The Alaska Anchorage Seawolves men's ice hockey team is a
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
(NCAA)
Division I college ice hockey
College ice hockey is played principally in the United States and Canada, though leagues exist outside North America.
In the United States, competitive "college hockey" refers to ice hockey played between colleges and universities within the go ...
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
The Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) is a college ice hockey conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a women's-only conference.
From 1951 to 1999, it operated as a me ...
(WCHA). They played at the
Sullivan Arena in
Anchorage, Alaska
Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the List of cities in Alaska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of ...
, and moved to the
Seawolf Sports Complex on campus at the start of the 2019–20 season.
History
The Seawolves began their ice hockey program in 1979, playing 8 of its 31 games against
Division II Alaska–Fairbanks, of which they won all of them, 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
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
. The team was promoted to
Division I that summer following the collapse of Division II hockey.
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
Events January
* January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency.
* January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade.
* January 3 – Afghan leader ...
.
The Seawolves were once again without a conference.
A year later in 1990, they posted their first 20-win season at the D-I level and were selected to the
NCAA Tournament, where they would be swept by
Lake Superior State. They returned to the national tournament the following year after another 20-win campaign. This time they were able to win their first NCAA playoff game, sweeping
Boston College
Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...
, before being swept themselves by
Northern Michigan
Northern Michigan (also known as Northern Lower Michigan and colloquially within Michigan as "Up North") is a region of the U.S. state of Michigan. The region, which is distinct from the more northerly Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Upper Peninsul ...
. The 1991–92 season provided UAA with its best record in program history, with the team going 27–8–1 and garnering a third consecutive NCAA berth, a 3–7 loss to Lake Superior State. This would mark the Seawolves most recent NCAA playoff berth. After one more winning season, the Seawolves joined the
Western Collegiate Hockey Association
The Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) is a college ice hockey conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a women's-only conference.
From 1951 to 1999, it operated as a me ...
.
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 frequently lost both games in the opening round of the
WCHA tournament, losing their first 20 consecutive WCHA playoff games. The 2003–04 season proved to be a surprising one, as despite finishing 8th in the WCHA, the Seawolves made it all the way to the WCHA semifinals.
College hockey underwent a major re-alignment in 2013, when the
CCHA collapsed due to the formation of the
Big Ten
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...
, leading many WCHA members to leave and create the
NCHC. This caused the WCHA to replace many of its departing members with former CCHA teams but even in the new, weaker WCHA, the Seawolves were still a bottom-half team. After finishing with a winning record and making the conference semifinals in the first season, the Seawolves would miss the playoffs each of the next five years.
Beginning in the 2019–20 season, the Seawolves began playing in the 800-person capacity on-campus
Avis Alaska Sports Complex, rather than their old home of the
Sullivan Arena. The university announced this move would save an approximate $200,000 per year. Further financial issues would crop up, as 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 if they could raise two seasons worth of expenses, approximately $3 million by February 2021. 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. In December 2020, the team began fundraising for the needed money, and on August 31, 2021, the university announced that enough donations had been received to save the program.
The team returned to the ice in the 2022–23 season as an Independent program, following the collapse of the men's side of the WCHA after the CCHA's revival in 2021. Additionally, the Seawolves performed several upgrades on the small Avis Alaska Sports Complex to improve the fan and player experience. In 2023–24, the Seawolves posted their best season in a decade, with a 15–17–2 record. The team is currently pursuing plans to build a new arena.
Season-by-season results
Head coaches
As of completion of 2024–25 season. Records includes regular season and playoffs games.
Statistical leaders
Career points leaders
Career goaltending leaders
''GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% =
Save percentage
Save percentage (often known by such symbols as SV%, SVS%, SVP, PCT) is a statistic in various Goal (sports), goal-scoring sports that track Save (goaltender), saves as a statistic.
In ice hockey and lacrosse and association football, it is a sta ...
; GAA =
Goals against average
Goals against average (GAA), also known as average goals against (AGA), is a statistic used in field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and water polo that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender or goalkeeper (depending on spo ...
''
Minimum 30 games
Statistics current through the end of the 2024-25 season.
Roster
As of July 30, 2024.
Olympians
This is a list of Alaska Anchorage alumni were a part of an
Olympic team.
Seawolves in the NHL
As of July 1, 2024.
File:Jay Beagle 2016-04-07 1.JPG, Jay Beagle
File:Curtis Glencross.JPG, Curtis Glencross
File:Peluso with Devils.jpg, Mike Peluso
Source:
References
External links
Alaska Anchorage Seawolves men's ice hockey
{{NCAA Division I ice hockey independents
Alaska Anchorage
Alaska Anchorage
Ice hockey clubs established in 1979
1979 establishments in Alaska