The 2003-04 Sun Valley Suns pose before practice last Wednesday at Sun
Valley Skating Center. Front, from left, Ryan Thomson, Luke Smith, Frank Salvoni,
assistant captain John Stevens, captain Chris Benson, Vilnis Nikolaisons,
assistant captain Jamie Ellison, Eric Demment, Paul Baranzelli and David Stone.
Back, from left, head coach John Ellison Sr., Kris Webster, John Miller, Kevin
Bullock, Patrick Finnegan, Brian Watts, Rohan Verplank, Caleb Baukol, Ryan
Enrico, Brad Stansberry, Josh Jacobson, Chris King, Ivars Muzis and Chris
Warrington. Express photo by Willy Cook
New blood pumps up the Suns family
Eight new players, new coach
as 24-game season opens
By JEFF CORDES
Express Staff Writer
Ice hockey, a tight-knit world of tape,
sticks, beer and chipped teeth, is the ultimate family trip.
Brothers play and scrap with brothers,
fathers nod approvingly and there are more connections on and off the ice than a
surround sound system.
Exhibit One is the 2003-04 edition of the
Sun Valley Suns men’s hockey team, which opens its 24-game winter schedule with
a two-game series against the Portland (Ore.) Checks Friday and Saturday, Dec.
19-20.
John Ellison Sr.,
new Sun Valley Suns coach. Express photo by Willy Cook
The new coach is the father of one of the
Suns most dangerous scorers. A new defensive pair features a Finnegan and a
Baranzelli—Minnesota-bred nephews of longtime Suns star defenseman John "Bump"
Finnegan.
Two new players come from tiny Rhode
Island, so they must know each other, and the new goalie has drawn comparisons
to Tony Benson, the brother of the Suns’ assistant coach and 14th-year forward
Chris Benson.
Of course, Latvians Vilnis Nikolaisons and
Ivars Muzis might as well be brothers, and David Stone, the third-string goalie,
once taught both current Suns goalies how to play the position in Flagstaff,
Ariz. 14 years ago.
Speaking of scoring siblings, there is no
brotherly love lost between Suns chief referee Bobby Noyes and Jamie Ellison,
the three-time Suns scoring king who had to harass all-time scoring leader Noyes
from the peanut gallery because of shoulder surgery last year.
Which brings us to the main point—the
brotherly bond is strongest when hockey teams are successful, and the new-look
Suns have the potential to be one of the most successful teams in 29 seasons of
Sun Valley hockey.
The Suns (472-175-28) will debut their
29th season against Portland Friday and Saturday. They’ll have a full 20-game
home schedule instead of last winter’s erratic shortened season due to a lack of
available ice time here.
Hockey fans will benefit, because, as the
television ad says, the more hockey you watch, the tougher you get.
"We have a good, solid, high-level
competitive team," said first-year head coach John Ellison. "We’ve raised our
skill level and ability to compete."
That’s not just coach talk, either.
"This is the fastest, best-shooting Suns
team I’ve seen," said Ketchum-bred goalie David Stone last week. And Stone saw
quite a few pucks while manning the Suns back-up cage position for eight years
through 1999.
Coach Ellison added, "Even though we lost
10 players from last year, we have added eight new players to the roster.
They’re faster, younger, and many have college hockey backgrounds. They’re
high-quality players. You’re going to be in for excellent, fast, hard-hitting
hockey this winter."
Ellison, 68, a retired Alaskan bush pilot,
assisted player-coach Chris Benson behind the bench last winter. Only the sixth
Suns coach in 29 years, Ellison is the first who hasn’t been either a Suns
player or ex-player.
Said Ellison, who started coaching Squirts
hockey in Alaska 25 years ago, "I think it’s a wonderful challenge. I’ll try to
get the team to function as a team, and keep the enthusiasm up, first and
foremost. Our first goal is to have fun. Nobody gets paid for it."
The father of Jamie Ellison, John Ellison
has changed the way the Suns run their practices. He plans to introduce other
novel ideas—novel to Sun Valley, anyway—like shot charts, plus-and-minus ratings
and video-taping.
"I’ll bring in some of the systems I’ve
learned," said Ellison, who said it’s very difficult to be a player/coach like
Chris Benson has been for the Suns the last four years. "There will be a change
in attitude and a change in the ways things are done."
Happily, Ellison has inherited an
abundance of talent, which allows a valuable skater like fourth all-time leading
Suns scorer Chris Benson to concentrate on his skating duties.
The new goalie is 25-year-old Ryan
Thomson, a 5-8, 165-pounder who resembles Suns Hall of Fame goalie Tony Benson
(88-42-7 in 10 Suns seasons ending in 2000). "We’ve strengthened our goaltending
with the addition of Ryan," said Ellison.
Ellison added, "Ryan is extremely quick,
very solid on his angles, and has a very fast glove. He’s quick to come out and
challenge shooters." Thomson and fifth-year goalie Matt Gershater both came from
Flagstaff, where David Stone coached them in Squirts.
"I coached Ryan," said Stone. "Now he’s
coaching me."
Joining his cousin Baranzelli (15 goals
last season, 35 in two Suns seasons) on defense is 23-year-old Patrick Finnegan,
a 5-10, 190-pound left shot from Duluth. Finnegan played at Duluth East, and
also at Val Gardena, Italy and Juniors in Ontario, Canada.
Finnegan said, "All the new guys have good
things to bring to the team. We’ve got lots of skilled guys."
The rookie class of Sun Valley Suns
skaters features: Front, goalie Ryan Thomson; back row, from left, Josh
Jacobson, Chris Warrington, Brad Stansberry, Chris King, Patrick Finnegan and
Ryan Enrico. Not shown is Kevin Bullock.
Express photo by Willy Cook
The Rhode Island connection has Chris
King, 26, a 5-10, 180-pound left-shooting forward who played four years at
Bowdoin College and also in France and Norway, plus Chris Warrington, 25, a 6-2,
210-pound left-shooting defenseman who was Academic All-Ivy while playing four
years from 1997-01 at Brown University.
"We have eight defensemen this year and
it’s going to be interesting," said coach Ellison, who plans to line up
Warrington and second-year Sun Eric Demment, 26, from Williams College as his
first defensive pairing.
Few hockey players in Idaho come from
Hoboken, N.J., but lightning-quick Ryan Enrico, 23, is from Sinatra’s city on
the west bank of the Hudson. Enrico, a 5-7, 160-pound right shot, played left
wing at New England College in Henniker, N.H.
"Enrico has tremendous speed," said coach
Ellison, who will match the new forward up with Chris King and veteran right
wing John Miller. "Every one on that line is super fast."
The first line, of course, features left
wing Luke Smith, center Jamie Ellison and right wing Vilnis Nikolaisons. Their
scoring potential is well established. "They know each other and anticipate so
well," the coach said.
Smith (18 goals, 16 assists) led the Suns
in scoring during last winter’s 12-6 campaign. Nikolaisons, the 1999 Suns
scoring champ, has been the team’s scoring runner-up the last four years. Jamie
Ellison (185 points in 76 games from 2000-02) is healthy and raring to go after
shoulder surgery.
Veteran leadership is also provided by
John Stevens, Kris Webster, Ivars Muzis and Brian Watts. All in all, as coach
Ellison said, "Our team is one of the top senior teams in the nation."
Ellison added, "The players continue their
active involvement in the community with their Boulder Mountain Tour aid station
each February, coaching youth teams during the winter and helping scoop poop
during the annual Ketchum Wagon Days parade.
"The Suns are the community’s team. We
need continued support to make sure there will be a Sun Valley Suns team, now
and in the future."
Sun Valley Suns
Roster for 2003-04
Listed are player names, ages, years
with the 2003-04 Sun Valley Suns team, hometowns and previous hockey teams.
Average age of this year's team is 29.0, one-and-a-half years older than last
year.
GOALTENDERS
Matt Gershater, 25, 5th year
Flagstaff, Ariz. Great Falls Jrs/Univ. of Saint Thomas
Ryan Thomson, 25, 1st year
Flagstaff, Ariz.. New England Coll./Anchorage Aces
David Stone, 35, 10th year Ketchum
S.V. Junior Hockey Association
DEFENSEMEN
Kris Webster, 30, 10th year Ketchum
S.V. Junior Hockey Association
Ivars Muzis, 30, 6th year Riga,
Latvia Juniors Riga
Paul Baranzelli, 23, 3rd year
Virginia, Minn. Junior B, Minnesota
Eric Demment, 26, 2nd year Etna,
N.H. Williams College/France
Patrick Finnegan, 23, 1st year
Duluth, Minn. Duluth East/Val Gardena Hockey Club
Chris Warrington, 25, 1st year
Slatersville, R.I. Brown University
Josh Jacobson, 26, 1st year Mound,
Minn. Hibbing Community College
FORWARDS
Chris Benson, 36, 14th year Cottage
Grove, Minn. Univ. of St. Thomas (St. Paul, Minn.)
John S. Miller, 40, 11th year
Darien, Conn. New Hampton Academy
Brian Watts, 34, 11th year Melrose,
Mass. Hobart College
John Stevens, 31, 9th year
Anchorage, Ak. Univ. of Scranton
Jamie Ellison, 31, 8th year
Anchorage, Ak. Northern Arizona/Herferd Devils (Germ.)
Vilnis Nikolaisons, 29, 6th year
Riga, Latvia Juniors Riga
Luke Smith, 37, 6th year Rye, N.Y.
Dartmouth College
Caleb Baukol, 34, 5th year Great
Falls/Missoula, Mt. Univ. of Montana/WSU
Frank Salvoni, 35, 2nd year Natick,
Mass. Avon Old Farms/Lake Forest College
Mike Selhay, 30, 2nd year
Anchorage, Ak. Univ. of Eau-Claire (Wisc.)/Juniors
Rohan Verplank, 26, 2nd year
Crested Butte, Colo. Univ. of Colorado
J.J. Hanley, 23, 2nd year
Anchorage, Ak. S.V. Junior Hockey Association/Williams
Chris King, 26, 1st year North
Smithfield, R.I. Bowdoin College
Kevin Bullock, 26, 1st year Sun
Valley S.V. Junior Hockey Association
Brad Stansberry, 27, 1st year Sun
Valley S.V. Junior Hockey/Univ. of Colorado
Ryan Enrico, 23, 1st year Hoboken,
N.J. New England College (Henniker, N.H.)
BRAINTRUST
Head coach—John
Ellison Sr. (1st year). Assistant coach—Chris Benson.
General manager—John
Stevens
Financial officer—Carolina
Stevens
Director of Officials—Bobby
Noyes
Team doctor—Dr.
Frank Batcha
Security—Ketchum
and Sun Valley fire departments
Merchandise—Sun
Valley Sunsets and Fury
Captain—Chris
Benson
Assistants—John
Stevens, Jamie Ellison
Sun Valley Suns 2003-04 Ice Hockey
Schedule
Sun Valley's amateur men's hockey team,
entering its 29th season of competition, has a 24-game schedule including 20
games on home ice and 4 games away from home. All 2-game home series are played
Friday and Saturday nights at Sun Valley Skating Center.
DATES + OPPONENT
December 19-20 Portland (Ore.)
Checks (Home)
January 2-3 Boise Blades (Home)
January 9-10 Tahoe Lakers (Away)
January 23-24 Minneapolis (Minn.) Green Mill (Home)
February 6-7 Bucks Furniture (Minn.) (Home)
February 13-14 Michigan Jets (Home)
February 27-28 Dallas South Stars (Home)
March 5-6 Boston Hockey Club (Home)
March 12-13 Jackson Hole (Wyo.) Moose (Home)
March 19-20 Jackson Hole (Wyo.) Moose (Away)
March 26-27 New England Wings (Home)
April 2-3 Connecticut Camels (Home)
NOTES—All home games at Sun Valley
Skating Center begin at 7 p.m. There are three 20-minute periods. Games last
about two-and-a-half hours. Ticket prices are $6 general admission, $3 for kids
ages 5-12, free for children under age 5.
Spectators are asked not to bring
alcoholic beverages into the arena. Refreshments and food are sold in the rink.
Parking will be allowed in the two lots just to the western side of the rink,
but no parking will be permitted on Dollar Road. In addition, spectators can
park in the main Sun Valley parking lot by the village.