Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Regg Simon Departs and Some Other Stuff

I guess it's as good a time as any to make another summer post.  The only real news is (as you're probably already aware) that today Regg Simon has taken the head coaching spot at Des Moines in the USHL. A job which was recently vacated by Mike Guentzel who is off to Omaha to feed on Dean Blais' hind-teat while Dean awaits the demise of Don Lucia as his ticket out of Nebraska.

Best of luck to Regg.  Returning to the Jr. A head coaching ranks is probably a good career move for him.  If he can build success there over a few years then he could start to be considered for next level head coaching jobs at some point. 
It won't be a bad thing either to have a Seawolf face in the USHL that can counter the drivel that certain USHL coaches tell their players about UAA.  Regg is pretty young at 34 and is putting together a nice resume'.

As is always the case with such an opening, it will be very interesting to see who takes Regg's place here.  I've been told that this hire will be an accelerated process.  Don't be surprised for someone to be in place within the next 10 days if not sooner.

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Coach Shyiak named four assistant captains a couple of weeks ago.  Tommy Grant, Craig Parkinson, Brad Gorham and Chris Crowell will do that work.  At some point during the season Coach may put the "C" on one of those guys sweaters.  I just want to toot my own horn by reminding you that last season I said Chris Crowell had future captain written all over him.  

It may seem a bit unusual for a team to not have a "C" in place but I kinda like the idea of seeing if anyone steps up and earns it through their play.  Captaincy can sometimes lead to a player changing his game and not performing like you'd have expected.  With no "C" in place, these guys will all feel more free to play within themselves because the pressure of leadership isn't confronting them.

What else?  It's continued to be a quiet summer.  Most (if not all) of any news has been mentioned and/or linked to in the comment section of my June post.  The Alaska Avalanche are moving from Wasilla to Palmer.  There's quite a bit of delicious bickering and finger pointing in this Frontiersman article.  

I was disappointed to see that no Seawolves player with Alaska roots will be wearing #49 next year.  Maybe Nick Haddad, Scott Warner, Brad Gorham or Tyler Currier will consider it between now and the beginning of the season?  Not a biggee I suppose.  

I'll leave it up to JimJamesAK to compile a list of where all the former Seawolves are or will be playing this season.  No doubt some of those guys will move around between now and when hockey starts again.

As August progresses you should start to see a more posts from me.  I'll do the usual class-by-class evaluation.  I'll have my letter to the incoming rookies.

I'll take a look around the league and examine things like how many stoned rats are jumping from the sinking Gopher ship.  I'll talk about how SCSU will once again be overly hyped.  I'm sure I'll also mention the newest junior members of the league and the wake up call they'll get from being in the WCHA.  I'll find something shitty to say about DU.  I'll point and laugh at what a fucked up city Colorado Springs is.  There'll probably be a reference about the 19 trees in North Dakota and the legacy of Manifest Destiny that built a shithole of a town called Mankato.  And naturally, I'll piss on the Badgers as much as possible.  So in other words, same shit different year.  And no, UMD and Michigan Tech won't get any breaks from me either.

And of course I'll find some hot pics of CSWILF (Culturally Significant Women I'd ... well you know).  But not today.

16 comments:

cwoof said...

Thanks for the new thread Donald!

Now if you could just make the sun shine for the next couple of weeks, make sure Shyiak finds a red hot goalie, and talk Suze into staying.. everything would be fine with the world.

I'm watching the sad news of that C-17 as I type this. I heard an earth-shattering ((loud)) plane buzz right over the top of my house (Hillside) not long before MSNBC had a breaking news alert on the iphone app. By the time I found my camera & ran outside, it was too socked-in with fog where I'm a to see anything.

...sad deal. :o(

UAAalumni09 said...

I hope that we get a good offensive minded assistant coach. Shyiak, Blair and Johnson(volunteer coach) are all defensive minded. Based upon last years stats, aside from Grant and Wiles(who had a good season last year), we don't have that many goal scorers. Yes, with three goalies who's total NCAA experience equals to 40 minutes, we will need to work on that. But it would be nice to have an offensive minded coach. I wouldn't be surprised if Johnson does move up since he helped out last year.

I think Shyiak realized that last year he put all his leadership in seniors last year, which isn't always a bad thing, but it left for no turn over for this season. Spreading out between 2 seniors, a junior, and a sophomore could help out down the road.

I am thankful that there were only four crew members onboard of the C-17, however, it is still a bummer.

Anonymous said...

You asked for blog feedback, so:

Love the new blog! But it needs either a logo, or a mountain range, or one of Donald's photo-scapes, or something.

Not saying it's bland because I'd wind up in the doghouse, but something is missing at the top section of the blog area.

:D Signed: "in the doghouse"

Donald Dunlop said...

I'm just like Toyota. You asked for it ... You got it. Without some extensive search on the series of tubes this pic is probably the best I've got. I'm not personally sure how much I like it being there.

So hopefully others will weigh-in.

The real Donald Dunlop said...

I agree with anon 1:46. When I looked earlier today it seemed like it needed something. I just couldn't put my finger on it. The picture looks great!

Anonymous said...

I love it just the way it is, perfect! Thank you!!

Anonymous said...

~~~~~The new blog (with the mountains) looks AWESOME, BEAUTIFUL, STUPENDOUS, MARVELOUS, STELLAR, PERFECTO !!!!

marooned said...

Fantastic. Makes me miss South Central AK.

Anonymous said...

Too bad few any will ever see the new changes.

Anonymous said...

It makes me miss South Central LA. That place looks COLD!

Anonymous said...

Great new blog Donald! Congratulations to Coach Simon....it's always great having a UAA alum return to coach the Seawolves. Best of luck in Des Moines.

akhockeyfanatic said...

Sorry to see Regg go but best of luck to him with his new team. Have I said I can't wait for October 2nd to be here? Too bad the exhibition game will be in Soldnotna and not Wasilla this year. Little bit longer of a drive but I'll be up for it by the time October rolls around.

Go Seawolves!!

Anonymous said...

I heard John Hill might be interested in filling the vacant assistant position.

Anonymous said...

LOL @ 5:36 pm.


No.

UAAalumni09 said...

New Assistant Coach
http://www.goseawolves.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=13400&ATCLID=204973235

Anonymous said...

Regg Simon has already proved he can be successful at the junior level. This will be his second stint coaching Des Moines ... the last time he won both the USHL and national championships. Best of luck to him.

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