College Hockey   CC Tigers and USAFA Falcons Hockey

It looks like the four finalists may be joined by a few more as Alaska-Anchorage looks to revamp its earlier selection process that put Air Force associate coach Mike Corbett in the top four.

ESPN put out an opinion piece that lists North Dakota coach Dave Hakstol as the NCAA coach most ready to take over an NHL team.

Former Tiger Jaden Schwartz will coach his old junior team as part of an exhibition fundraiser for his late sister Mandi’s organization and other charities.

St. Cloud State received its first commit since its historic NCAA Frozen Four run.

It seems less likely that former Denver coach George Gwozdecky will take the reins in Maine. New Denver coach Jim Montgomery is profiled.

Incoming Tiger freshman Gustav Olofsson was named to the United States Hockey League’s all-rookie team for this past season.

Here is the writeup for the Broomfield resident, who is projected as a second or third-round NHL draft pick on June 30.

Gustav Olofsson (D), Green Bay Gamblers

A native of Sweden, the defenseman played all but one of the 64 regular season games for Green Bay and collected 23 points (2g, 21a) while posting a plus-11 rating.  He dished out two assists in the first game of the season on September 28^th.  His first USHL career goal was the game-winner in the 5-2 victory against Muskegon on November 23^rd.  Twice this season he finished a game with a plus-four rating.  Olofsson is a top prospect for the upcoming 2013 NHL Draft and was selected by scouts to compete in the 2013 USHL/NHL Top Prospects Game.  He is committed to Colorado College.

Nebraska-Omaha released three players and added more depth to its lineup. Leading scorers Ryan Walters and Matt White have said they will return for next season, Mavericks coach Dean Blais, pictured, said.

Incoming North Dakota offensive defenseman Paul LaDue, a Kings draft pick, was named as the USHL Defenseman of the Year.

UND has dropped a defenseman commit from the BCHL.

Wisconsin took the interim tag off assistant coach Matt Walsh‘s job title.

St. Scholastica 6-foot-5 defenseman Brenden Kotyk is the first Division III player to transfer to Minnesota-Duluth, boosting an already strong incoming class.

Former Tiger Chad Rau was called up to the Minnesota Wild practice squad during the team’s short NHL playoff run.

Incoming Tiger forward Luc Gerdes, the Jamestown Ironmen’s leading scorer, was scoreless during his team’s 0-3 showing at the 2013 NAHL Roberston Cup tournament in Texas.

The Colorado Eagles of the ECHL and the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets  announced they will not renew their affiliation agreement for the 2013-14 season. The two clubs, along with the Jets’ American Hockey League affiliate the St. John’s IceCaps had operated as affiliates since the 2011-12 season.

Eagles President & General Manager, Chris Stewart said the Eagles will consider several options for the upcoming ECHL season.

“Eagles fans can rest assured that we have many opportunities to explore for next season,” he said. “We have already had NHL clubs express interest in potentially forming an affiliation with the Colorado Eagles. We will also investigate the possibility of being independent of an NHL affiliation. We will do our due diligence in making the best possible decision moving forward and allow that decision to put us in the best possible position to win a championship.”

Former Tiger Arthur Bidwill played for the Eagles this past season.

Former Alaska-Anchorage coach Dave Shyiak is accused of hitting one of his players during a 2011 practice in a lawsuit.

Accusations abound that  an NAHL Robertson Cup rule quirk prompted Amarillo to throw its pool play game 7-0 in order to advance to the championship game. A one-goal loss to Wenatchee meant another team (Bismarck) advanced. Perhaps a more traditional playoff format is in order?

Former Tiger Brian McMillin is the Central Hockey League playoff MVP after recording 20 points (12 goals) in 19 playoff games for the Allen (Texas) Americans, who won the pro league’s title Saturday night.

Allen defeated the Wichita Thunder, 3-2 in overtime, in Game 7 of the Ray Miron Presidents’ Cup to win series four games to three.

“Obviously this is something special,” McMillin told the Plano Star. “I don’t … I don’t even know if I can really explain it.”

Click here for more from McMillin and details of the game. Allen was backstopped by former North Dakota goalie Aaron Dell.

The final Western Collegiate Hockey Association meetings this past weekend in Florida were a bittersweet occasion for Colorado College coach Scott Owens.

It served as the transition for the WCHA-founding Tigers as CC enters the new National Collegiate Hockey Conference it helped form last summer.

”It was not awkward but it was a little sad and a little more business-like (than usual),” Owen said. “The league was already meeting with the new members and the NCHC metearlier in the week.”

The transition affects the WCHA as well. Longtime commissioner Bruce McLeod, who has led the league for 20 years, said this coming season will ‘”probably” be his last, multiple sources have reported.

The NCHC met with all eight schools fully presented – athletic directors, coaches, faculty representatives – on hand for the first time and gave an update on the league office’s progress.

“You can’t believe all the things that need to be done to set up a new league,” Owens said.

The officiating program grabbed plenty of attention on a full slate. The deadline to apply to hockey operations head Joe Novak and supervisors of officials Don Adam to become a league official is May 15.  A system that would hold officials accountable and get them better training si expected.

“I think the fans will be pleased with the changes,” CC athletic director Ken Ralph said.

The league bylaws, postseason tournament and the 18-game TV package with CBS Sports Network also drew praise.

“I could not be more pleased with our first meetings in Naples,” NCHC Commissioner Jim Scherr said. “It was great to get everyone in the same place and on the same page as we prepare for our inaugural season. We have some tremendous individuals at each of our institutions that are highly motivated and very professional. We are just a couple of months from dropping the puck on opening weekend and I could not be more excited to get the season underway.”

The American Hockey Coaches Association annual meetings followed with talk of changing the NCAA regionals from neutral sites to the home arena of the regional top seed sites as last done in 1996. Tweaking the Pairwise rankings was discussed with no action made on either topic.

“About 35 to 40 percent of the Western coaches wanted to look at institutional sites but a lot like the neutrality,” Owens said. “We talked about other ways to help attendance, such as lowering ticket prices and student ticket discounts. I would like to see permanent western sites so fans can plan on attending in advance.”

No rule changes were proposed for the NCAA to consider.

COURTESY Anchorage Daily News

Retirement is suiting 1995-96 Colorado College Hall of Fame hockey team members Ryan Bach and Brian Swanson well.

Bach, 39, is very much involved in hockey, working as the goaltender coach for the ECHL Colorado Eagles. His real estate company is located next door to the Budweiser Events Center allowing him to leave work each afternoon for practice the past nine years. He finished his playing career with the Eagles during the 2003-04 season while Colorado was in the Central Hockey League.

“You can’t beat the commute,” he said before a recent induction banquet. “It (hockey) is definitely a big part of my life and a big role in what I have become.”

Bach went 0-3 for the Los Angeles Kings during the 1998-99 season and spent eight years in the minors.

Swanson, 37, is enjoying retirement after a good NHL career and the chance to finish off his career last season with the ECHL’s Alaska Aces, where he mentored former Tiger Tim Hall and former Air Force player Jacques Lamoureux.

He left Eagle River, Alaska 20 years ago to play junior hockey. He went on to a 70-game NHL career (Atlanta, Edmonton) with 17 points (13 assists) as one of only 13 Alaskans to play in the world’s best league.

“I was happy to play my final two years with a quality organization and do it at home,” he said. “I played outside Anchorage much of my life so it was good to go back home. It was good for the kids.”

He works as a manager at a Play It Again store in Anchorage.

“I am enjoying retirement,” he said. “After my final season, I was ready.”

Former Tiger defenseman Nate Prosser has been a healthy scratch for much of this season for the Minnesota Wild.

The new WCHA web site made its debut today. Commissioner Bruce McLeod said next season is “probably his last.”

Here is an update on Rylan Schwartz and more on other former Tigers in the AHL and NHL.

Tigers in the bigs

Statistics as of Monday afternoon

American Hockey League

Brian Connelly, D – 43 points (37 assists) in 59 games, including playoffs, good for third in points for Wild affiliate Houston.

Joey Crabb, F –16 points (10 goals) in 16 games for Hershey, including playoffs, after being sent down from Capitals (two goals, 26 games).

Kris Fredheim, D – Seven points (six assists) in 70 games for Houston.

Gabe Guentzel, D – Ten assists in 40 games for Norfolk; recorded first pro goal in five games for ECHL Fort Wayne.

Curtis McElhinney, G – Team Most Valuable Player award winner led Springfield into the second round of playoffs against either Hershey or Syracuse with 3-1 record, .943 saves percentage and 1.74 goals against mark; went 29-16-3 with team records in saves (.923) and career shutouts (nine) during regular season; named to AHL all-star second team.

Toby Petersen, F – 24 points (16 assists) in 74 regular-season games for Texas Stars; no points in four AHL playoff games; one NHL appearance.

Richard Petiot, D – Three points (two assists) in 24 games for St. John’s Icecaps; recorded first pro goal since 2009-10 season.

Chad Rau, F – 27 points (16 goals) in 60 regular-season games for Houston; three points (two assists) in five playoff games before elimination.

Rylan Schwartz, F – Four points (three assists) in seven games for Worcester; scored first and only pro goal on April 19.

Brett Sterling, F – 45 points (team-high 24 goals) in 48 games for Chicago, finishing team-best plus-15 for Wolves; second in points.

Bill Sweatt, F – 36 points (21 assists) in 66 games for Chicago was third on Wolves in points; played one NHL game for Canucks.

Mike Testwuide, F – Two goals in 19 games for Adirondack before injury; three points (two goals) in nine games with Abbotsford Heat after trade from Flyers to Flames organization.

NHL

Richard Bachman, G – Stepped in as the Dallas starter to improve to 6-5, with .885 saves percentage and 3.25 goals against mark; went 5-1 in AHL with .920 saves and 2.31 goals.

Jack Hillen, D – Career-high nine points (six assists) in 25 games after suffering opening night injury; since signed two-year, $1.4 million deal with Capitals

Nate Prosser, D – No points in 17 games for Minnesota Wild.

Jaden Schwartz, F – Spent lockout in AHL Peoria (19 points, 33 games) before moving on to Blues (13 points, seven goals, 45 games).

Mark Stuart, D – Four points (two goals) in 42 games for Jets assistant captain; played nine games for ECHL Florida during lockout.

The ninth and final member of this fall’s incoming freshmen class for Colorado College hockey is 6-foot, 170-pound forward Luc Gerdes of the Jamestown (N.Y.) Ironmen of the North American Hockey League. He committed to the Tigers on Monday, coach Scott Owens confirmed.

The right-hander recorded 55 points (28 goals) in 66 games, including seven (six assists) in six playoff games to lead his team to the Robertson Cup league championship tournament this weekend in Texas. The addition of Gerdes, of Eden Prairie, Minn, raises the roster total to 28 players.

Also, incoming freshman goalie Tyler Marble of Detroit, Mich. was named to the All-NAHL Team after he led the Sault Ste. Marie (Mich.) Eagles to the North Division regular season title by recording the best save percentage (93.8) in the league.  He led the NAHL with 1,463 saves and tied for third in wins (30).

CC also received a commit from Chicago Steel forward Chris Dodero, the United States Hockey League team announced. The left-handed 10^th-grader recorded 12 points (seven assists) in 52 games in his first junior hockey season.

The 5-8, 165-pounder from Bloomingdale, Ill. was teammates with incoming Tigers freshmen Alex Roos and Jaccob Slavin. Because of his age, he is expected to arrive at CC in fall 2015.

“We are very excited that Chris will continue his playing career at Colorado College following his playing days in the USHL,” Steel coach Scott McConnell said.  “He will continue to develop as a player and as a person, and will be ready to step in at CC in a few years and make an immediate impact.  The coaching staff at Colorado College is one of the best in the nation, and combined with CC’s academic reputation and its hockey facilities, I can’t think of a better place for Chris to play collegiately.”

Incoming Colorado College freshman hockey player Sam Rothstein scored Sioux Falls’ fastest playoff goal to open a game (15 seconds) to lead the Stampede past Fargo and force a decisive Game 5 on Wednesday. He finished with two goals in the 5-3 win on Sunday.

“I just got in on the forecheck and got a lucky bounce and put it away,” Rothstein told the Sioux Falls Argus Leader. “We haven’t gone up yet in this series, so to finally get the first one was big.”

Coach Cary Eades agreed.

“It was a huge lift,” he said of the quick goal. “The longer we’d have gone without scoring a goal we would’ve started gripping our sticks tighter. We wanted to get a good start to create more Grade A scoring chances and we did that.”