Recruit Blake Leask Named AJHL Top Defenseman

UAA Seawolves recruit Blake Leask of the AJHL's Bonnyville Pontiacs has received that league's W.G. (Bill) Scott Memorial Trophy designating him as the "Outstanding Defenceman" for this season.  Below is the text from the announcement.

 Blake Leask of the Bonnyville Pontiacs has been selected as the Top Defenceman for the 2012-2012 AJHL Season. The award is given annually to the defensive player who demonstrates the greatest all-round ability in the position throughout the season.

Leask led all AJHL defencemen in scoring with 49 points and was second overall in team scoring. During the 2011-2012 regular season, Leask recorded his first AJHL hat trick, 8 powerplay goals, 2 game winners, and enjoyed 7 games in which he scored 3 or more points. Leask was awarded the Pro Hockey Life Star of the Game five times.

Congratulations to Blake on this nice award.  I'm betting that we'll see more of him at forward here at UAA than we will of him playing on the blueline.

There'll be a comprehensive recruit update here following the season.

2010-2011 UAA Hockey Fan Blog Awards

Rookie of the Year

Matt Bailey/Jordan Kwas

This choice came down to a battle of statistics for me.  Is 4 goals and 20 assists somehow that much more valuable than 10 goals and 10 assists?  I can't see answering that question either yes or no.  So it's a Co-Rookie of the Year for me.  These are two players that will have a lot to say about the level of success for the team next year.  These guys are distinctly different hockey players as well, Bailey has speed and raw power where Kwas best tools are quickness and deftness with the puck.  I'd imagine we might see them as linemates at some point next season.  

Most Improved Player

Mitch Bruijsten

Nine goals and eight assists a year after scoring 2g-3a?  That's a dramatic improvement.  Much of that improvement is due to Mitch's smarter and better skating this season.  He's more direct with shorter strides and has found himself on the good side of the puck more often precisely because of that change in style.  He played with confidence for a large portion of this season as well which was a noticeable change from last season.

Heart and Soul

Craig Parkinson

If you don't know already, I think about Justin Johnson whenever I consider this award.  J.J. had a unique intensity and energy that is mostly unattainable by your average human hockey player.  So that's the standard.  I loved that there was a group of players that all deserved consideration for this award but I chose Craig because every role he filled this season he did exceptionally well and he took on the mantle of quite a few.  The number of draws alone that he completely stole by any means necessary.  Craig was a leadership force on the ice, on the bench and no doubt in the locker room.  In 37 games he went to the box for only 20 minutes.  He also nearly doubled his 09-10 scoring with 8g-13a.

Most Valuable Player

Tommy Grant

Tommy led the team in scoring this season with 16g-16a in 37 games.  Thirteen of those goals came in conference play which was the 7th highest total in the league.  His five game winning goals was 1st highest in the league as well.  That particular statistic made him a lock as the MVP in my mind.  But it didn't end there.  Tommy played in every situation all season long.  He killed penalties and scored a shortie and on the power play he laid on 9 assists with 4 goals.  He was a threat on nearly every shift in one way or another whether with his substantial speed or his hard shot. An MVP should be a guy that can raise the level of play by his teammates; Tommy did that.

Austin Coldwell Named USHL All-Star

(photo credit ... Bryce Loshman USHL Website)

UAA Seawolves recruit Austin Coldwell (Des Moines Buccaneers) was named today to his 2nd straight USHL All-Star team for the western confernce.  The Vancouver, Washington born defenseman (6'1" 190lbs) is in his 2nd season with Des Moines and in 97 games has 18 goals and 45 assists.  He currently leads all defenseman in league scoring with 6 goals and 21 assists this season.

UAA Hockey Fan Blog Awards: 09-10

Here we are again, time for my all-important (variability based on perspective) annual award announcement for the Seawolves.  It was a difficult year for one category and incredibly simple for another.  While the two middle categories required some consideration for a number of players, I believe my choices there are fairly solid.  Chime in with your comments.  My committee of one welcomes the input.

Rookie of the Year

You Pick It

In the past, I have foregone awarding a category for the reason that nobody did quite enough to garner it in my mind.  But that was for the MVP award.  How do you not give a Rookie of the Year award on a team with 8 rookies that pretty much all saw a decent amount of ice time?  Conversely, how do I separate the close statistical differences between 3 or 4 of them.  Daniel Naslund would just about have to be the selection if you just look at the final stat line.  But honestly, his skating is so deficient that I couldn't bring myself to it.  He had 3 goals and 9 assists in 33 games with a -6 rating overall.  Mickey Spencer finished 2nd among rookies with 4 goals and 7 assists in 31 games and a -10 rating.  Alex Gellert had 3 goals and 7 assists with a -9 rating.  Lee Baldwin had 1 goal and 10 assists for a mostly close statistical comparison, but his -17 rating was the lowest on the whole team.  Bruijsten trailed the regular players, in 31 games he nabbed just 2 goals and 3 assists with a -8 rating.  I like a lot of what Chris Crowell brought to the ice in his 25 games.  But the guy managed no points and was a -9.  Drew Darwitz and Tyler Currier (while both showing good potential) just didn't play in enough games for full consideration.  So there it is.

Most Improved Player

Kane Lafranchise

For his first two seasons Kane Lafranchise has shown flashes of potential and good things to come.  This season though, he brought those flashes of potential to near full fruition.  Kane's play in the 2nd half of the season was nothing short of great.  Down the stretch, Kane showed an ability likely born of confidence.  As he's matured, he seems to know innately that he can be an offensive force from the blueline.  His breakout passes are stellar, his puck rushing has been confident and influential.  He's got a solid shot and his on-ice vision doesn't ever seem to fail.  And this season, he put all those tools to use in leading the Seawolves blueliners in scoring.  Kane simply bloomed this season, in particular during the 2nd half.  Next season he will undoubtedly have one of the best seasons we've seen from a blueliner in quite a long time.  All the tools are there and Kane seems to have found the confidence to utilize them.

Heart and Soul

Nils Backstrom/Sean Wiles

I gave the 08/09 version of this award to Nils Backstrom for his unflappable and excellent defensive work all season long.  This year he matched that play and improved it.  He was a -2 overall for the year on a team that only had one full-time player on the + side and every other defenseman was substantially lower.  Sean Wiles was a +3 on the year and finished 3rd on the team in scoring.  He's here both because of that and his unending never say die attitude with regard to his play.  Both of these guys are imbued with the characteristic I imagined a "Heart and Soul" award winner should have.  They are fiercely competitive and their statistics show they're successful.  While we will miss Nils next year on the blueline as he pursues his professional ambitions, we get  Sean back.  Don't be surprised to see a "C" on his sweater next season.

Most Valuable Player

Kevin Clark

This is the only award that gave me no heartburn selecting.  It is the only award I expect no alternative choices to be listed in the comments section.  Kevin scored the most goals by a Seawolves player since Derek Donald in 92-93.  Ding, ding, ding, ding ... we have the MVP.  Kevin's talent, production and grittiness will all be greatly missed next season.  He leaves a hole that most likely can only be filled by multiple players.  It was a full-on pleasure to watch his career in the green and gold.  Kevin's performances this season put him on par with many of the recognized elite level players in the WCHA.  To lead the league in goal scoring while playing on the 8th place team is no small accomplishment.  If Kevin is not recognized with inclusion on the All-WCHA team announcements later in the week then the voters in the WCHA are a complete sham.

5 Seawolves on WCHA Scholar-Athlete List

 

Left to Right/Top to Bottom: Nils Backstrom, Jon Olthuis, Josh Lunden, Jared Tuton, Dusan Sidor

The UAA website announced today that 5 UAA Seawolves of a league-wide total of 39 were named to the men's WCHA Scholar-Athlete list for 2009/10 season.  Repeat honorees Nils Backstrom and Jon Olthuis led the list for UAA with Josh Lunden, Dusan Sidor and Jared Tuton receiving the recognition for their first time.  This was goaltender Jon Olthuis' third such recognition.

According to the announcement ...

To earn recognition as a WCHA Scholar-Athlete, conference-member student-athletes must have completed at least one year of residency at their present institution prior to the current academic year and must also have a grade-point average of at least 3.5 on a 4.0 scale for the previous two semesters or three quarters or may qualify if his overall GPA is at least 3.5 for all terms at his present institution.

The Seawolves website notes that all 5 will be recognized publicly on-ice with a plaque commemorating the accomplishment on Friday March 5th at the Sullivan Arena.  Congratulations to all 5 of these outstanding young men for maintaining such high grades while practicing and playing Division 1 hockey with nearly unrivaled travel schedule.

The Seawolves team travels around 50,000 air-miles during a typical season as compared with less than 10,000 on average for other teams.  The UAA trips generally include staying in the lower-48 for 11 or 12 days during consecutive road-trip games at least once per season.  Along with UAF, no other teams in the nation faces such daunting travel challenges.  The combination of such a rigorous travel schedule combined with a standard course-load makes such an accomplishment especially dramatic.  Congratulations to all five honorees for their scholarly discipline off the ice.  You make us all proud.

Other WCHA schools ...

UM(0), UW(1), MTU(2), UMD(4), MSU(4), CC(4), UND(5), SCSU(6), DU(8).

UAA Hockey Fan Blog Awards: 08-09

It's actually past time for me to present my annual awards. I'm sticking with the same four categories that I've used for the past 2 seasons. I considered adding categories but ultimately I like the simplicity of this format even if it doesn't recognize as many players as I'd like. So I'll encourage readers to make their selections in the comments section and/or add any categories you think are appropriate. With these awards in hand and 6 dollars in their pockets these guys can get a Grande Mocha Latte at Starbucks!

Rookie of the Year
Curtis Leinweber

At .55 points per game the 5ft 8in, 170lb defenseman was far and away the top producing rookie for the Seawolves 08-09 season and ranked him 5th on the team in points per game. In 22 total games Curtis scored 2 goals and added 10 assists of which 8 were the 1st or primary assist. His goal in OT versus DU on January 31st was quite probably the most memorable goal by any player this season. Curtis showed energy, enthusiasm and intensity whenever he took the ice this season. He spent two short stretches on the sidelines injured missing 12 games overall. Dynamic is perhaps an overused word when describing hockey players but I find no other adjective that does a better job of defining his play. Curtis has an ability to quickly size up the on-ice situation and makes quality decisions with the puck faster than 90 percent of his peers. He is a skilled puck handler with wheels to match. Curtis came to UAA after leading the AJHL in scoring by blueliners. With minimum polishing this gem will shine for the Seawolves in the next three years. Count on it.

Most Improved Player
Tommy Grant

Doubling one's output from one season to the next can often be used as a milestone to measure improvement. This season the 6ft 2in, 190lb winger tripled his goal production from 5 during his freshman season to 15 which included 2 shorthanders. Tommy had a helluva nice stretch from late October through the middle of January where he scored 12 goals in 16 games. Playing on a line with Paul Crowder certainly helped him succeed so nicely this season. Crowder provided 5 primary assists. But more importantly, Tommy did the finishing. His confidence with the puck was evident from my balcony seat. In every season one hopes for a super-soph season from some player on the squad. Not every year does such a player turn up as it seems that a sophomore jinx takes hold at least as often. Next year as an upperclassman he should be a legitimate scoring threat on just about any shift he takes.

Heart and Soul
Nils Backstrom

I certainly couldn't have gone wrong by naming either of last years Heart and Soul players to this years award. Both Mat Robinson and Kevin Clark had very very solid seasons and contributed so much to the team's success. But I was so impressed with Nils consistently excellent play from the 1st game to the last that I simply couldn't pass him up for some recognition. My template for this award is former Seawolf Justin Johnson who never gave less than 115% effort. Nils matched that this season. He lived up to the potential that the Detroit Red Wings organization saw when they drafted him. Since being drafted Nils has quietly slipped further and further down Detroit's prospect chart. Someone down there ought to be paying attention. Nils didn't have spectacular numbers this season but he played nearly mistake free hockey in his own zone. I think he matured greatly during the past two seasons. He may not light up the league next season in terms of scoring but more importantly he'll be keeping the opponents top lines from adding to their scoring stats. And hey ... the Wooger has much love for him.

Most Valuable Player
Paul Crowder

I struggled with this choice more than any other. It wasn't that I had any doubt about Paul's contributions to the team or his worthiness. Those things were clear in my mind. But instead, I had to talk myself out of naming Kevin Clark as a co-winner. Kevin's very strong finish to the season weighed heavily for me. Ultimately though, it was Crowder's ability to make anyone he skated with a better player that tipped the scales. Of course, Paul's 14 goals and 19 assists trumped Kevin's 13 goals and 18 assists and his team leading plus/minus of +11 outpaced Kevin's -3. I remember talking with his dad between periods one night after Paul had been in a bit of a tussle near the end of the period. His dad told me that Paul was going to score because whenever someone pissed him off he usually scored. He was dead on right of course (fathers know best). I think everyone assumed that Paul was a free-agent flight risk and his signing by the Rangers was really only surprising in terms of how quickly it happened. He'll be missed.

14 Seawolves on All-Academic WCHA Team

14 UAA Seawolf Hockey players were named to the WCHA All-Academic team today. This is the highest number of UAA hockey players ever listed and it contributed to a record 107 players league-wide named to the team. The UAA players named are:

Mat Robinson - 3rd award
Kevin Clark - 2nd award
Paul Crowder - 2nd award
Trevor Hunt - 2nd award
Josh Lunden - 2nd award
Jon Olthuis - 2nd award
Jeremy Smith - 1st award
Nils Backstrom - 1st award
Brian Bales - 1st award
Jared Tuton - 1st award
Kane Lafranchise - 1st award
Craig Parkinson - 1st award
Luka Vidmar - 1st award
Sean Wiles - 1st award

To earn recognition as a member of the All-WCHA Academic Team, member team student-athletes must meet the following criteria: 1) have completed one year of residency at present institution, prior to the current academic year; and 2) have a grade point average of at least 3.00 (on a 4.00 scale) for the previous two semesters or three quarters, or may qualify if his overall GPA is at least 3.00 for all terms at his present institution.

Congratulations to all these players for doing good work in the classroom while still performing at a high level on the ice. There's a reason student comes first in student/athlete.

UAA Hockey Fan Blog Awards: 07-08

Rookie of the Year
Kane Lafranchise

The 07-08 Seawolf freshman class hit the ice with some vigor this season. Winston Daychief was named WCHA Rookie of the Week for the third weekend in October. By that time 4 Seawolf freshman had already bagged their first collegiate goal. Craig Parkinson, Tommy Grant, Brad McCabe and Winston all had respectable numbers in their first year. On a team that only managed 81 goals those 4 guys contributed 23. Pretty nice. Parkinson and McCabe both finished the season with 7 each. Overall, I think those are pretty promising numbers but I'm naming Kane the ROY because of his overall solid play in both ends of the ice. Kane's offensive potential became apparent in the 2nd half of the season as he gained confidence and adapted fully to the college game. Kane was the 3rd leading scoring defenseman (but tied for 1st in goals scored) on the team with 3 goals and 5 assists but most of those points came in the 2nd half. I'm big time jazzed about the skills he brings to the blueline. His smooth skating and heads up play impress the hell out of me; And his attention to his defensive responsibilities are second to none.

Most Improved Player
Sean Wiles

There simply was no bigger change in a player from the beginning of the season to the end than what I saw from Sean Wiles. He went from a guy I wasn't initially sure could skate with D1 players to someone that I confused with Paul Crowder. I'm not sure exactly what Sean's offensive potential might be but I can't deny the huge difference in his apparent abilities from early to late. I also believe that Jon Olthuis qualifies for a mention here. I suspect that if you broke his season in two and calculated his save percentage that you'd find a substantial positive difference. I considered Shane Lovdahl here because I really think his skating abilities are undersold by the coaching staff. He also showed some nice flair puck-handling deep in the offensive end. Ken Selby also came to mind simply because when he finally got into the lineup he produced. I sure hope we see more of him next season.

Heart and Soul
Mat Robinson/Kevin Clark

For one reason and one reason only these two guys share my Heart and Soul award this year. Because these guys both seemed to me to "want it" more whenever they were on the ice. Mat layed on many many punishing hits this year. He never hesitated to carry the puck up when necessary and always did so with vigor. I could see from my balcony seat that Kevin wanted to make something happen every shift he took. Whether he was instigating or playmaking he simply gave it his all on every shift. He is perhaps the most talented stick handler on the team and made so many many pretty passes. Let me be clear here though ... just about everyone on the team came to mind when deciding this award. I loved Chris Tarkir's effort all season. I think Jared Tuton did everything the coaching staff asked him to do. He's got to be a coaches dream player eh? I think Luke Beaverson sacrificed his offensive game in order to lead the team and I think he was a great Captain. Merit Waldrop would have been deserving of this award as well. Peter Cartwright was another player that let it all hang out all season and could have garnered this. And of course Blair Tassone shouldn't be left out of consideration. I called him this years Justin Johnson in my Senior Tribute and I'll stand by that. He hit somebody on every shift and brought so much energy. I considered naming the "team" as Heart and Soul winners. But that seemed like a bit of a cop out ... so congrats to Kevin and Mat for being just marginally more intense and standing out in my mind.

Most Valuable Player
Josh Lunden

Josh scored twice as many goals as any other Seawolf. It's always easy to name the leading scorer as an MVP and that's the case with Josh this season. If that was all that he brought to the party it would be enough. But Josh brought more than just goal scoring. His physical game was always evident and he was a leader on the ice. Paul Crowder got consideration here both because he was the 2nd leading scorer but also because I think he was perhaps the smartest penalty killer on the team. I can't say I didn't think of Kevin Clark here as well for the reasons I mentioned above. I'm thrilled that all three of these guys will be in Seawolf sweaters for the next two years. They are leaders as sophomores already so as juniors and seniors we should expect more excellence from them.

UAA Hockey Fan Blog Awards: 06-07

Rookie of the Year

Paul Crowder? Josh Lunden? Kevin Clark? Jon Olthuis? I can make a reasonably good enough argument about each of these four outstanding Seawolf freshman for this award. These guys were all impactful and productive players in their first year. Each one provided fans with excitement and/or anticipation when they were on the ice. And more importantly, these guys (along with freshman teammates Nils Backstrom, Trevor Hunt, Jared Tuton, Ken Selby and Ryan Berry) are going to form a very important core of talent for this team over the next 3 years. This freshman class provided 28 of the teams 85 goals this season. So...um what ...? Am I going to cop out and give the Rookie of the Year award to the whole freshman class? No. I think Paul Crowder's numbers give him the nod. His 10 goals and 13 assists were good enough for second place on the team. His play from his first game set him apart in my mind. His skills with the puck and how strong he was on the puck was a pleasant surprise to this blogger. He's got a helluva nice backhand shot (the most underused skill in college hockey). He's a creative playmaker and a smart finisher.

Most Improved Player

Justin Bourne fully deserves this award. In 05-06 Justin scored 5 goals and 8 assists and this season he scored 10 goals with 20 assists to lead the team in scoring. He had four GWG's over the course of the season to lead the team. Justin's play this season has been noticably more inspired and that's responsible for the increase in his production. He emerged as a strong team leader during the course of the season and even filled the role of on the road "spokesman" when the Daily News called. It's good to give the award to a guy that I heard say in preseason that he wanted to redouble his efforts. He did exactly that.

Heart and Soul

This award goes to the player that best personifies the metaphor of "leaving it all out on the ice". I think there's little doubt that Charlie Kronschnabel is "the" guy who best did that on this years team. Charlie rose from a walkon at UAA to Captain and made his mark on the program with blue-collar hard work all four seasons. His trademark moment in my eyes was the UMD game where he broke his leg and continued to play. A big part of this years team (it's heart and soul) was missing from the lineup when Charlie was out and it was evident in the team's bottom line. With him playing the squad went 8-11-2 and while he was injured they were 4-7-1.

Most Valuable Player

The first year of this award had an inauspicious debut when I determined that no single player had stood out enough to warrant it. Again this year I've had many of the same thoughts. But I think the choice I've made is a good one. Chad Anderson definitely had the best season of his Seawolf career. His 7 goals and 12 assists led the scoring from the blueline and was good enough for 4th best on the team. Chad contributed on both ends of the ice and stood up for his teammates more than once during the season. He assumed the Captaincy during Charlie's absence and did himself proud. Chad's play all season long was both inspired and inspiring.