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Crimson Bears stalk Moose on the frozen Alaska ice
JDHS pulls clean sheet over Palmer in 4-0 Northern Lights Conference hockey win
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
Playing like a roster of four-year varsity starters who were held back a year or two in middle school, the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé hockey team throttled host Palmer 4-0 Tuesday in the Palmer Sports Center, one day after falling to the Moose 4-1.
“You know, yesterday we had some stuff going on with our goaltending,” JDHS head coach Matt Boline said. “He started the game but he wasn’t feeling well and we threw a cold goaltender in which is always hard for the team to rally around, and every goalie plays a little different. Yesterday we got scored on early and it was just hard to bounce back. I think we did a better job of managing our emotions tonight. We still got some penalties, but they were all earned and some were high emotions but guys pulled it back and locked down and made it happen.”
The Crimson Bears were cool, calm and collected as they peppered the defrosting Moose, serving up two goals from senior Caden Morris and a goal apiece from senior Tricen Headings and junior Summit Bos, all tidily accented on a clean sheet by freshman goalie Max Hayes.
“Tricen had some injuries his sophomore year and last year a little too,” Boline said. “But he is always that guy right in the mix, creating opportunities for himself and others. He just had the monkey on his back for a couple of seasons now, and part of that is just bad puck luck, hopefully that puck luck is on his side now because the way he has been playing this season he has been an absolute workhorse. Clearly he has proven he deserves the letter on his sweater.”
The ‘Welcome To Moose Country’ sign along the arena ice was an invitation to a hunt and the Crimson Bears bagged their first goal at 12:23 of the first period with junior Summit Bos pulling the trigger after junior Dylan Miller loaded the shot.
“Oh yeah I just fired it from the point,” Bos said. “And I had people in front screening and it went in. Honestly I was shooting for a rebound there. And it went in, so it’s really nice to get the first one and get the weight off your shoulders. Get it started. I wasn’t let down the rebound didn’t come, any goal is a great goal. I would have been just as excited if it was a rebound goal. This win means a lot. We were pretty disappointed last night and we are really proud of ourselves for winning tonight.”
Roughly nine minutes later Headings notched his first goal in two seasons, with three minutes left in the period, unassisted.
“It has been a while unfortunately,” Headings said. “But that is alright. It’s a team effort. A goal is just a goal for the line to be honest. Last year I didn’t put the puck in the net too much but I got a lot of assists, so that’s a win. It feels so good to score that goal. A stress reliever for sure, but I am really proud because all the teammates went up to me. We are a team. If one of us scores a goal, we all score a goal, so it is really cool.”
In between those scores JDHS held off a Palmer power play. Both teams would put nine shots on each other’s goalie in the period.
The second period showed just how controlled the Crimson Bears could play. After giving up three penalties in the first period they only garnished one in the second stanza. No team found the net after 15 minutes, but JDHS put 10 shots against Palmer senior Kai Curl and the Moose put five in Hayes’ crease.
JDHS senior Caden Morris got dirty in the third period. Working in the elbows around the Palmer crease he limited out, scoring at 11:06, assisted by sophomore Manu Adams, and with 3:52 left to play, assisted by sophomore Paxton Willoughby and junior Ryker Nelson.
“We were on the power play and I was just crashing the net,” Morris said. “That is what I always like to do because I just like that chaos in front. One of my teammates shot it right in front of the net and I just like getting those dirty rebounds so I was just able to jam it in there right over the goalie. The second one was more of the same stuff. It was just getting into that dirty area and doing the dirty work. One of my teammates shoots it from whatever point and I was able to jam it in. I feel pretty great. Most of the time I am a hard work kind of player and I don’t get the points. So typically I am not really on the score sheets too much, but it feels good just getting those points for my team and keeping us in the lead. This win means a lot for us. This is the first time, since I have been on the JD varsity team that I think we have beaten Palmer. So it means a lot going into the start of our season and I think we are going to have a really great one if we keep putting in the same work then we can keep beating opponents and take it all the way to state.”
JDHS’ Morris and Palmer senior Clayton Conrad received the game’s MVP honors.
Behind all the frenzy on the ice, freshman Max Hayes had to keep a cool head in goal as each minute leaving the scoreboard clock meant an unfathomable dream coming to reality. One he never thought could come this soon. The shutout. The clean sheet.
“ I feel like ecstatic,” Hayes said outside the locker room as the traveling Juneau fan base chanted M.V.P. “Higher than ecstatic. Like this is the best feeling ever. Absolutely did not think this would happen today. Last night I had a headache so I only played the first period and it was rough. And even today I wasn’t feeling my best, but I was like, ‘I am going to see what I can do.’ I put my best foot forward and as the game kept going on and developing, my team kept playing in front of me. We kept getting goals. I was like, “this could actually happen.’ And as time ticked down, well, it was just a matter of time and then the buzzer went off.”
Hayes noted the pressure of staying in the moment but not thinking of the ending.
“It is really hard,” he said. “I kind of do this half zone out kind of thing. Where, like, it is like I am not fully there, but I am just doing it. Because otherwise I get way too nervous. Even in the first period I was shaking. So I just had to reset, tell myself I was OK and this was going to be fun.”
Hayes said there was a moment in the third period that could have ruined the day.
“Oh my gosh,” Hayes said. “There captain, number 13 (senior Dominik Maya) I think it was. He shot one and it hit off the top of my glove and I was like, ‘oh that went bar down, that went in the back of the net.’ And then I looked back and it went over the net, and that saved me so much. I think this is a great step especially because, and I know I am a freshman, in past years we have had trouble getting started at the beginning of the season. So I think this is a really solid thing to leave off on going into December and the rest of the season, to kind of start in a great place and only improve from there.”
Hayes also pointed out what he considers is the key to his play.
“More important than anything is the team backing me,” he said. “I mean that one hundred percent of the way. Without this team I wouldn’t get the win. They are awesome. They are always hustling. I know they are trying their hardest, putting their best foot forward and that is great.”
JDHS coach Boline commented on the clean sheet.
“That is just Max,” coach Boline said. “He is playing incredible, but honestly, that is just Max. He is cool as the other side of the pillow. We were throwing a ninth grader in there in a high-pressure situation after he wasn’t feeling well yesterday, and he had no problem bouncing back.”
JDHS will next host Kenai at Treadwell Arena on Dec. 4-5.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at sports@juneauindependent.com
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