First off, apologies for the lack of content this week. Anyone who has followed my blog for the few years before moving exclusively to CHN knows I also coach high school football. And anyone who reads a sports page here in Minnesota knows the high school football season is ramping up, meaning time to update the blog as regularly as I’d like to is just not an option right now. No worries though, as the team here at College Hockey News will keep you updated with all of the latest news I may not get to during the hectic time in this guy’s life. Fortunately, I will be around to watch plenty of WCHA puck this weekend, so follow along on Twitter (@CHNDanMyers) as conference play kicks into high gear with four league series in action.

All that said, here are my updated conference power rankings as the college hockey season hurdles into its third weekend of play this weekend:

1 — Colorado College (Last week: 1)

After winning 3-1 on Friday, Tigers goalie Joe Howe entered the game Saturday with his team trailing to Bemidji State and in danger of dropping a couple of points to a team they should sweep at the World Arena. Howe came into the game stopped 11 straight shots and waited for his team to pick him up. They did, and CC rolled to a sweep. All Howe has to do is keep his team close, because the Tigers have more than enough offense to pick up the slack.

2 — Minnesota (Last week: 3)

Somehow, the Gophers allowed 100 shots, on the road, against the defending national champions… and got 4 points. Minnesota rallied from a late one goal deficit to secure overtime, where the Gophers scored a late goal to win 5-4. UMD jumped ahead early again Saturday, but Minnesota rallied with five straight goals. It would have been easy to be happy with two points on the road, but credit is due for the gutty effort to respond. Keep an eye on that Minnesota power play: The Gophers went 6 for 9 with the man advantage last weekend, and if they can keep it going, Minnesota is going to be tough to stop.

3 — Denver (Last week: 2)

The Pioneers should be happy with a road split in Boston. Few teams in the country would be able to boast such a fact after facing Boston College and Boston University on consecutive nights.

4 — North Dakota (Last week: 4)

UND will have to accept a three-point weekend to avenge last season’s sweep at Maine. Brad Eidsness’ victory Friday — he made 30 saves — will make Aaron Dell’s already tenuous hold on that goaltending job even more delicate.

5 — Alaska-Anchorage (Last week: 8 )

The Seawolves just keep on rolling. After shutting out conference foe Nebraska-Omaha in a nonconference game, UAA hammered Mercyhurst 6-2. It’s been a balanced offensive effort and now the Seawolves may have not one, but two goaltenders going strong. An intriguing rematch with Omaha in Nebraska awaits this weekend where we should learn a lot more about where the Seawolves stand.

6 — Minnesota Duluth (Last week: 5)

UMD put 100 shots on Minnesota goaltender Kent Patterson and scored eight goals last weekend but got swept. Saturday, Kenny Reiter made just 11 saves on 16 shots. There’s still enough offense to get it done in Duluth, but Reiter needs to channel his playoff self in order for the Bulldogs to compete for an upper half spot.

7 — Nebraska-Omaha (Last week: 6)

How big of a loss has Alex Hudson been? After scoring five goals in their first game — a win over Mercyhurst — UNO has scored just four goals over their last three games — all losses. Whatever ails them, UNO better figure it out quickly. The Mavericks are in the midst of a stretch where they play games on 10 straight weekends.

8 — Michigan Tech (Last week: 12)

Are the Huskies for real? They’ve already equaled their win total from ALL of last season. Just one victory this weekend would equal the number of points Tech had ALL of last season. At Bemidji Friday and Saturday, this is the first time the Huskies will play away from MacInnes Ice Arena this season. And the Tech power play? An impressive 29 percent thus far — 14 percentage points better than last season.

9 — Bemidji State (Last week: 9)

The Beavers were in line for a split at Colorado College last week, but ran into a bit of a wall (named Joe Howe) in the third period Saturday. The Tigers won that game 6-4, and the Beavers won’t win many shootouts this season. They should have a chance at some points against a significantly less talented offensive group this weekend.

10 — Wisconsin (Last week: 10)

Overtime hasn’t been good to the Badgers during the Mike Eaves era. Since 2007-08, Wisconsin hasn’t won a single league game that has gone to overtime — 23 tries in all — while losing nine times over that same stretch. Overall, they’ve won just once in that stretch (32 tries there). So it probably wasn’t a good thing when both games in Houghton went to overtime last weekend. The Huskies won them both, continuing a rough stretch of free hockey for UW. (Thanks to Madison.com scribe Andy Baggot for the leg work on those overtime stats)

11 — St. Cloud State (Last week: 11)

After opening with four straight road games (and a 1-3-0 record), the Huskies open the home portion of their schedule with a weekend series against New Hampshire at the National Hockey Center. For the sake of getting its season kick started, the Huskies better hope things go much better at home than they have on the road or this year could spiral out of control quickly. In a related but totally unrelated stat, SCSU was just 6-8-4 at the NHC last season.

12 — Minnesota State (Last week: 7)

Tumbling down the rankings after getting swept by Massachusetts-Lowell (in Mankato, no less) are the Mavericks, who are decimated by injury right now. MSU will travel to Denver this weekend (gulp), where it could get ugly. Counting their third goaltender, the Mavericks have exactly 21 healthy hockey players right now. Michael Dorr, Eriah Hayes, Max Gaede, Tyler Elbrecht, J.P. Burkemper and Danny Heath are all nursing injuries and are not on this road trip. The good news? A bye weekend next weekend is extremely well-timed and could help MSU get a couple of players back before a stretch of seven straight busy weekends in November and December.

Northeastern surprised Friday night, shutting down New Hampshire, 4-0 — a score not many were expecting from the matchup.

The Huskies opened their scoring with a goal by Braden Pimm followed by two more quick ones from Zak Stone and Justin Daniels, all three goals within three minutes of each other. Mike McLaughlin sealed it for Northeastern when he put the team up by four in the final period. This offensive success only further aggravated an already frustrated UNH, and the tension started to show with a few scuffles late in the game.

What I saw

The defensive pairing of Luke Eibler and Josh Manson was crucial for Northeastern. The defensemen were plus-3 and plus-2, respectively, making several of the blocks that helped Chris Rawlings in goal and boosted the Northeastern’s offense.

You can depend on UNH to be fast, you can’t really say the same for Northeastern. But the Huskies kept up with the Wildcats’ speed, looking like a quicker and more determined team than the one who barely tied Massachusetts in their home opener last week.

(more…)

With week one in the WCHA in the rear-view mirror and conference play getting underway this weekend, here is a look at where the WCHA stands — at least in one man’s point of view.

1 — Colorado College (Last week: 1)
• The Tigers are tops on my list until someone beats them. They were just one of two teams to not play a game that counted last weekend, although they routed the U.S. Under 18 Team in exhibition action.

2 — Denver (Last week: 3)
• Like in-state rival CC, Denver also shutout the U-18 team in an exhibition game last weekend. Much will be known about the Pioneers after this weekend’s trip to Bean Town to face both BC and BU.

3 — Minnesota (Last week: 5)
• Kent Patterson held Sacred Heart without a single goal in 120 minutes of hockey last weekend and the Gophers’ freshmen showed up in a big way. If those two trends continue, Minnesota will surprise this season.

4 — North Dakota (Last week: 2)
• The Sioux struggled at home last weekend, needing a third period comeback to beat Air Force before dropping a 6-2 decision to the nation’s new No. 1 team, Boston College. Aaron Dell needs to be better, or Brad Eidsness might do to him what Dell did to Eidsness a year ago.

5 — Minnesota Duluth (Last week: 6)
• The national champs split at home, but split with one of the country’s best teams. A rivalry series against the Gophers this weekend at AMSOIL Arena will say a lot about where the Bulldogs stand early in the season.

6 — Nebraska-Omaha (Last week: 4)
• A bad loss on Saturday to Colgate highlighted the inconsistencies in goaltender John Faulkner’s game. And with Alex Hudson still out because of a suspension, the Mavericks will need Faulkner to be better than that.

7 — Minnesota State (Last week: 8 )
• The purple Mavericks salvaged a split at nationally ranked RPI last weekend, but scored just two goals in the process. Austin Lee leads the early battle in goal, although coach Troy Jutting will probably let that battle continue for the next couple of weeks.

8 — Alaska-Anchorage (Last week: 10)
• UAA came from behind to grab a tie Friday against Clarkson before coming from behind again in a nonconference win over St. Cloud State. Mickey Spencer had a monster weekend, including a hat trick against the Huskies.

9 — Bemidji State (Last week: 11)
• BSU beat top-ranked Miami Friday and led after two periods on Saturday but couldn’t quite hold onto the sweep. Had they won twice, they’d be much higher on this list.

10 — Wisconsin (Last week: 7)
• The Badgers are extremely young and they will struggle early on. They lost to Northern Michigan Friday before salvaging a split Saturday, but finding goal scoring will be a season-long problem in Madison.

11 — St. Cloud State (Last week: 9)
• SCSU struggled in third periods last season and that issue surfaced again Saturday against Anchorage. If the opening weekend is any indication, Mike Lee is going to keep the Huskies in every game this season.

12 — Michigan Tech (Last week: 12)
• It was a great first act for Mel Pearson in Houghton, but a sweep of American International only closes the gap between Tech and the No. 11 spot in this poll. More success against Wisconsin this weekend could change that however.

THIS WEEKEND AROUND THE WCHA

Wisconsin at Michigan Tech
• Between Brett Olson, Blake Pietilla, Jordan Baker and Steve Seigo, it’s possible the Huskies have the better goal scorers in this series. With the Badgers better on the blue line, the difference in this series comes down to goaltending. Whoever figures it out this weekend will have the edge in this one.

Minnesota at Minnesota Duluth
• The Gophers have a chance to prove last weekend’s 15 goal outburst wasn’t a fluke. Minnesota needs production from freshmen like Kyle Rau and Seth Ambroz, but if they also get production from guys like Jake Hansen, they’re going to win a lot of games. Look for the UMD power play to make a difference here. They were 2 of 8 Friday in a win and just 1 of 6 Saturday in a loss. That one goal will make a difference in what should be a pair of close games.

Bemidji State at Colorado College
• This is a series the Tigers should control, especially at home. But the Beavers have a way of slowing down teams to play at their pace. If BSU can do that at Colorado Springs, they could steal a point or two from this one. But if the Tigers control the pace, BSU likely can’t keep up.

Denver in Boston to take on BC, BU
• An early season trip to Boston will be a definite measuring stick for preseason conference favorite Denver. Without the luxury of playing a series last weekend, the Pios head east to face the nation’s top-ranked team first in what could be a wake up call for netminder Adam Murray, who has struggled in his two years in Denver thus far.

UNO, UAA in Alaska Goal Rush
• Like last weekend, the Seawolves will play a conference for in a nonconference contest as UAA and UNO face off Saturday in Fairbanks. Another win would go a long ways towards cementing the Seawolves among the “improved,” as many have predicted early on. The Mavericks, meanwhile are looking to get the bad taste out of their mouths after a bad loss to Colgate at home last Saturday. UNO faces Alaska Saturday while UAA takes on Mercyhurst.

St. Cloud State at Northern Michigan
• The Huskies hit the road again, as they will for much of the first few weeks of the season. At one point, it was thought SCSU’s arena renovations would hinder its ability to play at home, but hang ups in that process have unnecessarily put St. Cloud on the road for 10 of its first 15 games. A win in game one would go along ways towards helping SCSU secure a road sweep against a team they’re certainly capable of beating twice.

Massachusetts-Lowell at Minnesota State
• The Mavericks swept three series a year ago, including one against Lowell back east. Early on, the Mavs are already battling injuries, as their captain Tyler Elbrecht will miss several weeks with a broken arm. Freshman forward Max Gaede also missed a game with injury last weekend and will be out. This is a series, at home, the Mavericks need before jumping into conference play and it’s one, injuries or not, they should be able to get.

Maine at North Dakota
• In another return match-up from last season, the Fighting Sioux will look for some payback after getting swept in Bangor last October. It was the only time all season UND was swept, and was the only time UND lost consecutive games all season. A 7-3 loss in game one was really the end of Brad Eidsness’ run as starting goaltender, (he allowed three goals on five shots before being pulled for Aaron Dell) so it’s somewhat ironic that Dell may be in a similar position this time around.

After a one weekend of play, there were some clear winners and losers in the WCHA. Here are some thoughts on who those may be:

WINNERS

• Michigan Tech. The Huskies didn’t open with a power house like a couple other teams in the league did. In fact, they may have opened with the worst team in Division I hockey. But Tech hasn’t been that far from the bottom either in recent seasons, and sweeping their season opening games will definitely help get new coach Mel Pearson’s message across early. Afterall, this is a team that won just four games all of last season. The Huskies should now be able to equal and pass that pretty easily. At least that’s the hope.

• Bemidji State. Any time you can roll into the home arena and beat the No. 1 team in the country, you’re doing something right. The Beavers were down 1-0 after one Friday and 2-1 after two, but a stellar third period was enough to nab the victory. Kudos to BSU for responding after the Red Hawks tied the game at three late in the third period. Bemidji stemmed the tide and was able to, not only score the game winner, but add an insurance marker too. BSU led in the second period of game two as well, but Miami isn’t the top team for nothing. A great two points for the Beavers.

• Minnesota State. Same thing on a smaller scale. Not much is expected of the Mavericks this season, but they came out of York, N.Y. with a split against RPI. The Engineers entered the weekend ranked No. 18 and coming off an NCAA Tournament bid last season. But the Mavs used stellar goaltending from senior Austin Lee Friday to win a low-scoring affair. Mankato was also able to overcome a pair of injuries — one to captain Tyler Elbrecht — in the win. Elbrecht will miss several weeks with a broken arm, a big loss for a MSU D-core already short on experience and size. Freshman Brett Stern must step in now and play a much more important role. Another concern: The Mavs scored just two goals on the weekend. While getting a win was nice, they’ll need more offense to sustain themselves in conference play.

• Minnesota. Yeah, it was against Sacred Heart. But the Gophers left no doubt this weekend. Kent Patterson became the first Gopher to secure consecutive shutouts in the same weekend against the same team since Adam Hauser did it over a decade ago. Another positive: Minnesota had 10 different players score at least one goal and 16 different players score points this weekend. This from a team that struggled to score in stretches last year. The opponents will most definitely get better, but you can’t argue with the results for the Gophers.

• Alaska-Anchorage. If the Seawolves nonconference game against St. Cloud State is any indication of what we’re going to see in conference play this year, it’s gonna be an awesome season. The Huskies led 2-0 then 2-1 in the third period before UAA junior Mickey Spencer scored goals two minutes apart to pull Anchorage even and in front with under six minutes to play. A goal by Jared Festler with the SCSU net empty and under a minute to play  made it 3-3 before Spencer struck again in overtime to cap the comeback win. The OT goal capped a six-point weekend for Spencer who had 13 points in the two years prior. It also capped a weekend of comebacks for UAA, as they tied Clarkson Friday after trailing on two different occasions in that one as well.

• Minnesota Duluth. A split at home against Notre Dame puts them in the winners category, if only because the Irish are one of the top teams in the nation.

LOSERS

• North Dakota. The Fighting Sioux had to come from behind to beat Air Force Friday before getting hammered by Boston College Saturday. Aaron Dell allowed five goals on just 10 shots against BC, a far cry from his all-league showing last season. The one positive: Early season struggles aren’t exactly new to UND. And it wasn’t exactly unexpected this season. North Dakota is young and will take some lumps through the holidays. This weekend will help them in the long run.

• Nebraska-Omaha. In what should have been an easy couple of wins at home, UNO was impressive in a 5-1 win Friday over Mercyhurst before a disappointing loss to Colgate the next night. The Mavericks badly outshot the Raiders, but an inconsistent effort in goal by John Faulkner doomed UNO. Faulkner’s inconsistency last year was a problem for Omaha, and he must get it corrected if they hope to have another top-6 finish in league play.

• St. Cloud State. The Huskies defeated Alaska Friday and looked to be headed to a win again Saturday. But a problem that plagued SCSU last season surfaced again — third period malaise. The Huskies must get this straightened out. If they don’t, another disappointing season will ensue.

• Wisconsin. Northern Michigan at home needs to be at least three points. It wasn’t. Joel Rumpel was impressive Saturday in a 3-2 win to salvage the split. But Landon Peterson allowed three goals on just 19 shots in a 3-2 OT loss Friday. That battle in goal will be the defining one for the Badgers, at least early on.

There will definitely be some movement in my WCHA Power Rankings, which I will post Thursday. My conference preview is also posted on the College Hockey News main page. It is in two parts, which I will link here and here.

As always, be sure to follow me on Twitter (@CHNDanMyers). Let’s try and get to 500 followers by the end of the week! Spread the word!

The much rumored and now confirmed “Super League” is exactly what schools like North Dakota and Denver have wanted since the announcement of the Big Ten Hockey Conference earlier this year.

With the most of the powers of college hockey’s past joining together under one umbrella, with a big money TV deal to boot, the UND’s and DU’s of the world decided the only way to compete was to find other like-minded folks to join together and form the powers of college hockey’s future.

The difference between the BTHC and the new “Super League” is simple however: Money. The BTHC has it. The “Super League” might have it. Whether that one word is enough to throw a potential wrench into the sport is still up in the air.

But one thing is for sure: The game has changed for the little guys of college hockey.

It was once believed that once Penn State started a hockey program, schools around the country might jump on board and start programs of their own. And maybe that may someday by true.

But right now, college hockey fans need to worry about the future of some already existing programs.

What about Bowling Green? Their future already cloudy, now they’re without all of their top draws. For a program that lives and dies by their gate revenue, it’s possible BGSU could fall by the wayside.

What about schools like Alaska and Alaska-Anchorage? Their future is probably tied together in a new combined WCHA-CCHA. But will their fellow conference mates really be able to swallow having two schools from The Last Frontier, and spending more on travel budgets?

What about Alabama-Huntsville? Will a new WCHA-CCHA combined league change its stance in terms of accepting the Chargers?

What about schools like Bemidji State and St. Cloud State, which have spent, or are spending big money on arena upgrades. What’s the point now? The city of Bemidji was told a new arena would secure BSU’s future in the WCHA, which now looks like it no longer exists.

What has made the WCHA so viable over the years has been the league’s playoffs and Final Five — perhaps the most popular college hockey tournament in the country, Frozen Four included. That massive amount of money was shared between all the schools. With Minnesota and Wisconsin leaving, a large chunk of money was already going to be missing. With UND, DU, UMD, UNO and CC leaving, how will these other schools make a tournament profitable?

I think a new league with the Minnesota schools plus the Michigan schools will be able to survive. Both states have a rock-solid hockey base to build upon. But what of these other small schools? What will happen to them? I guess we’re all about to find out.

Over the last couple of days, I have become very anxious over the future of the sport I love — and cover.

Big Ten Hockey Conference aside, which I think has the chance to ruin the game as we know it, Penn State joining the college hockey fray is a great thing for the game. Had the topic of the BTHC never been broached, Penn State joining fellow Big Ten rivals Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State in the CCHA would have been the best possible outcome for the college game.

But with the formation of the evil empire, Penn State, Jim Delaney and the Big Ten will ruin a growing game that has become more entertaining and exciting over the last 10 years.

That is my fear. Will it become reality? Only time will tell.

But there is growing fear that my worst thoughts may be coming true.

There is no question in my mind the WCHA would survive with the losses of Minnesota and Wisconsin. With flagship programs like North Dakota and Denver as well as Colorado College and reigning national champion Minnesota Duluth, the WCHA would be just fine.

The CCHA would need to adapt without Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State. But growing powers like Notre Dame and Miami would provide the league with two solid anchors to build upon.

Now, reports are circulating that the two leagues may fracture even more, as reported by Kevin Pates of the Duluth News Tribune. According to the report, the buzz at the Frozen Four was around the formation of a new, six-team league featuring DU, UND, Miami, Notre Dame, CC and Nebraska-Omaha.

Full disclosure: I was at the Frozen Four and I never heard a single word about this. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t discussed.

If true, it would ruin college hockey. Division I would become much more regionalized, with programs like Michigan Tech likely joining Ferris State, Bowling Green, Northern Michigan, Lake Superior State and Western Michigan to form a “Great Lakes Conference,” while Minnesota schools like UMD, St. Cloud State, Minnesota State and Bemidji State would form a “10,000 Lakes Conference.” The problem is, with only four teams, there would be no automatic bid. Teams like Alaska-Anchorage, Alaska and Alabama-Huntsville would be left without a logical, geographic home. Could they join the Minnesota teams? Sure. But now there is an unfair financial burden on small state schools already crushed by budget cuts at their institutions.

The fact is, the Big Ten Hockey Conference is a reality and it will happen. But further fracturing the WCHA and CCHA would only put gas on a fire that could ignite the entire college hockey landscape as we know it.

Winning a national championship is certainly a big thing for a program. Recruiting will improve, meaning the future is brighter.

The problem is, in many cases, the short-term becomes cloudy because your successful underclassmen become targets of professional teams.

As is the case with Minnesota Duluth. Already losing major contributors like Justin Fontaine, Mike Montgomery and Kyle Schmidt because of graduation, team co-captain Mike Connolly announced he had signed a max deal with the San Jose Sharks, bypassing his senior season in Duluth.

It’s likely just the beginning. At minimum, the team is expected to lose Justin Faulk, a blue chip defenseman likely to sign with Carolina any day now.

Freshman winger J.T. Brown could be a target as well after being named the Frozen Four’s Most Valuable Player. On the biggest stage, Brown was far-and-away the best player on the ice. He’s only 5-10, but he has NHL speed with an ability to play physical and score goals. He would likely benefit from at least one more season in Duluth, but the fact is, guys with his ability usually don’t stay four years. He’s undrafted, which will likely drive his price up, meaning it will be much more difficult for him to turn down the pros when the opportunity arises.

Junior Jack Connolly will probably be back when you consider he’s only 5-8, but it only takes one team to be interested. Would a guy like Connolly — who’s also undrafted — turn down an opportunity to move on? He’s won a national championship and just a year ago, wasn’t on many radars.

At 6 feet, 200 lbs, Travis Oleksuk provides good size at the center spot. He could also be a guy that gets a few professional looks.

So while UMD is bringing in a solid recruiting class, including four defensemen, replacing guys like Connolly, Fontaine and Montgomery will be no easy task. Should Connolly, Brown and Oleksuk also get offered, repeating as champs would be even more difficult.

The news of Todd Richards’ firing as head coach of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild is barely a day old. And while he will likely be able to land on his feet somewhere in the National Hockey League (or as a head coach in the AHL), it seems to me there is one job out there he is suited perfectly for.

Head coach, University of Minnesota.

I know what you’re saying: Yes, the Gophers already have a coach. But in case you haven’t read, or if you live in Minnesota and you’ve been under a rock, Don Lucia’s status isn’t exactly on the firmest of grounds. So if you’re Minnesota A.D. Joel Maturi and the pressure is on to make a move, the news of the last 24 hours should likely give you even more reason to pull the trigger.

This isn’t meant to be a referendum on Lucia. He’s a great coach. But with expectations at their traditional highs and results at a historic low, not to mention the graduation of four of the team’s top 5 scorers (and already one early departure), the time to cut an run might be now, especially with such a qualified candidate cleaning his office just 7 miles down the road.

To me, there isn’t a more perfect candidate anywhere. Consider:

– Richards is a Minnesota native, having starred at Robbinsdale Armstrong High School (Crystal, Minn.). He and his wife, Maryann, currently reside there with his two sons, Zachary (15) and Justin (13).

– He had a successful career as a player at the University of Minnesota and is one of the most prolific defensemen in the history of the Gopher program, scoring 30 goals and adding 158 assists in four years.

– Has head coaching experience with the Wild, going 77-71-16 over the last two seasons. He’s also been both a head coach and an assistant coach in the AHL and an assistant coach in the NHL.

– At just 44 years of age, Richards could be the face of the program for the next 25 years.

– He preaches an up-tempo style of play that is attractive to many recruits. He also has NHL credentials and connections that would be attractive as well.

– He was a high NHL draft pick as a player (second round) but stayed all four years in college, winning two WCHA titles and playing in a national championship game.

Now, I have no idea if Richards would even be interested in the job, but you’d have to think he’d consider it. He just recently returned to Minnesota two years ago, has his children enrolled in school there, playing hockey there and making friends there. The job would pay him in the neighborhood of what an NHL assistant would make and would allow him to keep his home and current lifestyle intact.

Sounds like a win-win to me.

Ah, yes, it’s just about Frozen Four time and the WCHA is well represented. Much of the talk on this site and others (at least in terms of content) will be about North Dakota and Minnesota Duluth.

I wanted to check in and talk Michigan Tech. Remember them?

Us media jackals had our fun with the Minnesota coaching position in recent weeks. But the position in Houghton is the only one that’s open right now — and its the first opening in the WCHA in quite awhile. Off the top of my head, I believe Bob Motzko succeeding Craig Dahl in St. Cloud was the last coaching change in the league. Dave Shyiak got the UAA job that same offseason, but that came after John Hill left voluntarily to take an assistant job with the Gophers. When Russell took over the year before that, it came on the heels of Mike Sertich’s second retirement.

My point is — coaches in this league don’t get fired very often. They’ll either “move on,” like Dahl and Doug Woog did, or they’ll retire.

Back to Tech. As I tweeted (@CHNDanMyers if you’re not following already) Tuesday, I was reading a message board where Husky fans were naming potential candidates of coaches they’d like to see. Some I agree with (as you’ll see below). Some I don’t (I doubt Woog is coming back to coaching, much less in Houghton). This is completely speculative on my part, and simply an opinion on who I’d pursue if I were in charge of the search. Here’s my top 5, in order of how I’d go after them:

UNO assistant Mike Guentzel — For a team like Michigan Tech, in need of someone who’s experienced and knows the league, Guentzel would be the perfect fit. The guy’s won two national championships as an assistant, has coached under some of the best coaches in the country (Woog, Lucia, Scott Owens, Dean Blais), and was a former player at Minnesota. For many years, Guentzel was seen as the coach in waiting at Minnesota before the Gophers decided on Lucia after Woog’s “promotion,” and how the guy has never gotten a shot at a head coaching gig in the WCHA, or anywhere else in college hockey, is beyond me. Guentzel has three children — two of which play Division I hockey — and a third that will be a junior in high school back in Minnesota. He’s been on the move for much of the last four years, so moving to Houghton would likely not be an issue.

UND assistant Cary Eades — He might be the best recruiter in the country, although recruiting to Houghton would be a much stiffer challenge. He’s won everywhere he’s gone, spending more than a decade (two stints) as an assistant at UND under Gino Gasperini and now Dave Hakstol. He was a highly successful high school coach at Warroad and was some 40-games over .500 as a head coach an GM in the USHL. Eades will turn 50 in October, so he’s in his coaching prime right now. But with children in their teenage years, is he willing to uproot them for a job that probably doesn’t pay much more than he’s making at UND?

Green Bay (USHL) head coach Eric Rud — He has coached in the WCHA at St. Cloud State and Colorado College and played at the WCHA, also at CC. He helped turn SCSU from a perennial bottom-half team to a contender and has a successful recruiting background. He’s gaining experience as a head coach with the Green Bay Gamblers right now, because he likely wants an NCAA head coaching gig. The Gamblers are 38-14-4 in Rud’s first season and will contend for the Clark Cup this season. Rud and his wife have three young children, so moving now and dropping some roots in Northern Michigan is probably do-able.

Air Force head coach Frank Serratore — Would he leave the Falcons and Atlantic Hockey for a chance to coach in the WCHA? Air Force is a perennial contender for the NCAA tournament because they play in a weak league. Serratore’s teams are always competitive, though, and have been some of the toughest outs in those NCAA tournaments. His brother Tom is the head coach at Bemidji State, and while coaching success and bloodlines don’t always run hand-in-hand, they seem to here. Frank has experience with hard-working, overachieving teams and that’s exactly how Tech will win in the modern WCHA. He passion and attitude would make him a fan favorite in the U.P. He has four teenage children, so moving away from Colorado Springs could be an issue. Only one of those four is under the age of 18, though. He also has Michigan roots; he was a goalie at Western Michigan University.

Former NHL head coach Andy Murray — This may be shooting for the stars here, but it doesn’t hurt to ask? He was fired as head coach of the St. Louis Blues last season after his team started 17-17-6 (a dream season at Tech, no?), but before that, had only three losing seasons in 10 NHL seasons. His teams never finished more than four games under .500 and he led his team to the playoffs four times. Over the last 30 years, Murray has coached at all levels, spending much of his career as an assistant in the NHL and AHL. He was also the head coach at Brandon University in Canada in the late 70s and early 80s and served one season as head coach at Shattuck-St. Mary’s High School in the late 90s before accepting the Los Angeles Kings head coaching job. He would recruit Canada like no other and perhaps give the Huskies an edge in European recruiting, as Murray has coached a couple of different stints in Switzerland. At 60, he may not be a long term solution for Michigan Tech — but if he could turn things around over the next decade and give the reigns to a hand-picked successor, he’d be a great hire.

Others on my radar: Brent Brekke (Miami), Steve Rohlik (Ohio State), Paul Pooley (Notre Dame), Danton Cole (USNDT), Steve Miller (Denver), Mike Gibbons (St. Cloud State), Mike Hastings (Nebraska-Omaha), Dane Jackson (North Dakota).

What do you think?

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve debated several Gopher fans on whether Don Lucia is the right man to be leading the University of Minnesota hockey program.

On one hand, the guy has won a pair of national championships. Been to Frozen Fours. Won MacNaughton Cups and Broadmoor Trophies. The man has indeed built up some equity and a chance to turn this thing around.

On the other hand, in this world of “what have you done for me lately,” the question needs to be asked: What has Lucia done to prove the game hasn’t passed him by?

I often find myself thinking about the second question and remember the Gopher teams of the early 2000s. Yes, they won back-to-back national championships in 2002 and 2003. But in addition to being very talented, those Gopher teams just played the game differently. It seemed as though, back then, when Minnesota was put on the power play, the puck was going to wind up in your net. They would put on passing clinics, moving the puck two, three, four times until someone was wide open on the doorstep for the easy goal.

That’s simply not the case anymore. Perhaps its a personnel thing. But this year’s Gopher team had more NHL Draft picks than the ones during Lucia’s salad days in Dinkytown.

Speaking of NHL Draft picks, and more specifically, developing talent, what has happened there? In the last four years, Minnesota has watched players like Patrick White, Jake Hansen, Alex Kangas Aaron Ness and Cade Fairchild come and go with very little in the way of upward bounds. Those players didn’t necessarily get worse at Minnesota, but they certainly never developed like many thought they would.

Much has been said about Lucia’s recruiting classes, and even he has said he must find ways to get four-year players into the program. But when Lucia recruits those four-year guys, he finds players like Kevin Wehrs and Tom Serratore — two fine players in their own right, but probably not game changers. And certainly not like in the mold of a Matt Frattin or a Jason Gregoire at North Dakota or a Blake Geoffrion at Wisconsin or a Rhett Rakhshani at Denver. These are the kinds of guys Lucia needs. Are they difficult to keep all four years? Absolutely. But somehow, Denver did it. And Wisconsin did it. And North Dakota is doing it.

Why they can and Minnesota can’t is up for debate. They used to, back when guys like Jordan Leopold and Johnny Pohl and Grant Potulny stayed for four years. Perhaps Lucia needs to worry less about sending guys to the pros and more about winning at all costs at Minnesota. While sending guys to the pros reflects positively on your program, nothing short of winning championships will save Lucia’s job in Minneapolis.

And right now, that championship attitude at Minnesota is long-gone. Whether or not he finds it in the next 12 months will decide the long-term future of Minnesota’s Pride on Ice.