Bowling Green and USA Hockey announced that head coach Scott Paluch has left the program to take a position as a regional manager with USA Hockey’s American Development Model. Bowling Green assistant coach Dennis Williams was promoted to interim head coach for the 2009-10 season.
Paluch was Bowling Green’s head coach for the last seven seasons and compiled a record of 84-156-23. He is a 1991 graduate of Bowling Green and it was his first head coaching position after successful stints as an assistant coach at Boston College and Bowling Green.
“Scott has given everything he has to BGSU hockey and we all wish him the best,” Bowling Green Director of Athletics Greg Christopher said. “He’ll bring a wealth of experience to USA Hockey and I know that he’ll be following the Falcons. Scott has been a first-class representative of BGSU Athletics and our hockey team reflects that as well.”
“I am very excited to be joining USA Hockey and getting in on the ground floor of this new initiative. I look forward to assisting in the development of players in the United States,” Paluch said in the release.
“This was a tough decision, but an opportunity I could not pass up. I am very thankful to have had the opportunity to be the head coach at Bowling Green State University. I have enjoyed every minute being back heading the program that will always be a special place for my family and me.”
Williams finished his first season as Bowling Green assistant coach last year and was a three-year head coach at Division III Neumann College, in the 2003-04 through 2005-06 seasons, where he had a 35-32-8 record, including a 17-5-5 mark in his final year. He was an assistant coach at Alabama-Huntsville between his time at Neumann and Bowling Green. Williams is a 2001 graduate of Bowling Green and played four years for the Falcons.
“I want to thank Scott Paluch for giving me the opportunity to return to Bowling Green and the CCHA,” Williams said. “I am looking forward to having the opportunity to lead the Falcons for the 2009-2010 season. As an alumnus, it is a great honor to be able to coach at your alma mater. I am very excited about the challenge and I would like to thank (BGSU Director of Athletics) Greg Christopher for providing me with this opportunity.”
A search will begin immediately to fill Bowling Green’s two vacant assistant coaching positions.
A torn ACL - suffered while playing high school football - left Minnesota native and future Golden Gopher Zach Budish sidelined for his senior year and dropped him into the second round, where Nashville picked him up 41st overall.
“You definitely realize how much you miss the game when you sit out for a full year and have to watch from the bench,” explained Budish.
Though his injury kept him off the ice until March 1, Zach feels ready to lace up again for the Gophers this fall, where he and long-time friend Nick Leddy will be roommates. He was able to participate in every test at the NHL scouting combine, surprising teams by feeling strong enough to do biking and jumping tests. He admits that he’s not yet 100%, but is excited about the amount of progress he’s made during his knee rehab.
“I feel like I’ve been working hard,” he said, “and I can do pretty much everything on it right now.”
Shore’s Overnight Wait Tempered by Happy Homecoming
Another casualty of this year’s trend of college-bound boys falling later in the draft than predicted, Drew Shore admitted he was disappointed not to be picked up Friday night. As the future Denver Pioneer and Florida Panthers pick insightfully explained Saturday once he was selected, “It pretty much doesn’t matter where you get picked -it’s what you do after that. So it [has] motivated me to work harder and I think it’s going to make me a better player.”
A Colorado native, Shore moved to Vancouver to develop for two years before going to Michigan to spend two seasons with the U.S. National Team Development Program. He played a big part on this year’s gold-medal-winning Under-18 US team at the IIHF World Championships. After being away from home for so long, Shore is thrilled to come back to Denver, where his family can root him on next year. Having grown up a Pioneers fan and watched them win back-to-back National Championships in 2004 and 2005, Shore felt George Gwozdecky’s program was the perfect place to hone his skills.
“Their coaches I’m really fond of and they’ve put a lot of players in the NHL recently,” he said. “I think it’s a good place to develop and should be a fun place to go to school.”
BC Recruit Ryan Keeping OHL Options Open
As the Leafs’ second pick and 50th overall pick of the draft, Kenny Ryan might not be an Eagle for long. Though he says his current plans point to Boston College in the fall, he admits that he has “never really closed the door on Windsor,” the OHL team that holds his rights.
The Detroit native is ecstatic to be chosen by the nearby and illustrious Leafs franchise and seemed to hint that he could be persuaded to jump into juniors. It’s something that the Leafs, prior to Providence graduate Brian Burke taking the helm as general manager, probably would have encouraged - time will tell where they stand now.
Ryan decided on BC after looking at Michigan (where his two brothers went) and Notre Dame (where his father played football). He describes his play as gritty, identifying Sean Avery as the NHLer he’d most like to have lunch with and calling Darren McCarty his childhood hero.
“I think we’re two different players, obviously,” he said in regards to McCarty, “but I don’t mind irritating guys a little bit and trying to get into their head and take them off their game.”
Bennett Excited About Michigan and Montreal Futures
Michigan is still another year away for defenseman Mac Bennett and after being picked up by the Habs, he could prove to be yet another player to disappoint Red Berenson.
“It’s amazing, I didn’t expect to actually get picked by the Canadiens, but I’m very happy and it’s nice to have the reception here, it’s a great hockey town,” Bennett said. “Hopefully I’ll be playing for the Canadiens sometime soon.”
Though thrilled to be picked by Montreal and embracing the added media attention that comes with the franchise, Bennett did admit to favoring the Washington Capitals in hopes of playing with his idol, Mike Green.
“I’d like to compare myself to a Mike Green type guy,” he said. “He’s very fast, very calm and very poised with the puck, he creates a lot of offense, he’s got a hell of a shot -so if I could emulate his style and play that kind of game I’d be very happy.”
Draft Picks D’Amigo and Pirri Could Boost RPI Offense
Jerry D’Amigo flew under the radar of most scouts before playing an integral part of this year’s U.S. Under-18 team, where he led the team in scoring and led the Americans to a gold medal. Some thought that might bump his draft stock, but he was still on the board when the Maple Leafs picked him in the sixth round with the 158th selection. At only 5-foot-10, D’Amigo describes himself as a “grinder.” D’Amigo will be heading to RPI this fall to develop as a hockey player under head coach Seth Appert and study business or history - he’s not sure yet.
D’Amigo will be joined at RPI by Brandon Pirri, a product of the Georgetown Raiders of the Ontario Provincial Junior Hockey League. Pirri was a second-round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks, 59th overall. Pirri scored 46 goals and 94 points in 44 regular-season games for Georgetown and Streetsville, and then had 9 goals and 21 points in 14 playoff games.
RPI looks to that tandem to make an immediate impact up front, as the Engineers have ranked among the lowest scoring teams in NCAA Hockey over each of the last three seasons.
Current CCHA Players Nabbed
As noted throughout the week, most players selected aren’t yet officially on college rosters. Just seven current college players were taken, including three from the CCHA. The highest pick among them was Western Michigan defenseman Kevin Connauton, a sophomore-to-be in the fall and a CCHA All-Rookie Honorable Mention last season. He was picked in the third round, 83rd overall by the Vancouver Canucks.
Connauton had an impressive freshman year at Western Michigan, helping to bring playoff hockey to Lawson Arena with a reliable game in his own zone and his fair share of offensive flair. He steadily improved throughout the year and became a blueliner of note around the conference. Connauton has a reputation for being extremely diligent in his preparation on and off the ice, and for having excellent hockey sense on the blue line. All of the pieces are there for Connauton, and a few more years at Western Michigan - assumedly with progressing leadership responsibility - will help him fill out physically and combine all the strong parts of his game on a consistent basis, especially given the strides he made throughout this past season.
Other picks from the CCHA included a duo from Miami that helped the RedHawks to the Frozen Four and National Championship game - defensemen Chris Wideman (Fourth Round, 100th overall to Ottawa) and goalie Connor Knapp (Sixth Round, 164th overall to Buffalo).
St. Cloud State Six-Pack
A half-dozen current and future St. Cloud State Huskies were selected on the second day of the draft, highlighted by third-round picks Ben Hanowski (Pittsburgh), a forward from Little Falls (Minn.) High School and goalie Michael Lee (Phoenix), from Fargo of the USHL. Both players will arrive on campus in the fall, along with fifth-rounder Nick Jensen (Detroit). A pair of 2010 recruits were also drafted - Nick Oliver (Nashville/fourth round) and Nik Dowd (Los Angeles/seventh round). Current SCSU defenseman Oliver Lauridsen was selected by Philadelphia in the seventh round.
It was the most picks in a single draft in St. Cloud State history, and tied for the most by a college in the 2009 draft, as Minnesota also had six players taken. Boston College had five; Miami had four; and Michigan, Boston University, Denver, Minnesota Duluth, North Dakota, and Notre Dame had three each.
Three More Potentials
Of all the college players selected this year, 63 in total including seven first-rounders and 56 in Saturday’s rounds - three more uncommitted players may still choose the college route.
Eric Knodel played the 2008-09 season with the Philadelphia Jr. Flyers and will play next season with the Des Moines Buccaneers of the USHL. Check out his blog and an interview with McKeen’s hockey. Knodel was a fifth-round pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs, 128th overall.
Anthony Hamburg was a seventh-round pick, 193rd overall by the Minnesota Wild. He played for the Dallas Stars midget AAA side last year and was drafted by the Omaha Lancers of the USHL.
Current BCHL player Curtis Gedig, a defenseman for Cowichan Valley was also a seventh-round pick, 204th overall to the New Jersey Devils.
FRIES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG
• INCH approves of positive numerology for future Merrimack Warrior Kyle Bigos, taken with pick no. 99 by the Edmonton Oilers.
• Hobey I: Washington Capitals general manager George McPhee, 1982 Hobey Baker Award winner at Bowling Green for coach Jerry York, will trust in his former coach to lead the development of Boston College-bound Patrick Wey, taken by the Caps in the fourth round, 115th overall.
• Hobey II: 2009 Hobey Baker finalist Chad Johnson, senior goalie from Alaska and CCHA Player of the Year, had his NHL rights traded from Pittsburgh to the New York Rangers. Since Johnson’s college eligibility has expired, the Rangers have until August 15 to sign Johnson or he will become a free agent.
• Unanswered questions: Why didn’t Tyler Shattock (St Louis 4th rounder) go to Shattuck St Mary’s? Did Joe Sacco have any say when Colorado picked BU goalie Kieran Millan?
• Hobey III: Former Hobey winner Jordan Leopold was part of the big news of the day, as Calgary traded his rights for Jay Bouwmeester’s. Of course, like the bigger name in the deal, Leopold is a free agent in less than a week.
• Notre Dame head coach Jeff Jackson was in attendance Friday to support recruit Kyle Palmieri.
• Kudos to Vancouver scouts, who might have been the ones you spotted in college rinks this season. They took two of the seven current collegians drafted - Minnesota’s Jordan Schroeder in the first round and Merrimack’s Joe Cannata in the sixth round.
• Mac Bennett noted that he was looking forward to the energy at Michigan games - particularly in contrast to what he’s used to being from Rhode Island and after playing with Hotchkiss Prep in Connecticut. He is looking forward to Yost Ice Arena and the prospect of playing an outdoor game with the Wolverines.
• The fast pace of Saturday’s activities offered the chance for a nap for overworked scouts and once-nervous prospects. It could be a late night here in Montreal, perhaps Canada’s liveliest city after dark.
– Kellie Cowan, Joe Gladziszewski, Nate Ewell, Mike Eidelbes and James V. Dowd contributed to this report.
After decades in college hockey as a player and an administrator, Bruce McLeod has seen pretty much everything and doesn’t get rattled easily. But the 62-year-old commissioner of the WCHA admitted tossing and turning in bed in the wee hours of Friday morning as he pondered the fundamental and monumental change in the college hockey landscape that he’d orchestrated.
Late Friday afternoon, McLeod formally announced that the 10-team WCHA will be home to an even dozen starting in the 2010-11 season, as Bemidji State University and the University of Nebraska-Omaha join the fold.
It was an announcement that had been anticipated for months, as BSU was in desperate need of a home, and the WCHA members would only consider expanding to 12 teams, not 11. But McLeod told INCH that as late in the game as Thursday morning, there was not enough league-wide support to get it done.
That changed in the span of 24 hours, and after a conference call among the league’s 10 athletic directors on Thursday evening, McLeod got the unanimous support for expansion that he’d been seeking.
“I take my hat off to the members, because they really stepped up to the pump,” McLeod said. “It was a long process and really difficult for everyone to get on the same page and not look at the ‘me’ situation first. I’m proud that they put aside the personal things and gave this unanimous support.”
Among the biggest hurdles was money, as some of the current WCHA schools expressed concern about splitting league revenues 12 ways instead of 10 ways, and about the potential lost revenue due to fewer visits from marquee opponents like Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota.
“Everyone kept saying, ‘What is this going to cost us?’” McLeod said. He stressed the potential new sources of revenue that could offset those negatives, such as adding a sixth first round playoff series.
Both teams fit into the league geographically, with Bemidji State less than five hours by bus from half of the WCHA’s current members and Nebraska-Omaha providing a kind of bridge between Minnesota State and Denver. McLeod noted that unlike bringing new, unproven programs on board, the WCHA is adding a 2009 Frozen Four team that won 13 national titles before going D-I, and a big-market, big-building team that’s just added one of the more successful coaches in college hockey.
“By hiring Dean (Blais) and (Mike) Hastings, you can see what’s going on in Omaha and how they’re getting after it,” McLeod said. “And Bemidji has a successful program, a new building on the way, and that’s in the heart of hockey country.”
Ground was broken in April for Bemidji’s 4,000-seat regional event center, which will be located on the south shore of Lake Bemidji and will house Beaver hockey starting in 2010. Nebraska-Omaha plays in the 16,680-seat Qwest Center, located north of downtown Omaha on the Missouri River.
While not giving details on the financial arrangements regarding each program’s terms of admission to the league, McLeod acknowledged that the two new members were in very different situations. BSU was facing the potential loss of its program with the dissolution of College Hockey America, while UNO was seemingly comfortable in the CCHA. It has been rumored that UNO worked out an arrangement by which the school will pay a sharply reduced entry fee to join the WCHA and share in playoff revenue immediately.
McLeod said no decision has been made about the future of the WCHA Final Five, but there has been exploration of changes there as well. The league hierarchy has spoken with the Xcel Energy Center about a six-team, five-game tournament with two games on Thursday, two on Friday and a championship game on Saturday (eliminating the league’s current third place game).
Bemidji State’s hockey program began in 1948, and the Beavers won national titles on the NCAA D-II and D-III levels and in the NAIA before becoming a D-I program in 2001. Nebraska-Omaha started playing hockey D-I in 1997 and joined the CCHA two years later. The Mavericks’ best CCHA finish has been fourth place, in 2001 and 2005.
It was originally believed that any new WCHA teams would begin conference play in 2011-12 but McLeod said it was moved up a year due to concerns from UNO about whether the CCHA would allow them to play two seasons as a lame duck, or whether they would have to spend the 2011-12 season as an independent. The commissioner said they are happy to have the teams starting in 2010-11, but that presents a new set of challenges, as schedules for a 10-team WCHA were already pretty well set for that season.
Still, after months of work and what he described as a “pretty long haul over the last few weeks,” McLeod seemed elated to have the deal done for the good of his league and for college hockey as a whole.
“With our 10-team league we’d never been in better shape, but this is definitely a win-win situation for everybody,” McLeod said. “Each team brings something good to the table for us in its own way. This solidifies our conference and solidifies out footprint a little bit.”
The WCHA was originally founded as the Midwest Collegiate Hockey League in 1951 as a seven-team conference with Colorado College, Denver, Michigan, Michigan State, Michigan Tech, Minnesota and North Dakota. WCHA teams have won 36 of the 62 NCAA hockey titles. The 2009 Frozen Four was just the fourth time in college hockey history that a WCHA team has failed to make the four-team field.
CCHA Reacts to UNO Departure
CCHA Commissioner Tom Anastos released a statement Friday afternoon regarding Nebraska-Omaha’s decision to join the WCHA, and also made vague reference to potential future CCHA members, and their expansion process.
“We are disappointed to hear of UNO’s decision to leave the CCHA as they have been a very good member of our league, and we wish them well. We have an excellent league, with a very strong membership, and we will continue to focus all of our attention on being a great conference and a leader in helping to shape the future of college hockey.
“At this time, it serves no purpose to speculate on how this latest decision will impact the future makeup of CCHA membership. There is a process being followed with respect to admittance of any new member and we are committed to following that process through to completion.”
Inside College Hockey has your list of what to watch for at the 2009 NHL Draft. Television coverage of Friday’s first round airs at 7 p.m. ET on Versus and TSN. Saturday’s coverage of the second-seventh rounds will air on NHL Network, beginning at 10 a.m. ET. A number of interesting issues and possibilities are worth keeping your eye on during this weekend’s proceedings.
* Harvard-bound center Louis Leblanc and Cornell’s Riley Nash
Keep an eye on future Harvard Crimson center Louis Leblanc. Many pre-draft rankings project him to be a first round pick, and Leblanc would be the first player destined for an ECAC Hockey team selected in the first round since Cornell’s Riley Nash was selected by the Edmonton Oilers with the 21st overall pick in 2007.
Leblanc played with the USHL’s Omaha Lancers in the 2008-09 season and had 28 goals and 31 assists in 60 games. He’s got good size, a strong competitive level and also sees the ice well and is adept at setting up teammates - the same factors that made Riley Nash a first round pick and helped him become one of the best players in ECAC Hockey.
Leblanc was drafted by Val d’Or in the 2007 Quebec Major Junior Hockey League draft but has steadfastly committed to Harvard, and has expressed his desire to get a degree from Harvard in multiple interviews during the last year.
* Which players could skip the college ranks altogether?
Last year, standout defenseman John Carlson, a first-round draft choice of the Washington Capitals who was ticketed for Massachusetts, ultimately spurned the Minutemen in favor of the Ontario Hockey League’s London Knights. Our hunch is that a highly touted defenseman or two could follow the same path this year.
John Moore, a blueliner projected to go in the middle of the first round, seems to be the most likely defector. He’s committed to Colorado College next season, but the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers own his rights. As Chris Dilks of the Western College Hockey Blog wrote following last month’s OHL Draft, getting selected by Kitchener is better than London, but not by much-the Knights are notorious for poaching college-bound kids, and the Rangers aren’t far behind.
Minnesota Duluth-bound defenseman Dylan Olsen will probably don a Bulldog sweater for at least one season. Olsen, who played for Camrose of the Alberta Junior Hockey League last season, previously spurned the Western Hockey League in order to keep his college options open. He initially wanted to go to North Dakota, but couldn’t gain admission there, raising speculation that Olsen could completely bag the college route.
* Boston College-bound Chris Kreider’s draft stock
Boston College freshman-to-be Chris Kreider is as hard as any prospect in the entire draft to pin down. Prognosticators have the Phillips (Mass.) Academy forward pegged to go anywhere from ninth overall to the second round. At 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds, Kreider has great size and he’s believed to be among the fleetest skaters in this year’s pool.
* Minnesota-bound Zach Budish and a year away from hockey during his draft year
The name of Edina (Minn.) H.S. standout Zach Budish appears in the late first round of most experts’ mock drafts. The two-sport star, who will suit up for Minnesota this fall, didn’t play hockey last season after blowing out his knee in a high school football game. Had he stayed healthy, Budish probably would’ve been among the top 15 picks Friday. A monster forward at 6-foot-3 and 229 pounds, a few draft watchers believe he could be the steal of the draft.
* Notre Dame-bound Kyle Palmieri’s dismissal from the U.S. NTDP
Like Budish, U.S. National Team Development Program forward Kyle Palmieri, bound for Notre Dame in 2009-10, is expected to go late in the first round. The Montvale, N.J., native, whose game has been compared to Chris Drury, was booted from the NTDP in March, however, causing him to miss out on the IIHF World Under-18 Championship, which the U.S. won. Some teams might view Palmieri’s dismissal as a red flag, but a source told INCH recently that the transgression was minor.
* The US National Team Development Program and the first round
The only 2008 first-round pick that came from the United States National Team Development Program was Colin Wilson of Boston University, and marked the first time in 10 years that the US NTDP didn’t produce multiple first-round picks. Three players were drafted in the second round (Philip McRae, Danny Kristo, Jimmy Hayes).
Previous years served as an absolute endorsement of the US NTDP model and its ability to attract and develop elite talent in respective age groups. The program produced five first-rounders in 2007 and six first-rounders in 2006.
As many as four US NTDP players project to be potential first round picks in the 2009 draft, including Minnesota’s Jordan Schroeder and US NTDP forwards Drew Shore (bound for Denver), Kyle Palmieri (Notre Dame recruit), and Jeremy Morin, who will play in the OHL for Kitchener next season.
Three members of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s class of 2009 have college hockey ties, as Brett Hull, Brian Leetch and Lou Lamoriello will be among the five people inducted to the Hall in November.
Hull and Leetch each had abbreviated college careers before leaving for very successful NHL careers. Hull spent two seasons at Minnesota Duluth, while Leetch played one year at Boston College.
Lamoriello, meanwhile, will be inducted in the builder category. He was a college coach at Providence and spearheaded the creation of the Hockey East conference. He then went on to earn greater acclaim as an NHL executive with the New Jersey Devils, leading the Devils to three Stanley Cup championships.
David Quinn was among the primary candidates for the head coaching vacancy at Nebraska-Omaha. That job ultimately went to Dean Blais, but Quinn, the Boston University associate head coach, managed to land a head coaching gig after all.
Quinn was named head coach of the American Hockey League’s Lake Erie Monsters Monday. Ironically, he’s replacing a ex-BU standout — Quinn, who played for Jack Parker from 1984-87, takes over for Joe Sacco, who was recently named head coach of the Monsters’ parent club, the Colorado Avalanche. Sacco skated for the Terriers from 1987-90.
The team Quinn inherits, the Cleveland-based Monsters, finished sixth in the AHL’s North Division last season.
If the point of getting a college education is to find a good job, a former defenseman at Minnesota did his alma mater proud last week.
When Todd Richards was announced as the new coach of the Minnesota Wild, he said he felt like he’d landed one of the 30 best jobs in the world. There were smiles all around as he met the media in his home state.
New Wild coach Todd Richards (at podium) scored 158 points for the Golden Gophers from 1985-89.
But there was reflection of disappointment also, as Richards recalled his final collegiate game, played 20 years ago in a rink on the same downtown St. Paul street corner where the Xcel Energy Center now resides.
Between 1986 and 1989, Richards won a pair of WCHA titles and made four trips to the Frozen Four with the Golden Gophers, the last of which culminated in a title-game clash with Harvard at the corner of Kellogg and West Seventh.
Richards’ new boss, Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher, had been one of the final cuts from that Harvard team, and was playing junior varsity hockey for the Crimson that season.
There were more than 15,000 at the St. Paul Civic Center for the title game that spring night, with roughly 14,960 of them clad in maroon and waving gold pom-poms. But the night ended badly for the de facto home team. Richards joked that he was on the bench for the overtime game-winner by the Crimson, so it wasn’t his fault, but he recounted the details of the heartbreaking moment.
“I can still picture that,” Richards said. “I remember the faceoff and the rebound, and (Minnesota goaltender) Robb Stauber’s pad just popped up and the puck just went right underneath.”
Richards admitted that even two decades later, it remains one of the great disappointments in his life, and has forever left a name etched in his memory.
“Eddie Krayer,” Richards said, recounting the Crimson forward who scored the title-winner. “I wonder where he is now.”
Among the scrum of reporters, there was speculation that with a Harvard education, Krayer probably has a pretty good job (indeed, a New York Times article from last season listed Krayer as an insurance executive). Then another reporter chimed in to Richards with an optimistic note, saying, “But he doesn’t have your job.” Amid the painful memories of the Crimson, that brought a smile to Richards’ face.
Nebraska-Omaha introduced former North Dakota head coach Dean Blais as the second coach in the program’s history at a news conference in Omaha on Friday.
Blais spent 10 years at North Dakota
Blais will rejoin the college hockey community after a five-year absence, during which time he was an assistant coach with the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets before becoming the head coach and general manager of the USHL’s Fargo Force.
It’s in college hockey, however, where Blais built his reputation as an elite coach. He led North Dakota to two national championships (1997 and 2000) in 10 years behind the Fighting Sioux bench. Blais’s teams won five regular-season championships in the WCHA and two conference tournament titles. He has already been named the U.S. National Junior Team head coach for the 2010 World Junior Championship.
“From the beginning of the search process, we identified Dean as someone who could take UNO hockey to the next level,” athletic director Trev Alberts said. “We are excited to have someone with his talent and experience leading our hockey program into a new era.”
“I’m looking forward to the challenge of returning to Division I college hockey, particularly in a conference as competitive as the CCHA,” said Blais. “I’m also looking forward to working with Trev Alberts and Mike Kemp to build on what Mike and his staff have accomplished and make UNO hockey one of the elite programs in the nation.”
He joins a Nebraska-Omaha program that had been led by Mike Kemp in each of its first 12 seasons. Kemp stepped aside last month and was named an associate athletic director at the school. The Mavericks were 15-17-8 last season.
After 12 seasons as head coach at Brown, Roger Grillo is leaving the school for a newly created post with USA Hockey.
The Apple Valley, Minn., native will become a regional manager for the national organizing body’s American Development Model. According to USA Hockey, the ADR is a program that provides local associations with a blueprint for developing players’ skills as they advance.
Grillo had a career record of 120-205-52 at Brown. He twice guided the Bears to 16-win seasons, the fourth-best single season win total in school history. In four seasons between 2001-05, his teams won a total of 61 games — only two coaches in Brown’s annals had more successful four-year runs.
The Bears had fallen on hard times in recent seasons, posting just five wins in 2005-06, six in 2007-08, and five last season. Two of Brown’s victories in 2008-09 came in the ECAC Hockey playoffs as the 12th-seeded Bears stunned 5th-seed Harvard before losing a quarterfinal series to Yale.
6. Why are we excited about the 2010 Hobey Baker candidates?
Because we know who they are and have been able to appreciate them as dominant players on their respective teams. The 2009 Hobey race was seemingly dominated by dark horse candidates and feel-good stories. Even though eventual winner Matt Gilroy was a returning All-American, he didn’t have a lot of Hobey buzz when the season began. Of the other Hat Trick finalists, Colin Wilson was just a sophomore and Brad Thiessen was a key player for a surprising Northeastern team.
The upcoming season could feature four of last year’s 10 finalists and 10 other players that had at least 20 goals or 45 points last year. That doesn’t even include exceptional forwards like Ryan Lasch and Riley Nash and goalies Kieran Millan and Andrew Volkening.
7. What cities have good reason to be awarded Frozen Fours after Tampa in 2012?
By the time the next batch of Frozen Four sites are awarded, it will have been at least 10 years since Boston last hosted at the Fleet Center (2004), so we’ll pencil Beantown in as it’s been a regular part of an unofficial Frozen Four rotation. Another tried and true (and successful) Frozen host has been Milwaukee, but the event might have outgrown the Bradley Center. As a nod to the Midwest and to the scope of the Frozen Four, Chicago’s United Center is a logical choice to host college hockey’s championship weekend. New venues are also cropping up and will make reasonable offers to host the Frozen Four. Kansas City already has a new arena and has been mentioned as a possible destination for an NHL franchise. With no primary hockey tenant in the arena right now and the city’s long history of hosting other NCAA championships, we expect to see Kansas City in the mix for a Frozen. Another new building isn’t finished yet, but Pittsburgh’s new NHL arena will be a great place for a Frozen Four. Location, amenities, a local host institution and expanding the college game into a relatively untapped market all bode well for the Steel City.
8. Which WCHA team will make it back to the Frozen after such a long (and enjoyable) absence?
OK, so it’s been a one-year hiatus. Consider the teasing payback for the 2005 Frozen Four in Columbus when we had to listen to how fabulous the Dub was ad nauseum.
It wasn’t a banner year for the WCHA in 2008-09. Stalwarts Minnesota and Wisconsin missed the NCAA Tournament. So did preseason favorite Colorado College and perennial postseason player St. Cloud State. Denver and North Dakota were first-round NCAA washouts. Were it not for Minnesota Duluth’s remarkable postseason run, the season would’ve been utterly forgettable.
Don’t expect a repeat in 2009-10. Of the teams in the league that can stake a claim to having Frozen Four aspirations, Denver appears to have the strongest case. The Pioneers can put together two legitimate scoring lines by mixing and matching forwards Joe Colborne, Anthony Maiani, Jesse Martin, Kyle Ostrow, Rhett Rakhshani, Tyler Ruegsegger, and Luke Salazar. That list doesn’t include incoming freshman Drew Shore, a U.S. NTDP product who’s projected by some to be a first-round selection in next month’s NHL Entry Draft. There’s not much point production from the blue line outside of Patrick Wiercioch, but with the talent up front, that isn’t a huge concern. Marc Cheverie, who put up solid numbers in his first season as the no. 1 guy in goal for DU, is back, too.
This could be the most talented team in George Gwozdecky’s tenure. Seriously.
9. Who are the most attractive candidates for the coaching vacancy at Nebraska-Omaha?
The cache of potential candidates with ties to the school or the city is so impressive that, should all of them throw their hats in the ring, it’d be hard for UNO to go wrong. The day after Kemp announced his resignation in order to take an assistant athletic director post, Rob White of the Omaha World-Herald focused on the two logical frontrunners - former Mav assistant and current Boston University associate head coach David Quinn and Minnesota assistant Mike Hastings, who coached the United States Hockey League’s Omaha Lancers for many seasons.
Hastings and Quinn would be fine choices. But wouldn’t it behoove UNO to kick the tires on Dean Blais? The ex-North Dakota coach wrapped up a successful stint behind the bench of the USHL’s Fargo Force earlier this month, leading the expansion team to a second-place finish in the league playoffs. His track record speaks for itself, and his hiring would energize a passionate fan base that’s languished in recent years.
10. Which former college players might we see representing the United States at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver?
We’ll handle this answer by presenting how INCH would pick the team right now, if it only consisted of former collegians. We understand that Patrick Kane, Dustin Brown and Jamie Langenbrunner will likely get the call, but they don’t fit our criteria for this hypothetical. So here are our top 13 forwards, seven defensemen and three goalies with the last player cut in each category also listed.
Forwards (13) - David Backes (Minnesota State), David Booth (Michigan State), Chris Drury (Boston University), Brian Gionta (Boston College), Chris Higgins (Yale), Ryan Kesler (Ohio State), Phil Kessel (Minnesota), T.J. Oshie (North Dakota), Zach Parise (North Dakota), Drew Stafford (North Dakota), Paul Stastny (Denver), Lee Stempniak (Dartmouth), Colin Wilson (Boston University). Last Cut: Blake Wheeler (Minnesota)
Defensemen (7) - Keith Ballard (Minnesota), Mike Komisarek (Michigan), Paul Martin (Minnesota), Brooks Orpik (Boston College), Brian Rafalski (Wisconsin), Ryan Suter (Wisconsin), Ryan Whitney (Boston University). Last Cut: Ron Hainsey (UMass Lowell)
Goalies (3) - Rick DiPietro (Boston University), Ryan Miller (Michigan State), Tim Thomas (Vermont). Last Cut: Jonathan Quick (Massachusetts)
Bowling Green and USA Hockey announced that head coach Scott Paluch has left the program to take a position as a regional manager with USA Hockey’s American Development Model. Bowling Green assistant coach Dennis Williams was promoted to interim head coach for the 2009-10 season.![[del.icio.us]](http://insidecollegehockey.com/inch/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/delicious.png)
![[Digg]](http://insidecollegehockey.com/inch/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/digg.png)
![[Facebook]](http://insidecollegehockey.com/inch/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/facebook.png)
![[Google]](http://insidecollegehockey.com/inch/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/google.png)
![[MySpace]](http://insidecollegehockey.com/inch/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/myspace.png)
![[Reddit]](http://insidecollegehockey.com/inch/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/reddit.png)
![[Technorati]](http://insidecollegehockey.com/inch/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/technorati.png)
![[Twitter]](http://insidecollegehockey.com/inch/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/twitter.png)
![[Yahoo!]](http://insidecollegehockey.com/inch/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/yahoo.png)
![[Email]](http://insidecollegehockey.com/inch/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/email.png)
David Quinn was among the primary candidates for the head coaching vacancy at Nebraska-Omaha. That job ultimately went to Dean Blais, but Quinn, the Boston University associate head coach, managed to land a head coaching gig after all.
After 12 seasons as head coach at Brown, Roger Grillo is leaving the school for a newly created post with USA Hockey.