A RICH HOCKEY HISTORY AND TRADITION FOR OVER 40 YEARS

 

    With completion of the Flagstaff Ice Rink in 1971, the NAU Hockey Club program began in the fall of 1971 under the tutelage of a native of International Falls, Minnesota, Dr. Gerald Caple, who was a Chemistry Professor at NAU. The esteemed Dr. Caple committed to a decade of organizing, advising, managing, and coaching the fledgling hockey club. He spent countless hours and untold amounts of money in order to develop and build a respectable college hockey organization. Sacrificing a lot of time with his wife, Sharon, and their three daughters, Dr. Caple could be found at the Flagstaff Ice Arena (now known as the Jay Lively Activity Center) late at night or early in the morning providing direction for his young players.

    NAU Hockey grew over the years and became a powerful club team. The hockey team beat many of the collegiate and amateur teams in the southwest, including the University of Arizona and Arizona State University in the beginning days of their club programs. In the spring of 1978, the NAU program, then coached by Michigan native and NHL veteran, Jimmy Peters, even played the professional Phoenix Roadrunners of the Pacific Hockey League in front of over 4,000 exuberant fans.

 

    In addition to the Allan brothers (Peter and Doug) in goal, the Lumberjacks lineup included Billy ‘Woody’ Wood (Robbinsdale, Minnesota); Danny Turcotte (Falher, Alberta); Calgary, Alberta natives, Scott Atkinson, Bruce Matkin, John ‘Red’ Hagen; Wayne ‘Mad Dog’ Nelson (Kelowna, British Columbia); Tony Halton (Portland, Oregon); Jim Belden, Gary Novak, and John Ozello (all from Chicago); and noted Phoenix sports media personality, Kevin McCabe, as well as highly-regarded Phoenix hockey aficionado and a native of Chicago, Brian ‘Shadow’ Smith.

    From 1977 to 1985, NAU played in the Walkup Skydome in front of huge crowds comprised of NAU students and Flagstaff area residents.

   
 

           

 

    This success in club hockey helped NAU to move to NCAA Division I hockey in the 1981-82 season. The Jacks had five great seasons as an NCAA Division I - Independent squad. In the 1984-85 seasons, NAU played two historic home weekend series; each 2-game series drew close to 10,000 NAU hockey fans to watch these games versus Michigan State University and Ohio State University. Former Detroit Red Wing and Los Angles King, Jimmy Peters; and John Mason, former assistant coach at Bowling Green, Michigan State, and Ohio State were the two Lumberjack Head Coaches during this time.

 

    NAU also had some top players hailing from all across North America, including Captains Bobby Knight (Thunder Bay, Ontario); Blair Larson (Victoria, British Columbia); Billy Swarbrick (Omaha, Nebraska); and Steve Selva (Port Alberni, British Columbia); as well as goaltenders Kreg Korinek (Omaha, Nebraska) and Gary Shepherd (Regina, Saskatchewan).

 

    Easily the most notable player ever to perform as a Lumberjack was Greg Adams, who hailed from Nelson, British Columbia. Adams had a 17-year NHL career following his time with the IceJacks. From 1984 to 2001 Adams had playing stops in New Jersey, Vancouver, Dallas, Phoenix, and Florida – helping Vancouver make the Stanley Cup finals against the New York Rangers in 1993-94.

 

 

 

     

 

    Another NAU alumni who enjoyed a long NHL career was Bobby Beers, who was an IceJack during the 1985-1986 season.  Beers had a 7-year career, playing for Boston, Edmonton, Tampa Bay, and the New York Islanders. He is currently the color commentator for the Bruins’ radio broadcasts. 

 

 

          

 

 

    Other NAU alumni who played in the NHL include:

 

 

    -Brent Mowery from Nelson, British Columbia - Drafted by the Winnipeg Jets
    -Tony Fairfield from St. Albert, Alberta - Drafted by the Edmonton Oilers
    -Glen Engevik from Surrey, British Columbia - Drafted by the New Jersey Devils
    -Doug Alan (future IceJacks coach) - Drafted by the St. Louis Blues in the 1974 NHL Draft

 

    The NAU edition as a NCAA Division I program was dropped by the University after the 1985-1986 season due to the ice facility in the Walkup Skydome falling in disrepair, state budget cuts to the University system and Title IX compliance.

 

    Following a four year hiatous, the NAU IceJacks Hockey Club was resurrected for the 1991-92 season by a dedicated group of NAU students lead by former NAU player and club/Division I assistant coach, Doug Allan, originally from Stoughton, Saskatchewan. The team moved back to the friendly confines of the Flagstaff Ice Arean (now called the Jay Lively Activity Center aka: the ‘JAY’).  Due to the popularity of the team, major renovations were made to the 'JAY', including new locker rooms in time for the 94-95 season that were constructed by local contractors who donated their time, labor and equipment to the project.

 

 

       

  
    The new-edition of the Icejacks had several great seasons playing similar University club programs, eventually joining in the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA). Some players who helped put the NAU Hockey Club back on the map in that era were Scott Barker (Phoenix via St. Louis, Missouri); Chuck King (Rye Brook, New York); Scott Thompson (Phoenix via Red Wing, Minnesota); Schaumberg, Illinois natives Brad Bialas and Mike Swords; Mike Bork (Beaver Dam, Wisconsin); Marc Sevigny (Bowling Green, Ohio); Jeff Osberg (Wayzata, Minnesota); Steve Conklin (Silver Spring, Maryland); Brad Mullet and Nolan McKelvey (Okemos, Michigan); as well as local Flagstaff products, Glen Austin, Ben Evans, and Eric Dahn. 

 

    In 1994-95, Due to time constraints and family responsibilities, Coach Allan stepped down, turning over the team to former NAU Varsity player and captain, Blair Larson (Head Coach), and Steve Holmes (General Manager), who was a former NAU Football player and hockey parent.  Eventually the club was coached and managed by Minnesota native and local educator, Ron Kuzara, who remains a Flagstaff resident and frequent player in the local mens league.

    In 2004-2005, A J Fairchild from Pittsburgh, PA assisted Kuzara and took over the program in 2005-2006.  Even through difficult times, financial challenges and personnel issues, AJ kept the team alive and growing.  His tireless dedication and hard work are the single greatest reason NAU has a thriving Ice Hockey Program today.  As one of the most aggressive recruiters in the ACHA, A.J. has brought in numerous top players from all over North America to play at NAU.

 

 

                      

 

    Fairchild installed Todd Schall, who came to Phoenix from Devils Lake, North Dakota, as Head Coach in 2005.  From 2005-2008, Shall led the IceJacks to 2 ACHA National Championship Appearances:
   

                                                                

 

 

     The 2006-2007 campaign saw the team qualify for the ACHA Division 3 national tournament, finishing 8th in the nation in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  The 2007-2008 squad again improved and finished 6th in the nation at the Rochester, Minnesota national tournament. Dillon Shaffer from Phoenix, AZ made All American along with Josh Brown from Travers City, Michigan, San Diego’s Kevin Ingram, team captain Tyler Holmes from Flagstaff, AZ, Michael Borgeson from Peoria, AZ and Alex Trieweiler from Homer, Alaska were Pacific Region All Americans.

    

    The 2008-2009 season began with Todd Schall moving on the become President of the Pacific Collegiate Hockey Association (the PCHA, a conference within Division 3 of the ACHA) and Keith Johanson stepping in as the new head coach along side the return of Coach Doug Allan and former IceJacks star and ACHA all-American Josh Brown.

 

 

 

                                                                                                

    The team again qualified, this time as the #1 seed at the ACHA D3 National Tournament in Rochester, New York. The Ice Jacks finished 6th in the nation in March of 2009.  Shaffer again gained All American status as did Matt Dyal, Michael Borgeson and Ben Jordan. Tyler Holmes won academic All American along with Matt Dyal.

    With this success, notoriety of this hockey club from Northern Arizona began to spread.  With the team finishing among the top 10 teams in the nation 3 years running, players from all over the country began coming to NAU to play hockey. The IceJacks opened a historic 2009-2010 campaign with two teams, Division 2 and Division 3, who are now both playing competitively in the ACHA. NAU had a great recruiting year that brought in many new players to try out for the teams. The top team now plays in ACHA Division 2 (WCHC Conference) and Division 3 (PCHA Conference).

 

    For the 2009-2010 season, the D2 team was again Head coached by former Flagstaff High School Hockey Coach Keith Johanson, along with this son and former Flagstaff High School Hockey star Travis Johanson, and Josh Brown.  The D2 team had a great season posting a 19-8-0-1 record and again battled for a top 10 spot in the Pacific Region.

 

    The D3 team is Head Coached by IceJacks Alumni Kris Walsh, assisted by Pittsburgh native and former WPIHL All-Star Craig Maxwell and Kris's father, Mark Walsh.

 

   
    Craig Maxwell            Kris Walsh             Mark Walsh

 

    During a 4 day blizzard in January 2010, that dumped over 6 ft. of snow on Flagstaff, the 40 year old roof of the Jay Lively arena gave way under the weight and collapsed.  For the next 9 months, the IceJacks were unable to practice or host games at home, putting extreme strain on the players, coaches and on the organization financially. Even with this adversity, the D2 team finished just short of making the ACHA regional tournament. The D3 team worked hard each game and finished with a #13 ranking in the PCHA.  Michael Gray was named D3 Academic All-American.

           

 

    Due to the 2008 financial downturn, the city run Jay Lively rink was in danger of NOT being rebuilt because of city-wide funding issues.  The IceJacks, with their Alumni and endless supporters, along with the FYHA, the Flagstaff Figure Skating Club, the local hockey and skating community and hundreds of local residents, held a rally, numerous fundraisers and packed city counsel meeting after meeting, DEMANDING the rink be at least rebuilt if not expanded.  The tireless dedication and effort of all involved with tens of thousands of dollars in donations convinced the city to rebuild.

           

 

    In October 2010, the newly rebuilt Jay Lively Activity Center (aka: The "JAY") re-opened it's doors to capacity crowds at every game.  Brand new boards and glass were installed thanks to a huge donation from the IceJacks Alumni. 

   

 

    The 2010-2011 season was very successful for the D2 team, beating in-state rivals Arizona State University SunDevils D2 and even University of Arizona's IceCats D1 squad.  The IceJacks again qualified for the ACHA D2 Regional Tournament, but after winning their first 3 games, the IceJacks fell only 2 goals short of going to Nationals and finished 8th in the west. The D3 team had a very challenging season with 13 freshman players on the roster and loosing 9 others at the semester break due to grade issues.

    In late August 2011, D2 coach Josh Brown announced to the team he had accepted a new coaching position in NCAA Division I with Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh, PA.  After one full season with the Colonials, Josh accepted a prestigious coaching position with USA Hockey's National Team, Development U-18 program.  Coaches like Josh and those who came before him, are a testament to the high caliber of the IceJacks staff.  The organization and all our players wish Josh the best of luck in his new position. Although he will be missed behind the bench, Josh continues to work with NAU from a distance as a scout and coaching advisor. 

 

        

 

    Colin Hughes, an IceJacks alumni, joined the D2 coaching staff for the 2011-2012 season.

 

    The 2011-2012 season began with the IceJacks best recruiting class ever; over 80 highly skilled players from around the country accepted invites to the IceJacks tryouts.  Also new for 2011-2012, hosted by GORE Hockey School of Phoenix, the first-ever IceJacks "Prospect Camp" was held prior to tryouts for new and returning players.  The tryouts were extremely competitive and enabled the organization to choose 2 highly skilled teams.

 

    Near the end of December 2011, after 2 years of hard work raising funds for the project, the new bleachers were finally installed at the "Jay".  Installed by Bleachers International of Colorado, nearly 600 new seats can be enjoyed by the fans with a great view of the ice, in addition to standing room for 400+ more.

 

   

 

       

 

    Spaces are still available to be a Bleacher Sponsor.  For a $200.00 donation per seat, you get a plaque with your name engraved on it, attached to one of the seats at Jay Lively.  See the  BLEACHER FUND  page for details on how to purchase a seat.

    At the end of the 2011-2012 season, for the first time since expanding the organization into two teams, both the D2 (16-12-1) and D3 (18-9) squads finished the season with winning records and qualified for their respective ACHA Regional Tournaments. 

 

    The D3 team qualified as the #10 seed, and traveled over 2500 miles by coach bus, to play the tournaments top seeded team.  They played an inspired game; tied 2-2 with under 5 minutes left, an unfortunate bounce put the IceJacks down by 1, and after an empty net goal, they lost 4-2.  On the bright side, they finished 9th in the ACHA Pacific Region and earned a top 40 National ranking out of 142 teams in Division 3.

        

    The D2 team qualified as the #5 seed and won all three games at Regionals, including one in OT, and earned a trip to the ACHA Nationals for the first time as a Division 2 squad.  The team boarded a plane and flew to Florida for the National Finals as the #4 seed to come out of the West. They finished the tournament ranked as the #16 team in the Nation, out of 192 team in Division 2.

        

 

    The 2012-2013 season was an exciting one for the IceJacks.  A new addition to the D2 coaching staff in Nathan Dolentz, an NCAA D3 alumni, made a big impact on the squad.  Now, with both teams ranked among the top 40 in the Nation... both were expected to make nationals and be in the top 16.

 

   Out of the 40 teams in the D2 ACHA West Region, the NAU IceJacks Division 2 team finished the 2012-2013 regular season ranked #6 with a 16-11-5 record and qualified for the D2 Regional Tournament, but were emilinated in the first round by and incerdible comeback late in the game by Utah State.  They Finished 2nd in the WCHC Conference and won the WCHC Championchip at After winning both games at the WCHC conference championship.  The Division 2 IceJacks have been crowned the 2012-2013 WCHC Champions!

 

 

   2012-2013 was a record breaker for the IceJacks D3 squad.  They set numerous team records in this modern era (since the NAU hockey organization expanded into two teams).  New benchmarks were set for wins, points, goals for, goal against, producing a 12-game win streak and record attendance at home games. But more importantly, the 2012-2013 D3 IceJacks dethroned several Pacific Division powerhouses, with victories over Northern Colorado, Colorado State and College of the Canyons (the 2009 National Champion) while attaining a top 5 Pacific ranking. 

 

    

 

   The biggest accomplishment of the season, without a doubt, was the 2 victories at the regional play-off (one in overtime over Nebraska 5-4 and the other a 7-1 pounding of College of the Canyons) to advance to the ACHA National Finals in Springfield, IL where the team earned a birth among the top 16 teams in the Nation.  The IceJacks were placed in the toughest pool at the tournament, having to face the perennial National Finalist teams of Central Florida and Hope College.  The D3 team played well and finished the tournament 1-2 earning a Final National Ranking of 11th in the Nation, out of 155 teams in Division 3.