Hey, some good news for our old friend Corbin Schmidt, the former East High, UAF and Alaska Aces defenseman -- he's a new assistant coach at UAF.

The hiring of Schmidt, 31, was announced Saturday by UAF.

Corb played four seasons for the Nanooks (2001-2005), then four seasons with the Aces (2005-09). Good dude. Fun to be around because he's a smart guy, and a smart-ass with a great sense of humor (although I'm sure he didn't put that on his resume). He'll work for head coach Dallas Ferguson, a former UAF defenseman and assistant coach who played for the old Anchorage Aces in the now-defunt West Coast Hockey League. (Ferguson's other assistant is Lance West, who inexplicably did not play at UAF or for the Anchorage or Alaska Aces. According to hockeydb.com, West played at Alabama-Huntsville, which The Blog recalls from one of his UAA trips to Hunstville back in the day, when there were two Anchorage newspapers. There was a night in a Huntsville blues bar with Brad Falduto, the Anchorage Times beat writer, legendary postgame reveler and one of my groomsman a couple years back, and anyhow, back in the day in Hunstville, Fal and me...ah, screw it, it's all a wonderful blur).

Lately, Corb's been in Minnesota as director of training and recruitment at the Minnesota Advancement Program, a hockey facilty.

Now he's coming home.

Welcome back, kid.