One of my last remaining quests is to see a game in all 50 states and 10 provinces. Last year, I went to Wyoming and North Dakota to get to 49 states, and completed the Canadian portion with a WHL trip that saw games in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island. That left just Alaska, which I planned to see in a couple of years on a west coast swing when the Seattle NHL team made its debut. But then I discovered that I had miles on Alaska Airlines expiring early this year, which gave me a perfect excuse to get to the 49th state even earlier. I just had to find a time when both Alaska Anchorage hockey and basketball were home, and found precisely such an occasion on Super Bowl weekend. So I flew to Seattle, transferred, and a mere 12 hours after leaving my house in NYC, I was in Alaska. The approach took us over Cook Inlet, which was a bit icy.
After picking up the rental car and making a brief stop at my hotel, I headed over to the Seawolf Sports Complex, where the team moved this season after playing at Sullivan Arena since 1983. The best place to park is in the Engineering Parking Garage, which is connected to the rink by an overground pedestrian walkway known as "The Spine". This does prevent an exterior shot, and as you arrive from the inside, you might find the entrance rather understated.
There is a long single lobby with the ticket booth at the far end, where you will have to shell out $15 for a ticket, unless you are a student, in which case you will get in for free. You might be able to save a few bucks if you buy in advance or are a senior.
You can also pick up pocket schedules and the most impressive roster sheet I have ever seen, as it has all of the line combinations and defensive pairings, even including the NHL team logo if a player has been drafted. That's Nathan Smith, drafted by Winnipeg in the 3rd round in 2018. As an aside, 17 of the 21 Mavericks are American, while 13 of the 21 Seawolves are Canadian, with each team featuring two Europeans.
I chose a seat in Section A, as there is a single seat in each of its rows. To my immediate left was a plastic board, but it did not obstruct my view of that net. The shot below is looking the other way.
There are a number of interesting artworks in the lobby. Below looks to be a drum of some sort, with Howl for the Home Team on it. This is the phrase used to cheer on the Seawolves, whose logo is clearly inspired by local art.
In fact, you can spot several Seawolf heads adorning the pillars along the lobby. The photo below shows one painted in the typical logo colours, but you can see others in the photo of the ticket booth above.
There is a quilt for the Great Alaska Shootout, a basketball tournament that was discontinued after the 2017 edition, as more and more schools opted to spend Thanksgiving in warmer climes. Dwayne Wade and Klay Thompson were tournament MVPs in the past.
The Seawolf Hall of Fame is located behind the net, in an area reserved for media. I was able to step in and take a quick shot, but it really doesn't do it justice. Observant readers will notice Mike Peluso and his mullet in the middle of the top row, he played here before going on to a decent career as an enforcer in the NHL, including a Stanley Cup with the Devils. Fittingly, tonight's attendance was 666.
Across the ice, there are posters made by local schoolkids for every player on the roster, a nice touch, although again, this area is not accessible to the general public.
The far wall also houses banners, though the team has not had much success over the years.
There is also a set of logos for past champions of the Hockey Classic, which also seems to have been discontinued.
In terms of seating, there are ten rows of benches over five sections, with no section having the same number of seats. Capacity is listed at 800, which must mean there are 150 standing room spots because according to the seating chart, there are only 650 seats.
Concessions include a reindeer dog (which is more like a sausage than a hot dog but worth trying) for $6, and Alaska-brewed craft beer for $9.
Overall, the Seawolf Sports Complex is really just a practice rink that has to double as a Division I hockey venue. Alaska college athletics is facing serious budget issues, and that is one of the reasons that the team returned to the Sports Complex this year. Although funding has been secured for the 2020-21 season, it is possible that the entire athletics department for both Anchorage and Fairbanks will be shut down sometime this decade unless a long-term solution can be found. I'm glad I didn't wait until 2021-22 to complete this quest, because without college sports, I don't know what I would travel that far to see. If you want to see Division I hockey in Alaska, I would suggest going next season to be sure, because the sign below may be in a museum rather than an ice rink after that.
Update 1: it was announced in August 2020 that Alaska Anchorage would drop hockey along with three other sports for 2021-22. Very happy that I had a chance to visit before this sad but predictable outcome.
Update 2: The team did not play for the 2020-21 or 2021-22 seasons, but raised $3 million in donations and will return to the ice in 2022-23. Good news for hockey fans in Anchorage!
The Game
Minnesota State-Mankato, ranked 3rd in the nation with a 17-3 conference record, were the visitors, led by goalie Dryden McKay (below), who was tops in the country with a 1.35 goals against average and an 0.865 win percentage. At 22, he is well past draft age, but I could see an NHL team taking a chance on him; the name certainly doesn't hurt. His dad is Canadian and was a goalie, so no surprise that he was named after Ken Dryden and is wearing the same number.
The Seawolves, meanwhile, were 4-13-3 in conference play and so I expected a blowout. But the Mavericks only managed a goal in the first, when Nick Rivera deflected home a point shot from Ian Scheid. Early in the second, Alaska's Jared Nash was given a five-minute major and game misconduct for contact to the head, but Minnesota State could only manage a single power-play marker as Kristian Stead stood tall in the Anchorage net. It took the Seawolves nearly 15 minutes of the second to get a shot on McKay, but that seemed to wake the Mavericks up. They potted two in the last 90 seconds and three more in the first 3:34 of the third to end the suspense, and Stead's evening, as he was replaced by Brandon Perrone.
The only question was whether McKay would get the shutout and the answer, surprisingly, was no. The Seawolves scored with 4:02 remaining when Alex Frye knocked home a big rebound, which made the final 7-1.
The teams shook hands afterwards, although they had another game to play the next night. I did not attend that, choosing instead to see basketball, but Alaska had a 2-0 lead into the final minute of the game and gave up two goals, including the tying marker with one second left, while Minnesota State had the extra attacker. They were credited with the tie, with the win going to the Mavericks who scored in overtime.
Notes
One of the advantages of going through the Engineering Building is that you are actually in an active school campus, which is not usual for most games where you go straight to the venue. It was cool to see students studying and relaxing, though I wanted to tell them to support their team.
The highlight though, was the display case filled with patents (above), as well as the 2016 National Championship banner in cyber defense. Sports fans get caught up in the silliness of athletics, when the real purpose of these institutions is to teach and create.
It would be tough for the university to lose its athletics teams, but as long as they can produce students capable of the above accomplishments, the state can be proud of their educational institutions.
Despite slightly superior statistics, McKay finished behind Maine's Jeremy Swayman in the voting for the Mike Richter Award.
The Game
Minnesota State-Mankato, ranked 3rd in the nation with a 17-3 conference record, were the visitors, led by goalie Dryden McKay (below), who was tops in the country with a 1.35 goals against average and an 0.865 win percentage. At 22, he is well past draft age, but I could see an NHL team taking a chance on him; the name certainly doesn't hurt. His dad is Canadian and was a goalie, so no surprise that he was named after Ken Dryden and is wearing the same number.
The Seawolves, meanwhile, were 4-13-3 in conference play and so I expected a blowout. But the Mavericks only managed a goal in the first, when Nick Rivera deflected home a point shot from Ian Scheid. Early in the second, Alaska's Jared Nash was given a five-minute major and game misconduct for contact to the head, but Minnesota State could only manage a single power-play marker as Kristian Stead stood tall in the Anchorage net. It took the Seawolves nearly 15 minutes of the second to get a shot on McKay, but that seemed to wake the Mavericks up. They potted two in the last 90 seconds and three more in the first 3:34 of the third to end the suspense, and Stead's evening, as he was replaced by Brandon Perrone.
The only question was whether McKay would get the shutout and the answer, surprisingly, was no. The Seawolves scored with 4:02 remaining when Alex Frye knocked home a big rebound, which made the final 7-1.
The teams shook hands afterwards, although they had another game to play the next night. I did not attend that, choosing instead to see basketball, but Alaska had a 2-0 lead into the final minute of the game and gave up two goals, including the tying marker with one second left, while Minnesota State had the extra attacker. They were credited with the tie, with the win going to the Mavericks who scored in overtime.
Notes
One of the advantages of going through the Engineering Building is that you are actually in an active school campus, which is not usual for most games where you go straight to the venue. It was cool to see students studying and relaxing, though I wanted to tell them to support their team.
The highlight though, was the display case filled with patents (above), as well as the 2016 National Championship banner in cyber defense. Sports fans get caught up in the silliness of athletics, when the real purpose of these institutions is to teach and create.
It would be tough for the university to lose its athletics teams, but as long as they can produce students capable of the above accomplishments, the state can be proud of their educational institutions.
Despite slightly superior statistics, McKay finished behind Maine's Jeremy Swayman in the voting for the Mike Richter Award.
Update 4/25/2022: McKay won the Hobey Baker Award in 2022, and Minnesota State went to the national championship game, losing 5-1 to Denver. McKay was then suspended for six months after testing positive for a banned substance (it was in a supplement he was taking), but he signed with the Marlies and I expect to see him in a Leafs uniform as soon as next year. Update 2: McKay ended up playing just 2 games with the Marlies, spending most of his time with Newfoundland in the ECHL, where his save percentage of 0.897 was 38th of the 55 goalies who played over 1,000 minutes last year. This season he is with Greenville and not doing much better, so I think I might have overestimated his chances of making the NHL.
Best,
Sean
Best,
Sean
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