West Anchorage hockey team off to a strong defense of state title despite many graduations

West Anchorage finished the 2023-24 season on top of Alaska’s high school hockey world, earning the Division I state title with a 3-2 win over Dimond.

But the Eagles featured 11 seniors, meaning the 2024-25 edition of the team will be relatively short on experience. That doesn’t concern head coach Rob Larkey, who believes his team has developed a strong bond, mostly with off-ice engagement.

“We’re just trying to build something a little bit more than a hockey program here,” Eagles head coach Rob Larkey said. “We’re trying to build a community itself. We have alumni that come and watch some of the games. We get out and do a lot of things for the community: Pioneer Home visits, charity games for the Heart Association, and breast cancer awareness games. So we’re teaching our kids a little bit more about the community itself, not just hockey.”

Despite the large graduating class, the Eagles still return some experience.

The Eagles improved to 2-0 on the young season Tuesday, topping South Anchorage 4-2.

Junior Reed Bott scored West’s first two goals and added an assist and Paul Dittrich added a goal. Both were contributors on the title team, and forward Gage Brody also added a goal. While the returners have provided early firepower, Larkey said, the Eagles are also developing depth.

“There’s younger kids I think will step up and then meet the challenge,” Larkey said. “We had, I think, 52 kids out for our program, which is outstanding.”

While South fell to 0-2 on the season with Tuesday’s loss, head coach Danny Ramsey is also trying to evolve with a fairly young group. In their first game, the Wolverines had nine players who were competing in their first-ever varsity game.

“We’re just trying to grow every game until we get to (the state tournament in) February,” he said.

Seniors Carson Lake, Chase Mascelli and Gordon Jennings provide experience, and senior Thomas Tunney has assisted on all three of the team’s goals so far this season.

Ramsey expects the team to come together quickly with three straight games Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

“It is a short season, so they do have to get on their horse right away,” Ramsey said. “But the boys are pretty good at listening in practice, and we kind of just roll with what we have to do, and we’ll find their identity pretty quick.”

As for the rest of the Cook Inlet Conference, Larkey expects Bartlett to surprise foes this year. With a new head coach in John DeCaro, Larkey also believes Eagle River will enter the season with a new outlook.

Like South, last season’s state runner-up Dimond has started slow, posting a 0-3 record. But the Lynx have an opportunity to rebound this week against Bartlett. Chugiak, the 2022-23 state champ, should also return a strong team.

“I think everybody’s going to have fresh legs and be hungry, and we’ll see where you end when the dust settles,” Larkey said.