Alaska has named Erik Largen the head coach of the Nanooks hockey program.
Largen has served as the Nanooks’ assistant coach for the past two seasons.
The Fairbanks native and former UAF goaltender will become the program’s 10th head coach, replacing 2017-18 interim head coach Lance West.
Among the 60 active NCAA Division I men’s head coaches, Largen becomes the youngest of the group at 31 years of age.
“I would like to thank Chancellor White and Vice Chancellor Champagne for entrusting me with the head coaching position for the Alaska Nanooks,” Largen said in a news release. “The university system as a whole has been through some ups and downs but there is a long-term commitment by the new administration to lead our program to new heights. It is a great honor to have been chosen to be the new head coach and our staff will work tirelessly every day with an immense passion for the program to live up to the high standards that have been set before us.”
Largen was hired as an assistant coach in August 2016 by former head coach Dallas Ferguson. He served in the same position for West during the 2017-18 season.
“Coach Erik Largen is the future of intercollegiate hockey at UAF,” Champagne added. “He can bring the UAF and Fairbanks communities together, be honest about the challenges we face, and move our program forward in a positive and successful manner. Erik is a coach we can all believe in — he is a winner.”
Prior to joining the Nanooks staff, Largen spent the 2015-16 season as head coach at Marian. In his inaugural season as bench boss, Largen led the Sabres to an 18-7-3 season overall and a 15-4-1 mark in NCHA play.
Largen brings a variety of coaching experience to the table, with stints in the United States Hockey League, the North American Hockey League and the Minnesota Junior Hockey League. Largen also served as the assistant coach for the Fairbanks Ice Dogs from 2009- to 2011. During his tenure, the Ice Dogs were the Robertson Cup runners-up in 2010 and claimed the championship in 2011.
Largen was a Nanooks goaltender from 2006 to 2008. Largen is also featured on the College Hockey Honor Roll in the Fairbanks Hockey Hall of Fame.
