Anchorage Daily News

Joey Crabb left Anchorage as a teenager more than nine years ago to chase his dream of playing in the National Hockey League.

Today, he finally caught up to his ambition.

Crabb is making his NHL debut, skating for the Atlanta Thrashers as they entertain the Nashville Predators.

Crabb, 25, became the 12th Alaskan to play in the world's best hockey league. The first was right wing Ty Jones of Eagle River, who made his NHL debut in October 1998. He is retired.

Also currently in the NHL are five other Alaskans, all from Anchorage: New York Rangers centers Scott Gomez and Brandon Dubinsky; Detroit Red Wings goaltender Ty Conklin; Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Matt Carle; and New York Islanders center Nate Thompson.

The others Alaskans to play in the NHL are left wing Barrett Heisten of Anchorage; center Brian Swanson of Eagle River; the late B.J. Young of Anchorage, a forward; right wing Scott Parker of Eagle River; and left wing Jason Ryznar of Anchorage.

Crabb's NHL salary is $550,000 annually, slightly above the league minimum of $475,00.

That salary will be pro-rated for as long as he stays up in the NHL -- this is his eighth day with the Thrashers. The NHL regular season is roughly 184 days long, which means Crabb, which means Crabb will earn roughly $2,989 per day. Thus, he has grossed about $24,000 so far.

Crabb, a right wing, was called up from the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League a week ago, but was a healthy scratch in all three games Atlanta played since then.

As a youth in Anchorage, Crabb played for Dimond High and in the Alaska All Stars competition program.

Crabb left Anchorage when he was 16 and spent two years playing in USA Hockey's National Team Development Program, based in Ann Arbor, Mich.

He then spent a season with the Green Bay Gamblers of the U.S. Hockey League before playing four seasons at Colorado College, where he earned a degree in economics.

In 158 career games for the Tigers, Crabb scored 53 goals and 56 assists for 109 points.

The third-year pro has spent the two-plus seasons of his play-for-pay career with the Chicago, Atlanta's AHL affiliate. Crabb won a Calder Cup as AHL champions with the Wolves last spring.

This season, he has produced five goals and five assists in 16 games with Chicago. Two of his goals came with his team short-handed.

While out to dinner in the Windy City the night of Nov. 20, Crabb received a call from Wolves general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff, who told him he was being promoted to Atlanta. Crabb flew out of Chicago early the next day and arrived in Atlanta in time to practice with the Thrashers.

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