newsminer.com

Tyler Eckford set precedents in March for the Alaska Nanooks by becoming the first player in team history to be named to the first team of the All-Central Collegiate Hockey Association Team and for receiving the league’s 2007-08 Best Offensive Defenseman Award.

The junior from Langley, British Columbia, became a history maker again Friday by gaining a first-team selection to the RBK Hockey All-America West Team.

“Obviously, I’m pretty proud. It’s a pretty big honor,” Eckford said by phone Saturday afternoon.

The soon-to-be professional player credited his Nanooks teammates for making him the fourth All-American in Alaska’s 28-year history as an NCAA program.

“It’s an individual award, but it doesn’t happen without the other 20 guys on the team,” the 6-foot-1, 237-pound blueliner said .

Nanooks goaltender Doug Desorcie was Division II All-American for the 1982-83 season and centers Steve Moria and Dean Fedorchuk, Alaska’s top two all-time leading scorers, were second-team D-I All-Americans — Moria in the 1985-86 season and Fedorchuk in 1993-94.

Fedorchuk was named Friday as the head coach of the Odense Bulldogs after completing his second season as a player for the team in the Denmark Elite League.

Eckford, 22, was the third CCHA player honored Friday with a first-team recognition by the American Hockey Coaches Association, which announced the team during the off-day for the NCAA Division I Frozen Four in Denver.

The others were Miami (Ohio) senior left wing Ryan Jones and Michigan senior Kevin Porter, who also received the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, the highest individual honor in college hockey.

Eckford was the Nanooks’ second-leading scorer this past season with 31 points in 35 games, providing eight goals and a team-high 23 assists. He led CCHA defensemen with 5-18-23 totals in 28 conference games, and he tied Rochester (N.Y.) Institute of Technology sophomore Dan Ringwald for second place among the nation’s leading scorers among defensemen, averaging 0.82 points per game.

Eckford’s approach to practice and games was simple in his last season with the Nanooks.

“I just came to the rink the same every day,” he said. “I came to the rink knowing that I had a job that had to be done. I hate losing and I’m a pretty competitive guy.”

In late March, Eckford decided to forego his senior season with Alaska and a sign a two-way contract with the National Hockey League’s New Jersey Devils, who drafted him 217th overall in 2004.

Head coach position

The University of Alaska Fairbanks opened its search for a head hockey coach to the public on Friday. The position is posted online at www.uakjobs.com.

The Alaska Nanooks are seeking their eighth head coach in the program’s history after Doc DelCastillo resigned Thursday following one season with the team.

Interested applicants should apply online by 5 p.m. AST on Wednesday, April 23.

The next day, a search committee will meet to score applicants and phone interviews with candidates are slated from 6-8 a.m. on April 28-29.

Finalists are slated to visit the campus on May 2-3.

UAF athletic director Forrest Karr said he has spoken with several D-I assistant coaches and received calls and e-mails from D-III head coaches and junior coaches who are interested in applying.

“This isn’t the time to overreact. A hasty decision could have unintended consequences,” Karr said in an e-mail. “This timeline will help student-athletes take ownership in the process of moving the program forward.”