November 7, 2008
E-MAIL 
Alaska Drawing Early Attention
Its Governor Is Not The Only News These Days
by Brad Salmen/CHN Writer
By far, the biggest early-season surprise in the WCHA, if not all of college hockey, is the play of the Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves.
After splitting their first true road series at Michigan Tech last weekend, the Seawolves moved their record to 5-2-1, 2-1-1 in the WCHA. Picked to finish dead last in the preseason coaches' poll, UAA is currently tied for third with Denver. Their 4-1-1 start is their best since 1991-92, which is also the last season the team made the NCAA playoffs.
To put things into perspective, with two more wins, Anchorage will have matched its victory total from last season. But as shocking as the hot play might be to the casual college hockey fan, it does not come as a surprise for coach Dave Shyiak.
"If you look at the last three years, we've improved every single year," he said. "Last year's record (7-21-8) was not indicative of how good this team was. We had numerous games in which we outshot and out-chanced the other team but lost by one goal. This year, we're a more veteran team, and so far we're seeing the results of that growth ... we're scoring on those chances, and winning those tight games."
Indeed, a strong junior class, led by Kevin Clark (4-6—10), Paul Crowder (3-7—10) and Josh Lunden (5-4—9), has contributed mightily to the Seawolves' early-season success, along with junior Brian Bales (1-9—10). All four are instrumental on a strong power play unit, which thus far is converting at a 24 percent clip, which is Top 5 in the nation.
The defensive corps, led by senior Mat Robinson, senior Shane Lovdahl and sophomores Kane LaFranchise and Luka Vidmar, has also been solid.
There have been a couple of unexpected contributions. One is the strong play thus far of sophomore Tommy Grant (6-3—9), who had only seven points all of last season but already has a team-leading six goals, including three in last weekend's split at MTU.
The other is the play of sophomore goaltender Bryce Christianson. Christianson joined the team midway through last season after a freak eye injury sidelined Matthew Gordon, who had been the backup goaltender for junior Jon Olthuis. Christianson played in just four games last year, but this season Shyiak has split the duties between him and Olthuis, and it appears to be paying off. Christianson (3-0-1) enters the weekend with a rock-solid 1.97 GAA, and a .910 save percentage, while Olthuis (2-2-0) sports a 2.78 GAA and .889 save percentage.
"Jon was put in a tough spot last season (with Gordon's injury)," said Shyiak. "(Splitting goaltenders) has been a better system for us this far. Both guys compete hard and both are right around a 90 percent save percentage."
Renovating a team with a 16-year tradition of losing more games than they've won is a difficult challenge, especially in the WCHA. But Michigan Tech coach Jamie Russell, who is dealing with many of the same challenges himself, thinks that Shyiak has the team moving in the right direction.
"I've got a lot of respect for Dave — it's tough to rebuild in the WCHA," said Russell. "He's done a great job of recruiting, and you're starting to see that in his sophomores and juniors, guys like Crowder, Lunden and LaFranchise. They're a hard team to play against ... they remind me of how Dave used to play — hardworking, gritty, tough."
That toughness is beginning to stir an excitement in Sullivan Arena not seen in over a decade.
"Success is the biggest attraction there is," said Shyiak. "We just need to stay consistent. It's a long season, and we'll keep having success if we maintain our focus every weekend."
