Alaska Avalanche coaches resign

Nov. 28, 2006

By Jeremiah Bartz/ Frontiersman

WASILLA - The Alaska Avalanche skated off the ice on Friday on the heel of a 5-4 overtime loss to the Fairbanks Ice Dogs.

Little did the Avalanche know, it would be the last time the team would be under the direction of head coach Dean Larson and assistant Corey Millen.

Larson and Millen abruptly resigned after the loss, ending a two-year relationship with the Wasilla-based Junior A hockey program.

Alaska general manager Keith Morris confirmed that Larson and Millen are no longer with the club, stressing the organization is now trying to move past a weekend that included a pair of losses to its intrastate rival, combined with the loss of both its coaches.

&#8220It's a very tough situation,” Morris said. &#8220We're just trying to move through.”

Morris did not indicate specifically why Larson and Millen decided to leave the organization 27 games into the season.

&#8220The coaches felt like they wanted to go in a different direction,” Morris said. &#8220They have moved on.”

Larson and Millen were both unavailable for

comment.

Like Larson, Morris is a former Alaska Anchorage hockey standout. He was hired earlier this month to be the team's general

manager. On Saturday, he took a position on the team's bench and helped lead the Avs to a 3-2 win over Fairbanks. Morris was joined on the bench by Jamie Smith, the former head coach of the Houston High School hockey squad and the Avs' marketing director, and Justin Johnson, a former player with both UAA and the Alaska Aces.

The organization is yet to name permanent replacements for Larson and Millen. Morris declined to indicate whether he'd be interested in adding coaching duties to his responsibilities as general manager on a full-time basis.

&#8220Right now, my biggest task is to do the best job to help the Alaska Avalanche move on, and help the players move on in their careers,” Morris said.

It has been a rough weekend, but Morris said the team is handling things well.

&#8220Right now one of the biggest things we need to do is be positive, do everything we can to move forward with our program,” Morris said.

&#8220There's certainly a lot of mixed emotions. I think they were disappointed, I guess a little bit shocked,” Morris added. &#8220It happened so quickly, the biggest thing is we have to do forward.”

Morris said the highlight of the weekend was the team's 3-2 win over the Ice Dogs. The team responded, despite battling adversity.

The win meant the Avs were able to collect three points in the North American Hockey League series. Alaska and Fairbanks are now tied at 23 points each.

Larson and Millen were named the organization's first coaches when the Valley landed the NAHL franchise prior to the 2005-06 season. Larson is one of the most well-known figures in the state's hockey community, after hall of fame careers with both UAA and the Aces. Millen, a former University of Minnesota standout, skated in the NHL for 11 seasons.

Alaska has a week off before facing Fairbanks once again. The Avs travel to the Interior to face the Ice Dogs, Sunday at 5 p.m.

On Dec. 5, the Avs start a three-game series against the defending NAHL champion Texas Tornado.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.