Alaska’s junior-hockey program, the Fairbank Ice Dogs, will be gaining a new goalie, senior Will Pinney, for the 2020-2021 season. Pinney said he will be leaving March. 7 to carry out his goal of playing at a high competitive level of hockey.

Before Pinney leaves for Alaska he will be playing as the backup goalie for the Dubuque Fighting Saints in Iowa. Pinney said he will be leaving Feb. 29 for Iowa and will be back March. 6 to leave for Alaska.

“My goals for junior-hockey is to hopefully have a full ride to a D1 school and I definitely want to get a lot of playing time if I play junior-hockey,” Pinney said.

According to Pinney’s hockey coach Andrew Sackrison, Alaska has a strong junior-hockey program but there are limited spots for goalies.

“It’s a good spot and they have a track record of good success as well. So being a goalie obviously is a little different there’s only a couple of spots,” Sackrison said. “But I think Will will go in and be himself and be competitive as he always is.” 

Junior Austin Amelse said playing junior-hockey is a huge opportunity for Pinney to form connections with college coaches. 

“It’s a really good opportunity for him to be looked at by people that he can hopefully get into D1 relationships with, because I know that’s his end goal,” Amelse said.

According to Pinney, he has always aspired to play hockey at an advanced stage, and junior-hockey has helped him prepare for that.      

   “Playing junior-hockey is essential to play D1 hockey which has always been a goal of mine,” Pinney said. “Junior-hockey definitely gives you the best exposure to play at the next level.” 

Sackrison said Pinney has been with the Park program for awhile, and he was a great part of their successful season.  

“He’s a four year starter for us and he probably could’ve left if he really wanted to this season but he chose to stay,” Sackrison said. “Obviously he’s a huge part of our success this year so it’s a great opportunity for him.”

According to Amelse, junior-hockey will help Pinney get recognized by college coaches.

“It doesn’t seem like he is getting D1 looks,” Amelse said. “If he’s playing especially for a team in Alaska, which is really good, he’s gonna be looked at a lot more.”