Dear Fellow Alaskan,
 
I grew up in Western Canada, which means I played hockey.  All the kids played. We played until our face, fingers and toes were nearly frozen. Hockey is a way of life in Canada and I loved it! 

My first recollection of playing comes from family photos of me at age three, wearing my sisters figure skates.  Later, I remember countless hours of shooting pucks and working on new moves. The first time I flipped the puck over the boards was the greatest thing I had ever done. I was ecstatic! I remember playing hours of street hockey in the freezing cold winters of Edmonton, Alberta. I played with my friends, my dad, my sisters and shooting on “Mom the Goalie.”

Needless to say, hockey was going to be a big part of my life. I knew this at a young age and I knew I wanted to be very good at it.

 I believe the key to being successful at whatever it is you do means putting in a tremendous amount of hard work. For me, hockey was a passion. The hard work never felt like. I enjoyed playing it.  

 My goals in life were to play college and professional hockey. I had to stay focused if I wanted to reach my goals and realized that things I did off the ice impacted my performance so I stayed out of trouble and made sacrifices. In high school when most of my friends were out at school dances and parties I was at home getting ready for the game. I ate healthier foods to fuel my body. I did my homework and kept good grades so I would be accepted into college and play NCAA college hockey.
 
I missed out on some things that were probably fun at the time, but I knew that the rewards were much greater and allowed me to continue doing what I loved.  This commitment to hockey and school eventually paid off. I received a scholarship to UAA and played four years of NCAA division I hockey. After receiving my degree at UAA, I played two years of pro hockey in Europe and then eight years with the Anchorage Aces.

Now that I am done playing hockey professionally, I have turned my attention to coaching young hockey players here in Alaska. I hope to pass on some of the things I learned playing hockey to the younger kids so they can enjoy the same great rewards. My message to kids, and anyone in general, is to find something you love to do and work as hard as possible to excel at it. Make the appropriate sacrifices and stay focused. If you do this, you can’t lose! Stay Healthy!

Dean Larson
Alaska Aces and UAA Hockey's all-time leading scorer and Seawolf Hall of Fame Inductee

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