Snow, icebergs, and polar bears are things readily associated with the state of Alaska. With Director of Athletics Gary Walters '67's announcement yesterday, it would seem fitting to add one more item to the arctic list — hockey. At a press conference last Tuesday, Walters appointed Guy Gadowsky, formerly head coach at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, as new head coach of the men's hockey team.
The announcement comes nearly two months after the dismissal of former head coach Len Quesnelle '88. Quesnelle was dismissed after a disappointing 29-84-11 record over four years with the Tigers. After Quenelle's dismissal, the Department of Athletics investigated numerous opportunities throughout the country until it arrived at the last frontier — the University of Alaska-Fairbanks.
Gadowsky, an Edmonton, Alb. native, played hockey for Colorado College, earning a bachelor's degree in economics in 1989. He then played professional hockey for several teams within Canada and the U.S., and also abroad in Sweden, Austria, and Holland until he began coaching in 1996.
In 1999, Alaska-Fairbanks offered Gadowsky his first collegiate coaching job. He wasted no time in turning the opportunity into a success. It took him only three short years to turn the failing hockey program around.
Two years of painful rebuilding yielded painful 6-25-3 and 9-19-8 seasons. The fruits of his labor finally became apparent the third season after his arrival when the Nanooks' talent seemed to explode. The team finished its 2001-2002 season with a 22-12-3 record. That year, the Nanooks' record was good enough to put them at No. 11 nationally.
Gadowsky continued to lead his team through two more winning seasons, accomplishing many other small victories along the way. He brought the Central Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs to Alaska-Fairbanks, a school which has only 11 varsity teams, for two of the past three seasons. The CCHA includes schools like the University of Michigan, Ohio State, and Notre Dame. Gadowsky ended his Nanook coaching career with a 68-89-22 record.
Gadowsky's crucial role in the Nanooks' impressive turnaround brings hope for a repeat with the Tigers. The struggling Princeton team finished its 2003-2004 season with a 5-24-2 overall record and has lost its top recruits to other Eastern College Athletic Conference foes due to the coaching issues.
"I am honored to have the opportunity to build a successful Div. I hockey program at a top academic institution like Princeton," Gadowsky said in a release on goprincetontigers.com. "I will work unceasingly to elevate the program in the classroom, on the ice, and in the community. To be able to pursue this goal at a place as storied as Princeton is very exciting."
Gadowsky will be officially announced at a press conference this morning at 11 a.m. at the Class of '56 Lounge in Princeton Stadium.
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