The Worst Seasons in the Past 25 Years Part 4: Alaska Fairbanks

Welcome to the Worst Season in the Past 25 Years, a series in which r/CollegeHockey reviews the worst season for all 60 Division I teams over the summer to alleviate the crushing boredom known as the off-season and take a horrific tour down memory lane.

If you are interested in writing an entry for your team, please let me know via PM. I’ll be posting entries on weekdays at approximately at 6 pm Eastern time and will be going in alphabetical order. If an entry is not posted at that time, assume that “real life” has gotten in the way and that I am not able to post. If I am aware in advance that I will not post at 6 pm on a particular day, I will announce it in prior posts as a heads up.

And now.../r/CollegeHockey presents the Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks! Since the Nanooks elevated their program to DI in 1988, they have only made the NCAA tournament once. In the 1990s and 2000s, the Nanooks were part of the CCHA; they are now part of the WCHA with fellow 50th state program and soulmates Alaska Anchorage.

With that in mind, let’s look at the worst season for the Nanooks...

1999-2000 Record: 6-3-24 (W-D-L); 4-2-22 (W-D-L; 12th/12th in CCHA play).

Wins: Ohio State, Alaska Anchorage, Michigan, @Western Michigan, (Lil) Wayne State, Nebraska Omaha

Ties: (Lil) Wayne State, Notre Dame, Nebraska Omaha

Losses: Ohio State, Alaska Anchorage, Michigan, @Bowling Green (x2), Michigan State (x2), @Notre Dame (x2), Northern Michigan (x2), @Nebraska Omaha (x2), @Lake Superior St (x2), @Miami (OH) (x2), Ferris (Wheel) St. (x2), @Michigan State (x2), Nebraska Omaha (x2), @Alaska Anchorage (x2)

Biggest Beatdown: Bowling Green 8 - Alaska Fairbanks 2

Head Coach: Guy Gadowsky

So far, out of the worst seasons in the series, the 1999-2000 Nanooks were the only ones who managed more than one win. Honestly, I’m impressed. Anyway, it shall be noted that this was Gadowsky’s first season in charge of Alaska Fairbanks. Senior captain Bobby Andrews led the team in scoring with 13; alternate captain Nathan Rochelaeu got the most assists, 13.

The Nanooks’ season got under way with a home series against Ohio State, where they managed to get a win. Riding on that, they went on to their rivalry series with Alaska Anchorage. A win was obtained then a loss followed the following night. A couple of games with Michigan followed where the Nanooks and Wolverines split the series. So far so good, a .500 record. Then they proceeded to get their tushies handed to them away to Bowling Green in the heaviest defeat of the season.

In November, Alaska lost all 6 games to Michigan State, Notre Dame and Northern Michigan. December saw little official action, with a series against Nebraska Omaha going in favor of the Mavericks.

To kick off the year 2000, a trip to the state of Michigan with games with Western Michigan and Lake Superior St. left Alaska empty-handed. A morale boost occurred when the Nanooks hosted Wayne St. and obtained a win and a draw. The month ended with a loss and tie to Notre Dame at home.

February started with a trip to Ohio to face Miami, where Alaska had an overtime loss. An unproductive home series against Ferris State was then followed by a visit to Michigan State. The month was rounded off with a win and draw against Nebraska Omaha, which lifted the Nanooks’ spirits for their end-of-the-season clash with that team in Anchorage. The Seawolves then proceeded to defeat the Nanooks in both games.

Gadowsky was head coach for four more seasons at Alaska, where the team had a 22 win season; the team had a slight dip in form by the time Gadowsky left. Doc DelCastillo was hired for the 2007-08 season. He only lasted a year before current head Dallas Ferguson was hired. Under Ferguson, the Nanooks occasionally have come close to a 20 win season but the team’s record seems to waver on a year by year basis. Under Ferguson, Alaska did have one NCAA appearance, in 2010, where they lost to Boston College.

For Week 1 of this series, we will look at the worst seasons in recent memory for the following school: American International. Once again, if you are interested in doing the entry for your favorite school, shoot me a PM. Your school, name, and date will be added at the end of each post to serve as a reminder. So far, the following people have inquired about a spot:

School	Username	Tentative Date
Cornell	u/ABigRedWallaby	6/29
LSSU	u/binkelman	7/10
UML	u/LantisEscudo	7/13
Penn State	u/saucysalesman	8/8
RPI	u/Nicholas1227	8/16
Union	u/azureamor	8/22
Vermont	u/LocksTheFox	8/23

The format for the posts in the series is still being worked on and your input is greatly appreciated. I hope that everyone can get a kick out of their rivals’ misery and learn a little bit about the history of this great sport!

Finally, a shoutout to u/saucysalesman who inspired the idea of this series for doing one for football over at r/cfb. Additionally, thanks to r/CollegeBasketball for the idea of the sub-par MS Paint logos for each school.