SEAN WILES
Alaska Anchorage
Sr. | F | Beloit, Wis.
Key Statistics: Wiles scored nine goals as a junior, tripling his career goal output en route to being named the team’s most improved player. He and follow senior Tommy Grant are the Seawolves’ top returning goal scorers.
What He Does: Blessed with abundant size and a long reach, Wiles has become a versatile commodity for the Seawolves especially as his offensive numbers have improved. According to Alaska Anchorage coach Dave Shyiak, the tools were always there, but in the past year or two Wiles has shown the off-ice dedication to improvement that is needed for success in top-level college hockey.
“He matured as a person and is starting to understand what he needs to do to be effective,” Shyiak said. “He’s trained harder each year he’s been with us and is a bit of a late bloomer that way.”
The Bigger Picture: January can be cold and dark in Alaska, but that seemed to bring out the best in Wiles a season ago. During the first month of 2010 he put together a three-game goal streak and a six-game point streak as the Seawolves went a respectable 4-3-1 for the month (en route to a 11-23-2 overall record). There are encouraging signs to be had when one crunches the numbers for Wiles, including the fact that his offensive numbers are going up at the same time as his penalty minutes are going down. Shyiak has more things planned for Wiles as a senior, like using his “widebody” size in front of the net on the power play to tip and screen and bang home rebounds. Wiles has also shown some past effectiveness on the penalty kill, using his reach to keep the puck away from opponents. And the ice isn’t the only place where Wiles has excelled. He’s majoring in management and is a former member of the WCHA All-Academic team.
Seawolves coach Dave Shyiak on Wiles: “Sean is a senior now and we need him to chip in offensively. If he can duplicate last year’s season and maybe do even a little bit more, and chip in on the [defensive] side of the puck, he’ll be very effective for us.”
