If early season practices are any indication of the talent the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé hockey team is bringing to the ice then Crimson Bears opponents should be prepared for some long nights at the rink.
“We have great energy, focus and willingness to work,” JDHS head coach Matt Boline said. “I am excited watching the seniors mold into the leaders we know they are on and off the ice. We have a great team in a very competitive conference.”
JDHS place second in the Division II Northern Lights Conference last season (7-3 NLC, 12-9-1 overall) and fourth at the DII state tournament.
They return 10 varsity regulars including leading senior scorers Luke Bovitz, Dylan Sowa and Emilio Holbrook.
“We are expecting that all three will continue on that trajectory, and be major contributors on and off the ice again this season,” Boline said. “Loren Platt (senior) was a reliable force on the blue line last year, we will look for him to be a leader on defense again. Caleb Friend (senior) started his varsity game his ninth grad year on the first trip of the season and he has shared the net with several other great goalies of the last three years, and he will be solidly in the spotlight for us again…Elliot Welch and Paxton Mertl have been rising stars for the last couple of years now, both juniors, both expected to take on larger roles on and off the ice this season.”
The 2024-25 Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears hockey team pose for a photo Wednesday at the Treadwell Ice Arena. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)
Sports fans can expect to see high speed in-your-face hockey at the Treadwell Ice Arena and on the road rinks if they follow the Crimson Bears north.
“I think it will be a fun year,” senior winger Luke Bovitz (#4) said. “It is a good group of kids. I think if we work hard enough and we play hard and have fun we can accomplish what we want to accomplish. Just go out there and have some fun.”
Wingers play forward on the left or right side of the ice and provide assists to the center that allow him to score. But they also try to score goals and if opponents have the puck wingers are relied on to play tough defense and they must be especially fast ice-skaters.
“It’s not about me, it’s about the team,” Bovitz said. “Even if one player is playing good and the team is not playing good then the one player can’t do it all. It’s about the team effort and everyone playing together. Everybody thinks wingers do just simple tasks like get the puck out of the zone, but everybody needs to be there at all times. The game is always changing. You have to be ready to do what you need to do. It’s not about staying in one spot, you have got to get out of your lane a little bit…Just try and push yourself. I try and communicate with my teammates. It’s all mental, ‘Are you going to go out there and try hard enough?’ And some days I don’t do it how I need to and some days it is what it needs to be.”
A winger must — move the puck out of the defensive zone; help the center score goals; take passes from the forwards; score goals; prevent the opponent’s defenders from getting the puck; block shots and passes from the opponent; intercept passes and start breakaways.
Senior goaltender Caleb Friend (#1) will be called on to dominate between the pipes. While his position has the least ice, it attracts the most attention.
“To be successful we need clean breakouts and shots on net,” Friend said. “It is fun to be in net, it’s a good honor. You don’t just sit there. You do a lot of movement and tracking and a lot of conditioning. I just keep battling and just have fun.”
A goalie must — tend off shots from the opponent; cover the puck to avoid rebounds; pass the puck to make a surprise counter; show mental fortitude.
While goaltender is arguably hockey’s most difficult position to excel at, the center spot is the most important to the action on the ice. He is the central attacker on the ice, and is usually the scorer and is also involved with most faceoffs — a puck drop between two opposing players to restart play. But while he works closely with his two wingers so they can score too he must also support the defense to keep the puck as far away from his own goal as possible.
“It is not just an individual game,” senior center Dylan Sowa (#35) said. “You have to play as a team and center is also kind of a like a third defense. They move the puck up on the breakout…We are all here at six a.m. every day, well we get dressed at 5:30, and I think just moving the puck and trying your best every day and never taking a shift off is how you set a good example…This is my last year, I have been here for three years. I think we learned a lot as a team last year. We had a very solid team and we do again this year, so we’ll go back up to state and try again. We have the leadership, we just have to grind it out. It is not an individual game. If we play as a team, just grind, I think we’ll do pretty good.”
A center must — score goals; complete passes; win faceoffs; support wingers; collect rebounds in opponent’s goal area; keep the puck and opponents away from their own team’s goal; lead breakouts; withdraw quickly from attack to defense after puck loss.
Senior defensemen Loren Platt (#26) said he is “bringing an open mind to the table. Moving the puck to all my forwards and it is a team effort. It is not a one-man show. Everybody has to contribute for us to be a good team this year.”
Defensemen usually defend while the center and wingers usually attack, but defensemen can also attack the opponent’s goal while the wingers can defend. A good defender does not hesitate to support teammates on an attack, but they also must no leave any gaps at that time and must be able to get back to their own goal area quickly.
“Some people don’t understand what our job is,” Platt said. “Like parents or fans will ask how many goals you score. A lot of the time we are the ones defending and not letting our opponents score at all rather than scoring.”
Platt said he tries to set an example for underclassmen with is play.
“I also come onto the ice with my head up, happy and always in a good mood,” he said. “I don’t let any of the others down. If someone is doing something wrong or you want to teach them something you pick their head up and tell them or set them on track to teach them things. For us to have a successful season every kid has got to show up ready to play and practice at 6 a.m. So that we are practicing every day, the whole team. If kids keep missing practice then it is hard to really do anything.”
A defensemen must – defend against opponents attacks; stop passes; gain possession of puck; control game, if opposing team is in possession of puck; control opponent; clear rebounds from own crease; pass puck to attackers; support forwards in their attack; work closely with other defender; coordinate with team members; make quick decisions; bring the puck out from their own zone.
Boline said the seniors will be vital in the team’s progression into the new season. They also include Ike Puustinen, Carter Miller, Matthew Plang, Zander Smith and Angel Aranda-Jackson.
The team’s motto is “Show your work, trust the process, and accept the results.”
Said Boline, “We want kids playing hockey without fear of failure, we grow and learn through those failures and it’s OK to make mistakes as long as we learn from them and move on.”
The team will participate in Saturday’s Ghost Walk community event hosted by the Douglas Fourth of July Committee, doing the work and having fun with all the kids.
They will also be selling raffle tickets beginning this weekend that includes a grand prize 4-wheeler with a plow set-up made possible by hockey fans at Broken Rudder. The perfect set up to keep paths clear to the frozen ponds this season.
JDHS HOCKEY ROSTER (Number, name, position):
Seniors: 1 Ike Puustinen – Forward; 2 Caleb Friend – Goalie; 3 Carter Miller – Defensemen; 4 Dylan Sowa – F; 5 Emilio Holbrook – F; 6 Luke Bovitz – F; 7 Matthew Plang – F; 8 Xander Smith – F; 9 Loren Platt – D; 10 Angel Aranda-Jackson – F.
Juniors: 11 Elias Schane – D; 12 Elliot Welch – F/D; 13 Emerson Newell – D; 14 Isaac Phelps – D; 15 Paxton Mertl – F; 16 Hunter Lingle – F; 17 Isabelle Martin – F; 18 – Jack Barret – F; 19 Nolan Cruz – F; 20 Zach Prather – F.
Sophomores: 21 Bryden Roberts – D; 22 John Melancon – F; 23 Brandon Cruz – F/D; 24 Caden Morris – F/D; 25 Drew Cadigan-Mcadoo – F; 26 Hayden Bauer – F; 27 Johnny Aranda-Jackson – F; 28 Ole Gifford – F; 29 Stahly Sheehan – D; 30 Taylor Petrie – G; 31 Tricen Headings – F.
Freshmen: 32 Austin Roberts – D; 33 Braxton Jenkins – F; 34 Dylan Miller – D; 35 Kamden Kissner – F; 36 Ryker Nelson – F/D; 37 Summit Bos – F; 38 Sidney Boline – F; 39 Zachary Lagerquist – F.
The Crimson Bears play at Palmer Nov. 4-9; host North Pole Nov. 15-16; play at Palmer Nov. 22-23; at defending DII state champ Houston Dec. 5; at Kodiak Dec. 6-7; host DII state runner-up Soldotna Dec. 13-14; host DI Bartlett Jan. 3-4; at Homer Jan. 10-11; host Kenai Jan. 24-25; host Tri Valley Jan. 29-Feb. 1 and travel to the DII state championships at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex on Feb. 6-8.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@juneauempire.com.
