BLOG: Alaska Anchorage dropping men's hockey + Top 5 Seawolves Memories

Amidst an offseason full of surprises, Wednesday's news of a program dropping ended up being not among the top-five. 

Honestly, it's sad. 

Alaska Anchorage announcing Wednesday it will drop men's hockey, along with three other sports (women's gymnastics along with men's and women's skiing) following the 2020-21 season does not come as a surprise. The Seawolves are swimming upstream with multiple obstacles in the way of its future.

Small gloom and doom events trickled out over years of struggles. The oil industry changing. The University of Alaska system spending much of the previous offseason working on a slashed budget. The WCHA men's league disappearing as we know it. Forced independence.

One would be a stumbling block. Add in a move from Sullivan Arena to the much smaller Wells Fargo Center and it's tough to say anyone should be surprised. College hockey's evolution made it so paying for teams to come to Alaska, something UAA did when it joined the WCHA in 1993, and still able to turn a profit does not work anymore with like-minded teams. 

It speaks volumes when bigger schools are happier to go to Alaska for the extra two games and added profits than the ones who make up a conference with the Seawolves. 

Instead, Alaska Anchorage - barring an Alabama Huntsville-like reprive - joins a growing list of defunct programs. The university would rather add a cheaper men's sport than hockey.

It's sad. The Seawolves have a rich D1 college hockey history. (Programs newer than UAA: St. Cloud State, UMass Lowell, UMass, Minnesota State, Nebraska Omaha and a dozen more.) Anchorage was Holy Cross before Holy Cross. In a sport where big and small, east and west, old and new could all come together, having two schools in Alaska brought a bit of uniqueness to the college hockey world.  

For better or worse, those days are over. The CCHA forming as Midwestern like-minded schools spells doom to the like-minded outliers. Even in 2020, there are not enough regional schools to re-form the Great West Conference. It's tough to see more jumping off the cliff and making that splash. (It is a good sign, however, that Alaska reiterated its men's hockey commitment despite also facing several of the same challenges as Anchorage.)

Not having the Seawolves around will be disappointing. Even with recent on-ice struggles, there have been some fantastic stories. (Humboldt bus crash survivor Brayden Camrud playing last year was one of the great feel-good moments of 2019-20.) In a sport that has seen two schools join over the summer, it's also no surprise to see another drop.

That realization makes the top-five sadness chart.

Top Five Alaska Anchorage Memories

While I'm High Fidelity-ing it up, here are my top five Alaska Anchorage hockey memories. There are plenty of others - UAA coaches, players, fans, longtime scribe Doyle Woody - who have better and more in-depth memories and should tell the stories of the Seawolves for the good, the bad and ugly. I can't recommend searching those out enough. I'm not aiming to do that with this list.

Instead, here are the ones which touched me and left an impact in 2020.

5. Sweaters

I'm too young for the Great West days or the time UAA, as an independent, pulled off one of the great NCAA Tournament upsets against Boston College. I didn't watch the 2004 WCHA upset over Wisconsin (and near-upset the next season). These moments should get a spot on any list of Alaska Anchorage memories. However, it would be wrong to say those are my memories. 

It would also be wrong to have a list of moments without discussing the fantastic Seawolves sweaters. 

Not a bad one in the bunch.

4. 2013 Minnesota comeback at Mariucci

Trailing the Seawolves by one with 4:08 remaining, Minnesota made the most of a controversial five-minute major. 

Nick Bjugstad and Ben Marshall scored power-play goals - the second coming with under a minute left - as the Gophers held on to beat Alaska Anchorage 4-3. 

This game stands out for several reasons. Prior to the power play, the Seawolves were playing some of their best hockey, scoring a pair of goals to take the lead on the then-No. 1 team in the nation. It was a reminder that UAA could never be counted out, and a showcase for the 2012-13 Gophers. Minnesota was a team able to wear others down the longer they went against them and had the power to quickly make up deficits. It was a reminder of what could go right and could (and eventually did) go wrong for that Gophers team, showcased in a five-minute PP against Alaska Anchorage.

3. Alaska commercials and staying up late

When Minnesota and Alaska Anchorage were WCHA foes, the 3/4 annual trip to Alaska meant a few things. Late nights with 10:00 pm CT puck drops. Strange games. 

And getting local Alaska commercials...at least until the stream crashed midway through the second period.

While I enjoy watching local ads no matter the locale, there's something about being isolated from the rest of the US which makes the Alaska ones take the cake. To this day, I'm still disappointed WCHA.TV broadcasts do not continue showing local ads.

2. UAA winning a 2007 WCHA first-round game against Minnesota in OT

Alaska Anchorage was never a pushover in mid-2000s WCHA play. (See the aforementioned Wisconsin series.) At the same time, mid-2000s WCHA play was still a time when Minnesota was expected to run through competition and return to the Final Five. The Gophers had never lost a first-round game at Mariucci.

Until the Seawolves held on to upset a Minnesota team that had four first-round picks (and a fifth picked the next summer).

Upsets were not new. Holy Cross happened the year prior. Still, Minnesota, on the heels of a MacNaughton Cup, once again appeared as a national championship contender. Gophers players besides Evan Kaufmann dyed their hair blonde in postseason solidarity. After taking the first game, Minnesota mustered only a single goal and several posts against Alaska Anchorage. It was not enough as Seawolves defender Luke Beaverson scored in OT against Kellen Briggs to tie up the series. 

The Gophers would go on to win Game 3 and the Broadmoor Trophy the following weekend, but the loss was another footnote in the guarantee wins being anything but.

1. First games covered

One WCHA first-round win captures the second spot. Two wins capture number one. Four years later (and Jay Barriball being the only constant between the two), Alaska Anchorage goaltender Chris Kamal stood on his head (besides a Jake Hansen penalty shot) and sent the Gophers packing to a third straight missed NCAA Tournament. 

In hindsight, Alaska Anchorage making the 2011 WCHA Final Five remains one of the last big moments for the Seawolves. It's also one that stands out for me for another reason: Those were the first two games I covered as a reporter at Mariucci. 

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