He spent the entirety of his coaching career at Alaska-Anchorage after founding the program in 1979, retiring after 1995–96 season.
[1] Brush Christiansen became a major figure at Alaska-Anchorage when he helped found the varsity ice hockey program in 1979.
[2] Along with three other western US schools, Alaska-Anchorage became a founding member of the Great West Hockey Conference in 1985.
[3] The experiment did, however, help bring Alaska-Anchorage some national attention and when they posted their first 20-win season as a D-I team two years later they were invited to participate in the 1990 NCAA Tournament.
After another berth the next year Alaska-Anchorage was firmly established as a competitive D-I program and was invited to join the WCHA in 1993.