Alaska Anchorage Seawolves men's ice hockey

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Alaska Anchorage Seawolves men's ice hockey
Alaska Anchorage Seawolves men's ice hockey athletic logo
UniversityUniversity of Alaska Anchorage
ConferenceTBD
First season1979–80
Head coachMatt Shasby
1st season, 0–0–0
Alternate captain(s)Nils Rygaard, Cam Amantea, Nolan Nicholas, Eric Sinclair
ArenaSeawolf Sports Complex
Capacity: 900[1]
LocationAnchorage, Alaska
ColorsGreen and gold[2]
   
NCAA Tournament appearances
1990, 1991, 1992
Conference regular season championships
1987
Current uniform
WCHA-Uniform-UAA.png

The Alaska Anchorage Seawolves men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents the University of Alaska Anchorage. The Seawolves were an original member of the now defunct men's division in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA). They played at the Sullivan Arena in Anchorage, Alaska, and moved to the Seawolf Sports Complex on campus at the start of the 2019–20 season.[3]

History[]

UAA began its ice hockey program in 1979, playing 8 of its 31 games against Division II Alaska–Fairbanks (winning all) before beginning a full D-II schedule the following season. The Seawolves rose quickly in the Division II ranks, narrowly missing out on the NCAA tournament in 1984 but promoted the team to Division I that summer when the entire D-II division collapsed.[4]

Anchorage played as an independent for a year before being a founding member of the first west coast conference, the Great West Hockey Conference. The league was very short-lived, lasting only three seasons before the two non-Alaska schools dropped hockey entirely, but it did provide UAA with its first league title in 1987.[5] The Seawolves were once again without a conference in 1988–89, but a year later they posted their first 20-win season at the D-I level and were selected to the NCAA Tournament.

The Seawolves dropped both games to Lake Superior State but returned the following year after another 20-win campaign and this time they were able to win their first NCAA round, defeating the Boston College Eagles. 1991–92 provided UAA with its best record, with the team going 27–8–1 and garnering a third consecutive NCAA berth (the last such for UAA as of 2019). After one more winning season the Seawolves joined the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.

The stability of their new conference came as a double-edged sword, however, as the Seawolves would spend the next 20 years finishing with losing records. To make matters worse the team would lose both games in the opening round of the WCHA tournament most of the time and only twice could manage a First Round series win.

The college hockey world changed in 2013 when the Central Collegiate Hockey Association collapsed due to the formation of the Big Ten and the National Collegiate Hockey Conference.[6] This caused the WCHA to replace many of its departing members with weaker teams but even in the new WCHA UAA was still a bottom-half team. After making the conference semifinals the first season the Seawolves missed the playoffs each of the next five years.

The University of Alaska Board of Regents offered the hockey team a chance at reinstatement in September if they could raise 2 seasons worth of expenses, approximately $3 million by February 2021. The fundraising was divided into 2 parts: $1.5 million in cash and the remainder in firm pledges. As of December 2020, the team began fundraising for the needed money.[7] On August 31, 2021, the university announced that enough donations had been received to save the program. The team is expected to return for the .[8]

Season-by-season results[]

Main article: List of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves men's ice hockey seasons

[9]

Head coaches[]

Tenure Coach Years Record Pct.
1979–1996 Brush Christiansen 17 287–229–30 .553
1996–2001 Dean Talafous 5 50–108–22 .339
2001–2005 John Hill 4 39–89–21 .332
2005–2013 Dave Shyiak 8 80–177��33 .333
2013–2018 Matt Thomas 5 48–105–21 .336
2018–2021 Matt Curley 2 7–53–10 .171
Totals 6 coaches 41 seasons 511-756-137 .413

As of completion of 2019–20 season. Records includes regular season and playoffs games.[10]

Statistical leaders[]

[9]

Career points leaders[]

Player Years GP G A Pts PIM
1989–1992 63 137 200
1981–1984 70 127 197
1984–1987 76 93 169
1989–1992 74 91 165
1985–1988 54 107 161
1988–1991 75 73 148
1989–1992 50 96 146
Rob Conn 1989–1991 76 70 146
1990–1994 73 61 134
1992–1995 45 88 133

Career goaltending leaders[]

GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

Minimum 30 games

Player Years GP Min W L T GA SO SV% GAA
Gregg Naumenko 1998–1999 30 1692 11 13 5 65 1 .920 2.31
2014–2018 122 6973 28 77 14 350 3 .908 3.01
2010–2014 71 3850 21 39 2 198 5 .888 3.09
2010–2014 82 4499 24 41 10 236 1 .886 3.15
1990–1993 48 2688 29 11 6 142 2 .883 3.17

Statistics current through the start of the 2018-19 season.

Roster[]

As of February 2, 2021.[11]

No. S/P/C Player Class Pos Height Weight DoB Hometown Previous team NHL rights
3 Michigan Andrew Lane Junior D 5' 9" (1.75 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1997-02-19 Howell, Michigan Shreveport (NAHL) —
4 British Columbia Troy Robillard Sophomore D 6' 3" (1.91 m) 208 lb (94 kg) 1998-10-12 Coquitlam, British Columbia Coquitlam (BCHL) —
8 British Columbia Drayson Pears Junior D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1998-03-09 Shawnigan Lake, British Columbia Victoria (BCHL) —
11 Ohio Joe Sofo Senior F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1996-08-07 Sylvania, Ohio Coulee Region (NAHL) —
14 Ontario Jared Nash Junior F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1998-01-16 Stratford, Ontario Penticton (SJHL) —
16 Manitoba Zach Court Junior F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 186 lb (84 kg) 1997-01-04 Winnipeg, Manitoba Merritt (BCHL) —
17 Ontario Zac Masson Senior F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1996-02-06 Newmarket, Ontario Langley (BCHL) —
18 Alberta Daniel Rybarik Freshman F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1999-02-20 Calgary, Alberta Salmon Arm (BCHL) —
22 Quebec Olivier Gauthier Freshman F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1999-04-09 Mont-Tremblant, Quebec Cowichan Valley (BCHL) —
26 Alaska Aaron McPheters Senior D 5' 8" (1.73 m) 164 lb (74 kg) 1997-03-25 Anchorage, Alaska Fairbanks (NAHL) —
29 Alaska Preston Weeks Freshman D 6' 3" (1.91 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1999-04-05 Soldotna, Alaska Kenai River (NAHL) —
30 Virginia Kris Carlson Senior G 6' 2" (1.88 m) 196 lb (89 kg) 1997-08-19 Centreville, Virginia New Jersey (USPHL) —
39 British Columbia Kristian Stead Senior G 6' 2" (1.88 m) 192 lb (87 kg) 1996-10-17 Merritt, British Columbia Nipawin (SJHL) —
40 Saskatchewan Brayden Camrud Sophomore F 5' 8" (1.73 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1998-07-24 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Humboldt (SJHL) —

Seawolves in the NHL[]

Player Position Team(s) Years Stanley Cups
Jeff Batters Defense STL 1993–1994 0
Jay Beagle Center WSH, VAN 2008–present 1
Rob Conn Right Wing CHI, BUF 1991–1996 0
Curtis Glencross Left Wing ANA, CBJ, EDM, CGY, WSH 2006–2015 0
Justin Johnson Right Wing NYI 2013–2014 0
Nathan Lawson Goaltender NYI, OTT 2010–2014 0
Gregg Naumenko Goaltender ANA 2000–2001 0
Mike Peluso Left Wing CHI, OTT, NJD, STL, CGY 1989–1998 1
Duvie Westcott Defense CBJ 2001–2008 0

References[]

  1. ^ "Seawolf Sports Complex". University of Alaska Anchorage. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
  2. ^ The Official UAA Brand Book (PDF). Retrieved April 17, 2017.
  3. ^ "Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves Men's Hockey". U.S. College Hockey Online. Retrieved May 1, 2012.
  4. ^ "NCAA page for men's ice hockey". NCAA.com. Archived from the original on April 13, 2014. Retrieved May 15, 2008.
  5. ^ "History of the Great West Hockey Conference". College Hockey Historical Archives. Archived from the original on February 2, 2013. Retrieved February 2, 2013.
  6. ^ "The CCHA is going away, but its history will have a final resting place". USCHO. March 6, 2013. Retrieved July 23, 2013.
  7. ^ Bragg, Beth (October 19, 2020). "UAA hockey supporters launch Save Seawolf Hockey fundraising campaign". Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  8. ^ "College Hockey Returns to Anchorage; Kraken Get an Assist". si.com. August 31, 2021. Retrieved September 1, 2021.
  9. ^ a b "Alaska Anchorage Hockey Media Guide". Go Seawolves.com. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
  10. ^ "Alaska-Anchorage Men's Hockey Team History". United States College Hockey Online. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
  11. ^ "UAA Hockey – 2020–21 Roster". GoSeawolves.com. Retrieved October 31, 2018.

External links[]

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