Lee Baldwin To The Rangers

University of Alaska Anchorage defenseman Lee Baldwin (6'4" 203lbs) has apparently signed (I've got no link to any announcement) with the New York Rangers after just one season with the Seawolves.  The 21 year old (April '88) Baldwin came to the Seawolves after a BCHL All-Star/Team MVP season with the Victoria Grizzlies in 2008-2009.  This past season, he finished the season with UAA amassing 1 goal and 9 assists in 32 games.

Baldwin showed all the right potential to progress his hockey career to the next level and had been garnering attention from NHL scouts since his final year of junior hockey.  Lee looked well-suited to the college game when he hit the ice here and progressed throughout the season.  He has some development to attend to before we see him skate in the big show, but hopefully for  him that will be sooner rather than later.

You can never blame a young man for getting a payday while continuing his hockey development.  In Lee's case, I personally think it's "six of one and half a dozen of the other "with regard to whether he can accomplish that goal best from the WCHA or the AHL.  So it's understandable to pursue the NHL dream while getting paid versus toiling in college for a schollie.

Congratulations to Lee and best of luck to him in the future.  With a stable of 5/6 defensemen (Leinweber being a swing player) plus 2 listed defensive recruits for next season, I'd have to say it's an open question whether the Seawolves will be looking to recruit another blueliner for next season.  They may, they may not.

30 Seawolves Games To Be Televised Statewide

From a UAA Press Release today:

University of Alaska Anchorage director of athletics Dr. Steve Cobb announced Wednesday that GCI Cable will televise Seawolf hockey games statewide for the fifth consecutive season.

GCI audiences in Anchorage, Barrow, Bethel, Cordova, Fairbanks, Homer, Juneau, Kenai, Ketchikan, Kodiak, Kotzebue, Nome, Petersburg, Seward, Sitka, Valdez, Wrangell and the Mat-Su Valley can watch 30 of UAA's 34 regular-season games during the 2009-10 season.

The broadcasts will include all 17 home contests, beginning with the opening game of the 2009 Kendall Hockey Classic Oct. 9 against Mercyhurst.

GCI will also televise 13 of UAA's 17 road games live back to Anchorage, including the Seawolves' series at WCHA foes Minnesota (Oct.30 & Nov.1), Wisconsin (Nov. 13-14), Denver (Jan. 8-9), St. Cloud State (Feb.5-6), and Minnesota State (Feb.19-20). UAA's games in the Brice Alaska Goal Rush (Oct.16-17) and the Alaska Airlines Governor's Cup game in Fairbanks will both be covered.

All home games will be televised live statewide with the exception of the Anchorage and Mat-Su areas, which will view the tape-delayed broadcast at 10:30 p.m. the same day, and repeating at 10 a.m. the next day. Kurt Haider, the voice of the Seawolves, will provide the play-by-play for all UAA games.

Viewers in Anchorage can watch all 30 televised games on GCI Cable Channel 1.

GCI will also provide live internet video streams of all the home UAA hockey broadcasts at www.GCI.net.. Additional links to the internet streams are available at GoSeawolves.com.

UAA students representing the school's journalism and public communications department will manage the cameras and produce the live broadcasts from Sullivan Arena.

In addition to the game broadcasts, GCI and the UAA journalism and public communications department will produce a weekly coach's show featuring Seawolf head coach Dave Shyiak. The show will air a half hour prior to each broadcast as well as at 8 p.m. each Wednesday.

"MaD pHAt PrOPs" to UAA and GCI for renewing this arrangement. The JPC staff and students work hard to make this excellent quality production. Their efforts allow the widest possible coverage of the best hockey program in Alaska.

Kendall Hockey Classic: Tournament 101

The Nye Frontier ... opps Kendall Hockey Classic begins this Friday night with UAF facing the Michigan Wolverines at 5:07 AST. At 8:07 AST our beloved Seawolves take on the Mercyhurst Lakers. On Saturday at 4:07 AST the UA_ Nanooks face Mercyhurst and at 7:07 AST the Seawolves take the ice to defeat the oft vaunted ugly helmets. Notice the difference? Go to the rink an hour earlier on Saturday.

See how I got all of the most important information in the first paragraph? Any current or past UAA Journalism and Public Communications folks reading here will like that. There's lots of other stuff to mention so ...

The picture above is the cover of the 09/10 Seawolves Media Guide. I haven't been through it yet but I'm sure it will prove useful during the season. The media folks at UAA must work their asses off to get that done every year.

Speaking of people working their asses off, I spoke with Derek Donald today and he is definitely buried in Kendall tourney preparations so I'll get with him sometime next week and then write up something more extensive detailing what we can expect in the way of promotions. Derek mentioned some of that today. I know they'll be handing out magnetic schedules on Friday night and roll-out schedule/banner combo's on Saturday night.

Both UAA contests will be on TV. GCI Channel 1 as usual or if you're out of town you can get them across the series of tubes. If you're in Anchorage, go to the games eh? Don't sit at home and watch them just because you can. Kendall is giving away a Toyota Venza at the tournament. A chance to win that is enough reason to go.

The Seawolf Athletic Association is hosting a luncheon on Friday at 11:30 at the Firetap Grill and Alehouse on Old Seward near O'Malley. Call the UAA ticket office @ 786-1250. Red Berenson, Rick Gotkin, Dallas Ferguson and Dave Shyiak will all be addressing the luncheon. I'm sure the food will be excellent after reading this positive review from the Anchorage Press.

It should be worth going just to hear the competing Anchorage/Fairbanks jokes. Hopefully, UAA Athletic Director Dr. Steve Cobb has been working on a good one. He's always good for a quote. I still like what he said when the Shyiak job opening hoohaw first came out. He said, "Hey if you know you gotta eat a bug today, you might as well do it first thing in the morning."

Also on the eating front. Suze noted in the previous comment string that on Thursday @ 11:30 the Seawolf Athletic Association is hosting a "Kickoff to Homecoming 2009" BBQ in front of the UAA Bookstore.

Tomorrow night (Wednesday) on 550 KTZN "The Zone", Kurt Haider will have the first ever UAA Seawolves Hockey Preview Show. Kurt tells me it will start "around 8" immediately following the baseball game. I dunno and could care less which baseball game that is. I'm guessing it's Seattle? They have a team there right? So mark your calendar, set your Blackberry alarm or write it on the back of your hand with a sharpie. If you do miss the show tomorrow night, you can catch it again on Friday around 12:30 and before the regular pre-game show that evening.

Kurt is the best announcer in the WCHA. Not listening to this show would be a sin. Unlike me, I bet Kurt listened to the WCHA teleconference this morning at 7:30 am. No. I wasn't asleep. I was however otherwise occupied and missed it. My first chance to feel like an actual media person and I missed it? Oh well.

Obviously, there wasn't anything earth shattering to come out of it or some other site would have covered it. The only thing of note I've read is that referees will no longer have their names on the backs of their jerseys. That makes it reasonable to substitute your favorite euphemism where you would have formerly used their actual name. I guess that "Hey #38 you suck" is somehow better than "Hey Shep you suck" in the WCHA's mind.

I'll have a Mercyhurst/UAA preview sometime tomorrow and a Michigan/UAA preview sometime Thursday. I will not have any UA_ related preview. I'm mean that way. I'll be watching both Nanook games and will probably offer some post game commentary here. Probably. I think. As long as it doesn't keep me from watching Stargate Universe ... otherwise screw the Nanook coverage eh?

And now to satiate the overwhelming number of requests (actually just one person ... I'll protect his identity like a journalist would). Here is a totally gratuitous hockey (umm ..err ... hockey-related?) picture.

Gawd, I hope I didn't miss anything. If I did, please provide any relevant details in the comments section. It's been a long day.

Pimping It: Kevin Clark is Twittering

I was pleased to learn yesterday evening that throughout his senior season, Kevin Clark will be twittering about the Seawolves to anyone that wants to follow. This is definitely "FAN"tastic for us Seawolves fans that simply can't get enough. Let's face it, a couple of hundred characters about Seawolf hockey and what Kevin is doing is more interesting than my Sunday Politicpourri junk. So much of what I post here is guesses and speculation (good guesses mind you) so info from Clarkie will be awesome. In an email exchange yesterday Kevin explained that the page,

...will have updates of what were doing on the road/ at home, some fun facts from time - time and could possibly hold Question/Answer segments. Or ask a Seawolf, something like that.

If you want to get the updates then it's simple to register at Twitter. I just did it and it must have taken like a whole 90 seconds. I've added a link to my "Links" section. Just click it and register and you too can be a Clarkie follower! Here's the link:

http://twitter.com/kevinclark9

I'll be looking forward to all the great info Kevin is sure to provide. I want to know what dessert Nils Backstrom had during the team meal in Mankato. I'll be thrilled to hear which rookie had to loan Jared Tuton their iPod. Or how many extra laps some other rookie had to take at practice. Will we learn how disappointed Kevin is if he can't get gravy for his french fries and has to again settle for mayonnaise? Who watches Corner Gas just because they're in love with Lacey? How many players are asking Craig Parkinson for his sister's phone number? The possibilities are endless.

I'm sorry that I can't call it "Tweeting" as the Twitter Corpies would surely prefer. Twittering sounds much more like an actual verb than tweeting. Tweeting sounds too lispy somehow. I've never jumped on the Twitter bandwagon before this because I don't send text messages (I can and do recieve them). And of course I have this blog.

Good luck to Kevin with this. I noticed that Ari Gold (ahem .. Jeremy Piven), Terrell Owens and Mike Tyson are Clarkie followers! You can be one too. Go register. Do it now. Hopefully, he'll have 300 followers by the end of today!

Annual Players Meet & Greet Set

Set aside any and all other social obligations you might have for Sunday September 13th from 2:00pm until 4:30pm. The Seawolf Athletic Association announced the Annual Meet & Greet will take place that day at the Cuddy Hall on campus. The announcement notes that parking is free and attendees are encouraged to bring a side dish, salad or dessert to add to the hamburgers, hot dogs, soda, water and "fixins" that are provided courtesy of the Hockey Committee. Kids are reminded to bring their autograph books.

If you're the volunteering type then you might want to contact Richard Leary (mleary at gci.net) to help with setup etc for the event. The announcement also notes that those who have already purchased season tickets can pick them up at the Sullivan Arena box office starting yesterday. Click on the screen shot below to read the announcement.