Alaska Anchorage announced Wednesday that Kevin Murdock has been hired as an assistant coach with the Seawolves.
Murdock comes to UAA, which will return to play in 2022-23, from the NAHL’s North Iowa Bulls where he served as the associate head coach and general manager.
“Kevin is one of the brightest young minds in hockey who has a reputation of being a player’s coach who gets the most out of his teams,” said Seawolves coach Matt Shasby in a statement. “His knowledge of the current player pool, ability to recruit, and his network is going to help establish the Seawolves very quickly on the recruiting circuit. He spent two years as head coach rebuilding the Kenai River Brown Bears NAHL team into a playoff contender and then moved on to the staff at North Iowa, where he had them in first place this year. On top of that, he is a former goalie who has an exceptional eye for finding and developing goaltenders at an elite level.
“We couldn’t be more excited about what Kevin brings to our staff.”
“I would like to thank Matt Shasby and the UAA athletic staff for giving me this opportunity to become part of the university,” added Murdock. “I am eager to get to work helping to rebuild the UAA men’s hockey program. I’m looking forward to seeing the program continue to move in the right direction.”
Murdock first joined the Bulls in 2016 as an assistant coach. He helped the Bulls, then in the NA3HL, to a pair of division titles in 2017 and 2018 and an appearance in the Silver Cup in 2017. He was elevated to associate head coach for the 2018-19 season where the team finished second in the West Division and advanced to the Fraser Cup, formerly known as the Silver Cup.
Murdock helped the Bulls to a 106-26-6-3 mark during his three years in Mason City.
“We are very excited for Kevin to enter this next phase of his coaching career, and we are proud of his accomplishments with us and in the North American Hockey League,” said North Iowa coach-GM Todd Sanden in a news release. “He is a diligent, smart and humble coach who excelled in Alaska during his time with Kenai River. Kevin contributed much to our program and to our front office. We will miss Kevin greatly, and we wish him and his UAA team the best.”
Murdock was named the head coach of the Brown Bears in 2019, where he posted a record of 47-40-4-4 over two years. He returned to North Iowa in the spring of 2021.
