FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Alaska Nanooks head men's hockey coach
Dallas Ferguson announced that alumnus and former defenseman
Corbin Schmidt (Anchorage, AK) has been selected as the program's new assistant coach.
"I'm extremely excited about the addition of Corbin to our coaching staff; he is a great fit for our program,” said Ferguson. “He brings a strong understanding of the identity of our program and the core values of Nanook Hockey."
Schmidt has most recently been the Director of Training and Recruitment at the Minnesota Advancement Program, the largest hockey training facility in the state, since 2009.
“I am honored to have been selected as the assistant coach at my Alma Mater,” Schmidt said. “I am very excited to return to Fairbanks and coach alongside another former Nanook in
Dallas Ferguson, as he has been a mentor of mine for some time now.”
In three years with MAP, Schmidt recruited over 200 players into the program, coached and trained over 400 athletes off the ice and coached over 100 hockey games.
"Corbin is a great communicator and teacher,” Ferguson added. “Both of these qualities are going to make him a tremendous asset to our student-athletes' development."
A Nanook from 2001-2005, Schmidt played his first three seasons for Guy Gadowsky, now of Penn State, and his senior year under Tavis MacMillan, a scout for the National Hockey League's Winnipeg Jets.
“Corbin has a great passion for hockey and teaching the game,” MacMillan said. “His approach and demeanor will endear him to the team quickly. He will be a great asset for the Nanook Hockey program as well as the University and entire Fairbanks community. “
Schmidt's final season at Alaska was also Ferguson's first as the program's assistant coach. He appeared in 117 career games and scored 23 points, including 19 as a senior when was named the Shawn Chambers Defenseman of the Year.
“Few student-athletes exhibited a passion for Alaska and UAF like Corbin did,” MacMillan added. “He was so proud to be Alaskan, always had a smile on his face and a great spirit about him. It was contagious. He can sell young men on why Alaska and Alaska Hockey is a special place and it will be genuine.”
Schmidt's professional hockey career landed him back in his hometown of Anchorage, where he enjoyed a successful four-year stint playing for the Aces of the ECHL. Schmidt tallied 96 points in 231 pro hockey games and was a part of Aces teams that won the Kelly Cup in 2005-06 and the Western Conference title in 2008-09.
“I have been fortunate enough to play under some of the most successful coaches in the game of hockey and in turn, have had a very successful playing career,” Schmidt said. “I am eager to take what I learned from my former coaches and experiences as a player and share that knowledge with the student-athletes to enhance an already successful program and help to continue the proud tradition of Nanook Hockey.”
Joining Ferguson, who enters his fifth year at the helm for the Nanooks, and fourth-year assistant
Lance West, Schmidt fills the role previously held by Brian Meisner (2009-12), to complete the coaching staff.
“With Dallas and
Lance West at the helm of this program there will be numerous learning opportunities for me and that is something I am very excited about,” Schmidt said. “I think that the three of us will make a great team as we enter our final year in the CCHA and prepare for the transition to the WCHA the following year.”
Schmidt graduated from UAF in 2006 with a degree in Psychology and a minor in Education. He begins his duties as assistant coach later this month.
