Minnesota Duluth assistant men's hockey coach Steve Rohlik is among the finalists for the Nebraska Omaha head coaching job after being interviewed Monday in Omaha.
The position has been open since May 14, when Mike Kemp was moved from head coach to associate athletic director by Omaha's new athletic director Trev Alberts. Kemp was coach for the first 12 years of the program.
The Omaha World-Herald reported Wednesday that as many as six coaching candidates were interviewed over three days, although no names were confirmed by Alberts. Rohlik, 41, a UMD assistant under Scott Sandelin the past nine years, confirmed he was in Omaha to talk with Alberts and a search committee, which includes Kemp, a Duluth native.
"This coaching job will be a great opportunity for someone, and the [Nebraska-Omaha committee] is doing its homework and making sure it gets the right person for the job. There seems to be a lot of excitement in the program in getting a new coach," Rohlik said Wednesday afternoon from the Twin Cities, there to scout a six-day model camp at Mariucci and Ridder arenas in Minneapolis.
Rohlik said he was given no indication when an Omaha coach would be named, but the school's timeline is said to be mid-June to July 1 for a deadline.
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Among those mentioned as Omaha coaching candidates are former North Dakota coach Dean Blais, a native of International Falls; Colorado College assistant Mike Guentzel, a Coleraine native; Minnesota assistant Mike Hastings and Boston University assistant David Quinn.
"I think the next step for me is to spend some good, quality time going over what we've learned to see if there are further questions we want to have answered," Alberts told the World-Herald. "We're committed to having the best hockey program. We're going to exhaust all means to find the best possible candidate."
Omaha is also being pursued by the Western Collegiate Hockey Association to join the 10-team league. Omaha is a member of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.
UMD signs seven recruits
UMD has announced the signing of seven men's hockey recruits to national letters of intent for 2009-10.
In the class are defensemen Wade Bergman of Calgary, Alberta; Drew Olson of Brainerd, Minn.; and Dylan Olsen of Calgary; and forwards Dan DeLisle of Arden Hills, Minn.; Jake Hendrickson of Savage, Minn.; Mike Seidel of Darrien, Ill.; and Keegan Flaherty of Duluth.
Bergman played the past two seasons with Olds in the Alberta Junior Hockey League and played in the 2009 league all-star game; Olson played last season with Omaha in the U.S. Hockey League and was a 2008 NHL Entry Draft pick of Columbus; and Olsen was with Camrose in the Alberta Junior Hockey League last season and was a finalist for the 2009 Canadian Junior A player of the year award.
Delisle was a three-year player at Totino-Grace High School and was the team's scoring leader as a junior and senior; Hendrickson played for Sioux City (Iowa) in the U.S. Hockey League last season after three years at Burnsville (Minn.) High School; Seidel led Cedar Rapids (Iowa) in scoring last season in the U.S. Hockey League with 29 goals and 73 points; and Flaherty, a former Duluth East player, spent two years in the U.S. Hockey League, playing for Fargo (N.D.) last season.
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Also among UMD's freshman class this fall will be walk on goalie Aaron Crandall of Lakeville, Minn.
The Bulldogs lost nine players from last season, seven seniors and underclassmen Alex Stalock and Evan Oberg, who signed professional contracts.
