BY MATT MACKINDER
Clarkston News Editor

Clarkston native Alex Frye began his college hockey career last fall at the University of Alaska Anchorage, leading the team with nine goals as a freshman forward.
Not too shabby, and Frye was looking forward to helping the Seawolves improve yearly as well as taking his skills to a new level.
Then COVID-19 struck in March.
Then last month, the school announced the hockey program would be disbanded after the upcoming 2020-21 season, citing dwindling state funding as the main cause.
“Last season when COVID hit, it turned into chaos,” said Frye, who graduated from Orchard Lake St. Mary’s and also attended Sashabaw Middle School and Clarkston Junior High. “I was living in the dorms and they gave us a week to get out of there, so I had to pack up all my stuff and store it in one of the houses of one of the guys living off campus. Then after that, I came back to Michigan to spend a couple months with my family. I flew back up to Anchorage in June and started renting a house with some of my teammates.”
The cutting of the hockey team came out of nowhere, according to Frye.
“We got the terrible news on a Zoom call with the athletic director (Greg Myford),” said Frye. “The school decided to cut four programs – the hockey team, the gymnastics team, and men’s and women’s skiing. The news really blindsided us all and it came at a terrible time. All of the guys just started coming up here and getting settled in, so it was very tough for us to hear that we wouldn’t play any more after this year.
“What happened to us was really not fair at all, but we hope to take this year to prove to all of the people that want us gone how important we are not only to the school but to the community as well.”
Last season, Frye’s 14 total points in 34 games were fifth-best on the team. He scored his first NCAA goal in his first game, a 7-1 loss Oct. 11, 2019, at the University of Maine.
“Our team didn’t have the best season, but when I arrived, our coach (Matt Curley) was in his second year and his idea was to rebuild the program and become better and better each year,” Frye said. “And we did have a better season than the previous year, so I thought that we did a good job of that. I had a pretty solid freshman year and I got more ice time than I could have imagined so I was very happy about last year on a personal level. I came into school as a 21-year-old freshman and I believe that helped me a lot to mature outside of high school. I didn’t have the best grades in high school, so I believe that coming in older helped me with grades tremendously.
“Living in Alaska is awesome. In Anchorage, it’s a town like anywhere else, but when you leave the Anchorage area, it’s unbelievable. So many outdoorsy things to do, lots of hiking and fishing and hunting to do out here.”
On the ice, the Seawolves’ games with in-state rival Alaska Fairbanks were Frye’s highlight of the 2019-20 campaign.
“Some of the most intense games we played last year were the Governor’s Cup games against UAF,” Frye said. “Those games always drew a good crowd and that is one of the things I’m going to miss the most, the animosity in those games against our rivals from the north.
“Right now, my plan is to play out my sophomore year and, hopefully, I play well enough where I can find a new place to play at the Division I level.”