University of Massachusetts assistant coach Ben Barr has been named the new head men's hockey coach at the University of Maine. He becomes the fifth head coach in Maine's modern history, succeeding the late Dennis "Red" Gendron, who died last month after coaching the Black Bears since the 2013-14 season.
According to the Bangor Daily News, Barr will be paid a salary of over $235,000 on a four-year contract. It is his first head coaching position, and he will be tasked with reviving a Black Bears program that last made the NCAA tournament in 2012.
Barr, 39, from Fairbault, Minn., helped UMass to the last two NCAA title games, including a national championship victory this year over St. Cloud State, and he also was the Minutemen's primary recruiter. Prior to his tenure with UMass, which began with the 2016-17 campaign, he had served as an assistant at Union, Providence, Western Michigan and Rensselaer.
As a player, Barr skated at forward for Rensselaer from 2000 to 2004. He tallied 25 goals and 64 points in 140 games played before entering the coaching ranks.
In other college-related coaching news, the New York Rangers today released head coach David Quinn (Boston University) after three NHL seasons. Also not retained were assistants Greg Brown (Boston College) and David Oliver (Michigan).
Holy Cross last week hired longtime Quinnipiac assistant/associate Bill Riga as its new men's hockey head coach, his first position as a collegiate head coach. A former UMass Lowell player, he had served at Quinnipiac since 2008 after previously coaching at Union.
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