2020–21 Alaska Anchorage Seawolves men's ice hockey season

The 2020–21 Alaska Anchorage Seawolves men's ice hockey season would have been the 42nd season of play for the program, the 37th at the Division I level and the 28th in the WCHA conference. The Seawolves represent the University of Alaska Anchorage.

2020–21 Alaska Anchorage Seawolves
men's ice hockey season
ConferenceWCHA
Home iceWells Fargo Sports Complex
Rankings
USCHONR
USA TodayNR
Record
Coaches and captains
Head coachMatt Curley
Assistant coachesMatt Bruneteau
P. D. Melgoza
Alaska Anchorage Seawolves men's ice hockey seasons
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Season

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In the summer of 2020, the university announced that the men's ice hockey program would be terminated following the 2020–21 season.[1] The move came as a result from many years of poor attendance and the announcement by 7 members of the 10-team WCHA to leave the conference. A year earlier, due to the decline in revenue for the state, there were rumors that the Seawolves would merge their program with the one in Fairbanks, but nothing came to fruition.[2] The end result was that Alaska Anchorage could no longer support several of its programs and, despite once being the cornerstone of the athletic department, the expensive ice hockey team was scheduled for a swan song in 2021.

Before a single game could be played, however, the COVID-19 pandemic made playing the season untenable. In November, Alaska Anchorage suspended all of its indoor sports due to the increased likelihood of spreading the virus.[3] The cancellation effectively ended the program, although a group of alumni, boosters and residents had been attempting to put together a large donation to keep the team running for at least two years. By mid-December, more than $1 million had been raised with a goal of securing $1.5 million and an additional $1.5 million in pledges by February 21,[4] however, the team's future was undetermined.

Departures

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Player Position Nationality Cause
Luc Brown Forward   Canada Graduation (Signed with Greenville Swamp Rabbits)
Carmine Buono Defenseman   Canada Left Program
Trey deGraaf Forward   Canada Left Program
Dante Fantauzzi Defenseman   Canada Returned to Juniors (Sioux Falls Stampede)
Alex Frye Forward   United States Transfer (Northern Michigan)
Drake Glover Forward   United States Signed Professional Contract (Fayetteville Marksmen)
Tomi Hiekkavirta Defenseman   Finland Graduation
Taylor Lantz Forward   United States Left Program
Marcus Mitchell Forward   Canada Transfer (SUNY Plattsburgh)
Zack Nazzarett Forward   United States Returned to Juniors (New Jersey Junior Titans)
Nolan Nicholas Defenseman   Canada Graduation
Brandon Perrone Goaltender   United States Transfer (Long Island)
Cory Renwick Forward   Canada Graduation
Tanner Schachle Forward   United States Transfer (Long Island)
Eric Sinclair Defenseman   Canada Left Program
Joe Sofo Forward   United States Transfer (St. Thomas)
Rylee St. Onge Forward   Canada Transfer (Mercyhurst)
David Trinkberger Defenseman   Germany Graduation (Signed with Nürnberg Ice Tigers)
Nick Wicks Forward   Canada Transfer (Clarkson)

Recruiting

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Player Position Nationality Age Notes
Tyrell Boucher Defenseman   Canada 20 Grande Prairie, AB; transferred to Northern Michigan
Ethan Gauer Defenseman   Latvia 20 Farmington, MN; transferred to Bemidji State
Olivier Gauthier Forward   Canada 21 Ferme-Neuve, PQ
Wyatt Head Defenseman   Canada 21 Kelowna, BC; transferred to Mercyhurst
Zach Krajnik Forward   United States 21 Eagle River, AK; transferred to Minnesota State
Chong-min Lee Forward   South Korea 21 Seoul, KOR; Left Program
Josh Martin Defenseman   United States 21 Brownstown, MI; transferred to Alabama–Huntsville
Michael Muschitiello Forward   United States 21 St. James, NY; Left Program
Devon Mussio Defenseman   Canada 21 Vancouver, BC; transferred to Mercyhurst
Daniel Rybarik Forward   Canada 21 Calgary, AB
Porter Schachle Forward   United States 19 Wasilla, AK; Returned to Juniors
Preston Weeks Defenseman   United States 21 Soldotna, AK

Roster

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As of February 2, 2021.[5]

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)
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)

Standings

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Conference record Overall record
GP W L T OTW OTL 3/SW PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
#4 Minnesota State 14 13 1 0 1 1 0 39 56 15 27 22 5 1 100 46
#14 Lake Superior State * 14 9 5 0 2 2 0 27 39 34 29 19 7 3 86 63
#18 Bowling Green 14 8 5 1 0 2 0 27 46 34 31 20 10 1 108 67
#10 Bemidji State 14 8 5 1 3 2 0 24 42 34 29 16 10 3 82 70
Michigan Tech 14 7 7 0 1 0 0 20 38 35 30 17 12 1 78 63
Northern Michigan 14 6 7 1 2 2 1 20 40 47 29 11 17 1 79 103
Alabama–Huntsville 14 3 11 0 1 0 0 8 18 49 22 3 18 1 31 80
Ferris State 14 0 13 1 0 1 1 3 28 59 25 1 23 1 55 103
Alaska 0 - - - - - - - - - 0 - - - - -
Alaska Anchorage 0 - - - - - - - - - 0 - - - - -
Championship: March 20, 2021
† indicates conference regular season champion
* indicates conference tournament champion
Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll

Schedule and Results

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Season Cancelled

References

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  1. ^ "Once the toast of the town, UAA hockey is toast, and it's sad but not surprising". Anchorage Daily News. August 25, 2020. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  2. ^ "Frederick column: Alaska hockey teams get reprieve — for one year anyway". The Free Press. August 15, 2019. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  3. ^ "Alaska Anchorage, already cutting hockey program in 2021, opts out of 2020-21 season due to COVID concerns". USCHO.com. November 13, 2020. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  4. ^ "Boosters Fight to Save Alaska-Anchorage Hockey". College Hockey News. December 11, 2020. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  5. ^ "UAA Hockey – 2020–21 Roster". GoSeawolves.com. Retrieved October 31, 2018.