Anchorage’s David Carle was named our Alaska Athlete of the Week after guiding the Denver Pioneers to a 5-1 victory over Minnesota State-Mankato in the NCAA men’s hockey championship.
It was the 32-year-old’s second national title in his young coaching career. Denver finished the season 31-9-1. In his four seasons as bench boss, Carle has a 86-43-13 record for a .651 winning percentage.
Carle had committed to play at Denver in 2008, but he was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, an enlarged heart, at the NHL Combine prior to the draft, where he was expected to likely be a second-round pick. He retired immediately and immediately turned his focus to coaching -working as an assistant coach at Denver during his four years attending school there.
The Alaska Athlete of the Week is selected by a panel each Monday.
Have a candidate in mind? Email us your nomination: info@alaskasportshall.org.
Also receiving votes: Darci Matson, Hugh Neff, Justin Nevells, Daisy Page.