Alaska-Anchorage made some coaching moves last week when they informed assistant coaches Jack Kowal and Keith Morris that their contracts would not be renewed. It wasn't a huge surprise given that Kowal and Morris were former head coach John Hill's assistants and it was likely that Shyiak wanted to bring in his own assistant coaches. But some weren't happy with the way Shyiak handled the situation.
Kowal and Morris spoke out against the way Shyiak handled the situation in the Alaska Daily News. UAA blogger Drop the Puck agreed that things were handled poorly by Shyiak.
Ultimately, I think this is little more than a public relations problem. It also doesn't help that Anchorage was a miserable hockey team last year. Winning has a way of making little problems like this disappear.
This situation could run deeper than just this for Shyiak though. The brand new Northern Hockey Blog, which covers the western US and western Canada, is reporting that UAA recruit Kevin Clark is reconsidering his commitment to UAA . Clark was recruited by outgoing Keith Morris and may not be as interested in going to Anchorage. The NHB is a new blog, but there is some definite credibility to this rumor.
Kowal and Morris spoke out against the way Shyiak handled the situation in the Alaska Daily News. UAA blogger Drop the Puck agreed that things were handled poorly by Shyiak.
Ultimately, I think this is little more than a public relations problem. It also doesn't help that Anchorage was a miserable hockey team last year. Winning has a way of making little problems like this disappear.
This situation could run deeper than just this for Shyiak though. The brand new Northern Hockey Blog, which covers the western US and western Canada, is reporting that UAA recruit Kevin Clark is reconsidering his commitment to UAA . Clark was recruited by outgoing Keith Morris and may not be as interested in going to Anchorage. The NHB is a new blog, but there is some definite credibility to this rumor.