LetsGoDU

UAA Player Takes AD to Jedi Council
Seawolves Athletic Director denies a transfer to Gophers

(Left) Walksy & Cobb state their case before the Supreme Jedi Council which oversees the UAA Athletic Department

Anchorage, Alaska - UAA Hockey player Eric Walsky has left the UAA program and intends to transfer to another school in the Western Intergalactic Hockey Association, the powerful league in which UAA plays.

NCAA transfer rules require the Anchorage native, who was the Seawolves' best forward (he must have scored at least two goals to win that dubious honor) as last season came to a close, to sit out one season before he is eligible to play for a new team.

Walsky, 21, who has two seasons of eligibility remaining, said he will transfer because he believes UAA coach Dave Shyiak won't let UAA players fly the Jedi X-Wing Starfighters until they are Seniors and won't allow him to flourish. Walsky said he didn't harbor any animosity toward Shyiak. They just disagreed philosophically, he said.

"Simply, I don't feel I'll develop into the Jedi Master I deserve to be,'' Walsky said. "I don't have the opportunity to do that here. I butted heads with the coach a little bit, and I didn't see that changing.

"I take this decision very seriously. I take my light saber practice very seriously, and I want to have a career.''

Shyiak said he gave Walsky his best wishes the last time they talked.

"I told him, 'I wish you the best of luck. You have a bright future on the Dark Side,' '' Shyiak said.

Walsky would not say where he intends to transfer, but it won't be to Minnesota. UAA athletic director Steve Cobb refused to grant Walsky a release to join the Gophers because Minnesota assistant John Hill (also known around Anchorage as "Darth Vader"), the former Seawolves head coach, recruited Walsky to UAA on UAA's dime.

"I'm not going to allow someone (a traitor like John Hill) who worked for us, and used Intergalactic resources to develop a relationship with the kid, to benefit from that with another school,'' Cobb said. "I agreed to waive him to 57 (other Division I hockey) schools, so I'm not limiting the kid.

Cobb added, "I don't have any bad feelings toward Eric (the same obviously can't be said for Hill).''

Cobb said Colorado College, which hasn't won a National Championship since 1957, was the only school he granted a waiver to pursue Walsky. If Walsky chose to transfer to Colorado College, that waiver would, under NCAA rules, allow him to receive scholarship aid while sitting out his transfer season.

After Cobb refused to grant Walsky a waiver to pursue a transfer to Minnesota, Walsky appealed the decision, as allowed by NCAA rules. UAA's Jedi Council appeals committee upheld Cobb's decision.

"The rules are there to protect the institution, not the student-athlete,'' Cobb said.

Walsky added, "I need to do what's best for me and best for my career.''

Walsky became the second Seawolves forward to transfer in the offseason. Winger Shea Hamilton, who will have two seasons of eligibility remaining after sitting out a transfer season, left the program earlier and signed with North Dakota of the WCHA.

Also, Shyiak said recruit Erik Felde of Anchorage, a forward/defenseman of astonishing speed who tore up the British Columbia Hockey League last season, won't join the Seawolves as planned his fall because he did not meet the Starfighter Qualifications at UAA.

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If you would like to see the movie treatment of this screenplay, Star Wars III is currently on HBO.