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Former Tigers Brian McMillin and Brett Sterling are headed to Europe to continue their professional careers.

Sterling, an AHL standout with the Chicago Wolves is headed to Husqvarna Vätterstad 1971 (called HV71 or HV) in Sweden. The club is based in Jonkoping and plays in the Swedish elite league Elitserien (internationally known as the SEL). He is one of two North American imports on the team, joining 1999 Hobey Baker winner Jason Krog.

Sterling has appeared in 30 NHL games (nine points, five goals) over a seven-year professional career, mostly in the AHL.

McMillin, the league playoff MVP for the CHL champ Allen Americans, will play for the Coventry Blaze in Great Brittain’s Elie Ice Hockey League.

McMillin has 89 points in 154 CHL games for Allen over three seasons after starting in the ECHL with Kalamazoo (one assists, 17 games).

“I am very excited about making the move to Coventry. I can’t wait to get things going,” McMillin told the Coventry Telegraph. “Winning my first pro championship in overtime of a Game Seven was definitely an incredible feeling, one I hope to experience again soon. Winning the play-off MVP was just the cherry on the top.

“I take a lot of pride in being a consistent, two-way player. I’m not flashy but I will find a way to get the job done. I hope to help improve the team in both ends of the ice as well as on the PP and PK. My only goal for next year is to help bring championships back to Coventry.”

“He has a big upside and will have a lot more responsibility with us and can go to another level,” Blaze coach Matt Soderstrom said. “He is a team player and does everything well. Brian will compliment our other forwards and we expect 20-plus goals from him next season.”

“We think Brian will be a perfect fit for us,” director of hockey operations Paul Thompson said. “All the feedback we got on him was positive. He is a guy who is dependable and will be the glue around our offensive talent.”

CC commit Teemu Kivihalme is profiled by Yahoo! Canada Sports as a possible NHL Draft pick this month.

Here is a review of former Tiger Jack Hillen‘s past season with the Capitals along with a look at Joey Crabb.

Western Michigan hockey is creating a ring of honor to recognize past greats and contributors to the program.

Declining attendance for Wisconsin home games is cause for concern in Madison.

Minnesota-Duluth coach Scott Sandelin will receive North Dakota’s Tom Clifford Award as part of the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame ceremonies Sept. 14  in Grand Forks.

The award goes to a North Dakota graduate who has served with distinction as a coach at the college or high school level.  Sandelin, 48, a 1986 North Dakota graduate,  has a 231-229-63 record and  helped the Bulldogs to the 2011 NCAA title.

The Hibbing native was a North Dakota assistant for six years, including championship seasons in 1997 and 2000.

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.

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.

Former Tiger Jaden Schwartz has emerged from the shadow of more well-regarded rookies now that the NHL playoffs have arrived.

Jack Hillen has a prominent role for the Washington Capitals these NHL playoffs.

The Detroit Red Wings announced that St. Cloud State defenseman Nick Jensen signed a two-year entry-level deal with the club. Terms of the deal will not be disclosed.

Jensen, 22, was Detroit’s fifth-round selection in the 2009 NHL draft. The 6-1, 195-lb. rearguard spent the past three seasons with SCSU, appearing in 119 career games and posting 86 points (15G-71A-86P). The Rogers, Minn., native skated in 42 games for St. Cloud State in 2012-13, collecting 31 points (4G-27A-31P) and 14 PIM. Jensen earned First Team All WCHA honors and was named a First Team NCAA (West) All-American this season. He was also named the 2012-13 WCHA Defensive Player of the Year.

Allen, Texas will take on Wichita in the Central Hockey League Finals Tuesday night in Allen, led by former Tiger Brian McMillin, who leads the Americans with eight playoff goals, and is tied with Todd Robinson for the points (14) lead.

“It’s pretty cool to be here,”  Americans forward Darryl Bootland, who is still looking for his first championship, said in a press release. “It’s been the goal in the room since day one to be in this position. We earned it and we deserve to be here.”

The Americans are 8-4 this postseason, eliminating the Denver Cutthroats in five games (4-1), and then winning an emotional Game 7 against the Missouri Mavericks in Round 2 to advance to the Central Hockey League Finals.

The Wichita Thunder are 8-0 this post-season eliminating the Arizona Sundogs 4-0 in Round 1, and then sweeping through the Fort Worth Brahmas in Round 2.

One of the tidbits of news from the CC team award brunch dealt with the strong  likelihood the annual Colorado Springs Sports Corp. Face-off Luncheon will be held during the NCHC meetings Sept. 12-13 with all eight league coaches in attendance.

Also, Wisconsin will be coming to World Arena during the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons.

The first official National Collegiate Hockey Conference meeting is in Naples, Florida Tuesday and Wednesday with full representation (coach, AD, faculty representative) from all eight member schools for the first time.

The league will discuss the officiating pool, communication between the league and coaches, operations manuals, and setting gameday standards to be met by each school and other procedural loose ends.

CC athletic director Ken Ralph said the coaches will have a lot of say in which officials are brought into the league.

The annual coaches convention at Marco Island, Fla. follows Thursday through Monday. Nothing binding will come out, but the coaches will weigh in on changing the NCAA regional format to go with home sites for top seeds, according to CC coach Scott Owens.  Other topics include honoring verbal commitments and tweaking the Pairwise rankings formula, he added.

The final WCHA banquet for CC and the other five schools leaving will be Sunday.

“There will be a little bit of awkwardness but its’ important to recognize and honor our 61 years together,” Owens said. “I think most people have moved on.”

Hobey Baker Award winner Drew LeBlanc of St. Cloud State is in Sports Illustrated’s Faces in the Crowd feature this week. he was added to the U.S. men’s national team earlier this week.

WCHA’s Minnesota State announced its team awards.

USCHO compiled a list of the 80 current and future NCAA players ranked by NHL Central Scouting for the June 30 draft.

College Hockey News is reporting that UConn will fill the vacant women’s job in the next few weeks before focusing on the men’s position.

Former Tiger Calvin Elfring, the last of the 1995-96 Colorado College hockey team still playing professionally, said this weekend that he is looking to finish out his career  in the Elite Ice Hockey League in Great Britain, where Noah Clarke was a standout for the Belfast Giants and Alex Kim (Sheffield) played two seasons ago.

He was in Colorado Springs for the CC Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony Saturday night at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort when the NCAA runner-up team was recognized as one of the program’s best.

In addition to a stipend, accommodations and vehicle, import players also receive a free education, Elfring said. He plans to study for his masters in business administration while he wraps up his career.

“It’s not the big paycheck you get in Germany but it’s a good way to start the transition (to retirement),” he said.

He spent the past nine years playing for the Straubing Tigers in Germany, where he served as captain this past season. His children, ages 5 and 6. are fluent in German and English, he is proud to say. The family spends the summers in Phoenix.

He played the past 12 years in Germany after spending three seasons bouncing between the AHL and ECHL after CC (127 points in four years).

“I didn’t expect I would be 37 and still playing,” the defenseman said. “I just never wanted to give it up. I still love coming to the rink.”

Elfring was drafted by the Quebec Nordiques (now Colorado Avalanche) in the seventh round (165th overall) in the 1996 NHL Draft.