Alaska Anchorage Hires Matt Shasby as Head Coach

When we left Alaska Anchorage on their seemingly never-ending cycle of cutting-their-program/desperately-raising-money-to-save-the-program, the Seawolves had just announced that they had raised funds to re-instate the program for the 2022-2023 season, after the school had shut down the program.

Among the many steps to get the Seawolves back on the ice in 2022-2023 was finding a new head coach after the contract of former head coach Matt Curley was allowed to expire due to the aforementioned not-having-a-team-anymore thing.

On Wednesday, Alaska Anchorage announced that alum Matt Shasby will be the school’s next head coach:

Shasby is a native of Eagle River, Alaska, just outside of Anchorage and played four years of college hockey for the Seawolves, including serving as team captain in his final season of 2002-2003. He also played four seasons of professional hockey in Anchorage with the Aces of the ECHL.

Though Shasby has deep roots in Anchorage, he does lack high-level coaching experience. He has been deeply involved in youth hockey in the Anchorage area, but has never coached above the high school level.

He’ll face a stiff challenge in rebuilding Anchorage’s program. The Seawolves faced a multitude of challenges even before the program was shut down. But he is starting with a completely blank slate, and will hopefully be able to build a sustainable and successful program.