So here it is, the all alaska thing again. Lets put some numbers to it. At the end of last season 9 out of 26 players were Alaskan. Doesn't seem like a majority. Out of those 9 I would say 7 proved that they could play in this league. Sorry, but if you watched the AV's play it was the out of towners that didn't produce not the local boys. This year so far, 3 of 10 tenders were Alaskan and 1 of 4 draft picks. Put the numbers to it guys. Alaska does have players that can play in the NAHL, not a huge amount, but some. Very few of them get a chance without the Avs. But I say for if 1 player from Alaska gets to go to a D1 school because Jamie Smith gave him a chance that no one else would, than it was worth it.

Good for You zamalaska , Thats the problem with these kid sports , to many of these so call fans and boosters of these teams rate the sucess of the program by the number of wins and losses on the board . you can have a lossing season and get 2 or 3 kids into college . that was a sucessful season in my book . not like some that have a bad win loss record and fold it all up ,tillnext year .

Dear Lloyd….

Wins and Losses mean a lot for teams in this league. So does attendance. Funny how those things go hand in hand. You think an owner will continue to take the kind of losses some of these teams take without trying to put a winning team on the ice just because two or three kids move on to college?

Sincerely,
bp

What I'm saying is some years you have a winning season , some years you lose more than you win , but some kids move on to college . everyone can't always win . some one has to lose . but the teams that fold it up and kill a program , because they don't win every year , were probly not good for the sport to start with , some people get satisfaction from building a team to a winner not just sign them up and play . its great to watch a kid grow into his or her own and develope into a true winner .

I'd have to agree with BP on this.

Like it or not, this is a business. Non-Profit, for profit, it does not matter. What does mater is butts in the seats. Results fill seats.

Who is going to sell more tickets? The entertaining local team that works really hard, but manges to lose a bit more then they win. Or how about the very defensive, tight system playing team that wins two thirds of their games, year in and year out. I'd have to go with the latter. Sorry to say this, but reality says that the kid getting to school is the by-product of a consistant program. It is going to happen.

Both of you are right on. The point is to move kids on but the team won'y exist w/o people in the seats. What I am tired of is the misconception of the Avs. Yes they want to find Alaskan talent, why else have a team up here? An all-Alaskan team? Hell no, it won't work and both Smith andBoitz know that. The only person who thought that would work is gone, the former owner. Smith spread himself way too thin last year and forgot to coach the team. On the ice it wasn't a bunch of sub par Alaskans, it was an undercoached, undisciplined, underconditioned team that had no veteran leadership and no defensive core, no physicallness, and no leadership from the veterans. From what I've seen from the way North Iowa has always played Boitz will cover everything except the veteran leadership and if the young guys from last year learned from the poor example given to them they will step up to the plate and produce a competetive team.

There were a lot of areas that need improvement but being an Alaskan isn't one of them. Look at the horrid defense that the Avs threw on the ice last year, how many of them were from Alaska? Oh yeah, one!

Moving kids on to College,winning and putting people in the seats all go hand in hand. The more kids you move on the better players you will attract. The better players you attract the more you win. The more you win the more tickets you'll sell

Avs and numbers

Zamalaska,

Just reviewed an Avs roster. I count 11 Alaska kids not nine. (and I did not see Richardson's name which would have made 12) Now that looks like about 50% from Alaska to me and that looks like a pretty significant number. And more to the point, I would guess that if playing minutes were looked at the vast majority would go to Alaska kids. So, let's not dismiss facts by using false numbers. And as for laying blame on non-Alaska kids for not stepping up, seems like since most playing time was in fact taken up by Alaska players, it’s a bit of a straw man argument to blame the kids who weren't really playing that much for a poor outcome. As for Alaska kids being able to play in the NAHL, I looked up the league stats. Out of the top 100 scorers you got to get to 56th to find the first Alaska kid and none of whom ( I saw 4 total in the top 100 the last one being #98) had a plus minus of better than -18. So either most of their goals were in blow out games anyway, or they were playing in only one end of the ice, or against other really weak teams. (or all three I would guess). By the numbers only, lookslike Avs had 4 kids who could play, at least to some degree, in the NAHL. And that would leave the other 7 or 8 Alaska kids somewhere otside the NAHL . At least by the numbers only.

Now, as to local talent, fans in the seats, win loss records, and upward movement of players, there is no doubt that all these elements are in the mix when computing the bottom line. And in truth god bless the ownership for making opportunity available to Alaska kids and lower 48 kids alike. But the make up of a majority (or at least 50%) of players from Alaska has no doubt hurt the performance of the team and thus the fans in the seats, the bottom line, etc., etc., etc. The game is a business, I am not sure though that in the Avs case the business being protected is not the overall team's but the income of a few individuals.

Smith was a marginal coach, who touted a player (often local) and then when the player wanted out or Smith was done with him, Smith would dump him and bad mouth him. Look at the comments about players before and after they left the team. That is in the real world the coaches prerogative, but it fosters mistrust and poor team unity and in the end quality.

Offtheglass,
I was counting Alaskans the played more than just a few games for the Avs. Many were added in for a fews games due to injuries etc. Also, Richardson is from Colorado so nice try. I appreciate you going by point scoring to rate the players since SCORING is the only important role on the ice, right? About the minutes, did you watch games the AVs played their 3rd and 4th lines more than any other team. Whats the excuse on the lack of defense? As for players leaving, I imagine I know what two you are talking about, where was their veteran leadership? How bout asking North Iowa about Kincaid? Released after two weeks? Looks like he ended up at a top level school like the star he thought he was. Oh what no he didn't. Richardson asks to be traded after sitting out one game. He went from being a team captain to a third line defense fill in. Kent Detlefesn was awesome and greatly skilled how's his attitude? Ask the Wildcat fans on here? Hoe do you build up a young team when your oldest most experienced players cause all of the problems?

Winning and good teams doesn't always put butts in the seats but it does help. I will have to say that Corporate Sponsorship is what is needed to make it in the NAHL more than rear ends in the seats, although nice, it's really not as important as Corporate Advertisment. My perfect examples are St. Louis and Mahoning Valley, they only averaged 748(St. Louis) and 898(MV) fans per game and St. Louis even won back to back NAHL Championships AND they both put a lot of players into D1 programs. They aren't going to stay afloat with those attendence numbers but they do however have great Corporate sponsors.

The Avalanche played their 3rd and 4th line more than any other team in the league? Skinny Zam Man, you thinking straight?

I don't know if they played more then everyone else, but i watched every aves game and they rolled 4 lines all season. Sometimes they would drop to 3, and PP and PK were the top 2 lines, but the 3rd and 4th skated regular shifts (much to the annoyance of the top 2 lines)

As far as the +- goes; first off, everyone knows pointstreak is not completly accurate. Second, Most players had a respectable +- up until Richardson and Detlefson were traded and the teams D fell apart

GiantLog,

You know most of the Alaskans on the team and have been on the ice with a few of them at some point. What do you honestly think? Do the majority of them belong in the league or not? I know they are not the highest skilled players in the world but I believe most of them have the talent to play Junior A hockey.

Avs and numbers

Akbikerboy,



As far as the +- goes; first off, everyone knows pointstreak is not completly accurate. Second, Most players had a respectable +- up until Richardson and Detlefson were traded and the teams D fell apart

Quote:

Now come on, "most had respectable +/-" before the two D men left. is this the two D men who was such a drag of the system anyway?

I liked the team. I enjoyed them. Nice kids. But you really should try and be a little more objective of what the outcome was anf how it came to be.

Zam...I can assure you Ive never been on the ice with any of them. A more accurate statement by you might be......The avs saw more opposing third and fourth line players because they were getting blown out all the time.

That is in the past, why bag on what happened, why not look forward to the future?

Re: Avs and numbers

offtheglass wrote:

Now come on, "most had respectable +/-" before the two D men left. is this the two D men who was such a drag of the system anyway? I liked the team. I enjoyed them. Nice kids. But you really should try and be a little more objective of what the outcome was anf how it came to be.

The fact that they both had poor attitudes doen't mean they weren't solid D-men. And YES I do believe (even though i didn't really like Dets style) that there departure really hurt the team's defensive strength. They both played a ton of min and were the top 2 D. Remove the top D from any team in the league and see if there GAA doesn't rise.

I guess all that I am trying to say is that regardless of where the players come from this year, I expect to see a better product on the ice because of Boitz's presence. If Smith want to shoot out an all-ALaska team then they should show a lil more than last year's Av's due to having a person like Boitz on the bench. If they can keep the few top notch Alaska players and mix them well with good players from out of town them I would expect a lot from them. I won't say they are the team to beat in the West because Hauge is a great coach in Fairbanks and Proffitt is still in the picture up there. But I do expect to see both a better offensive and defensive system intact with Boitz behind the bench regardless of who's on the roster.

Hey bikerboy
Sounds like you have a relative on the first or
second line. What good teams roll only 2 lines
???

Avs Coach

Boitz behind the bench........Smith behind Boitz. Not really a formula for change is it?