Seawolves already surpass coach’s bold ‘prediction’
When it comes to making predictions, Alaska-Anchorage hockey coach John Hill is pretty careful. “I said before the start of this season that I would go out on a limb and predict we’d double our win total,†said Hill.
That would have required two victories, and the Seawolves already have gone far beyond that, to jump up among the biggest surprises in a surprise-filled WCHA first half. Among the most startling surprises, in no particular order, are WisconsinÂ’s fantastic school-record 14-game unbeaten streak; MinnesotaÂ’s unexpected inability to win consistently; North DakotaÂ’s single defeat and whopping games-in-hand advantage; and St. Cloud StateÂ’s surge to the top of the league in a rebuilding year.
Of those, perhaps the biggest surprises are to see Wisconsin near the top and Minnesota near the bottom of the WCHA, because Minnesota was the consensus preseason pick to win the WCHA, and after all the powerful Badger teams in history, this Wisconsin team was not expected to be a contender.
But there is one other surprise of the first half, which might rank as the biggest, although it is far more subtle: Alaska-Anchorage has won three straight WCHA games, boosting the Seawolves to a 4-6-2 league record, and 7-7-2 overall.
True, that achievement doesnÂ’t have the panache of a record unbeaten streak or a drive for contention, but it does put the Seawolves in the heady atmosphere of being ahead of preseason favorite Minnesota, which is one point behind, at 4-7-1, with a 7-8-1 overall slate. But consider where the Seawolves were coming from.
The significance of this season in Alaska requires going back to last season, when Alaska-Anchorage opened the season by beating arch-rival Alaska-Fairbanks, indicating some promise for coach Hill. But that, as they say, was it for victories by the Seawolves. Anchorage doesnÂ’t see much sun in the long winter months, but things became considerably bleaker when A-A finished 0-22-6 in the WCHA, and 1-28-7 overall.
Back at the start of the season, when Hill facetiously predicted doubling their one-victory record, the Seawolves were struggling, but Hill saw a silver lining. “We have a young team, but we’ve enjoyed going to the rink this year,†he said. The fans in Anchorage also seem to be enjoying it, nearing 4,000 the last couple of weekends, as the program redefines itself.
This season started out with an eerie sameness – another victory over Alaska-Fairbanks, followed by a loss. After losing twice at Minnesota-Duluth, and dropping the first game at Minnesota State-Mankato, the Seawolves captured their first WCHA triumph in two seasons, 2-1 in the rematch at Mankato. There followed a loss and tie against Denver, and a loss and a tie against St. Cloud, then the Seawolves returned home and lost the first game 4-0 to Minnesota.
The turnaround officially happened in a 6-4 victory in the second Gopher game. That led directly to last weekend, when defending WCHA season champion Colorado College came to Anchorage. That made it a big couple of weeks for Hill, who was initiated into the WCHA coaching realm as Don LuciaÂ’s assistant, both at Colorado College and Minnesota, before taking the Anchorage job two seasons ago.
Colorado College was ranked fourth in the country, but Anchorage rose from a 2-0 deficit to sting the Tigers 5-2, thanks to a productive night for the first line. Sophomore Curtis Glencross scored a pure hat trick, while sophomore Chris Fournier had a goal and two assists, and junior John Hopson added three assists. Outshot 33-24, the Seawolves got stout goaltending from Chris King, whose 31 saves anchored the triumph. The next night, Kevin Reiter stepped into the nets and kicked out 40 saves, and Anchorage beat Colorado College again, 3-1.
It is a credit to Hill’s consistency that before victories stopped being impossible to achieve, he never tried to rationalize away losses, and he said – and maybe demanded – that the players weren’t looking at this season as a continuation of a seemingly endless winless streak, overlapping since the end of the 2001-02 season.
After playing hard, but faltering both nights in Duluth, Hill said: “We make some mental mistakes, and when we turn the puck over against good teams, they score. But we had seven guys who played their first WCHA games [at Duluth]. Our defensive corps is especially young.
“This year, we were coming close to clicking on some 2-on-1s. Last year, we werenÂ’t close.Ââ€
Amazingly, the Seawolves are suddenly winning, mostly with younger players. Glencross leads the team in scoring with 9-9—18, while Fournier, an Alaska native who transferred home from North Dakota, is second (6-9—15). Third is freshman defenseman Mark Smith (3-8—11).
Still, the Seawolves are the best evidence that the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts.
Consider that Anchorage goal-scoring is second-lowest among WCHA teams, with 39 goals representing a feeble average of 2.44 goals per game. And their special teams have hardly been special, ranking the worst in the league. Anchorage has scored 10 power-play goals, which ranks eighth at a 16.4 percent clip, while allowing 18 to opposing power plays, for a 76.9 percent rate. But the Seawolves have yet to score a short-handed goal, while allowing four of them. On top of that, the Seawolves are taking the second-most penalties in the league – not a good idea, when you’re giving up a lot of power-play goals.
But all the bad numbers have been flushed from the Anchorage system like the tide rushing out of Cook Inlet. During the last three games, when the Seawolves have outscored opponents 7-1 during the third periods of the three victories.
The Seawolves arenÂ’t all freshmen and sophomores, either. In fact, one of the most predictable moves Hill might be expected to make is the next time an opponent pulls its goaltender, look for Hill to dispatch senior Dallas Steward. Against Colorado College, Steward scored an empty-net goal both nights.
Despite the turnaround, Hill isnÂ’t ready to predict that the Seawolves will gain home-ice for a first-round playoff slot, but obviously, heÂ’s pretty conservative when it comes to predictions.
About the Author
John Gilbert is a lifetime Minnesotan and career journalist, specializing in cars and sports during and since spending 30 years at the Minneapolis Tribune, now the Star Tribune. More recently, he has continued translating the high-tech world of autos and sharing his passionate insights as a freelance writer/photographer/broadcaster. A member of the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year jury since 1993. John can be heard Monday-Friday from 9-11am on 610 KDAL(www.kdal610.com) on the "John Gilbert Show," and writes a column in the Duluth Reader.
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