Brothers Paul and Joey Dittrich have West High boys hockey poised to make a strong title defense

The West Anchorage High boys hockey program graduated 11 seniors last spring after claiming the 2024 Division I state championship. With the departures, there was uncertainty about whether this year’s edition of the Eagles could be the same dominant force.

Not only has there not been any drop-off, their record through this portion of the season is even better than it was last year, with just one loss and an undefeated conference record through January compared to three losses and a tie at this same time a year ago.

Two of the main catalysts for the Eagles' success this year have been brothers Paul and Joey Dittrich.

The prolific scoring siblings are a threat to find the back of the net on any given night. They rank first and second on the team in goals scored, having combined for a whopping 32 in total. Both have had multiple hat tricks in the past seven games.

“We didn’t know if it was going to be the same type of year, but the success we’re having was expected by us but maybe not expected by a lot of people,” junior Joey said. “It’s great to see our core guys coming back and making it happen again.”

According to MaxPreps, Joey leads the team with 19 goals through 18 games and his older brother, Paul, who is a senior, is right on his coattails with 17.

“We had so many brothers coming through, it’s kind of funny,” West head coach Rob Larkey said. “The Keim brothers, the Fitzgerald brothers and now the Dittrich brothers. It’s crazy to keep having all the brothers, but you can see they look for each other out there and can overlook another player for each other. They come from a great family with a bunch of good kids, so it’s so nice for them to be a part of it.”

They have a rink in their backyard and have often played out there together, honing their skills and building strong chemistry over the years.

“It’s been a lot different than when I played comp (league) and didn’t have the same connection as a lot of guys,” Joey said. “When you get to play with your own brother, someone you’ve played with for a long time, it makes a big difference.”

After watching the 2020 Eagles team win a state title when he was in sixth grade, Joey dreamed of accomplishing the same feat. The Eagles did it last year, and he said having a chance to do it again is “really cool.”

“Looking back on then and knowing now that me and him are now those players making it happen out there winning state titles is awesome,” he said.

The brothers were childhood friends with most of the players on last year’s championship team and several returning players on this year’s title-defending squad.

“To win it all with them has just been so special, and having my brother too has just been amazing,” Paul said.

With regions right around the corner and state shortly thereafter, he says the team’s focus is to “play well every game and play hard every game.”

“We’ve gotten super lucky with having some great players and the team has always been amazing not just on the ice, but off the ice as well,” Paul said. “The kids are so fun to be around and it’s just been amazing.”

After recently beating rival and perennial contender Chugiak for the second time this season despite missing six players who were playing out of state, West’s confidence is soaring heading into the postseason.

“Right now we’re feeling really good,” Paul said. “We were struggling a little with that loss just before break, but these last few games, we’ve turned it on and are kind of clicking right now at the right time.”