ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The Sullivan Arena held another sold-out crowd of 6,273 on Saturday night for the Alaska Aces’ final game in the franchise history. The energy was high, the crowd was loud, but the Aces could not scrape a win for their last appearance. The game, much like the season, was full of “almosts.”
The first period began with dropped gloves in under a minute of play. At the 50 second mark Aces captain charged Idaho netminder Branden Komm drawing a penalty. Corbin Baldwin got his feelings hurt about it, and instead of getting a power play he gained a roughing penalty for himself creating the first of two 4-on-4 sessions in the opening period. The next big-ice moment was a few minutes later when Charlie Sampair and Rhett Holland each picked up a minor for a cross-checking event.
Alaska had two power play opportunities with a few excellent scoring chances in the first period, but they just could not cash that check in. The bank was still closed for Idaho, who saw no return on investment for their pair of power plays in the second period. The Aces were doing a prime job gathering up the rebounds on both ends of the ice, which has been one of their weaknesses all year. Another improvement was winning face-offs, which had been plaguing Alaska in the latter half of this season.
Idaho opened the scoring late in the second period when Jefferson Dahl, one of the leading point collectors for the Steelheads, scooped up a puck that came hard off the boards. The next Idaho goal came in a third-period break-away by Anthony Luciani, who also nabbed Friday night’s only buzzer. Things were looking bleak for the Aces when 41 seconds later a rough wrister from Joe Faust brought the score to 3-0. There were 6,273 very quiet Aces fans slowly beginning their mourning process.
Knowing the end was nigh, one of the members of the ice crew came out to do maintenance without his shirt. His antics first stunned the crowd, which then bubbled into levity. Just as the ripple of confused laughter died, Stephen Perfetto broke the Aces 176 minute scoreless streak and nailed the first point of the series for Alaska. With an empty net and extra attacker Yan-Pavel Laplante popped the second puck behind Komm making this a one-goal game with one minute left to play. Alas, the win was not meant to be.
Anchorage native Steven Summerhays was in between the pipes on Saturday, and was joined by his hometown colleagues Dax Lauwers and Chase Van Allen. Tim Wallace would have been here too, but is currently called up to Bridgeport for the AHL. The crowd remembers these players from their years in the Anchorage high school programs and Chase Van Allen came up this season from the University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves NCAA hockey team. These young men grew up watching the Aces play at the Sully, and probably never guessed they would be wearing an Aces sweater in the team’s last game ever.
When the game was over, the players gathered at center ice and raised their sticks in gratitude to a standing ovation. After returning to the locker rooms the three stars of the game came out and tossed their traditional promotional t-shirts into the crowd. Usually this is when the spectators leave. On Saturday night, the Aces fans stood and cheered for an additional 20-30 minutes requiring additional curtain calls from the players. Capitan Garet Hunt remained signing autographs for an hour and a half so everyone in line wouldn’t miss out.
And so we say good-bye to a team that has been a staple in Alaska for two decades first as the Anchorage Aces, and then as the current ECHL franchise Alaska Aces. Bobby Hill has run his last lap on his hockey-stick hobby horse. The last of the gigantic frozen fish heads has been thrown out onto the ice. Boomer has hung up his flag, and beat the last rhythms on his drum. Bob Lester and Kurt Haider have tearfully called their final Aces game. There was a lot of love in the Sullivan Arena on Saturday night, and now the lights are dark.
Boxscore:
Idaho Steelheads 3 at Alaska Aces 2 – Status: Final
Saturday, April 8, 2017 – Sullivan Arena
Idaho 0 1 2 – 3
Alaska 0 0 2 – 2
1st Period- No Scoring.
Penalties- Baldwin Idh (roughing), 0:50; Hunt Ak (charging), 0:50; Nugent Idh (hooking), 5:17; Holland Idh (cross-checking), 11:18; Sampair Ak (cross-checking), 11:18; Anselmini Idh (boarding), 18:39.
2nd Period- 1, Idaho, Dahl 22 (Hache, Anselmini), 18:43.
Penalties- Lauwers Ak (roughing), 2:41; Lauwers Ak (slashing ), 8:38.
3rd Period- 2, Idaho, Luciani 31 (Jean, Harstad), 5:57. 3, Idaho, Faust 14 (Harstad, Van Brabant), 6:38. 4, Alaska, Perfetto 28 (Sivak, Lauwers), 16:03. 5, Alaska, Laplante 9 (Coffman, Perfetto), 18:51.
Penalties- No Penalties
Shots on Goal- Idaho 11-13-10-34. Alaska 13-9-13-35.
Power Play Opportunities- Idaho 0 / 2; Alaska 0 / 2.
Goalies- Idaho, Komm 19-13-3-0 (35 shots-33 saves). Alaska, Summerhays 3-7-0-0 (34 shots-31 saves).
A-6,273
Referees- Andrew Wilk (24).
Linesmen- Dominick Eubank, Scott Sivulich (73).
Contact the author at Liz.Ortiz@prohockeynews.com
Follow the author on Twitter @LizOrtizPHN or @prohockeynews
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