U.S. Wins 2015 WJC Opener

Thatcher Demko (Boston College) stopped two of three attempts in the deciding shootout, and Jack Eichel (Boston University) and Chase DeLeo both scored in the extra session to lift Team USA to a 2-1 victory on Friday in its opener of the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship in Montreal.

Alex Tuch (Boston College) pulled the U.S. into a 1-1 tie in the first period off a set-up by Eichel, after Finland had scored the game's opening goal. The score then remained unchanged through the remainder of regulation and a five-minute overtime period.

After the two teams traded goals to open the shootout, both then missed on their second attempt before DeLeo scored the winner on a backhand. Demko, who finished with 29 saves in regulation, then made a glove save on Finland's third shootout try to end it.

The U.S, which is being led by former Ohio State coach and Wisconsin alumnus Mark Osiecki, will return to action at the WJC against Germany on Sunday night in Montreal at 8 p.m. (NHL Network).

Maine Hires Gendron as Head Coach

Maine hired former assistant Dennis “Red” Gendron this week as head coach to replace the ousted Tim Whitehead. Gendron was on the staff of Maine’s first NCAA title team in 1993, and also coached in the New Jersey Devils organization. He then moved on to Massachusetts before spending the last two seasons at Yale,  garnering a second national championship ring in April with the Bulldogs.

With Mike Cavanaugh having been hired at UConn earlier this month, one of the last open head coaching positions in the Division I men’s ranks is at Alaska Anchorage, which assembled a new committee, including UAA hockey program founder Kelvin “Brush” Christiansen, to name a successor to Dave Shyiak. The former Northern Michigan skater was let go by the Seawolves after eight seasons and has been embroiled in some controversy lately involving an incident during his tenure at UAA.

Shyiak is still seeking a new coaching job along with Mark Osiecki and George Gwozdecky, who were released by Ohio State and Denver, respectively, this off-season. Osiecki spent three years at OSU after assisting at his alma mater of Wisconsin. Fellow Badgers alum Gwozdecky was not retained at Denver after 19 seasons with the Pioneers, including NCAA championships in both 2004 and 2005.

As reported tonight at USCHO.com, UAA athletic director Steve Cobb has been relieved of his duties. He had earlier received votes of no confidence from both the Anchorage youth hockey community and an alumni group of former Seawolf players.

The site is also reporting that the head coaching job at Alabama-Huntsville has just opened up after Kurt Kleinendorst stepped down after one season at the helm of the Chargers. UAH will join former independent foe UAA in the revamped Western Collegiate Hockey Association this fall.

Rohlik Made Permanent at Ohio State

Interim head coach Steve Rohlik has been given the permanent job of head men's hockey coach at Ohio State University. Rohlik succeeds Mark Osiecki, who was let go by OSU earlier this month.

Rohlik, who has served as OSU's associate head coach the past three seasons, is a former Wisconsin skater who won an NCAA title with the Badgers in 1990. A native of St. Paul, Minn., he enters his first head coaching stint after assistant positions at Nebraska-Omaha and Minnesota-Duluth. He served 10 years with the Bulldogs before coming to Columbus in 2010.

Ohio State, which made it to this year's CCHA semifinals in Detroit in the last year of the league, will enter the nascent Big Ten Conference in the fall. The Buckeyes are also seeking their first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2009, when they lost to eventual national champion Boston University in a regional semifinal.

NCAA Hockey Coaching Carousel Continues

Denver is believed to have locked up Dubuque (USHL) general manager/head coach and University of Maine alumnus Jim Montgomery as its next head coach, as mentioned in the Denver Post. Ohio State and head coach Mark Osiecki, meanwhile, have parted ways after just three seasons, according to the Columbus Dispatch.

Former Denver coach George Gwozdecky, who was not retained by the Pioneers after 19 seasons, is still available, although he is considered to be a prime candidate for the Maine job, according to the Bangor Daily News. Last week, USCHO.com said that Maine had tabbed assistant coach and former forward Bob Corkum as the Black Bears' interim head coach, after 12-year-head coach Tim Whitehead was not retained.

Also still seeking a head coach is Alaska Anchorage, which let Dave Shyiak go last month after eight seasons at the Seawolf helm. UAA has been looking at candidates, according to the Anchorage Daily News.

Ohio State - Over and Out

How fast the mighty fall. On Nov. 20, the Ohio State Buckeyes were 10-3-1 overall, coming off a road sweep of Michigan, and ranked first in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.

Fast forward to March 4, and OSU is 15-15-5 and done for the season.

The 2011-12 campaign came to a close with two losses (2-0, 4-2) in the first round of the CCHA Tournament this weekend at Notre Dame. A 1-11-4 mark down the stretch was largely responsible for the Buckeyes tumble down both the league standings (9th) and the Pairwise Rankings (21st).

Next year's comeback won't include senior goaltender Cal Heeter, who ended his career third in Buckeye history in both goals-against average (2.58) and save percentage (.915), according to ohiostatebuckeyes.com. In four years in Columbus, the St. Louis native went 39-36-11 with 2,428 saves and five shutouts, and was also the goalie of record for all but six OSU decisions these past two seasons. As a freshman, Heeter helped the Buckeyes to their most recent NCAA Tournament berth, where they lost to eventual national champion Boston University in 2009 in regional play.

The Buckeyes were 14-4-1 this season following a 4-2 win over Robert Morris on Dec. 30 in the annual Pittsburgh College Hockey Showcase, but it all went sour following a pair of ties/shootout defeats at Bowling Green in early January. The lone victory in OSU's season-ending 16-game fall came at Western Michigan on Feb. 11, a 4-3 overtime decision.

It's the second year in a row that the Buckeyes have finished with 15 total wins under head coach Mark Osiecki, who went 15-18-4 in his first season at the helm in 2010-11.

Osiecki Takes Over at Ohio State

So Ohio State went the outside route in hiring Wisconsin assistant Mark Osiecki to coach the Buckeyes. Good move for OSU, Big Ten or otherwise - Osiecki is a proven coach and recruiter, and they needed a shakeup at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus.

I was in the tail end of my first season as Michigan State's SID when John Markell took over the Ohio State program and then led it to new heights in his 14-year tenure. That elevation included six NCAA Tournament invitations, topped by an NCAA Frozen Four appearance in Boston in 1998. Perhaps things simply stagnated for both Markell and the Buckeyes after so long together, but he should be thanked for his contributions while this new chapter in program history unfolds. Markell's tenure also followed a 20-year stretch by Jerry Welsh, so Osiecki becomes just the third head coach behind the Buckeye bench since 1975.

A member of Wisconsin's 1990 NCAA Championship team who helped the Badgers get back to the national title game this spring, Osiecki spent seven successful seasons as the coach and general manager of the USHL's Green Bay Gamblers before returning to his alma mater. Prior to his juniors stint, he also helped North Dakota claim a national crown in 1996-97.

Now he's taking the reins of a program that seemingly has the resources, along with potential that hasn't always been realized. Don’t expect the Buckeyes to suddenly sell out all 17,500 seats at Value City Arena on a regular basis, but hopefully Osiecki can get OSU to compete regularly for the CCHA title and an annual NCAA berth.

Now if he could just do something about the fact that the Buckeyes are forced to play at the old OSU Ice Rink when they host the first round of the CCHA playoffs …