DelCastillo arrives in Fairbanks

Submitted by Ty Keltner
Phone: (907) 474-6218
07/03/07

Media and community members welcomed the Alaska Nanooks’ new head hockey coach Doc DelCastillo at a meet-and-greet last week. DelCastillo is the seventh head coach in the history of the University of Alaska Fairbanks hockey program. He was hired last month after a nationwide search.

DelCastillo spoke about his decision to keep Dallas Ferguson as an assistant coach and on his recruiting strategies.

"I plan on being in hockey rinks for the next 30 days," DelCastillo said. "I’m hunting down the players right now.

DelCastillo spent the last five seasons as assistant coach at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, where he shouldered the majority of the recruiting responsibility for the Mavericks. He successfully elicited UNO standouts such as Mavericks’ All-American forward Scott Parse and Bill Thomas, CCHA 2005 Rookie of the Year.

As a player, DelCastillo was a standout winger for St. Cloud State from 1988-92 where he won the Huskies’ Sam Lopresti Award for Most Determined Player for the 1990-91 season and again in 1991-92.

He went on to serve as an assistant coach with the Waterloo Black Hawks of the USHL before becoming an assistant with the Omaha Lancers. From 1994-97, DelCastillo served as head coach and general manager of the Rochester Mustangs of the USHL. He guided Rochester to a runner-up spot in the 1996 Clark Cup finals. He completed his USHL coaching experience as associate head coach and assistant general manager for the Omaha Lancers in 1997-1998. Afterward, he worked as an assistant coach at his alma mater and spent four seasons with the Huskies. DelCastillo helped guide SCSU to its first-ever WCHA Final Five championship in 2001.

He received his bachelor’s degree in elective studies from St. Cloud State in 1995 and later completed his master’s degree in sports management. DelCastillo, 37, is a native of St. Paul, Minn. He and his wife, Sue, have five daughters, Britni, Brandi, Bryna, Brook and Brylei. DelCastillo said his family is excited about the opportunity and are making arrangements to move from Omaha to Fairbanks.