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SaveSeawolfHockey

Congrats, Seawolves! The seemingly impossible has been done. I haven't posted here for years but figured I'd crawl out of my cave to say this. Awesome day for Seawolves fans.

Will be interesting to see who the next head coach is.
 
DrunkTrainPolka said:
UAA will hold a press conference at 10 a.m. [AK time] on Tuesday [August 31st] to announce the status of Seawolf Hockey reinstatement efforts. To be reinstated, the team faced a herculean task to raise $3 million in private funds by Aug. 30, 2021. A collection of amazing volunteers created this group, Save Seawolf Hockey, to lead those fundraising efforts.

The press conference will be live-streamed at rtmp://a.rtmp.youtube.com/live2.
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Great news from Anchorage!
 
Also what happens after two years? Will the school start funding the program again, or is it going to require endless fundraising?
 
As much as fans and alumni from both schools might bristle at the idea, I really feel that Fairbanks and Anchorage need to work tightly together if both teams are to survive long term. They need to be on the same page with nearly everything they do. The biggest point in the near future is scheduling. If they can get teams to AK, try to get them to stay 10 days and play both teams on consecutive weekends. Do a Sat-Sun vs one team and a Thur-Fri or Fri-Sat vs the other team. Or bring two teams up one weekend and have them play one game at each school. I think the biggest challenge facing the AK teams is getting a steady stream of home games to keep local fans interested. As ASU made plain last year, if you're willing to spend your whole season on the road, you can easily find games without a conference. However that's a huge budget strain and not great for the home fans who have now heavily invested to save their team. They're going to want to see them play at home, otherwise why have a team.
 
Myfiord said “at least 20 candidates from all over the country, including Alaska,” have applied for the job.

any of you know who these 20 candidates may be? just curious...
 
DrunkTrainPolka said:
Myfiord said “at least 20 candidates from all over the country, including Alaska,” have applied for the job.
any of you know who these 20 candidates may be? just curious...
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I could see a lot of current entry level D-I assistants being interested in the job. Even if the team folds again a few years down the road, they would be happy to have that experience on their resume going forward.
 
JohnsonsJerseys said:
As much as fans and alumni from both schools might bristle at the idea, I really feel that Fairbanks and Anchorage need to work tightly together if both teams are to survive long term. They need to be on the same page with nearly everything they do. The biggest point in the near future is scheduling. If they can get teams to AK, try to get them to stay 10 days and play both teams on consecutive weekends. Do a Sat-Sun vs one team and a Thur-Fri or Fri-Sat vs the other team. Or bring two teams up one weekend and have them play one game at each school. I think the biggest challenge facing the AK teams is getting a steady stream of home games to keep local fans interested. As ASU made plain last year, if you're willing to spend your whole season on the road, you can easily find games without a conference. However that's a huge budget strain and not great for the home fans who have now heavily invested to save their team. They're going to want to see them play at home, otherwise why have a team.
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Definitely a case of "one for all and all for one" as I've ever seen in college hockey. Seems like it would increase the chances of one failing if the other failed.
 
Sol Diablo said:
Definitely a case of "one for all and all for one" as I've ever seen in college hockey. Seems like it would increase the chances of one failing if the other failed.
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Maybe, maybe not. Part of the reason they are in the position they are is because both Alaska teams were in the same conference.
 
pdt1081 said:
Maybe, maybe not. Part of the reason they are in the position they are is because both Alaska teams were in the same conference.
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You could be correct. I was thinking along the lines of any given team traveling up there playing one weekend at one rink and the next weekend at the other rink. But maybe hoteling & meals could outweigh airplane tix costs?
 
Sol Diablo said:
You could be correct. I was thinking along the lines of any given team traveling up there playing one weekend at one rink and the next weekend at the other rink. But maybe hoteling & meals could outweigh airplane tix costs?
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It was not uncommon for teams to do that over breaks when the WCHA 2.0 was a league. I know of two occasions that Bemidji State pulled a 10 day trip to Alaska and got games against both schools. Not sure on the savings, but it definitely was "easier" on the traveling team than making two separate trips to Alaska.
 
Sol Diablo said:
You could be correct. I was thinking along the lines of any given team traveling up there playing one weekend at one rink and the next weekend at the other rink. But maybe hoteling & meals could outweigh airplane tix costs?
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In theory, yes. The unfortunate truth is one of the few reasons to play in Alaska is they are "free" games on your schedule. A few teams played 38 game schedules when they had the Alaska double. They stopped because the rest was better for the team than filling all 4 exempted games. It will be a gamble to go there for 2 games (PWR risk). Even worse if you can't schedule the exemptions for home games.
 
pdt1081 said:
Maybe, maybe not. Part of the reason they are in the position they are is because both Alaska teams were in the same conference.
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Yes and no. Their conference home wouldn't impact their lack of money to fund their program going forward, which is the root cause of where UAF and UAA sit today. The state of AK bailed on them and crushed their athletics budgets. The resulting financial instability was a convenient excuse for the core of the WCHA 2.0 to jump ship.

However the fact that both teams currently do not have a conference home IS directly related to both of them being in the same conference most recently. Two seasons ago you had 10 teams in a conference and seven of them still play together going forward. Before that you had ten/eleven other teams that played with one AK school in conference, and this was not an issue for their fellow teams. Two AK schools (plus UAH) playing with seven other "broke" teams (so says Denver and UND) in one conference... That's a nope.
 
I don't have anything against Matt Shasby, but he is not even close to having the qualifications needed to be a DI head coach. (I think an assistant coach would be more fitting). Once again, UAA has shown their lack of commitment to the hockey program. Anyone seriously think he has enough ties to recruit and build a schedule going forward? Both of the other candidates were way more experienced and qualified for the job, and I am sorry that neither of them were hired. After all the hard work to raise 3 million dollars to save the program, it is hard to believe this is the direction the AD has chosen.
 
uaacwolf said:
I don't have anything against Matt Shasby, but he is not even close to having the qualifications needed to be a DI head coach. (I think an assistant coach would be more fitting). Once again, UAA has shown their lack of commitment to the hockey program. Anyone seriously think he has enough ties to recruit and build a schedule going forward? Both of the other candidates were way more experienced and qualified for the job, and I am sorry that neither of them were hired. After all the hard work to raise 3 million dollars to save the program, it is hard to believe this is the direction the AD has chosen.
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Love the Shasby hire...right candidate, at the right time. Yes...he has the contacts and is already building a good schedule. Good interview with him on this College Hockey SW Live. https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-hgvg6-1130c26
 
Wondering if anyone in college hockey land has one of the cream color "UAA" crested jerseys they would be willing to sell or trade for another D-I hockey jerseys (Seawolves or any other team for that matter). Thanks to anyone who can help me track one down.
Ryan

https://goseawolves.com/images/2020/1/10/SkipsPics_2020_01_05_142984_copy.jpg
SkipsPics_2020_01_05_142984_copy.jpg
 
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