He said he there is more emphasis on puck possession and patience in the professional game, an adjustment after playing a more direct style during his four years of college hockey.
His first experience in professional hockey also might open more doors. Coldwell, a mobile defenseman who is 6-foot-1, 205 pounds, hopes to attend a National Hockey League training camp this year. He has committed to returning to Quad City, but could find an opportunity with the Mallards’ American Hockey League affiliate.
Coldwell scored two goals and had five assists in 12 regular-season games. In seven playoff games he added a pair of assists. The Mallards lost their first-round playoff series to Rapid City, which scored the Game 7 winner with just more than a minute remaining.
The silver lining to that loss was that Coldwell was able to attend his college graduation ceremony three days later in Anchorage. He earned a degree in psychology.
While at Alaska-Anchorage, Coldwell played a significant role in the program’s most successful season. That was his junior year, the 2013-14 season, when the Seawolves advanced to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association Final Five tournament, losing in overtime of a semifinal game to Ferris State.
Coldwell had two assists in that semifinal game, and scored a key goal in the third period of a playoff win over rival Fairbanks to reach the Final Five.
His senior season, which ended in early March, included only eight wins. Coldwell was one of only four seniors on the team. Coldwell had four goals and eight assists in 34 games to cap his college career with totals of 14 goals and 36 assists. He made the WCHA all-academic team for the third time.
Now 25, Coldwell is a well-travelled hockey player. Prior to his four seasons at Anchorage, Coldwell played junior hockey for two seasons with the Des Moines Buccaneers of the United States Hockey League. His junior hockey career started in the North American Hockey League with the Bismarck Bobcats in 2007-08 and the Springfield Junior Blues in 2008-09.
Actually, Coldwell got a taste of junior hockey before he left Vancouver. At age 15 and 16, he was one of the top defenseman for a successful Fort Vancouver Pioneers junior B team that advanced the a national tournament.
“That was a cool experience,” Coldwell said.
Coldwell is spending his summer in Anchorage, working part time and training for next season. He plans to spend a couple of weeks visiting family and friends in Vancouver. His dad owns City Shade Awning and his mother and stepfather own Filbins Ace Hardware.
In his early teens Coldwell aspired to play for the Portland Winterhawks. He was on the team’s protected list and went to two training camps, but when he didn’t make the team as a 16-year-old, he sought other options.
Had he made the Winterhawks, college hockey would not have been an option, His career path would have been different.
In addition to earning a college degree, he met his wife, Anastasia, in Anchorage.
“The way it ended up, it worked out for the best,” Coldwell said.
