Earlier this week, the Anchorage Daily News reported that former Alaska-Anchorage player Nick Haddad was struck with a stick by then-head coach Dave Shyiak during a 2011 practice.
Thursday, a written statement to the News and the Associated Press from Haddad confirmed the incident.
Haddad confirmed the incident that former teammate, Mickey Spencer, reported this month in a letter to University of Alaska president Patrick Gamble and other school officials.
Spencer said Shyiak “tomahawked, lumber-jacked” Haddad with a stick after Haddad goofed a drill
“He hit me in the front of the pants — anyone who has ever put on a pair of hockey pants knows a slash hitting you anywhere other than the man region is not going to hurt,” Haddad wrote. “The loud noise from his blade slapping the pads made it sound much worse than it was actually was. I felt no pain.
“Again, I’m not justifying what coach Shyiak did or denying there was an incident. I am just saying the way it was described in the previous article was a bit exaggerated.”
