Former Anchorage coach accused of hitting player with hockey stick

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Former Alaska-Anchorage hockey coach Dave Shyiak violently struck a player with his stick during a practice in 2011 and then instructed his players to keep quiet about the incident, former Seawolves winger Mickey Spencer alleges in a letter to University of Alaska president Patrick Gamble.
Spencer also sent the letter, dated May 1, 2013, to the university Board of Regents and chancellor Tom Case.

Spencer said he saw Shyiak strike Alaska-Anchorage forward Nick Haddad with a "baseball-style" swing during a drill at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex on Jan. 11, 2011. He said Shyiak apparently became angered when Haddad failed to stop in front of the net, as instructed, during a drill.

"He tomahawked, lumber-jacked-whatever you want to call it-him across the thigh on his (hockey) pants," Spencer said. "We knew this wasn't a small deal, it's kind of a big deal. I've seen a coach break a stick over a goalpost or the glass because he's pissed about something, but I've never seen one take out his anger on a player."

Two other former Seawolf team members told the Daily News they also witnessed the incident and they corroborated the details of Spencer's account. They said they would speak only on the condition of anonymity.

Asked in 2011 by a Daily News reporter about rumors of an incident, shortly after it was alleged to have happened, Haddad denied it. On Monday, in response to a text message from the Daily News, Haddad texted back, "No comment."

Shyiak was fired by Alaska-Anchorage athletic director Steve Cobb on March 29 after eight losing seasons.

Shyiak's attorney, Kevin Fitgerald, said Shyiak disputes Spencer's characterization of the incident.
"He confirms he did strike Nick's knee pads with his stick," Fitzgerald said. "It wasn't an assault. It was, in essence, an attempt to get Nick's attention. It wasn't designed to injure Nick. It didn't cause any injury. Nick didn't report to the trainer, didn't suffer an injury, didn't go to the hospital."

Spencer said Shyiak told them not to talk about the incident if questioned and to keep the matter within the team.

In his letter to Gamble, Spencer said, "In more specific words, Shyiak told players, if asked about the incident, to reply, 'No comment, we were preparing for this weekend and things can get intense, it was nothing out of the ordinary.' "

Fitzgerald said Shyiak denies he told players to downplay the incident.

Spencer said players did not report the incident to UAA administrators or discuss it with reporters out of concern that doing so might damage their hockey careers.

"To say that we players feared for our playing time and scholarships if we spoke up is an understatement," Spencer wrote to Gamble.

The investigation is being conducted by Stephen Goetz of the University of Alaska Fairbanks police department.

Olson added that Goetz, while associated with UAF, "has no connection with UAA, and is well respected among law enforcement professionals."

Spencer told the Daily News that as of Saturday he had been contacted three times by an investigator.

Fitzgerald said Shyiak has not talked to Goetz.

While declining to identify the sport, the coach or the players involved, Olson provided the following narrative of events:

"Strom emailed the alleged victim more than once and followed up with a phone call and voicemail, but received no response," Olson wrote. "Strom then reviewed the situation with AD Cobb, who briefed Athletics personnel regarding the situation. Given that (team) practices were conducted in public and that there was no corroboration, staff determined that no further review was required. AD Cobb states that he nonetheless addressed the concern with the coach."

Olson declined to say whether Strom tried to interview anyone other than the victim.

Fitzgerald said he doesn't think Shyiak ever spoke with Strom about the incident.

Strom declined to comment Monday.

Cobb, too, declined to answer questions from the Daily News on Monday, citing the current investigation.

"I can no longer sit back and know that this went on and not inform someone about it," Spencer wrote to Gamble. "I hope to have children one day, and should they ever be athletes, I would hope that if something like this happened to them, someone would speak out and stand up for them."

Spencer, 23, lives in his hometown of Gibbons, Alberta, and is no longer involved in organized hockey. He sells boats and all-terrain vehicles.

Spencer was suspended by Shyiak for one game in December 2011 after being issued a major penalty and game misconduct for spearing an opponent in a game at Minnesota State-Mankato, and wrote in his letter to Gamble that "I understood the suspension for my infraction and accepted my fate."

Spencer, then the team's leading goal scorer, said Shyiak told him that, if he were asked why he was not playing, he should say he was a "healthy scratch," meaning fit for game duty but unable to crack the lineup.

He alleged in his letter to Gamble that Shyiak told him, "It won't look good and will just be a big distraction if the headline in tomorrow's paper reads, 'Leading Scorer for UAA Suspended.' "

Both the Alaska State Hockey Association and the UAA Hockey Alumni Association have passed resolutions of no-confidence in athletic director Cobb, who hires and supervises the school's coaches.

Fitzgerald, Shyiak's attorney, said he found the timing of allegations against his client suspect.

"I think this is really misdirected, because in my view, it is really designed to oust Dr. Cobb and, unfortunately, Dave is bearing the brunt of this," Fitzgerald said. "The timing of this doesn't escape me. It's transparent."

After the public outcry, Case, the UAA chancellor, halted the original search. The university has since appointed a supplemental search committee that includes UAA hockey founder Brush Christiansen and three former Seawolf skaters.

The school slightly altered the job criteria, which could expand the field of applicants to the professional, major-junior and junior ranks. It reopened the job to applications.