Alaskans collect medals, including gold in women’s hockey, at Gay Games

When the Alaskan Ice women's hockey team got its start several years ago in advance of the 2014 Gay Games, the first order of business for some of the players was to learn how to skate. Others merely had to learn how to play hockey.

They learned their lessons well. Last week at the 2018 Gay Games in Paris, the Alaskan Ice captured the gold medal in women's hockey.

The hockey gold was among seven medals collected by Alaskans during the weeklong competition.

Darl Schaaff won four medals in martial arts, including gold in self-defense in the over-50 men's black belt division. He also claimed a silver and two bronzes.

Stephan Smith grabbed silver in the men's 50-54 cycling time trial, and Trevor Storrs took bronze in the men's 45-49 triathlon.

In the gold-medal hockey game, the Alaskans cruised to a 6-0 win over NATO, a team made of up women from Germany, France, Canada and the United States.

They finished with a 2-3 record, with all three losses and one of the wins coming against men's teams. Their last game was against NATO, the only other women's team in the tournament.

The gold medal capped a journey that started several years ago, player Hilary Morgan said.

"About 6 or 7 years ago, teammates Robyn Henry and Amy Holman heard that Gay Games 9 were going to be played in their hometown, Cleveland," Morgan said by email from Paris.

Holman, who plays in the Subway women's league, was one of the few who already played. Henry, Morgan and others decided to learn, and in 2013 their YWCA Alaska/Lifeskills team joined the Anchorage Women's Hockey League.

The team that played in Cleveland in 2014 didn't win any medals, but several members returned to play in Paris. The 2018 roster had an age range from 21 to 60 and included three married couples and one engaged couple.

In their first four games, the Alaskans played men's teams. They lost 5-1 to a California team, 6-1 to a New York team and 4-1 to a Toronto team.

They eked out a 3-2 win against a men's team from France to gain some confidence heading into the gold-medal game, where they scored two minutes in and never looked back.