Fresno’s Gadowsky Named UAF Head Coach

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

St. Norbert Coach Coghlin Turns Down UAF

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

UAF Head Coach Dave Laurion Resigns

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

Northern Lights

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

Erik Drygas: Trying to Triumph Over Tragedy

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

Fairbanks Player Recovering after Surgery

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