BLAINE, Minn. – (Sept 24, 2015) – Close to 10,000 people are expected to attend the North American Hockey League Showcase Tournament at the Schwan Super Rink. The North American Hockey League is one of the top junior leagues in the United States. This year the league is celebrating its 40th season and all 22 teams are in Blaine to compete in the showcase tournament. The league is an option for post high school players from around the world to continue their hockey career, and this tournament brings in over 300 college and professional scouts evaluating players.
The tournament is also a homecoming of sorts for two players on the Fairbanks Ice Dogs. After Ryner Gorowsky and Adam Anderson finished their high school career at Centennial they made the decision to head off to Alaska together to continue playing the game they love.
“We don’t want to grow old and look back and say ‘what if’ and regret and wondering what could have been. And we both talked to them through the recruitment process and it seemed like it would be a good fit for us and we decided to head up there”, said Adam Anderson.
Adam and Ryner live in host homes in Fairbanks and say that helped the transition. When asked to compare Alaska to Minnesota they found both difficulties and bright spots.
“Winter is pretty cold, you don’t see the sun very often. Negative forty is negative forty so you’re freezing. But the spring and fall is pretty cool it’s the opposite of winter where the sun is out a lot. It’s about 1:00 a.m. and the sun is still out. So, it’s pretty neat” said Gorowsky.
Anderson said, “The darkness gets tough at times, there’s probably going to be snow up there when the boys get back from this road trip. So, about a month longer each side of winter up there compared to Minnesota here so we have it pretty easy in that sense.”
The other big transition was on the ice. Last year both players were rookies and learned that being in the NAHL was a big jump from high school.
“Being a rookie you don’t really know what to expect going in there playing juniors. It’s a lot more games than high school hockey, so you have a lot less time. Everybody is a lot quicker, a lot smarter, so you just gotta make decisions a lot faster and move you’re feet” said Gorowsky
Gorowsky has helped his team get off to a fast start this season – Anderson however is still recovering from a knee injury and hopes to get back with the team soon.
“First playoff game last year I actually tore my ACL, first game. So this whole first year I’ve been rehabbing now, or the past six months and planning to join the team in a month where I’ll be cleared for contact and get ready to play again” said Anderson.
Both players hope to continue playing at the college level. Anderson says, “we both want to play college hockey and further our schooling that way”. Gorowsky agreed saying “everyone wants to play Division 1 hockey and I hope to be there someday”.
Right now though, they are focused on helping the Ice Dogs win a championship. “Let’s see how the Ice Dogs do first, because that’s our priority right now”, said Anderson.
From Lino Lakes to Alaska they are chasing their dreams on ice.
