In reaching the state 4A tournament last season, the Crimson Bears hockey program glimpsed the peak of Alaska prep hockey for the first time in its 11-year history.
Head coach Luke Adams was proud then — and remains so — but this year he’s made it clear that a state tournament berth is a false summit; the program’s journey has only just begun.
“After making the state tournament, our next step is really competing. … It’s not just how do we get back, it’s how do we get back and do something,” Adams said after a Wednesday morning practice. “It’s about pushing the envelope. That’s where we’re at.”
The Juneau-Douglas High School team has steadily marched toward statewide competitive relevance since its inception in 2005, just two years after the opening of Treadwell Ice Arena, Juneau’s only suitable training facility. Since then, a dedicated contingent of parents, coaches and players have swelled the ranks of youth squirts and peewee teams, which in turn have fed the Crimson Bears program.
This year, the team boasts 36 players, one of the deeper rosters in Juneau prep sports. Many underclassmen sporting crimson and black bring with them many years of competitive experience travelling to Anchorage youth tournaments and also benefit from state tournament experience.
This has allowed Adams to up the stakes: seniority doesn’t mandate a varsity spot. Expectations for the team have never been higher.
“Those kind of (roster) numbers really foster a lot of competition in house which makes everyone better. … Our expectations have been raised significantly,” Adams said. “Details are important; the competition levels are imperative. It’s not necessarily about being the best guy, it’s about being the right guy. It’s really challenging the kids outside of their comfort zone because our players are so used to being good enough here and the best player here doesn’t mean anything.”
At Wednesday’s practice, the Crimson Bears team elected their team captains by popular vote. The team chose junior forward Joseph Monsef as captain; assistant captains are senior defender Niko Hebert and senior forward Cameron Jardell.
Jardell only began skating as an eighth grader. His experience level would have been the norm during the program’s early years; now, he’s an outlier as a varsity leader who didn’t come through the youth ranks.
“I started playing way after most people did, so I had to try really hard to get to where I am, to play at the same level other people did,” Jardell said. “When I first started playing, I would fall at every practice. I had to learn to skate before I could play hockey.”
Jardell — a three-year junior varsity captain — said he has benefitted from Adams’ insistence on JV development.
“I definitely see that aspect, that light of Adams, because I was one that started out in the lower ranks of skill,” Jardell said. “The way he runs his program, the younger kids are treated with a level of importance that a lot of other JV teams in the school aren’t in other sports, and that really helps them progress so by the time they’re seniors, they can play at a varsity level.”
JDHS hockey starts its season this weekend by hosting two games against Wasilla. For Jardell, it’s an opportunity to locate a waypoint on the team’s path to success.
“I think we’ll just learn where we’re at. Not what we can do and what we can’t, but where we are at to get where we have to be to win,” Jardell said.
Wasilla, like Juneau, is not a hockey hotbed in the mold of Fairbanks or Anchorage. Adams sees both teams as outsiders aiming to make a name for themselves: Wasilla against the Cook Inlet Conference’s Soldotna and Colony; Juneau against Mid Alaska Conference foes North Pole and Lathrop, of Fairbanks.
“It should be competitive. Wasilla is in a situation a lot like we are. They’re challenged every year in their conference to make the state tournament and they also have a pool of players that have to compete on a weekly basis on a high level,” Adams said. “I think this game is going to be a really fun game to watch, fun to play. We want to compete no matter who we play, win lose or draw.”
JDHS’ plays Wasilla on Friday at 8 p.m. and on Saturday at 4 p.m. JDHS plays their home games at the Treadwell Ice Arena. Game times will be posted every Friday in the Empire’s weekend preview.
JDHS hockey 2016 schedule:
Nov. 11 JDHS at Whitehorse
Nov. 12 JDHS at Whitehorse
Nov. 18 JDHS vs Hutchinson
Nov. 19 JDHS vs Hutchinson
Dec. 2 JDHS vs Dimond JV
Dec. 3 JDHS vs. Dimond JV
Dec. 7 JDHS at North Pole
Dec. 8 JDHS at North Pole
Dec. 9 JDHS at West Valley
Dec. 10 JDHS at West Valley
Dec. 17 JDHS vs Monroe
Dec. 18 JDHS vs Monroe
Jan. 6 JDHS vs Houston
Jan. 7 JDHS vs Houston
Jan. 12 JDHS at Chugiak
Jan. 13 JDHS at Service
Jan. 14 JDHS at Eagle River
Jan. 21 JDHS vs Whitehorse
Jan. 27 JDHS vs Lathrop
Jan. 28 JDHS vs Lathrop
Feb. 9-11 State Championships at Wasilla
Roster:
(Number; name; position; class)
24 Alexis Doutt F 12
15 Cahal Morehouse D 12
23 Cameron Jardell F 12
25 Gavin Murphy F 12
8 Niko Hebert D 12
9 Quin Gist F 12
21 Ryan Liebelt F 12
7 Simon Marks F 12
32 Cole Barelli F 11
13 Jacob Dale F 11
26 Jaime Moreno D 11
14 Joseph Monsef F 11
20 Kane Ginter F 11
2 Tim McKenna F 11
17 Bill Bosse F 10
16 Blake Bixby F 10
6 Cameron Smith D 10
5 Cully Corrigan F 10
18 Dalton Hoy F 10
3 Finn Adam F 10
4 Finn Yerkes F 10
31 Kyle Farley-Robinson G 10
34 Kyler Alderfer D 10
12 Logan Ginter F 10
35 Nikki Box F 10
10 Owen Squires F 10
19 Ronan Lynch D 10
27 Tyler Weldon D 10
30 Wolf Dostal G 10
28 Cameron Young F 9
33 Carl Doutt D 9
1 Cody Mitchell G 9
29 Evan Fabrello F 9
22 Jaime Hort D 9
36 Josh Frisby F 9
11 Kayli Dollard D 9
• Contact Sports and Outdoors reporter Kevin Gullufsen at 523-2228 or kevin.gullufsen@juneauempire.com.
Alexis Doutt, right, passes to Cameron Jardell during Juneau-Douglas High School hockey practice at Treadwell Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016.
Juneau-Douglas High School hockey head coach Luke Adams speaks to his team on the ice during practice at Treadwell Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016.
