Alaska Anchorage Seawolves men's ice hockey | |
Current season | |
University | University of Alaska Anchorage |
---|---|
Conference | WCHA |
First season | 1979–80 |
Head coach | Matt Curley 3rd season, 7–53–10 (.171) |
Alternate captain(s) | Nils Rygaard, Cam Amantea, Nolan Nicholas, Eric Sinclair |
Arena | Seawolf Sports Complex Capacity: 800[1] |
Location | Anchorage, Alaska |
Colors | Green and Gold[2] |
NCAA Tournament appearances | |
1990, 1991, 1992 | |
Conference regular season championships | |
1987 | |
Current uniform | |
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 are a member of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA). They play at the Sullivan Arena in Anchorage, Alaska.[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 lost 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.
An ongoing budget crisis in the state of Alaska had created the possibility of the state's two division I schools Alaska-Fairbanks_Nanooks and Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves either having funding drastically cut, the programs being merged into one, one program being eliminated, or both programs being eliminated for the 2017-18 season. Both programs were spared from the chopping block in early November when it was announced that Alaska-Fairbanks would cut its cross country ski teams and that Alaska-Anchorage would cut its ski and indoor track programs.
On May 29, 2019 it was announced that for the 2019-20 season the team moved its home games from Sullivan Arena to the on campus Wells Fargo Sports Complex. The arena has been the teams practice facility. The facility will have the seating expanded over the next few years.[7]
On August 19, 2020 it was announced that the men's ice hockey program would be cancelled effective the end of the 2020-21 playing season. Rumors of the program being cancelled have been going for several years as the state of Alaska has been hit with severe budget constraints prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.[8]
On November 13th, the Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves announced that they would opt out of the 2020-21 season due to concerns over the pandemic. This marks the end of the program as it was already scheduled to be cancelled after the 2020-21 playing season.[9]
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.[10] 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 2022–23 season.[11]
Season-by-season results[]
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 |
2018–2020 | 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.[13]
Statistical Leaders[]
Career points leaders[]
Player | Years | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dean Larson | 1989–1992 | 63 | 137 | 200 | ||
Dennis Sorenson | 1981–1984 | 70 | 127 | 197 | ||
Joey Hayse | 1984–1987 | 76 | 93 | 169 | ||
Derek Donald | 1989–1992 | 74 | 91 | 165 | ||
Peter McEnaney | 1985–1988 | 54 | 107 | 161 | ||
Doug Spooner | 1988–1991 | 75 | 73 | 148 | ||
Steve Bogoyevac | 1989–1992 | 50 | 96 | 146 | ||
Rob Conn | 1989–1991 | 76 | 70 | 146 | ||
Keith Morris | 1990–1994 | 73 | 61 | 134 | ||
Mark Stitt | 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 |
Olivier Mantha | 2014–2018 | 122 | 6973 | 28 | 77 | 14 | 350 | 3 | .908 | 3.01 |
Chris Kamal | 2010–2014 | 71 | 3850 | 21 | 39 | 2 | 198 | 5 | .888 | 3.09 |
Rob Gunderson | 2010–2014 | 82 | 4499 | 24 | 41 | 10 | 236 | 1 | .886 | 3.15 |
Shaun Gravistin | 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 September 17, 2020.[15]
# | S/P/C | Player | Class | Pos | Height | Weight | DoB | Hometown | Previous team | NHL rights |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Brandon Perrone | Sophomore | G | 5' 9" (1.75 m) | 169 lb (77 kg) | 1998-10-26 | Hauppauge, New York | New Jersey (NAHL) | — | |
3 | Andrew Lane | Junior | D | 5' 9" (1.75 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | 1997-02-19 | Howell, Michigan | Shreveport (NAHL) | — | |
4 | Troy Robillard | Sophomore | D | 6' 3" (1.91 m) | 208 lb (94 kg) | 1998-10-12 | Coquitlam, British Columbia | Coquitlam (BCHL) | — | |
5 | Josh Martin | Freshman | D | 6' 3" (1.91 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | 1999-02-18 | Brownstown, Michigan | Lone Star (NAHL) | — | |
6 | Dante Fantauzzi | Sophomore | D | 6' 1" (1.85 m) | 187 lb (85 kg) | 2000-05-01 | Woodbridge, Ontario | North York (OJHL) | — | |
7 | Wyatt Head | Freshman | D | 6' 1" (1.85 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | 1999-03-28 | Kelowna, British Columbia | Coquitlam (BCHL) | — | |
8 | Drayson Pears | Junior | D | 6' 0" (1.83 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | 1998-03-09 | Shawnigan Lake, British Columbia | Victoria (BCHL) | — | |
9 | Nick Wicks | Sophomore | F | 5' 9" (1.75 m) | 171 lb (78 kg) | 1998-04-24 | Delta, British Columbia | Merritt (NAHL) | — | |
10 | Tanner Schachle | Junior | F | 6' 4" (1.93 m) | 218 lb (99 kg) | 1997-06-20 | Wasilla, Alaska | Fairbanks (NAHL) | — | |
11 | Joe Sofo | Senior | F | 5' 10" (1.78 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | 1996-08-07 | Sylvania, Ohio | Coulee Region (NAHL) | — | |
12 | Zach Nazzarett | Sophomore | F | 5' 8" (1.73 m) | 160 lb (73 kg) | 2000-08-25 | Cheektowaga, New York | Youngstown (USHL) | — | |
13 | Alex Frye | Sophomore | F | 6' 0" (1.83 m) | 189 lb (86 kg) | 1998-07-27 | Clarkston, Michigan | Jamestown (NAHL) | — | |
14 | Jared Nash | Junior | F | 5' 11" (1.8 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | 1998-01-16 | Stratford, Ontario | Penticton (SJHL) | — | |
15 | Michael Muschitiello | Freshman | F | 5' 10" (1.78 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | 1999-03-27 | St. James, New York | Topeka (NAHL) | — | |
16 | Zach Court | Junior | F | 5' 10" (1.78 m) | 186 lb (84 kg) | 1997-01-04 | Winnipeg, Manitoba | Merritt (BCHL) | — | |
17 | Zac Masson | Senior | F | 6' 2" (1.88 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | 1996-02-06 | Newmarket, Ontario | Langley (BCHL) | — | |
18 | Daniel Rybarik | Freshman | F | 5' 10" (1.78 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | 1999-02-20 | Calgary, Alberta | Salmon Arm (BCHL) | — | |
19 | Chong-min Lee | Freshman | F | 5' 11" (1.8 m) | 188 lb (85 kg) | 1999-05-10 | Seoul, South Korea | Prince George (BCHL) | — | |
20 | Ethan Gauer | Freshman | D | 6' 0" (1.83 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | 1999-12-23 | Farmington, Minnesota | Bismarck (NAHL) | — | |
21 | Tyrell Boucher | Freshman | D | 6' 1" (1.85 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | 1999-06-03 | Nampa, Alberta | Cowichan Valley (BCHL) | — | |
22 | Olivier Gauthier | Freshman | F | 5' 10" (1.78 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | 1999-04-09 | Mont-Tremblant, Quebec | Cowichan Valley (BCHL) | — | |
23 | A) | Eric Sinclair (Senior | D | 6' 0" (1.83 m) | 186 lb (84 kg) | 1996-02-19 | Kenora, Ontario | Flin Flon (SJHL) | — | |
24 | Zach Krajnik | Freshman | F | 5' 11" (1.8 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | 1999-05-13 | Eagle River, Alaska | Kenai River (NAHL) | — | |
25 | Porter Schachle | Freshman | F | 6' 4" (1.93 m) | 203 lb (92 kg) | 2000-11-22 | Wasilla, Alaska | Kenai River (NAHL) | — | |
26 | Aaron McPheters | Senior | D | 5' 8" (1.73 m) | 164 lb (74 kg) | 1997-03-25 | Anchorage, Alaska | Fairbanks (NAHL) | — | |
27 | Rylee St. Onge | Sophomore | F | 5' 10" (1.78 m) | 196 lb (89 kg) | 1998-04-22 | St. Catharines, Ontario | Des Moines (USHL) | — | |
28 | Devon Mussio | Freshman | D | 6' 2" (1.88 m) | 198 lb (90 kg) | 1999-03-09 | Vancouver, British Columbia | Nanaimo (BCHL) | — | |
29 | Preston Weeks | Freshman | D | 6' 3" (1.91 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | 1999-04-05 | Soldotna, Alaska | Kenai River (NAHL) | — | |
30 | Kris Carlson | Senior | G | 6' 2" (1.88 m) | 196 lb (89 kg) | 1997-08-19 | Centreville, Virginia | New Jersey (USPHL) | — | |
39 | Kristian Stead | Senior | G | 6' 2" (1.88 m) | 192 lb (87 kg) | 1996-10-17 | Merritt, British Columbia | Nipawin (SJHL) | — | |
40 | Brayden Camrud | Sophomore | F | 5' 8" (1.73 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | 1998-07-24 | Saskatoon, Saskatchewan | Humboldt (SJHL) | — |