Alaska Anchorage Seawolves men's ice hockey

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]

Alaska Anchorage Seawolves men's ice hockey
Current season
UniversityUniversity of Alaska Anchorage
ConferenceWCHA
First season1979–80
Head coachMatt Curley
3rd season, 7–53–10 (.171)
Alternate captain(s)Nils Rygaard, Cam Amantea, Nolan Nicholas, Eric Sinclair
ArenaSeawolf Sports Complex
Capacity: 800[1]
LocationAnchorage, Alaska
ColorsGreen and Gold[2]
         
NCAA Tournament appearances
1990, 1991, 1992
Conference regular season championships
1987
Current uniform

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.

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 has begun fundraising for the needed money.[7]

Season-by-season results
Main article: List of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves men's ice hockey seasons

[8]

Head coaches
Tenure Coach Years Record Pct.
1979–1996Brush Christiansen17287–229–30.553
1996–2001Dean Talafous550–108–22.339
2001–2005John Hill439–89–21.332
2005–2013Dave Shyiak880–177–33.333
2013–2018Matt Thomas548–105–21.336
2018–PresentMatt Curley27–53–10.171
Totals 6 coaches 41 seasons 511-756-137 .413

As of completion of 2019–20 season. Records includes regular season and playoffs games.[9]

Statistical Leaders

[10]

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 Naumenko1998–199930169211135651.9202.31
Olivier Mantha2014–201812269732877143503.9083.01
Chris Kamal2010–2014713850213921985.8883.09
Rob Gunderson2010–20148244992441102361.8863.15
Shaun Gravistin1990–1993482688291161422.8833.17

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 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) —
8 Drayson Pears Junior D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1998-03-09 Shawnigan Lake, British Columbia Victoria (BCHL) —
11 Joe Sofo Senior F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1996-08-07 Sylvania, Ohio Coulee Region (NAHL) —
14 Jared Nash Junior F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1998-01-16 Stratford, Ontario Penticton (SJHL) —
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) —
22 Olivier Gauthier Freshman F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1999-04-09 Mont-Tremblant, Quebec Cowichan Valley (BCHL) —
26 Aaron McPheters Senior D 5' 8" (1.73 m) 164 lb (74 kg) 1997-03-25 Anchorage, Alaska Fairbanks (NAHL) —
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) —

Seawolves in the NHL
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