They unveiled the UAA hockey team's swank new digs at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex on Tuesday, and the Brush Christiansen Hockey Center – aptly named for the founder of the Seawolves pucks program – does not lack for amenities.
Nor does it lack metaphorical value for a program trying to return to the glories of two seasons ago and cast aside the misery of last season's 8-22-4 slog, which included last place in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association and no playoffs.
Black leather couches and chairs, replete with cup holders, sit in the lounge area. The room includes a flat screen television, especially handy for video breakdown, and a study area, especially handy for remaining academically eligible.
There are two refrigerators, one for freshmen and sophomores, one for juniors and seniors. The latter held one item, a can of Del Monte sliced peaches. Evidently, upperclassmen are not serial shoppers. Perhaps not even cereal shoppers. A long breakfast bar adorns the kitchen area. (Remember, it's college, not old-time hockey, so there's no putting an actual bar in the breakfast bar. Oh, well.)
Below the flat screen is a horizontal fireplace. Alas, it is a virtual fireplace, so sadly there will be no acceptable hockey hazing like, say, sending freshmen out to nearby woods to chop a fresh cord.
An adjoining room will soon hold stationary bicycles and weights but for now is home to a ping-pong table. Coach Matt Thomas said assistant coach Josh Ciocco rules the roost, just ahead of goaltender Jared D'Amico. Employing a journalism maxim – if your mother says she loves you, check it out – we doubled back to poll a few players. They pegged D'Amico king of the table, Ciocco maybe fourth – tough crowd.
There is a hydrotherapy room, one hot tub and one cold tub. There is a trainer's room. There is a room for the coaches.
The locker room, where the nameplates in each stall identify the player by name, number and hometown, is constructed in a square, so each player can see all his teammates.
Ceiling lighting in the locker room glows green and illuminates the Seawolves logo. Most teams at various levels of hockey have their logo on the floor, and it is forbidden to step on the revered logo, as if it were something other than, you know, carpet. (Step on the logo in many rooms and players act as if you have spit on their mother – after loudly announcing she works in the world's oldest profession.)
The hockey center also includes actual showers, so Seawolves no longer have to endure the awkwardness of showering in the Sports Complex's communal showers. (Imagine it was hard to feel like a Division I athlete while showering next to Phil, the guy who just finished his lap swim.)
But perhaps the greatest amenity in the whole joint might be the two giant ceiling fans in the locker room. Few things smell as ghastly as hockey equipment and sweaters after practice or a game. You know how you sometimes see NHL players taking a deep whiff off an ammonia capsule to get amped right before opening face-off? Probably healthier to just take a hit off yesterday's unwashed practice jersey. Same effect – you smell that jersey and your senses are alive. Your nose hairs are melted, sure, but hockey is about sacrifice!
In any event, the upgrades are part of a $10 million renovation to the building, and those improvements include a new ice plant for the rink, along with new boards and Plexiglass. Two new workout areas are open to the general student population. Enhancements also include new electrical work, new fire safety and suppression systems and new LED lighting.
UAA athletic director Keith Hackett called the improvements a commitment to the hockey team and a move to bring it in line with other Division I hockey programs. Thomas called it a recruiting leveler – no longer will he and his staff tour the building with a recruit and hope the kid doesn't ask, "Uh, so, where do we shower?'' – and tangible support from the administration.
"It's almost comical, the difference,'' said senior captain Austin Sevalrud, noting that when he was a freshman the team lifted weights in an old racquetball court.
Sevalrud has undergone his own upgrades. At 200 pounds, he said he's about 20 pounds lighter than two seasons ago. He recognized speed was more necessary for him than bulk – "I was a step behind; I could see a hole, but I couldn't quite get there'' – and he has transformed his diet. Lots of lentils, beans, fish and ground turkey – he said teammates say his meals look like dog food.
Whatever works. Sevalrud, a defenseman, said he learned from previous leaders, particularly Matt Bailey, who captained the Seawolves as a senior two seasons ago.
"Matt Bailey was a guy who walked the walk, and that's what I'm trying to do – set an example of never cutting corners, holding guys accountable, but also empowering them,'' Sevalrud said.
His assistant captains are senior center Blake Tatchell, the team's most dangerous offensive player and a guy who usually looks bemused, as if he just heard a great joke; senior defenseman Chris Williams, the team's most physical returner; and sophomore center Matt Anholt, the son of a hockey coach.
Also included in the leadership group Thomas tapped is senior Blake Leask, a Swiss Army knife of sorts – he's played defense, wing and center in his UAA career -- and sophomore goalie Olivier Mantha, who teammates voted Most Valuable Player last season and is an old soul.
"You know what you're going to get out of him every day,'' Tatchell said of Mantha.
What the Seawolves will get out of themselves is a mystery that starts getting cracked Friday, when they play an exhibition game in Soldotna against Mount Royal of Calgary, Alberta. They have 12 new faces, counting transfer twins Jonah and Nathan Renouf, who won't be eligible until next season. Playing time will presumably be earned – eight-win seasons do not guarantee an abundance of guys playing time the following season.
"The floor is open for opportunity,'' Tatchell said.
WCHA coaches picked UAA to finish ninth among 10 teams. WCHA media picked the Seawolves to repeat in 10th. Granted, those selections did not lack merit.
"It should give us a chip on our shoulder,'' Thomas said. "I know it has for me.''
The Seawolves have only been on the ice for official practices for a few days. They are very much a work in progress – the word "process'' gets thrown around frequently. Things surely will go smoother than they did one moment in Tuesday morning's practice, when defenseman Tanner Johnson inadvertently leveled new assistant coach Louis Mass in a spooky collision that jarred both (welcome to the Seawolves!).
A few bits of work remain to be done at the Brush Christiansen Hockey Center. Historic photos will line the walls outside the Center. Inside, pictures of Seawolves who have played in the NHL will adorn one wall and awards won by Seawolves will hang on another wall.
And soon, we'll begin seeing if the Seawolves have also begun a makeover.
This column is the opinion of Daily News reporter Doyle Woody. Reach him at dwoody@alaskadispatch.com, check out his blog at adn.com/hockeyblog and follow him on Twitter at @JaromirBlagr