Alaska Coaching Candidates

Alaska looks to be one of the only programs that will be replacing their head coach this season, after Tavis MacMillan stepped down last week. Here's a look at some of the names that could be replacing him behind the bench.

Wade Klippenstein
Klippenstein was an assistant under MacMillan. He played at Fairbanks in the early '90s, so he has the advantage of being an alum. He also has some head coaching experience, coaching the Prince Albert Raiders of the WHL. He has also played a big role in recruiting for the Nanooks, including helping lure Dion Knelsen away from the WHL.

Dallas Ferguson
Ferguson was MacMillan's other assistant, who was also recommended for the job by MacMillan. He's also a Fairbanks alum. His prior coaching experience isn't as extensive as Klippenstein's though. He's listed as working one year as an assistant for the Fairbanks Ice Dogs, and three years as an assistant for the Nanooks.

Brian Renfrew
Renfrew is a Fairbanks native that is currently an assistant coach at Michigan State. His stock is probably at its highest right now after bringing home a national title. He played his college hockey at Western Michigan, but returned to Fairbanks, where he was an assistant for two years. After that, he moved to Northern Michigan for two years, then moved on to Michigan State with Rick Comley. One potential drawback is that Renfrew may be next in line for the job at Michigan State once Rick Comley retires. State's other assistant, Tom Newton, was passed over once by AD Ron Mason, and I don't see him getting hired again, and with Jeff Jackson happy at Notre Dame, Renfrew may be the top candidate for that job. Renfrew may be interested in the Alaska job for some head coaching experience, but would Alaska want to hire a coach that may leave in a couple of years?

Troy Ward
It's no secret that Ward is interested in finding a head coaching job in college hockey. Plus, I'm sure he's got enormous street cred in Fairbanks for trying to screw over Anchorage in the whole Dave Shyiak situation.

Rob Proffitt
Proffitt is coaching the Fairbanks Ice Dogs of the NAHL. Coaching a college team would probably be easier, and more stable than running an NAHL franchise. He's done a nice job of getting kids to the D1 level. I'm not sure he has enough experience to take over as a head coach though.

Dean Blais
Not only would Blais make the trains run on time in Fairbanks, he'd also magically make it 70 degrees in January, and win the national title every year. Pro-Blais advocates still insist that Blais is "only a phone call" away from taking another college head coaching job.

Blais Takes Savioring Elsewhere

There were hopes around the college hockey world that former North Dakota coach Dean Blais would triumphantly return to college hockey this summer after a rough stint with the Columbus Blue Jackets. In fact, I believe the 2011-2014 national championships were already reserved for whichever team Blais chose.

But those hopes look pretty much dashed right now. Blais signed a 5 year deal with Fargo's new USHL team.

How good of a coach is Blais?

"Surrounded by hundreds of squirt hockey players and fans at John E. Carlson Coliseum in Fargo, Blais said he will be the new coach and general manager of the Fargo franchise starting July 1."

That's right. He's taking on the USHL with a bunch of squirt players. The hundreds may be a bit excessive, but it's my understanding that most of them were goalies, which Blais will rotating through liberally.

Fargo's USHL team still has a bunch of financial hoops to jump through before things are official. They should be able to drum up the support though. After all, look at who is coaching the team. My guess is that the tentative plan is that Fargo will win the Stanley Cup within five years, and after that, it's on to time travel, whereby they will go back in time to teach the Kenora Thistles a thing or two.

Notre Dame Wraps Up CCHA Title

With a 1-0 win over Alaska tonight in Fairbanks, Notre Dame clinched their first ever CCHA regular season title. Congratulations to the Irish.

I'd have to imagine that Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson is also pretty much a lock for CCHA of the year. I also think he'll finish second for the Spencer Penrose Award; behind Dean Blais, of course.

Linkorama

I'm sure this will go over well. I point out that the top four scorers in the NCAA all come from the same state.

You can read Scott Parse's Tuesdays at the Rink chat here.

On the high school front, St. Cloud Cathedral's Nate Schmidt is injured. Here's an article on Edina's version of the Fab Five. There's definitely some names to remember in there.

Virg Foss of the Grand Forks Herald wrote an article about former North Dakota coach Dean Blais possibly returning to college hockey(I don't have a link, since you need to register, but if you go to the GFH website and search for "Dean Blais," you can find it pretty easily.) Given Blais' track record in college hockey, it's probably only a matter of time before he gets another head coaching. It's just a matter of him finding the right situation.

It's up for debate how much validity there is in what Foss writes, but when he does write, people listen. He certainly ruffled some feathers with the WCHA after his piece slamming WCHA officiating this week.

Speaking of officiating, this article really bothered me. WCHA Commish Bruce McLeod said the NCAA isn't in any rush to adopt rules like the NHL. Said McLeod:

"We tightened up the obstruction penalties before the NHL, and certainly the NHL has gone beyond that - and way past us. We haven't done it in a quantum jump like the NHL, and I think we'll probably continue with that. Some people think the NHL has gone too far, and others love the way it is. We'll just have to wait and see."

Who goes to a hockey game to see the subtle beauty of a fourth-liner partially hooking a faster player to keep up with him? The NHL may be struggling right now, but don't you think it helps them that scoring has gone way up due to the new rules enforcement? Phoenix drew a sellout the other night when Pittsburgh came to town. I have a feeling those people showed up to see Sidney Crosby score goals, not see Jarkko Ruutu hook somebody.

Here's some discussion about hockey bloggers getting press credentials. I'm happy to say that all of my experiences in regards to trying to be a "real press guy" have been 100% positive, which I think speaks very well of the people that are involved in this sport.

LSSU gets a commitment from an Ontario kid.

Some results from The USHL Skills Competition.

USHL Central Scouting features two more '91 birthdates in John Ramage and Jordan Mayer.

A profile on Northern Michigan University.