Abby Gahm is the only local girl attending Arctic Winter Games this month. She is one of five local hockey players to make the teams. Photo courtesy Lee Gahm

Every even numbered year, the Arctic Winter Games come around and snatch up a few Alaskans for their very own version of the winter Olympics. Some of the state's finest athletes make the cut, and the Games, in their 21st year, often act as a springboard for future Olympians.

Hockey, for Alaskans at least, is a big part of the 21 sports represented at the Games.

When opening ceremonies start Monday, in Grand Prairie, Alberta, five local players will be among the chosen few. Team Alaska is sending three teams, including boys midget and bantams and a junior girls team.

The teams faired well in the 2008 Winter Games, earning two golds and a bronze medal.

"It was the first time in 16 years that a boys team took gold," said Jim Craig, hockey sport coordinator who coached the 2008 midget team and heads this year's team as well. "I feel very confident that our teams are at least as strong as in 2008, and will be very competitive."

Eagle River High School senior Connor Sperry is the only local joining the midget team. Connor, a captain on his high school varsity hockey team, also plays for the Alaska Allstar 18AAA team in Anchorage. Sperry, like all the players was selected through an application process and recommendation from current and previous coaches.

Chugiak High freshman Eliot Herz; Andrew Shortridge, a freshman at Eagle River High; and Gruening Middle School eighth-grader Connor Hetzel will fortify the bantam team.

"I think it will be a great trip," said Shortridge, who played goalie goalie for the varsity team. "It will be a lot of fun, and there will be hard teams to play."

Shortridge said he hopes that the experience will help him become a better goalie by playing against such high-caliber teams.

Abby Gahm, a freshman at Chugiak High School, is the lone local girl to represent the junior girls team. She played on the Chugiak JV hockey team and plays on the U16 AAA girls Allstar team.

"Abby is solid on defense and will contribute by her work ethic, which is exceeded by no one," said her Allstar coach Cristy Hickel. "No one outworks her. She is the first on the ice and the last off the ice."

Andrew Shortridge, a freshman goalie for Eagle River High's hockey team, is one of five local players to go to Arctic Winter Games this month. Shortridge will play in the bantam division. Photo by Dan Shepard

Abby is affectionately nicknamed "Bison" by her teammates, Hickel added, because she is strong and fierce on the ice.

Strong and fierce on the ice she may be, but Gahm appeared truly respectful, and somewhat humble, off the ice. This is her second trip to the Games – she went in 2008, representing Eagle River and the United States in speed skating.

"Anyone who has the chance to go should," she said. "It is amazing to meet people from other countries that you would not have a chance to meet any other time."

Gahm said you can watch the Olympics on television, but you can't know what it is like until you are actually competing. She aspires to play for a Division I college and play for the national hockey team.

The Arctic Winter Games, designed to allow athletes from North America to compete against each other, includes athletes from the United States, Canada, Russia and Greenland.

This year, they will be held Monday through March 13.

This article published in The Alaska Star on Thursday, March 4, 2010.