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Dave Shyiak Out as Alaska-Anchorage Head Coach

Shyiak's contract won't be renewed after 8 years in Anchorage.

By Chris Dilks

According to a report by College Hockey News, Alaska-Anchorage wwill not renew the contract of head coach Dave Shyiak, which expires this year.

Shyiak was the head coach at Alaska-Anchorage for eight seasons. His best season was a 16-18-3 campaign in 2010-2011, but has followed that up with two consecutive last place finishes in the WCHA.

Shyiak has always been respected as a pretty good X's-and-O's coach, but Anchorage is a very difficult place to win. The school has not had a winning season since joining the WCHA in 1993-94. This may have been the right time for Alaska-Anchorage to make a switch and try to bring some positive momentum into the program as they transition to the new WCHA next year.

The next question will be: Who can UAA find to take that head coaching job? Financially, it may be difficult for the Seawolves to attract a big-name head coach.But finding a coach that can re-engage the community, and help the Seawolves keep local Alaskan talent at home, both huge issues for the Seawolves in the past, will be vitally important to their program.