Official Roster
Full Schedule
2006-07 Team Statistics
Top 5 Returning Scorers
1. F – Paul Crowder – Sophomore – 10 G, 21 A – 24 points
2. F – Josh Lunden – Sophomore – 11 G, 9 A – 20 points
3. F – Merit Waldrop – Senior – 5 G, 14 A – 19 points
4. F – Kevin Clark – Sophomore – 8 G, 9 A – 17 points
5. F – Peter Cartwright – Senior – 5 G, 8 A – 13 points
Key Losses From Last Season
F – Justin Bourne – 10 G, 21 A – 31 points
F – Jay Beagle – 10 G, 10 A – 20 points
D – Chad Anderson – 7 G, 13 A – 20 points
G – Nathan Lawson – 10-15-2, .892 save percentage, 3.03 GAA
2006-07 Scoring By Class
Senior - 27 goals - 30.0%
Junior - 19 goals - 21.1%
Sophomore - 13 goals - 14.4%
Freshman - 31 goals - 34.4%
Non-Conference Schedule
1 vs. Wayne State – Friday, Oct. 12 – Nye Frontier Classic, Anchorage, AK
1 vs. Boston University – Saturday, Oct. 13 - Nye Frontier Classic, Anchorage, AK
2 vs. Alaska – Oct. 19-20
2 at Alaska – Dec. 28-29
Incoming Freshmen
F – Sean Wiles (Tri-City – USHL) / 20-years-old
F – Craig Parkinson (Cowichan Valley – BCHL) / 21-years-old
F – Nick Haddad (Fairbanks – NAHL) / 20-years-old
F – Tommy Grant (Westside – BCHL) / 21-years-old
F – Winston Daychief (Cowichan Valley – BCHL) / 19-years-old
F – Brad McCabe (Alaska – NAHL) / 19-years-old
D – Luka Vidmar (Chicago – USHL) / 21-years-old
D – Kane Lafranchise (Spruce Grove – AJHL) / 19-years-old
G – Matthew Gordon (Burnaby – BCHL) / 20-years-old
G – Aaron Mayo (South Anchorage High School – USHS) / 18-years-old
Average Freshman Age: 19.80
BCHL: 4
NAHL: 2
USHL: 2
AJHL: 1
U.S. High Schools: 1
Breakdown of Current Roster
Freshmen – 10
Sophomores – 8
Juniors – 3
Seniors – 5
NHL Draftees
D – Luke Beaverson – Senior – FLA
D – Nils Backstrom – Sophomore – DET
2006 Season Recap
The Seawolves’ 2006-07 campaign got off to a good start, as the team began the year by going 2-0-2. That record was posted in non-conference play, which is an area in with the Seawolves excelled last season. They went 4-0-2 against Alaska, Merrimack, and Nebraska-Omaha.
Unfortunately, the team won just eight WCHA games and finished in last place for the second straight season. One bright spot for the Seawolves is that a pair of freshmen – forwards Paul Crowder and Josh Lunden – were second (Crowder) and tied for third (Lunden) on the team in points last season, and both return for their sophomore campaigns.
The Seawolves’ goaltending was subpar, as both netminders – junior Nathan Lawson and freshman Jon Olthuis – posted save percentages under 90 percetn and both had goals against averages over three.
To close the season, Alaska Anchorage pushed the regular season champion Golden Gophers to the brink in the first round of the WCHA playoffs. After falling 6-2 on Friday night, the Seawolves won 2-1 on Saturday night before dropping the decisive game by a 3-1 score on Sunday night.
2007 Season Preview
Junior-to-be Jay Beagle, who had 20 points last year, will not return, which is a blow to a team that has generally struggled to score over time. Also gone is senior Justin Bourne, who led the team with 31 points. Senior Chad Anderson is also gone, and his leadership will surely be missed.
Lawson, who was inconsistent in his time at Alaska Anchorage, will forgo his senior season as well, leaving the bulk of the duties to Olthuis. The majority of the defensive core is back, led by senior Luke Beaverson and sophomore Nils Backstrom, both NHL draft picks.
A large (and old) freshmen class will see plenty of icetime and will be leaned upon to play key roles. With only eight upperclassmen, this season could certainly be a struggle for the Seawolves, but if they can keep some of the freshmen and sophomores on campus for three or four years, they’ll have a chance to move out of the basement of the WCHA in the coming years.
Key Question
Goaltending is always at a premium, especially in the WCHA. Olthuis had some of the worst numbers of any WCHA goalie last year, which is kind of expected out of an Alaska Anchorage goalie who is a freshman. However, if the Seawolves are going to make noise this season, he’s going to need to be better. Will Olthuis be able to step up his play and be a reliable backstop for the Seawolves?
WCHA Blog Prediction:
Last place
Showing posts with label Alaska Anchorage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alaska Anchorage. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Friday, August 10, 2007
Former Seawolf Bourne featured on NHL.com
Former Alaska Anchorage player Justin Bourne is featured in an article on NHL.com. The article talks about Bourne getting an invite from the New York Islanders to attend their training camp. He is the son of Bob Bourne, who played 12 seasons with the Isles.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
INCH A to Z: Alaska Anchorage's Paul Crowder
Click here to read more about Alaska Anchorage's Paul Crowder, who was featured today as a part of Inside College Hockey's annual A to Z list of various players throughout college hockey.
Previous WCHA players featured this summer:
Minnesota Duluth's Drew Akins
Minnesota State's Mick Berge
Denver's Chris Butler
Wisconsin's Shane Connelly
Previous WCHA players featured this summer:
Minnesota Duluth's Drew Akins
Minnesota State's Mick Berge
Denver's Chris Butler
Wisconsin's Shane Connelly
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
WCHA Arena No. 10 – Sullivan Arena
Last week, I started my review of all of the WCHA towns and am in the process of ranking them 10 through one in terms of which towns are best for roadtrips.
This week, I’m going to start my list of which WCHA arenas are the best in my mind. What makes a college hockey arena good or bad? Here, in alphabetical order, are my criteria:
1) Arena – Obviously the arena itself is important when it comes to this ranking. How are the sitelines? Is the arena easy to get to and park at? Does the arena offer anything special on the inside?
2) Atmosphere – What is the arena like when the game is going on? Is it more of a college or a pro atmosphere?
3) Crowd – How into the game is the crowd? Do students typically attend the games?
Like I said last week in relation to what makes a roadtrip town the best, it’s largely a personal thing. Some people may base the in-arena experience largely on the crowd and how into they game they are. Others may want a nice and modern arena and don’t care as much about the crowd.
I’ve been to each WCHA arena at least once, and have been to most of the arenas multiple times, so I feel that makes me fairly capable of putting this list together with a decent amount of knowledge.
Starting today and continuing through the next nine Wednesdays, I’ll countdown my personal list, starting today with No. 10: Sullivan Arena, which is located in Anchorage, AK and is of course home to the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves.
Arena
One immediate red flag for me about Sullivan Arena is that it’s a multi-purpose facility. That generally means that the sitelines for a hockey game have potentially been sacrificed to accommodate for other events. But, because it’s fairly easy to get tickets to a Seawolves game and thus you can move around to find a decent spot to sit, this isn’t a huge issue in this case.
The Seawolves share Sullivan Arena with the city of Anchorage, and the arena is located in downtown Anchorage and not on campus. There is ample parking on both the south and west sides of the arena, so finding a place to park isn’t an issue. Because Anchorage is a decent-sized city, there are many hotel offerings in and around the downtown area. However, there aren’t many that are within walking distance of the arena, so the available parking comes in handy.
What really hurts this arena is the inside. Because of the sparse attendance, there are lots of empty yellow and orange seats littered throughout the crowd. The food options are okay, but I was personally disappointed that they had a very small souvenir stand with very few options. I like to purchase a puck at each arena I visit, and was unable to accomplish this feat in Anchorage. The campus bookstore does have some good souvenir options, though.
The university is moving forward with plans for a new sports complex that’s slated to include a new rink for the Seawolves, and that would certainly help out the Anchorage program.
Atmosphere
Sullivan Arena really suffers here as well. Because the team has generally been one of the bottom-feeders in the WCHA over the past several years, the crowds for games are usually pretty sparse, especially when you consider that the arena holds over 6,000 people for hockey games, which is a pretty high number.
Plus, like I said, the arena is a multi-purpose facility; there isn’t that “great college atmosphere” that can help carry some smaller programs in various NCAA sports. Having a great college atmosphere, even on a small scale, can do wonders for the in-arena experience.
Crowd
There are a handful of diehard Seawolves fans that certainly make their voices (and cowbells) heard throughout the evening and are 100 percent behind their team. However, if the team gets behind, which they often do, the arena can get quiet pretty quickly. Student attendance at the games I’ve been was nothing to write home about.
I found that the locals are very friendly to opposing team fans that make the trip to Anchorage. The city residents as a whole take a great deal of pride in what they have up there, and the same holds true at Seawolves games. I was graciously invited into the blueline club area and met many great fans that were a blast to talk to. If you make the trip up to Anchorage, I suggest you poke your head in and say ‘hi.’ You may even get in on some of that Wendy’s chili.
This week, I’m going to start my list of which WCHA arenas are the best in my mind. What makes a college hockey arena good or bad? Here, in alphabetical order, are my criteria:
1) Arena – Obviously the arena itself is important when it comes to this ranking. How are the sitelines? Is the arena easy to get to and park at? Does the arena offer anything special on the inside?
2) Atmosphere – What is the arena like when the game is going on? Is it more of a college or a pro atmosphere?
3) Crowd – How into the game is the crowd? Do students typically attend the games?
Like I said last week in relation to what makes a roadtrip town the best, it’s largely a personal thing. Some people may base the in-arena experience largely on the crowd and how into they game they are. Others may want a nice and modern arena and don’t care as much about the crowd.
I’ve been to each WCHA arena at least once, and have been to most of the arenas multiple times, so I feel that makes me fairly capable of putting this list together with a decent amount of knowledge.
Starting today and continuing through the next nine Wednesdays, I’ll countdown my personal list, starting today with No. 10: Sullivan Arena, which is located in Anchorage, AK and is of course home to the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves.
Arena
One immediate red flag for me about Sullivan Arena is that it’s a multi-purpose facility. That generally means that the sitelines for a hockey game have potentially been sacrificed to accommodate for other events. But, because it’s fairly easy to get tickets to a Seawolves game and thus you can move around to find a decent spot to sit, this isn’t a huge issue in this case.
The Seawolves share Sullivan Arena with the city of Anchorage, and the arena is located in downtown Anchorage and not on campus. There is ample parking on both the south and west sides of the arena, so finding a place to park isn’t an issue. Because Anchorage is a decent-sized city, there are many hotel offerings in and around the downtown area. However, there aren’t many that are within walking distance of the arena, so the available parking comes in handy.
What really hurts this arena is the inside. Because of the sparse attendance, there are lots of empty yellow and orange seats littered throughout the crowd. The food options are okay, but I was personally disappointed that they had a very small souvenir stand with very few options. I like to purchase a puck at each arena I visit, and was unable to accomplish this feat in Anchorage. The campus bookstore does have some good souvenir options, though.
The university is moving forward with plans for a new sports complex that’s slated to include a new rink for the Seawolves, and that would certainly help out the Anchorage program.
Atmosphere
Sullivan Arena really suffers here as well. Because the team has generally been one of the bottom-feeders in the WCHA over the past several years, the crowds for games are usually pretty sparse, especially when you consider that the arena holds over 6,000 people for hockey games, which is a pretty high number.
Plus, like I said, the arena is a multi-purpose facility; there isn’t that “great college atmosphere” that can help carry some smaller programs in various NCAA sports. Having a great college atmosphere, even on a small scale, can do wonders for the in-arena experience.
Crowd
There are a handful of diehard Seawolves fans that certainly make their voices (and cowbells) heard throughout the evening and are 100 percent behind their team. However, if the team gets behind, which they often do, the arena can get quiet pretty quickly. Student attendance at the games I’ve been was nothing to write home about.
I found that the locals are very friendly to opposing team fans that make the trip to Anchorage. The city residents as a whole take a great deal of pride in what they have up there, and the same holds true at Seawolves games. I was graciously invited into the blueline club area and met many great fans that were a blast to talk to. If you make the trip up to Anchorage, I suggest you poke your head in and say ‘hi.’ You may even get in on some of that Wendy’s chili.
Summary
Overall, the Sullivan Arena is certainly not on par with some of the other arenas in the WCHA. That being said, it’s one of the lone downsides of the Anchorage trip. Hopefully the university’s quest for a new facility will come to fruition.
Overall Grade: C-
Overall Grade: C-
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