The 2023–24 Alaska Anchorage Seawolves men's ice hockey season was the 43rd season of play for the program and the 38th at the Division I level. The Seawolves represented the University of Alaska Anchorage, played their home games at the Avis Alaska Sports Complex and were coached by Matt Shasby in his 2nd season.
Season Returning with largely the same lineup as the year before, Alaska Anchorage got off to a decent start and were able to play even hockey over the first month of the season. The Seawolves ended with a win over a ranked Penn State squad as well as a vast improvement in play from all quarters. In their first three losses, the team fell by just a single goal which helped lift the team into the middle of the national rankings. Unfortunately, UAA was unable to sustain that level of play and the team suffered through a raft of poor goaltending and uninspired offense in the middle of the season. During that stretch the team won just 2 out of 12 games but, thanks to a 41-save performance from Jared Whale, the Seawolves managed to take down one of the best teams in the country, Wisconsin.
When Anchorage began the second half its season after Christmas, the team had no real chance of making the postseason, however, they still had something to play for. The Seawolves began with a tie against Alaska, ending a 12-game losing streak to their long-time rival. The following week the team travelled to Rhode Island and earned a split with #9 Providence. The surprising victory kicked off a long stretch of winning hockey that saw the team play far better on both sides of the puck. The Seawolves finished out the year with a split against Arizona State, earning their fourth win over a ranked opponent on the season. Anchorage ended the year just shy of a .500 record but team had improved by leaps and bounds.
Departures Jamie Collins Forward Graduation (signed with Comètes de Meudon) Jimmy Darby Defenseman Transferred to Simon Frazer Dorian Dawson Defenseman Graduation (retired) Derek Hamelin Defenseman Graduation (signed with Remparts de Tours) Caleb Hite Forward Graduation (retired) Nolan Kent Goaltender Graduation (signed with Coventry Blaze)
Recruiting Ben Anderson Forward 21 Crystal, MN Mitch LaFay Forward 21 Stratford, ON Karter McNarland Forward 20 Saskatoon, SK Greg Orosz Goaltender 21 Győr, HUN Porter Schachle Forward 22 Wasilla, AK; transfer from Vermont Riley Thompson Forward 21 Orleans, ON Gunnar VanDamme Defenseman 20 Pittsford, NY Aiden Westin Forward 21 Anchorage, AK
Roster As of September 20, 2023.
Standings
Schedule and results
!colspan=12 style=";" | Exhibition
!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular Season
Scoring statistics F 34 14 16 30 14 F 33 14 13 27 31 F 34 9 15 24 32 F 32 8 8 16 41 F 29 7 9 16 17 D 34 3 12 15 67 F 33 7 7 14 7 F 34 5 8 13 4 F 30 6 7 13 4 D 34 4 9 13 17 D 34 3 7 10 29 F 14 6 3 9 2 F 16 3 5 8 6 D 33 1 7 8 33 LW 24 0 6 6 12 D 18 2 4 6 6 C/W 23 1 3 4 6 LW 7 0 4 4 2 C 20 0 3 3 14 D 24 1 2 3 6 G 9 0 2 2 2 D 23 1 1 2 4 F 10 0 1 1 4 D 14 0 1 1 2 D 11 0 1 1 4 D 30 0 1 1 57 G 11 0 1 1 14 G 25 0 0 0 0 D 8 0 0 0 0 D 1 0 0 0 0 Total 95 156 251 437
Goaltending statistics 27 1346:05 10 12 1 60 600 2 .909 2.67 12 392:11 3 1 1 18 195 1 .915 2.75 13 299:38 2 4 0 23 124 0 .844 4.61 Empty Net - 21:45 - - - 4 - - - - Total 34 2059:39 15 17 2 105 919 3 .897 3.06
Rankings
PollWeekPre 1 234567891011121314151617181920212223242526 (Final) USCHO.comNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR–NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR–NR USA HockeyNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR–NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 11 and 25.Note: USA Hockey did not release a poll in week 12.
References