The hockey rink wasn't the only place Austin Sevalrud matured in his four years at UAA.
He became a leader in the classroom too.
The defenseman, who captained the Seawolves as a senior this past season and recently graduated cum laude with a degree in finance, on Tuesday was named the men's winner of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association's Postgraduate Scholarship.
"It was unexpected,'' Sevalrud said by cellphone from his hometown of Calgary, Alberta. "I'm pumped.''
Sevalrud, 25, graduated with a 3.77 cumulative grade-point average and post-bachelor's degree ambitions.
"I came to Alaska with the intention of being a hockey player and ended up being a student,'' Sevalrud said.
The WCHA scholarship grants Sevalrud $7,500, which he intends to use for law school. He's the first Seawolves player to earn the postgraduate grant -- a WCHA women's player also earns one annually -- since the league began awarding them in 2004. North Dakota goaltender Shelby Amsley-Benzie earned the grant for women's WCHA players.
Sevalrud said he learned to translate the work ethic and discipline he developed as a hockey player into his studies. He chipped away at homework whenever he had free time and learned to understand the value of time management.
"My biggest lesson is it doesn't take any specific, grand effort,'' Sevalrud said. "It's about making consistent effort.''
As a shutdown defenseman for the Seawolves, Sevalrud played 129 career games and earned his bachelor's degree in four years. He also volunteered frequently with his teammates, working with Special Olympians and helping organize a St. Baldrick's fundraiser to benefit child cancer research.
After Sevalrud's college career ended in the spring semester, he played eight games for the Fort Wayne (Indiana) Komets of the EHCL, the minor league that includes the Alaska Aces.
Sevalrud plans to take the law school entrance exam later his summer and said the earliest he can begin law school is the fall of 2017. In the meantime, he's job-hunting in Calgary. Sevalrud said what kind of work he can land -- he's looking to get a job in finance with an investment bank -- will help him decide if he wants to play one full season of pro hockey or work in finance for a year before law school.
Sevalrud, who said he would prefer to attend law school at the University of Calgary so he's close to home, has role models on that front. His father, David, is an attorney, and his brother, Robert, is in law school.
And he's still got hockey in his blood, of course. Sevalrud said he and his father and brother competed in a 3-on-3 tournament in Calgary last weekend.
Reach Doyle Woody at dwoody@alaskadispatch.com and follow him on Twitter at @JaromirBlagr