Leonard W. Brumm, Jr, or “Oakie” to those who knew him, a former University of Alaska Fairbanks hockey coach, athletic director, and men’s basketball coach, passed away on January 17, 2006, in Racine, Wisconsin, after battling an aggressive form of cancer. Brumm coached hockey and basketball and served as UAF Director of Athletics from 1951-1953. … Read more
Alaska-Fairbanks, which has seen a strong start to 2005-06 soften in recent weeks, will start the remainder of the season with another challenge: the absence of its leading scorer. On Tuesday, the school announced that sophomore center Ryan McLeod would sign a pro contract within the East Coast Hockey League. He was scheduled to leave … Read more
History teaches everything, including the future. — Lamartine The UAF Nanooks will look to their most recent history, namely last year, to learn what’s necessary to take them to their immediate future. “We got older in age marginally, but by class and experience we’re younger,” says head coach Tavis MacMillan. Just how young is this … Read more
“Youth is the strength of our hockey program.” So says first-year head coach Tavis MacMillan, and he’d better be right. The Nanooks welcome 11 rookies this season — almost half the team — after saying goodbye to a senior class that twice engineered home ice in the first round of the CCHA playoffs and brought … Read more
Gadowsky’s departure stuns UAF players, but they welcome Tavis MacMillan with open arms.
Alaska-Fairbanks wasted no time filling its head coach opening, tabbing former assistant and UAF alum Tavis MacMillan. He succeeds Guy Gadowsky, who was named the new coach at Princeton earlier today. “I have such mixed emotions about this opportunity,” said MacMillan. “Guy has been an instrumental part of my coaching career and I have been … Read more
Two seasons ago, Alaska-Fairbanks head coach Guy Gadowsky publicly thanked two beat writers for being the only members of the media not to pick the Nanooks last in the CCHA preseason media poll. This year, UAF is picked ninth by the press, eighth by the coaches, and Gadowsky knows that this represents real progress. “We … Read more
Alaska-Fairbanks coach Guy Gadowsky has dismissed two players from the team for unspecified violations of team rules during the 2002-03 season. The players are both freshmen, forwards Doug Auchenberg and Russell Spence. “They were dismissed for rules violations,” Gadowsky told the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. “I don’t feel good about it. We lost two very talented … Read more
Alaska-Fairbanks sophomore forward Aaron Voros has returned home to Vancouver after he was diagnosed with a bone tumor in his leg. According to the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Voros will soon have a biopsy to determine whether the tumor is benign or malignant. “It’s a shocker. My knee had been bothering me, but we thought it … Read more
There is nothing like a little recognition to make you feel good. So for that, my sincere thanks to Guy Gadowsky. “This is the first time ever that UAF has not been picked by the media to finish dead-last,” said Gadowsky at CCHA media day. “So with the exception of Paula Weston and Eric Olsen, … Read more
After years as a second-tier member of the CCHA, Alaska-Fairbanks has come into its own this season. Under the tutelage of third-year coach Guy Gadowsky, the Nanooks have caught opponents off guard with depth, hard work and a mix of skill and character.
VII O speculative fans of the CCHA,Why do you imagine a last-place finish?Do you not see how the NanooksPersevere among the playersIn the rink where you worship? The Nanooks were picked last by the media in the CCHA preseason poll — by everyone but me, that is. The third of the league’s teams that fielded … Read more
The field for the 2001 Hockey Humanitarian Award has been whittled to a diverse list of five finalists. The award has been handed out annually since 1996 by the Hockey Humanitarian Award Foundation. It goes to the college hockey player — men’s or women’s, Division I or III — who has “exhibited a strong commitment … Read more
Entering his second year as head coach, Guy Gadowski says, “I’m very excited–as I think everybody in Fairbanks is–to see which of these freshmen are going to come in and step up.” It’s not that the Nanooks lack veteran talent, but some freshmen are bound to “step up” for UAF this season; there are 13 … Read more
Guy Gadowsky, head coach and general manager of the West Coast Hockey League’s Fresno Falcons, was named head coach at Alaska-Fairbanks on Wednesday. Gadowsky, a former captain at Colorado College, was one of the finalists for the position, and was offered the job after St. Norbert head coach Tim Coghlin turned down UAF’s offer last … Read more
Tim Coghlin, head coach at Division III St. Norbert and the top candidate for Alaska-Fairbanks’ vacant head coaching position, turned down the university’s job offer Monday, the Fairbanks Daily Miner reported. A perceived lack of institutional commitment to the hockey program was crucial in Coghlin’s decision, he said. “I needed to see some more institutional … Read more
Alaska-Fairbanks head coach Dave Laurion has announced his resignation, effective after his contract expires at the end of May. Laurion joined UAF in 1985 as an assistant coach, serving under Ric Schafer until Schafer’s departure to become the head coach at Notre Dame in 1987. Laurion then served under Don Lucia for six more years … Read more
University of Alaska-Fairbanks hockey coach Dave Laurion sighs. “The first five games of the year, soon after Erik got hurt, we weren’t very good. All of our returning players who knew Erik didn’t play well. Right away, we’re oh-and-seven at home against good teams, when we’re not playing our best hockey.” He pauses. In his … Read more
On October 7, in practice only days before the opening of the season, University of Alaska Fairbanks sophomore defenseman Erik Drygas fell head first into the boards when he caught a skate edge during a drill and severely fractured his fifth cervical vertebra. Two days later he underwent successful surgery to stabilize his neck and … Read more
University of Alaska Fairbanks defenseman Erik Drygas is recovering in the Intensive Care Unit at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital after suffering a serious neck injury resulting from a head-first collision with the boards during practice on Monday, October 7, 1996. On Oct. 10, Drygas underwent surgery to repair a severe fracture to his fifth cervical vertebra. … Read more