The former head coach for the Kenai River Brown Bears Kevin Murdock will return to Alaska hockey with the announcement by the University of Alaska, Anchorage that Murdock has signed-on as an assistant coach for Seawolves hockey.
UAA head hockey coach Matt Shasby announced on Monday the hiring of Kevin Murdock to an assistant coach role. Murdock joins the Seawolves from his current position with the North Iowa Bulls of the North American Hockey League.
Murdock served as the head coach for the Kenai River Brown Bears for the 2019-20 season and 2020-21 season until May of 2021 when Murdock abruptly resigned from the Brown Bears with two weeks remaining in the regular season and with the Brown Bears poised for a playoff run which would take Kenai River to the championship round of the Robertson Cup in the NAHL.
Press Release from University of Alaska (Dec 1, 2021) – ANCHORAGE, ALASKA – University of Alaska Anchorage head hockey coach Matt Shasby announced that Kevin Murdock has been hired as an assistant coach with the Seawolves.
Murdock comes to UAA from the North Iowa Bulls of the North American Hockey League 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 Matt Shasby. “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,” said Kevin 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 North Iowa Bulls in 2016 as an assistant coach. He helped the Bulls 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.
Murdock was named the head coach of the Kenai River 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 serving as associate head coach and general manager before coming to UAA.
Murdock, a native of Bradenton, Fla., started his collegiate career at Minnesota State before playing his final three seasons at Lake Superior State where he appeared in 56 games in goal. He would go on to play professional hockey with the Fort Wayne Komets, Fayetteville FireAntz and Tulsa Oilers.
Murdock earned his bachelor’s degree in parks and recreation from Lake Superior State.
Original Story on Murdock departure from Kenai River Brown Bears posted May 3, 2021 – The Kenai River Brown Bears, in an abrupt and unanticipated move, announced on Monday that Brown Bears Head Coach Kevin Murdock is no longer with the team and will not finish-out the 2021 Junior A hockey season on the bench for Kenai River.
The Brown Bears, with a 5-1 record at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex since locating in Alaska, have qualified for the NAHL playoffs and posted a 21-21-1-1 overall record.
According to Brown Bears GM Chris Hedlund, “Kevin has resigned to pursue other options within the NAHL. While disappointed in his abrupt departure, we (Brown Bears) understand that the NAHL is the league of opportunity. The organization thanks him for his contributions and wishes him the best in future endeavors.”
Kenai River plans to announce new staff additions in the near future. The Midwest Division has only two weeks remaining in the regular season with the Brown Bears scheduled to face the Fairbanks Ice Dogs four times to close the regular season.
