-ECHL Coach of the Year on Tuesday, the second-straight year and third overall an Alaska bench boss has received the honor.
PRO HOCKEY
ECHL gives Aces fans a moment of concern
Hardcore Alaska Aces fans may have noticed that the club's Kelly Cup playoff roster, which the ECHL released Monday afternoon, featured a glaring omission -- namely, captain Brian Swanson. Thankfully, it was a mistake.
PRO HOCKEY
Saturday night's regular-season finale held virtually no significance for the Alaska Aces, who had already seized all three of the ECHL's available titles and merely hoped to keep their injury list status quo.
PRO HOCKEY
The Alaska Aces short-circuited on the power play, failing on all nine opportunities Friday night, including an extended two-man advantage. They blew a one-goal lead they carried into the third period.
PRO HOCKEY
Pair of Aces named to all-league team, along with coach
When the spotlight found Bryan Miller and Dan Kissel on Thursday, the Alaska Aces skaters cranked up the hockey humility and shined it back on their teammates.
PRO HOCKEY
Aces claim conference title, first-round bye
Thirty-eight minutes before the horn blared on their 3-2 win over the Bakersfield Condors in California on Wednesday night, the league-leading Alaska Aces technically were crowned the ECHL's Western Conference champions.
PRO HOCKEY
Good news for Aces despite loss
ECHL-leading Alaska lost 4-2 at Las Vegas, but its path to the Brabham Cup as regular-season champion of the minor-league hockey circuit was eased by Colorado.
PRO HOCKEY
Aces have rivals right where they want them
Alaska, the defending Kelly Cup champion, tonight plays at Las Vegas. Best-case scenario for the ECHL-leading Alaska Aces on Tuesday night: They could see two of their three pursuers for the Brabham Cup dismissed from that race and the other pushed to the brink of elimination.
The Alaska Aces battled to a 3-2 loss against the Las Vegas Wranglers in Game 4 of the ECHL Western Conference Finals at the Sullivan Arena on Tuesday, May 1, 2012. The Wranglers own a 3-1 lead the best-of-7 series.
Alaska Aces Vs. the Stockton Thunder in the 2nd game of the Western Conference semifinals hockey series.
PHOTO GALLERY
Many fans came out for the Alaska Aces hockey team tailgate party at the Sullivan Arena before the Aces first game of the ECHL semi-finals on Friday, April 13, 2012.
READER PICS
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BLOG
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WEB SITE
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