On this night, another snow-tastic one throughout Anchorage, the Dimond High hockey team sufficiently aced the test.
Unfortunately, Lynx sophomore defenseman Brayden MacMillan wasn’t left feeling as positive about his end-of-semester chemistry and math finals arriving the next day.
“Not so great,” MacMillan said Tuesday evening outside Dimond’s Ben Boeke Arena dressing room. “Time to go home and study.”
MacMillan and his teammates can at least hit the books with the confidence created from a three-game winning streak and the avenging of an earlier loss to their arch-Cook Inlet Conference rival. Senior Zoie Campbell sparkled with 33 saves and six Dimond skaters registered a point in a resounding 4-1 victory over South.
Seniors Soren Shafer, Dylan Ford, Jason McKenna and Ethan Haimes scored as Dimond capped the pre-holidays portion of the schedule with a signature win in what’s been a middling start. The Lynx improved to 5-3-1 overall, 4-3-0 CIC and bounced back from a 1-0 loss to Wolverines on Nov. 28.
“We needed this one a lot,” said Dimond coach Dennis Sorenson, the dean of all Anchorage high school sportsdom in his 33rd season. “I think (the performance) goes to our senior leadership. Our three tri-captains and the other 11 seniors, they set the tone.”
CIC League Standings
| POINTS | TEAM | RECORD |
| 14 | West | 7-1-0 |
| 13 | Chugiak | 6-2-1 |
| 8 | Dimond | 4-3-0 |
| 8 | Service | 4-3-0 |
| 7 | South | 3-3-1 |
| 2 | Bartlett/East | 1-6-0 |
| 0 | Eagle River | 0-7-0 |
Shafer, whose sophomore brother Jensen is also on the team, played a role in two of Dimond’s scores. He bounced through the slot’s left side and rocketed home his second goal of the season on the power-play at 3 minutes, 47 seconds of the first. His new, often unheralded responsibility of net-front presence on the power play paid off for McKenna at 14:16 of the third. McKenna slithered a shot through traffic from the right point.
Having recently announced her intention to play collegiately at Division III Aurora University in Illinois, Campbell may have played her best game as a Lynx. She stopped 14 shots in the second period and 12 in the third. The win was her second in four starts.
MacMillan was the first to greet Campbell when the final buzzer sounded.
“I made sure to tell Zoie that was probably her best game of the year,” MacMillan said. “She made all the saves we needed.”
Campbell has stopped 52 of 54 shots in two showings versus South.
While Dimond headed into the winter break on a high, South left Boeke feeling rather low. Second-year coach Daniel Ramsey and his staff kept the Wolverines in the room postgame for a lengthy amount of time.
“We talked about where we’re at here at the halfway point,” Ramsey said. “Behind the eight ball. We’ve got these kids who also play (comp) who think they can come in and walk all over high school (competition). But we don’t have a single one with double-digit points.
“I think that tells you all you need to know.”
Senior CJ Heiner scored South’s lone goal at 9:47 of the second. Senior goalie Cole Schmidt was credited with 26 saves. He earned the 21-save shutout Nov. 28. The Wolverines dropped their second straight and fell to 4-4-1, 3-3-1.
Dimond 4 South 1. Great crowd at Boeke. @AKSportsReport @KTUUSports @sportsadn pic.twitter.com/BCkpx5ZWSG
— Unofficial Anchorage HS Hockey (@CIC_Hockey) December 20, 2023
CHUGIAK 4, WEST 3 OT
Junior Blake Yawit power-play goal 5:53 into overtime lifted defending Division I state-champion Chugiak to a thrilling 4-3 triumph over previously-unbeaten West at Eagle River’s MacDonald Center.
Junior goalie Caylin Jones turned in a superlative 39-save performance for the Mustangs (5-5-1, 6-2-1). Chugiak is unbeaten (3-0-1) since losing to West 4-1 on Nov. 29.
Senior defenseman Evan Fitzgerald scored a goal and an assist for West (11-1-1, 7-1-0).
In a rematch of last season’s DI First National Cup final, this outcome likely adds some much-needed spice to the remainder of the CIC season.
Chugiak knocks off West 4-3 OT. @AKSportsReport @KTUUSports @sportsadn pic.twitter.com/ohGuIZNUOL
— Unofficial Anchorage HS Hockey (@CIC_Hockey) December 20, 2023
SULLIVAN ARENA’S ICE RINK RETURNS?
Consider it a possible holiday miracle, but an actual ice rink could soon be back in Sullivan Arena by the end of the week.
“I hope for Christmas, I get to paint a sheet of ice (at the Sullivan),” said John Stenehjem, O’Malley Ice and Sports general manager. “That’s not so much top secret as much as I don’t want to promise anything until I see the sheet of ice on the floor.”
Officials with the Municipality of Anchorage in late July announced the expectation of the 40-year-old Sullivan’s reopening for entertainment and sporting events. O’Malley Sports and Ice reportedly pays the city to operate the venue as well as Ben Boeke and Dempsey Anderson arenas. For much of the last three years and during the COVID-19 pandemic, Sullivan was used as a homeless shelter and it was fair to wonder if the building could make a realistic return. Reportedly, the city has paid and is paying for all necessary cleaning, repairs and improvements.
Recent social media posts have included pictures from inside Sullivan, whipping up a minor frenzy about what could be coming.
Stenehjem said he’s talked to some youth hockey organizations about getting time in the Sully, but no commitments have been made. The North American Hockey (Junior) League’s Anchorage Wolverines have previously made clear a desire to play inside the arena as opposed to Boeke, but Stenehjem said nothing is imminent or official. Logic suggests the NCAA Division I University of Alaska Anchorage squad would have to at least consider moving back into a more spacious Sullivan as opposed to the on-campus Avis Alaska Sports Complex and its limited revenue-generating ability.
Time will tell, eh?
“My goal, we should have people skating in (Sullivan) by the end of the first week of January,” he said. “All of this is subject to change until that sheet of ice gets in there.”
ONE-TIMERS
- Dimond next plays Service on Jan. 11. South returns Jan. 10 to take on Bartlett. Chugiak faces Palmer in a Jan. 10 non-league affair while West will see the Wolverines on Jan. 12
- Tuesday marked the fourth consecutive winter CIC season where Dimond and South challenged one another in the last game before the winter break. The 2020-21 season was played in the Spring because of the pandemic. Tuesday’s crowd was robust if not awe-inspiring inside Boeke. The Lynx have now won three of the four before the break dating back to Dec. 20, 2019.
- At this time last season, Dimond had played 14 total games and South 13. Each team has only played nine thus far and won’t likely sniff playing the maximum 22 regular-season contests.
- The 55th CIC tournament commences Jan. 29 in the league’s 63rd season.
- CIC regular-season titles won by the school since 1962: Dimond 19, Service 14, East 10, South 8, West 7, Chugiak 4, Bartlett 1, Eagle River 0.