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Alaska Nanooks 2017-2018 Season

Shirtless Guy said:
I don't know about those in Fairbanks but that is pretty uninspiring to me...Would you really rather have Largen than Trevor Stewart?
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Uninspiring how? We swung for the fences with Brekke and he still got cold feet...Largen is a native and an alum. He’s not likely to bail after a couple of good seasons, which I think Anchorage may have to deal with if their hire is successful (and I hope he is, for their sake).

Trevor Stewart will be a great hire eventually, but it still remains that he has zero D1 coaching experience, and going from a Tier II junior program straight to a D1 head coaching job would have been a major leap of faith. Hard to really make that argument when us and Anchorage are already two of the more logistically challenging jobs in D1.

I’m happy with Largen, and happy for him. We’ll find out soon enough how ready he is, but I think it’s a low-risk move that has good potential upside.
 
Re: Alaska Nanooks 2017-2018 Season

Squarebanks said:
Uninspiring how? We swung for the fences with Brekke and he still got cold feet...Largen is a native and an alum. He’s not likely to bail after a couple of good seasons, which I think Anchorage may have to deal with if their hire is successful (and I hope he is, for their sake).

Trevor Stewart will be a great hire eventually, but it still remains that he has zero D1 coaching experience, and going from a Tier II junior program straight to a D1 head coaching job would have been a major leap of faith. Hard to really make that argument when us and Anchorage are already two of the more logistically challenging jobs in D1.

I’m happy with Largen, and happy for him. We’ll find out soon enough how ready he is, but I think it’s a low-risk move that has good potential upside.
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How is Stewart any more of a leap than Largen?
 
Re: Alaska Nanooks 2017-2018 Season

Suze said:
Interesting. Do you like this choice?
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I do. Like it has been mentioned, he's from Fairbanks so I trust he wants what is best for the program. I think I mentioned this before, but I did an interview with Lance last year in regards to the assistant coaches and he discussed Erik's coaching style and commended him on his ability to recruit and connect with players. I think this will benefit the program but I also hope he's capable of keeping the team in line and not becoming too much of a friend.

He is the same age as me which is crazy because I couldn't imagine anyone I know taking on a D1 head coaching gig, but I have faith in him and believe that he deserves this opportunity.
 
Re: Alaska Nanooks 2017-2018 Season

Shirtless Guy said:
How is Stewart any more of a leap than Largen?
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Both have experience as head or assistant coaches in junior hockey (both in the NAHL too). Stewart is a little bit older so has a few more years of experience than Largen but Erik has DI/DIII head and assistant coaching experience, has the connection to Fairbanks and the program itself as a former player so I am happy Largen was selected over Stewart (if it's true that Stewart applied).
 
Re: Alaska Nanooks 2017-2018 Season

davyd83 said:
I think Stewart could be a D-1 coach. He’s definitely done an outstanding job with the Ice Dogs. But a couple years as a D-1 assistant would be beneficial for him.
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Lots of things would be beneficial, but I don't really see how Largen is the better choice...because he's from Fairbanks? Because Stewart has done it in the NAHL? Maybe I'd agree if Largen had been the coach at Marian since they booted up before leaving for UAF but I just don't see it.
 
Shirtless Guy said:
Lots of things would be beneficial, but I don't really see how Largen is the better choice...because he's from Fairbanks? Because Stewart has done it in the NAHL? Maybe I'd agree if Largen had been the coach at Marian since they booted up before leaving for UAF but I just don't see it.
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Erik being from Fairbanks plays a much larger role than you’d think. He will do what it takes to get the team involved in the community.

More community support = more fans at games = more revenue = better recruiting = better players = winning program.

Guy Gadowsky did it, it’s entirely possible with the right person.

You can throw all the money at a program like UAA and ours, if you don’t have someone leading it who is dedicated then you won’t be successful. Even Suze has mentioned UAA has been giving the coaching staff decent funding and they couldn’t do much with it.

Stewart coaches the NAHL and wins in the NAHL. The fans that support the Ice Dogs are so different than the Nanook fan base. The environment is different. I don’t think Stewart could carry that level of success in to D1 hockey. Erik deserves a shot at the helm, just as I believe Lance did, even if he hadn’t served as interim.
 
UAFIceAngel said:
Erik being from Fairbanks plays a much larger role than you’d think. He will do what it takes to get the team involved in the community.

More community support = more fans at games = more revenue = better recruiting = better players = winning program.

Guy Gadowsky did it, it’s entirely possible with the right person.

You can throw all the money at a program like UAA and ours, if you don’t have someone leading it who is dedicated then you won’t be successful. Even Suze has mentioned UAA has been giving the coaching staff decent funding and they couldn’t do much with it.

Stewart coaches the NAHL and wins in the NAHL. The fans that support the Ice Dogs are so different than the Nanook fan base. The environment is different. I don’t think Stewart could carry that level of success in to D1 hockey. Erik deserves a shot at the helm, just as I believe Lance did, even if he hadn’t served as interim.
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Guy never coached Juniors. He was coaching minor league pro with the Fresno Falcons of the West Coast Hockey League, which would later merge with the ECHL. Coincidentally, six years after Gadowsky left Fresno for Fairbanks, Matt Thomas (the now former UAA Coach) took over as head coach of the Falcons.
 
Re: Alaska Nanooks 2017-2018 Season

davyd83 said:
Guy never coached Juniors. He was coaching minor league pro with the Fresno Falcons of the West Coast Hockey League, which would later merge with the ECHL. Coincidentally, six years after Gadowsky left Fresno for Fairbanks, Matt Thomas (the now former UAA Coach) took over as head coach of the Falcons.
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Interesting; I never made that connection between Gadz and Thomas before. Interesting that Gadowsky had/has so much success in college while Thomas flopped. One of the knocks on Thomas was he didn’t have the skill set to run a college program compared to a pro team. Although Gadowsky started in Fairbanks about 18 years ago now...different time back then.
 
Squarebanks said:
Interesting; I never made that connection between Gadz and Thomas before. Interesting that Gadowsky had/has so much success in college while Thomas flopped. One of the knocks on Thomas was he didn’t have the skill set to run a college program compared to a pro team. Although Gadowsky started in Fairbanks about 18 years ago now...different time back then.
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Gads never had his recruiting efforts submerged by the potential death of his program. It’s really a shame the effect that had on both Alaska progams. Not fair to either Matt or Dallas.
 
Squarebanks said:
Interesting; I never made that connection between Gadz and Thomas before. Interesting that Gadowsky had/has so much success in college while Thomas flopped. One of the knocks on Thomas was he didn’t have the skill set to run a college program compared to a pro team. Although Gadowsky started in Fairbanks about 18 years ago now...different time back then.
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Thomas was sub .500 in the ECHL.
 
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