Alaska Anchorage brings in Matt Shasby as next head hockey coach
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The University of Alaska Board of Regents has announced former University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) Seawolves hockey player Matt Shasby as the seventh head coach of its hockey program. The Division I team was eliminated last year because of budget cuts. However, after a $3 million fundraising project, the program was revived.
Matt Shasby is an Alaska hockey legend. After playing hockey for Chugiak High School in Anchorage and UAA, Shasby tried his hand in the professional hockey ranks. After a couple of seasons of bouncing around the ECHL, Shasby joined the Alaska Aces, an ECHL team in Alaska, until 2017.
The 6-foot-2 defenseman played in 258 games for the Aces in five seasons and had a very decorated career. He was a member of the 2005-2006 team that won the Kelly Cup. He was also the 2006-2007 ECHL Performer of the Year and amassed 182 points with the Aces. As nice as that all sounds, the biggest accomplishment of his professional playing career was being named to the 2000-2010 ECHL All-Decade Team.
It seems like Matt Shasby has always been destined to coach at UAA. The Alaska native had no previous experience coaching at the college level but has coached at the youth and high school levels. He also still coaches for the Anchorage Hockey Association and serves as the vice president for player development for the State of Alaska.
Shasby went up against a lot of competition for the job. He was one of 25 original candidates. That list of 25 was whittled down to three: Steve Murphy of Division III Buffalo State University, Chris Cosentino, formerly of the New York University club team, and, of course, Matt Shasby. Nevertheless, coach Shasby won the competition and is now in the unique position of rebuilding a Division I hockey program.
Shasby has inherited a challenging situation. After the UAA hockey program was cut, every hockey player quit or transferred from the team. Shasby now has to build a full roster of players for the 2022-2023 season. I cannot describe how large of an undertaking this is. Shasby has to scout for new players across the country, decide who is worthy of a scholarship, and convince them why they should join his team. Of course, there are far more steps than this, and not all players will have scholarships, but that is a lot of the work Shasby will have to do to get notable players for his program.
We shall see if Matt Shasby can step up in the face of adversity and show that the UAA hockey program has a place in Division I of the NCAA.
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