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 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.^[2]

Alaska Anchorage Seawolves men's ice hockey
Current season
University	University of Alaska Anchorage
Conference	Independent
First season	1979–80
Head coach	Matt Shasby 3rd season, 23–36–3 (.395)
Assistant coaches	Trevor Stewart Aaron McPheters Chris Kamal Vincent Pietrangelo
Arena	Avis Alaska Sports Complex Anchorage, Alaska
Colors	Green and gold[1]
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.^[3]

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.^[4] 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.^[5] 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.

In 2020, the university announced plans to cut the hockey program, along with skiing and gymnastics, due to sharp reductions in state funding. 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, so the hockey program as a whole went on hiatus and did not compete for both the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons as its future was being determined. 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.^[6] On August 31, 2021, the university announced that enough donations had been received to save the program. The team returned to the ice for the 2022–23 season.^[7]

A Seawolves player (left) chases the puck during a 2023 game against Air Force at Avis Alaska Sports Complex

Season-by-season results

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

^[8]

Head coaches

Tenure	Coach	Years	Record	Pct.
1979–1996	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
2022–present	Matt Shasby	3	23–36–3	.395
Totals	7 coaches	43 seasons	534–797–140	.411

As of completion of 2023–24 season. Records includes regular season and playoffs games.^[9]

Statistical leaders

^[8]

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
Jared Whale	2022–2024	31	1752	11	18	1	88	2	.906	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 July 30, 2024.^[10]

No.	Nat.	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
2		Ethan Warrener	Freshman	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2003-05-15	Calgary, Alberta	Trail Smoke Eaters (BCHL)	—
3		Joey Potter	Sophomore	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2003-05-09	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Union (ECAC)	—
4		Davis Goulker	Junior	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	2001-04-22	Atlanta, Georgia	Shreveport Mudbugs (NAHL)	—
5		Pavol Funtek	Freshman	D	6' 6" (1.98 m)	207 lb (94 kg)	2003-07-03	Bratislava, Slovakia	Minot Minotauros (NAHL)	—
6		Brandon Lajoie	Junior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2001-10-18	Eagle River, Alaska	St. Cloud Norsemen (NAHL)	—
8		Gunnar VanDamme	Sophomore	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	182 lb (83 kg)	2002-12-08	Pittsford, New York	Maryland Black Bears (NAHL)	—
9		Conor Cole	Junior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	183 lb (83 kg)	2001-10-28	St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador	Maryland Black Bears (NAHL)	—
10		Logan Acheson	Junior	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	173 lb (78 kg)	2002-04-24	Edmonton, Alberta	Bemidji State (CCHA)	—
11		Dylan Contreras	Freshman	F	5' 7" (1.7 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	2003-05-23	Yorba Linda, California	Kenai River Brown Bears (NAHL)	—
12		J. P. Steele	Freshman	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2003-10-08	Franklin, Michigan	Maine Nordiques (NAHL)	—
14		Connor Marritt	Graduate	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	174 lb (79 kg)	1999-03-14	Kelowna, British Columbia	Northern Michigan (CCHA)	—
16		Ryan Johnson	Freshman	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	181 lb (82 kg)	2003-05-05	Calgary, Alberta	New Mexico Ice Wolves (NAHL)	—
19		Nolan Gagnon	Freshman	D	5' 10" (1.78 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	2003-04-18	Metcalfe, Ontario	Amarillo Wranglers (NAHL)	—
20		Adam Parsons	Freshman	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2003-10-22	Port Moody, British Columbia	Trail Smoke Eaters (BCHL)	—
21		Ben Anderson	Sophomore	F	6' 5" (1.96 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	2002-03-01	Crystal, Minnesota	Wisconsin Windigo (NAHL)	—
22		Aiden Westin	Sophomore	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2002-02-06	Anchorage, Alaska	Anchorage Wolverines (NAHL)	—
23		Maximilion Helgeson	Senior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2000-12-05	Anchorage, Alaska	Lindenwood (ACHA)	—
25		Will Schimek	Graduate	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	2001-05-22	Mendota Heights, Minnesota	Providence (USHL)	—
26		Dylan Finlay	Junior	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	178 lb (81 kg)	2001-10-24	L'Île-Bizard, Quebec	Powell River Kings (BCHL)	—
27		Dimitry Kebreau	Freshman	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	181 lb (82 kg)	2003-06-16	Silver Spring, Maryland	Maryland Black Bears (NAHL)	—
28		Matt Johnson	Junior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	2001-11-25	Calgary, Alberta	Anchorage Wolverines (NAHL)	—
30		Tyler Krivtsov	Freshman	G	6' 2" (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2003-12-02	Santa Clarita, California	Fairbanks Ice Dogs (AJHL)	—
31		Bryant Marks	Freshman	G	6' 0" (1.83 m)	174 lb (79 kg)	2004-03-12	Wasilla, Alaska	Kenai River Brown Bears (NAHL)	—
33		Greg Orosz	Sophomore	G	6' 3" (1.91 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2002-08-28	Győr, Hungary	Odessa Jackalopes (NAHL)	—
39		Tanner Edwards	Graduate	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2000-03-11	Anchorage, Alaska	Minnesota State (CCHA)	—
43		Karter McNarland	Sophomore	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2003-02-10	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan	Powell River Kings (BCHL)	—
74		Alex Gomez	Junior	F	6' 4" (1.93 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2001-07-18	Parker, Colorado	New Mexico Ice Wolves (NAHL)	—
79		Porter Schachle	Senior	F	6' 4" (1.93 m)	194 lb (88 kg)	2000-11-22	Wasilla, Alaska	Danbury Jr. Hat Tricks (NAHL)	—
86		Jarred White	Graduate	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1999-05-21	Edmonton, Alberta	Western Michigan (NCHC)	—

Olympians

This is a list of Alaska Anchorage alumni were a part of an Olympic team.

Name	Position	Alaska Anchorage Tenure	Team	Year	Finish
Mat Robinson	Defenseman	2005–2009	CAN	2018, 2022	Bronze, 6th

Seawolves in the NHL

See also: Former NCAA players in the National Hockey League

As of July 1, 2024.

Player	Position	Team(s)	Years	Games	Stanley Cups
Jeff Batters	Defense	STL	1993–1994	16	0
Jay Beagle	Center	WSH, VAN, ARI	2008–2022	646	1
Rob Conn	Right wing	CHI, BUF	1991–1996	30	0
Curtis Glencross	Left wing	ANA, CBJ, EDM, CGY, WSH	2006–2015	507	0
Justin Johnson	Right wing	NYI	2013–2014	2	0
Nathan Lawson	Goaltender	NYI, OTT	2010–2014	11	0
Gregg Naumenko	Goaltender	ANA	2000–2001	2	0
Mike Peluso	Left wing	CHI, OTT, NJD, STL, CGY	1989–1998	458	1
Duvie Westcott	Defense	CBJ	2001–2008	201	0

• 
  Jay Beagle
• 
  Curtis Glencross
• 
  Mike Peluso

Source:^[11]

References

1. The Official UAA Brand Book (PDF). Retrieved April 17, 2017.
2. "Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves Men's Hockey". U.S. College Hockey Online. Retrieved May 1, 2012.
3. "NCAA page for men's ice hockey". NCAA.com. Archived from the original on April 13, 2014. Retrieved May 15, 2008.
4. "History of the Great West Hockey Conference". College Hockey Historical Archives. Archived from the original on June 26, 2012. Retrieved February 2, 2013.
5. "The CCHA is going away, but its history will have a final resting place". USCHO. March 6, 2013. Retrieved July 23, 2013.
6. Bragg, Beth (October 19, 2020). "UAA hockey supporters launch Save Seawolf Hockey fundraising campaign". Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
7. "College Hockey Returns to Anchorage; Kraken Get an Assist". si.com. August 31, 2021. Retrieved September 1, 2021.
8. "Alaska Anchorage Hockey Media Guide". Go Seawolves.com. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
9. "Alaska-Anchorage Men's Hockey Team History". United States College Hockey Online. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
10. "2024-25 Men's Ice Hockey Roster". Alaska Anchorage Seawolves. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
11. "Alumni report for . of Alaska-Anchorage". Hockey DB. Retrieved August 17, 2019.

External links

• Alaska Anchorage Seawolves men's ice hockey