A long-standing unofficial UAF hockey Web site recognized by many as being the authoritative source for Nanook history and statistics online will soon shut down, its owner announced Wednesday.
Eric Carlson, known in the hockey community as the Nanooks' unofficial Web guru, posted a message on his blog saying that after 11 years, he would retire uafhockey.com.
The Athletic Department will absorb the site's content, he said.
"Eleven years ago I had no expectation of having children, but things changed and I now have seven and four year old daughters who want to start skating this weekend," Carlson wrote. "I want and need to have time to spend with them and my wife that I used to spend solely on hockey."
Carlson said he will continue operating and improve his blog, located at http://uafhockey.blogspot.com/. He does not, though, expect to have a presence in the official Nanook Web site.
"It's been a lot of fun almost all of the eleven years," he wrote. "I have sure made a lot of friends with people involved in hockey both in Fairbanks and far away from here. I have been extended great kindnesses by many of those people and our players and coaches both current and past as I have dealt with cancer over the past year and a half. I will never forget those."
Carlson, 50, has become as much a staple of the UAF hockey community as broadcaster Bruce Cech. In 2004, the hockey team honored Carlson with the Pat and Gerry Shields Award during its end of the year banquet.
But unlike Cech, who gets paid for his work, Carlson has operated as a pure fan, volunteering his time for the team. He updates the blog and posts to the unofficial UAF hockey e-mail listserv when not working or spending time with his wife, Mary, and two daughters, Meghan and Katie.
Donald Dunlop, who runs the unofficial UAA Hockey Fan Blog, said he first encountered Carlson on the U.S. College Hockey forums years ago.
"Over the years he was always a voice of accuracy and fact," Dunlop said in an e-mail. "His posts educated many in the wider college hockey community and straightened out misconceptions about hockey in Alaska."
Carlson has regularly used his Web site and blog to break Nanook hockey news before the university or newspapers. Take recruiting, for example. The UAF Athletic Department, hampered by NCAA regulations on when it can announce new recruits, has often been scooped by Carlson, who finds out about potential Nanooks via local papers and junior team Web sites.
His compendium of Nanook hockey history beat even UAF's, with stats stretching back to the 1979-1980 season.
During this year's Blue and Gold Game in October, the director of UAF sports information, Jamie Schanback, had to refer to uafhockey.com for info on who won during the previous year's match.
But recently, Carlson has suffered health problems. In 2005, he wrote to the hockey e-mail listserv that he had colon cancer and was going under the knife in two days.
"There have been many positives in the past two days, so I am hopeful of recovery," he told subscribers. "I'll do what needs to be done and hope for the best."
Friends updated the listserv on his condition. One told subscribers that Carlson was undergoing a colonoscopy. Later, it was posted that he made it out of surgery fine.
In December, Carlson said doctors had cleared him for another six months, with no sign of cancer post-surgery.
Carlson said Wednesday that the decision to shut down his Web site had nothing to do with his health, and everything to do with changing priorities.
"I'm not going away and this definitely is not a health decision," he blogged. "I am doing well. It just seems like the right time to make a change and spend more time on things that are even more important to me that didn't exist when I started. I don't want to put those off. Not a single lost day can be repeated."
He added, "So, I hope to see you here and definitely at the Carlson Center."
