Matt Niskanen and the Pittsburgh Penguins have a 3-1 lead in the NHL’s Eastern Conference semifinals after a 7-3 win at Ottawa on Wednesday night. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has a game story here.

J.T. Brown and the Syracuse (N.Y.) Crunch face Wilkes-Barre-Scranton in the American Hockey League’s Calder Cup semifinals starting Saturday. The Syracuse Post-Standard has a preview here.

Approximately 5,000 runners weren’t allowed to finish the 2013 Boston Marathon on April 15 because of bombings in the finish line area. The Boston Athletic Association has invited those runners to participate in the 2014 Boston Marathon. A news release is here.

Duluth East senior defenseman Meirs Moore said Tuesday on Twitter that he’s made a commitment to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., likely starting in 2014-15.

Moore was named 2013 News Tribune high school boys player of the year. He scored 19 goals and added 30 assists in 2012-13 in leading the Greyhounds to a fifth consecutive Minnesota Class AA tournament. Ten goals came on East’s power play. He was on East’s varsity for three years.

He finished the hockey season playing nine games for Sioux City (Iowa) in the U.S. Hockey League and is expected to be with the Musketeers in 2013-14.

“Meirs is one of the best defensemen that I’ve ever coached,” longtime East coach Mike Randolph told the News Tribune in April.

Randolph lauded Moore’s hockey instincts, a quick first stride and excellent passing and shooting skills.

“He has a lot of ability to get you out of your zone and, once you get into the (opponents’) zone, he creates a lot of offense,” said Randolph. “There’s no question in my mind that he can play at the Division I level.”

Moore’s dad, Skeeter, was a Minnesota Duluth winger from 1983-87, recording 165 points in 149 games, including 60 goals.

RPI finished second in the 12-team Eastern College Athletic Conference in 2012-13 and was 18-14-5 overall. Seth Appert, who spent nine seasons as a University of Denver assistant, has been RPI’s head coach the past seven years. There were three Minnesotans on the RPI roster in 2012-13.

Is former U.S. Olympic wrestler Jim Scherr, commissioner of the NCHC, leaning toward a position with the inaugural European Games? Updates from College Hockey News here and U.S. College Hockey Online here.

If Bruce Ciskie had Scherr’s job for a day he says he would address these items here.

The Omaha World-Herald has a story on Nebraska-Omaha assistant Steve Johnson leaving the Mavericks here.

Former Alaska Anchorage coach Dave Shyiak has responded to allegations of hitting a player with a stick in a story from College Hockey News here and Anchorage athletic director Steve Cobb says he didn’t think the incident deserved discipline at the time in a story in Anchorage Daily News here.

The NHL Scouting Combine convenes May 27-June 1 in Toronto. A list of invitees from NHL.com is here.

The 2013 NHL Entry Draft is June 30 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

The United States claimed the bronze medal at the World Championships on Sunday in a 3-2 shootout victory over Finland before 6,836 fans at the Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden.

A recap from USA Hockey here and Chris Peters of the United States of Hockey here is video highlights here and video post-game interviews here.

Sweden defeated Switzerland 5-1 in the title game.

The top-ranked Brooks Bandits rallied from a two-goal third-period deficit to defeat the Minnesota Wilderness of Cloquet 5-4 in overtime Saturday in Canada’s Royal Bank Cup in Summerside, Prince Edward Island.

Brooks beat host Summerside 3-1 in Sunday’s title game.

A Brooks-Minnesota game recap from the tournament web site is here.

A feature story on Minnesota coach Rod Aldoff is here and Royal Bank Cup individual award winners were named in a news release here.

On Friday, Dubuque finished a championship sweep of Fargo in the U.S. Hockey League’s Clark Cup — 3-2 in overtime in Fargo, N.D. The Fargo Forum has a recap here.

This news release Thursday from the North American Hockey League. The Minnesota Wilderness of Cloquet joins the league in 2013-14:

Corey Millen is the new head coach of the NAHL’s Minnesota Wilderness.

The United States defeated Russia 8-3 Thursday morning in the World Championships quarterfinals before 5,506 fans at Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland. It was Russia’s most one-sided loss in tournament history.

Among WCHA-connected players, Paul Stastny of Denver had two goals and two assists; Craig Smith of Wisconsin had five assists; Ryan Carter of Minnesota State-Mankato had a goal and an assist;Tim Stapleton of Minnesota Duluth had an assist while defenseman Justin Faulk logged the most ice time at 22:02; and St. Cloud State’s Drew LeBlanc was not in the lineup.

Recaps from the International Ice Hockey Federation here and USA Today’s Kevin Allen here and a game summary here.

Video highlights and post-game interviews from the IIHF here.

The USA plays Switzerland in Saturday’s semifinals.

Bruce Ciskie has a few UMD post-season thoughts right here.

Former Minnesota Duluth assistants Steve Rohlik and Brett Larson have reunited at Ohio State for the 2013-14 season: Rohlik, 44, as head coach and Larson, 40, as associate head coach, accepting the position Tuesday.

Stories from the News Tribune here, Sioux City (Iowa) Journal here, the Sioux City Musketeers web site here and Ohio State athletic web site here.

UMD plays at Ohio State on Nov. 1-2.

This from the Minnesota Duluth sports information office Tuesday:

Senior Mike Seidel, who paced Minnesota Duluth in a number of offensive statistical categories this past winter, is the recipient of Mike Seiler Award as the Bulldogs’ Most Valuable Player for 2012-13, the team announced Tuesday.

Seidel, a right winger from Darien, Ill., and the reigning Bulldog Fan Favorite Award winner, saved some of his best hockey for last and wound up first among 2012-13 Bulldogs in goals (17), power play tallies (nine), game winners (four) and shots (150) while tying for the team scoring lead with 34 points. All of those totals either eclipsed or equaled his previous career bests.

The Jerry Chumola Rookie of the Year Award went to center Tony Cameranesi, a member of the WCHA All-Rookie Team who finished as UMD’s top point producer along with Seidel and fellow freshman forward Austin Farley.  The Maple Grove, Minn., product racked up 14 goals (seven of which came on the power play) to go with 20 assists and was one of just six Bulldogs to skate in all 38 games.

In addition, rookie center Cal Decowski landed the Mike Sertich Award (Most Improved Player) as a reward for a solid stretch run in which he racked up six of his eight overall points (three goals and five assists) in the last nine outings of the year. Senior defenseman Drew Olson received the Goldie Wolfe Award (Most Inspirational Player), senior right winger Keegan Flaherty was honored with the Bulldog Community Service Award and junior defenseman Tim Smith earned himself the Bob Junkert Award for possessing the best plus-minus (+3) of any Bulldog this winter