Maine close to hiring Red Gendron; Niskanen and Penguins move to Eastern Conference finals

Larry Mahoney of the Bangor (Maine) Daily News has an update on Maine’s search for a coach, reporting that Yale assistant and former Maine assistant Red Gendron has been offered the job. The story is here.

Matt Niskanen and the Pittsburgh Penguins moved on to the NHL’s Eastern Conference final by eliminating Ottawa with a 6-2 playoff victory Friday night in Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has a game story here. The Penguins face Boston in the next round.

Sharks lose 3-0; NCHC officiating selection detailed; College Hockey Inc. video; Kara Goucher photo gallery

Jim Johnson and the San Jose Sharks lost 3-0 to Los Angeles on Thursday night as the NHL defending champion Kings took a 3-2 Western Conference semifinal series lead. Game 6 is Sunday. A San Jose Mercury News game story is here.

NCHC Director of Hockey Operations Joe Novak is putting together the league’s first group of referees and linesmen. A league news release details the process here.

College Hockey, Inc., has another video installment talking with NHL players about their development in the college game. The 5-minute video includes Adam Burish and Tom Gilbert of Wisconsin, Jay Beagle of Alaska Anchorage and Paul Stastny of Denver, and a reader points out, Mason Raymond about 2:35 into the video here.

Competitor.com has put together a photo gallery highlighting the running career of Kara Goucher right here.

Niskanen and Penguins win; Syracuse and Brown ready for next round; Boston runners not allowed to finish are invited to 2014 race

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.

College hockey’s top stories of 2012-13; Anchorage coaching search; Dick Beardsley on the benefits of running; Kara Goucher on Boston

Chris Dilks of SB Nation finishes his list of the Top 20 stories in the college game for 2012013, with the top five picks here.

The search for a coach at Alaska Anchorage continues, with all sides of the equation being heard from in a story by Doyle Woody of the Anchorage Daily News here. A coach to replace Dave Shyiak is expected to be named by June 15.

Grandma’s Marathon course recordholder Dick Beardsley talks with ihealthtube about proper marathon training and the benefits of participation here.

Competitor Magazine talked with Kara Goucher about the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings here.

Runner’s World charts the most popular U.S. marathons (by the number of race finishers) since 1972 in a story here.

MONDAY MOTIVATION:

Duluth East’s Meirs Moore heading to RPI

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.

Scherr leaving NCHC? Johnson leaves Omaha; Shyiak responds to allegations; Scouting Combine invitees

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.

U.S wins bronze medal at World Championships; Wilderness loses in Royal Bank Cup semifinals in OT

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.

Corey Millen named Minnesota Wilderness coach

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 Minnesota Wilderness, proud members of the North American Hockey League (NAHL), have announced that Corey Millen has been named the team’s new head coach. Millen is a Cloquet, Minnesota native and has had previous head coaching experience in the North American Hockey League with the Wasilla Spirit and Alaska Avalanche organization, mostly recently during the 2011-12 season.
“We are excited to welcome Corey Millen to the Wilderness organization,” said Wilderness Owner and Governor Scott Thielen. “With his vast hockey knowledge and coaching experience, particularly at this level, we are confident he will lead our organization to become one of the best in the league.”
A standout college player at the University of Minnesota from 1983-87, Millen went on to play 14 years of professional hockey in North America and Europe.  Millen, a third-round selection of the New York Rangers in the 1982 NHL Entry Draft, played for five NHL teams – the Rangers, Los Angeles Kings, Dallas Stars and Calgary Flames – scoring 209 points on 90 goals in 331 career games.
“I am very excited to be back coaching in the NAHL,” said Millen. “My experiences in the league have been a lot of fun and ones that are memorable.”  As for going back to his home state of Minnesota and hometown of Cloquet, Millen said that he is looking forward to the familiarity and opportunity. “It is a great opportunity because of the people I know and the knowledge I have of the area. The location of the Wilderness is very exciting because the league continues to grow the footprint into areas that are passionate about hockey and located close to so many NCAA schools.  I think it will give us a great chance to be successful on the ice and also moving players onto the next level.”

United States routs Russia 8-3 in World Championships quarterfinals

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.

Brett Larson joins Steve Rohlik at Ohio State

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.