Ice Dogs Forward Gage Leonard decides to stay in Alaska for college

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTVF) -Home state, Fairbanks Ice Dog forward Gage Leonard announced where he is committing to play his college hockey, and that choice is to play for the Nanook’s. When asked if it was a hard decision, he says the choice was a pretty simple one for him, especially being from Alaska. “You know, being the Alaskan kid, it was always the dream to play Division One hockey, and being able to play Division One hockey in Alaska is just you know, you can’t beat that.

Leonard added, “What it really came down to was making sure it really was the right fit for me, because I knew I wanted to be in Alaska. Ultimately, this was the final goal, and so you know accomplishing that was pretty exciting.”

Alaska and hockey go together like any cliche match up phrase you can think of, and for Gage, the dream of being able to stay in Alaska his entire hockey career and getting the opportunity to continue to play in Alaska in college was not lost on him.

“Looking at the big picture of it, obviously this story that I’m going for is, you know, coming from Alaska, playing hockey in Alaska. You know youth hockey all the way through juniors, and now having the chance to play at college. It’s a great story, you know, that I can tell, or kids, to look up to me and stuff in the future. Obviously, it’ll be an honor to, you know, wear that Alaskan jersey, but you know ultimately, there is still a lot of work to be done. You know just stepping stones to a great future for sure,” said Leonard

Being an Anchorage kid, there is that choice of what team to cheer for, and if you get the choice, what team to play for. For Gage, Fairbanks is special, because of the Ice Dogs and what the Nook’s offer as a program for him to grow not only as a player, but as a person.

“You know, being in Fairbanks, and playing with the Ice Dogs and getting the chance to play Division One hockey where I played Juniors is special, you know what I mean? I can be a big impact in the community, and stuff like that, so there’s really no competition. I mean if I were to pick the two, it would be the Nanook’s, because of the, you know, great facilities, the coaching staff there, you know, they’re here to help me grow as a hockey player and as a man. So I’m super excited to continue my journey with them,” said Leonard.

For those wonder when exactly Leonard will don a Nanook Jersey, Gage said the plan is to finish out his Juniors Career with the Ice Dogs and then join the Nooks after that.