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Aces Make A Winning Hand BY JUSTIN FELISKO Anchorage Natives Look To Give Hometown Team More Than Just A Full House During NHL Lockout Nate B them. Unfortunately, one of Alaska's favor- ite hockey-playing sons never had a chance to experience the thrill from the other side of the glass. randon Dubinsky knows all about Alaska's "rowdy and pas- sionate" hockey fans. That's because he used to be one of That all changed on Sept. 15 when the clock struck midnight on the National Hockey League's collective bargaining agreement, leaving players locked out this hockey season. And to paraphrase Alexander Graham Bell, when one door closes another one opens. In that instance, the door that swung open for Dubinsky, along with fel- low Anchorage natives Nate Thompson and Joey Crabb, was at Sullivan Arena, the home of their hometown Aces, a team in the East Coast Hockey League. "To get the opportunity to play for the Alaska Aces, a team I grew up watching, and in an arena I grew up sitting in, was special," Dubinsky said. "It was something that was always in the back of my mind and 22 Dubinsky never thought he would get the chance after leaving Anchorage during his sophomore year at Service High School to pursue his NHL dream. something I wanted to do." Thompson NHL players who chose to play in Europe, but knew that home was where his heart was, and the Aces were a perfect fit. "You always hope something would get done," Dubinsky said of the stalled CBA negotiations that have thus far led to the cancellation of NHL games through November. He could have joined the mass exodus of "When it didn't get done you sort of step back and look for alternatives. There were some offers in Europe, but in the end to me it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to play at the Sullivan Arena." The Aces have been a cornerstone of Alaskan sports since making its profes- sional debut in 1995. The team's roots date even further back to 1989 as a semi-pro- fessional squad. As the only professional sports team in Alaska, youth players grow up idolizing the Aces. These days there is a new class of Alaskan players who are making their mark in the NHL, including Thompson, a center with the Tampa Bay Lightning, who can still recall his first Aces game. "My very first hockey game when I was a little guy was at the Sullivan Arena, so it kind of holds a special place to me," he said. "Dean Larson, Keith Street, Brian Kraft and guys like that I grew up watching were kind of like the NHL to me." Now in his ninth year in pro hockey, Thompson recently served as an alternate captain for Team USA at last year's IIHF DECEMBER.2012 USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM PHOTOS BY Greg Martin, Skip Hickey/Alaska Aces