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Cornell Tabs Mullins As New Women’s Coach

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Carol Mullins, for six years Cornell’s assistant coach, has been named the women’s program’s new head coach. Mullins succeeds Julie Andeberhan, who left Cornell to become head women’s coach at Wisconsin.

“Carol Mullins has done a tremendous job as our assistant women’s ice hockey coach over the last six years and I’m sure she will continue to do an outstanding job for us as our head coach,” said Moore. “We’re expecting her to continue building our program into a national contender.”

“I’m very excited to have the opportunity to continue the tradition here at Cornell,” said Mullins.

A native of Bristol, Vt., Mullins played at New Hampshire from 1987-91 and was named New Hampshire’s Athlete of the Year for 1989-90. Mullins was also a member of the women’s track and field team from 1988-91, a three-time New England collegiate discus champion and a two-time New England javelin champion.

In addition to her hockey coaching duties at Cornell, Mullins was also the Big Red’s assistant women’s soccer coach for two years. Her husband, Jim, is the men’s basketball coach at Ithaca College.

Wisconsin Names First Women’s Coach

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Julie Sasner (formerly Andeberhan), the head women’s coach at Cornell, has been hired as the first varsity women’s coach at Wisconsin. Sasner, 32, will receive a three-year contract with a base salary of $65,000 beginning Aug.1; her new team is expected to start play in the 1999-2000 season.

Sasner compiled a 15-8-3 record last year with Cornell, one season after winning the Ivy League title. She was named 1995 Coach of the Year by the American Women’s Hockey Coaches Association, and has a 53-60-6 career record with the Big Red.

Said Wisconsin associate athletic director Mike Moss, who chaired the search committee, “Julie is an excellent person to build our women’s hockey program and add to the strong tradition of Badger hockey.”

Sasner was a player on the first U.S. Women’s National Team in 1990, which won the silver medal at the world championships. She served as an assistant coach with the 1995 U.S. National Junior Team and the 1995 U.S. women’s select Team that competed in Finland.

In 1996, she earned her first national head coaching position, leading the U.S. Women’s National Team to a silver medal at the Pacific Women’s Hockey Championship in Vancouver, B.C.

Markell Staying Put At Ohio State Through 2002

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John Markell, who guided Ohio State to its first NCAA tournament berth and then into the Final Four last April, has been granted a four-year contract extension through the 2002 season, the school announced Thursday.

“John is one of the rising stars in coaching today,” said OSU athletic director Andy Geiger. “We’re proud he’s a Buckeye and we want to keep him a Buckeye.”

Markell, 41, was named CCHA Coach of the Year last season. His Buckeyes, picked to languish in the CCHA’s second division, instead finished 27-13-2, ousting conference champion Michigan State 4-3 in overtime at the NCAA West Regional to reach the Final Four.

“I’m very proud of what my staff and I have accomplished at Ohio State,” Markell said. “The athletic department has made a commitment to making hockey a success here, and we will do everything possible to make that happen. We have the potential at an institution like Ohio State to be one of college hockey’s national powers year in and year out.”

The native of Cornwall, Ont., was a Buckeye assistant until he succeeded Jerry Welsh during the 1995 season, first on an interim basis and then as the seventh head coach in OSU’s 35-year hockey history. He played four years in the National Hockey League after graduating from Bowling Green in 1979.

BU All-American Poti Signs With NHL’s Oilers

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Boston University defenseman Tom Poti, a first-team All-America pick last season as a sophomore, renounced his final two years of collegiate eligibility Friday to sign with the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League.

An Oiler press release touted Poti as the top defenseman currently outside of the NHL; the 6-foot-3, 205-pound native of Worcester, Mass., totaled 14 goals and 45 points in 38 games for the Terriers last season, second only to Hobey Baker Award winner Chris Drury on BU’s scoring list. The previous year, Poti scored 4 goals and 21 points and was named to the Hockey East All-Rookie team.

Poti, 21, was selected by the Oilers in the third round of the 1996 NHL draft. His departure leaves the Terriers with just two of their top seven scorers from a year ago on the 1998-99 roster.

Familiar Faces, Up-And-Comers Dot NHL Draft

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Twenty-seven current U.S. college players, representing 16 Division I institutions, were selected during the 1998 National Hockey League Entry Draft. A complete rundown by round is as follows:

First Round
26. New Jersey — Mike Van Ryn, d, Michigan (CCHA)

Second Round
52. Boston — Bobby Allen, d, Boston College (HEA)
53. Colorado — Steve Moore, c, Harvard (ECAC)
58. Ottawa — Chris Bala, lw, Harvard (ECAC)

Third Round
61. Florida — Joe DiPenta, d, Boston U. (HEA)
62. Calgary — Paul Manning, d, Colorado College (WCHA)
71. Carolina — Erik Cole, lw, Clarkson (ECAC)
81. Vancouver — Justin Morrison, rw, Colorado College (WCHA)
82. New Jersey — Brian Gionta, rw, Boston College (HEA)
85. Nashville — Geoff Koch, lw, Michigan (CCHA)

Fourth Round
94. Chicago — Mattias Trattnig, c, Maine (HEA)
99. Edmonton — Shawn Horcoff, c, Michigan State (CCHA)
107. Washington — Chris Corrinet, rw, Princeton (ECAC)

Fifth Round
115. Phoenix — Jay Leach, d, Providence (HEA)
122. NY Rangers — Patrick Leahy, rw, Miami (CCHA)
134. Pittsburgh — Robert Scuderi, d, Boston College (HEA)

Sixth Round
155. NY Islanders — Kevin Clauson, d, Western Michigan (CCHA)
156. Chicago — Kent Huskins, d, Clarkson (ECAC)

Seventh Round
178. Anaheim — Jesse Fibiger, d, Minnesota-Duluth (WCHA)
184. Carolina — Donald Smith, c, Clarkson (ECAC)
187. Phoenix — Erik Westrum, c, Minnesota (WCHA)
200. Dallas — Scott Perry, c, Boston U. (HEA)

Eighth Round
204. Vancouver — Craig Mischler, c, Northeastern (HEA)
211. Carolina — Mark Kosick, c, Michigan (WCHA)
219. Vancouver — Curtis Valentine, lw, Bowling Green (CCHA)
220. Washington — Michael Farrell, d, Providence (HEA)

Ninth Round
244. Pittsburgh — Toby Petersen, c, Colorado College (WCHA)

An additional 12 draftees have committed to college programs for the 1998-99 season. They are as follows, with position, current team and college (in parentheses):

Third Round
73. Phoenix — Pat O’Leary, c, Armstrong H.S. (Minnesota)
77. Buffalo — Mike Pandolfo, lw, St. Sebastian’s H.S. (Boston U.)

Fourth Round
88. Nashville — Kent Sauer, d, North Iowa, USHL (Minnesota-Duluth)

Fifth Round
116. Phoenix — Josh Blackburn, g, Lincoln, Jr. A (Michigan)
125. Washington — Erik Wendell, c-lw, Maple Grove H.S. (Minnesota)

Seventh Round
183. Chicago — Tyler Arnason, c, Fargo-Moorhead, USHL (St. Cloud)
186. Edmonton — Michael Morrison, g, Exeter H.S. (Maine)

Eighth Round
201. Craig Murray, Penticton Panthers, BCHL (Michigan)
212. San Jose — Jim Fahey, d, Catholic Memorial H.S. (Northeastern)
217. Los Angeles — Jim Henkel, c, New England (US Junior) (Rensselaer)

Ninth Round
248. Los Angeles — Matthew Yeats, g, Olds, Tier 2 (Maine)
254. Pittsburgh — Matt Hussey, c, Avon Old Farms H.S. (Wisconsin)
255. St. Louis — John Pohl, c, Red Wing H.S. (Minnesota)

Counting both current players and recruits, Michigan led all schools with five draftees, followed by Minnesota with four. Boston College, Boston University, Clarkson, Colorado College and Maine were next with three each.

D-II Champ Alabama-Huntsville Moves Up To Division I

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National champion Alabama-Huntsville became the latest school to depart the vanishing ranks of Division II hockey Monday, announcing its intention to move the program to Division I. UAH could be eligible for D-I postseason play as early as the 2000-2001 season.

“Membership in Division II has gone down,” said athletic director Jim Harris in the Huntsville Times. “We felt it was in our best interests to keep enthusiasm high for college ice hockey and in the best interest of our program to move to Division I.”

UAH’s jump, coming after similar moves by Bemidji State and Mercyhurst — the latter to join the newly-formed MAAC hockey conference — leaves only five schools committed to D-II men’s hockey.

“I’m really thrilled,” head coach Doug Ross told the Times. “As a Division I independent a few years back, the team represented the institution well. The fans were excited, and we hope to bring the excitement back to the Von Braun Center.”

Alabama-Huntsville competed as a D-I independent from 1987 to 1992 before moving down to Division II, where the Chargers had won two of the last three national titles; the third was claimed by Bemidji State.

UAH is reportedly interested in conference affiliation for its second tour of D-I, but is planning an alliance with other D-I independents in the interim to relieve scheduling difficulties. Niagara, Bemidji State, Army and Air Force have been mentioned as part of that alliance, as has Mankato State, though that school was recently admitted to the WCHA.

Collegians, Recruits Invited To USA Hockey Summer Challenge

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Fourteen current college players and at least 18 college recruits make up the majority of the invited roster for the 1998 USA Hockey Summer Challenge, an under-20 tournament which will be held August 7-15 at Lake Placid, N.Y.

The U.S. roster of 55 will be divided into East and West teams and compete against national under-20 teams from Sweden, Switzerland and 1998 IIHF World Junior champion Finland at the round-robin tournament, won last year by Team USA West.

Collegians named to the team include forwards Dan Carlson of Notre Dame, Carl Corazzini of Boston University, Brian Gionta of Boston College, Alex Kim of Miami, Geoff Koch of Michigan, Dustin Kuk of Wisconsin, Justin Morrison of Colorado College, Ryan Murphy of Bowling Green, Mike Vigilante of Lake Superior and Erik Westrum of Minnesota; defensemen Aaron Dwyer of St. Cloud and Jay Leach of Providence; and goaltenders Joe Blackburn of Michigan State and Shawn Timm of Bowling Green.

Confirmed 1998-99 college recruits invited to the Challenge include forwards Tyler Arnason of St. Cloud, Joe Goodenow and Adam Hall of Michigan State, Barrett Heisten of Maine, Willie Levesque of Northeastern, Doug Meyer of Minnesota and Mike Pandolfo of Boston University; defensemen Pat Aufiero and Chris Dyment of Boston University, Bill Cass and Brooks Orpik of Boston College, Andrew Hutchinson of Michigan State, Doug Janik of Maine, Jordan Leopold of Minnesota, Will Magnuson of Lake Superior, Mike Stuart of Colorado College and Dave Tanabe of Wisconsin; and goaltender Adam Hauser of Minnesota. Most of these players were members of the inaugural U.S. under-18 team, which recently finished its playing season out of Ann Arbor, Mich.

In addition to the players named above, the roster includes nine members of the 1998 U.S. National Junior Team, 11 players from the Ontario Hockey League, three from the Western Hockey League and one from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

“We have a good mix of veterans and young players on the roster,” said U.S. National Coach Jeff Jackson. “From an evaluation standpoint, the format of the tournament is excellent. We’ll be able to see how the players perform individually and as a team against top-notch international competition.”

Nebraska-Omaha Joins CCHA For 1999-2000 Season

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The CCHA has admitted Nebraska-Omaha as its 12th member, starting with the 1999-2000 season. The decision ended months of speculation about the affiliation of the program, which also was considering membership in the WCHA before that conference admitted Mankato State University last month.

“We are delighted to welcome [Nebraska-Omaha] into the CCHA family,” said Anastos.

“This is a great day for UNO and the Omaha metropolitan community with our acceptance into the CCHA. Conference play will add to the excitement that has been generated in the first year of Maverick hockey,” said UNO chancellor Nancy Belck.

Said athletic director Bob Danenhauer, “The strongest attractions for us to join the CCHA were the financial benefits, the fact that we can begin play next season, and the fan appeal that the CCHA member schools will have in our area.”

“The players and coaching staff are extremely excited about the prospect of playing in such a prestigious conference as the CCHA in the 1999-2000 season,” added head coach Mike Kemp.

Nebraska-Omaha played its first season in 1997-98, compiling a 12-18-3 record as an NCAA Division I independent. The Mavericks’ average attendance of 8,314 was second-best in the nation.

Former Maine Icer Saunders Killed In Europe

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Lee Saunders, who played hockey at the University of Maine from 1991-94, was killed June 13 in the Netherlands when he fell from a train platform outside Amsterdam and was hit by an oncoming train.

Saunders, 28, is best remembered by hockey fans for scoring the overtime game-winner for Maine against the University of Michigan in the 1993 NCAA semifinals; Maine went on to win the NCAA championship. His death came amidst mysterious circumstances, as two days earlier Saunders had contacted his parents to say that he was not boarding a scheduled flight home to Fernie, B.C.

“He told [his mother, Bridie] that he thought somebody had spiked his drink,” Saunders’ father, Dennis, said. “She said he sounded confused….He needed help.”

Lee Saunders, who was playing professional hockey in Europe, apparently bicycled from the airport to the train station on the night of June 12. After being notified of his son’s death, Dennis Saunders left for Amsterdam, where a memorial service was held. Another service, in Fernie, was scheduled for yesterday morning.

McCloskey Returns To UNH As Associate Coach

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After a one-year absence, Brian McCloskey will return to New Hampshire as associate head coach, the school announced Tuesday. McCloskey replaces Chris Serino, who left to become head coach at Merrimack after last season.

Prior to last year, which he spent as associate head coach at Dartmouth, McCloskey had been an assistant for five years with New Hampshire, recruiting such players as Mark Mowers, Jason Krog and Derek Bekar.

“I had a great experience at UNH and I’m glad to be coming back,” McCloskey, 43, told Foster’s Daily Democrat. “It was a personal decision that my wife and I made. She has a career as a lawyer in the [Maine] attorney general’s office and coming back to UNH relieves some stress of being so far apart.”

McCloskey, an alumnus of Dartmouth, played three years on the varsity hockey squad there from 1974-77. Prior to his first stint at UNH, he was an assistant coach at Princeton and Brown, and served as head coach for two prep teams.

Minnesota, West Teams Lead Attendance Figures

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Despite a sixth-place finish in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, the University of Minnesota again led college hockey in attendance in 1997-98, topping the nation in overall (201,126) and per-game (10,056) home totals.

All told, West teams occupied the top seven, and eight of the top ten spots in the Division I per-game rankings. Nascent Nebraska-Omaha was second with 8,314 per game, followed by Wisconsin, Michigan State, national champion Michigan, North Dakota and St. Cloud State. New Hampshire led all East teams in eighth place overall, followed by Colorado College and Maine.

Division I

Rk   School           Gm      Total     Average
1.   Minnesota        20      201,126    10,056
2.   Nebraska-Omaha   18      149,652     8,314
3.   Wisconsin        18      147,860     8,214
4.   Michigan State   21      140,849     6,707
5.   Michigan         21      134,621     6,411
6.   North Dakota     20      115,715     5,786
7.   St. Cloud State  23      128,641     5,593
8.   New Hampshire    17      93,585      5,505
9.   Colorado College 18      97,145      5,397
10.  Maine            15      77,465      5,164

Colorado College experienced the largest increase over 1996-97, a 2,521 per-game jump made possible by the opening of the new Colorado Springs World Arena. In Division II, national champion Alabama-Huntsville led all teams with 2,209 fans per game, while Colby topped Divsion III at 2,077.

Division II

Rk   School           Gm      Total     Average
1.   Ala.-Huntsville  26      57,429    2,209
2.   Bemidji St.      15      25,377    1,692
3.   Mercyhurst       10      7,557     756

Division III

Rk   School             Gm      Total     Average
1.   Colby              10      20,766    2,077
2.   Plattsburgh St.    17      32,323    1,901
3.   Wis.-Stevens Point 13      12,948    996
4.   Rochester Inst.    13      11,179    860
5.   St. Norbert        22      18,372    835
6.   Oswego St.         13      10,788    830
7.   Wis.-Superior      16      11,359    710
8.   Wis.-Eau Claire    12      6,536     545
9.   Connecticut Col.   14      7,275     520
10.  Augsburg           11      5,600     509

NU’s Robitaille Turns Pro

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Northeastern goaltender Marc Robitaille has signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs, forgoing his final two years of eligibility. Robitaille earned First-Team All-Hockey East and All-America honors this past year while backstopping the Huskies to a surprising 21-15-3 record and fourth-place league finish.

As a freshman, Robitaille stopped 1027 shots, a school record, on a 8-25-3 team that finished last in Hockey East. This past season, the Gloucester, Ont., native played in all 39 Northeastern games, posting a 3.19 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage despite an inexperienced Husky defense that often featured five freshmen.

“You’re not going to replace someone of that caliber,” said NU coach Bruce Crowder. “The kid who gets the nod won’t see as many shots as Marc did. We’ll be more mature on defense, but the two factors may not be a wash.”

Dan Calore and Andrew Puttick, who both saw scattered minutes of action as freshmen last year, will be candidates to fill the void along with recruit Jason Braun (Green Bay Gamblers, United States Hockey League). Additional recruits are also under consideration.

Bentley Joins MAAC Hockey For 1999-2000

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Bentley College will move its hockey program to Division I and join the newly-formed Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, effective with the 1999-2000 season, director of athletics Bob DeFelice announced today. Bentley, formerly a member of the ECAC Central, will compete as a Division II independent this season before beginning play in the MAAC.

The MAAC hockey league will start this fall as the nation’s fifth Division I hockey conference. Charter members of the league are American International, Canisius, Connecticut, Fairfield, Holy Cross, Iona, Quinnipiac and Sacred Heart. Mercyhurst will also join the conference for 1999-2000.

“This is a great move for Bentley College and our athletic program,” said DeFelice. “It elevates the level of competition to where we want to be. We can’t be thankful enough to the ECAC structure that provided us with the opportunity to grow and develop. We’re looking forward to being a part of the MAAC and competing with the quality programs in the league.”

Bentley’s 1998-99 schedule will include tournaments at Air Force, Quinnipiac, Southern Maine and Babson, four games against future conference rival Mercyhurst, a two-game series at Division II national champion Alabama-Huntsville and a game at Army. Only six of the 28 games will be played on home ice at the John Ryan Skating Arena in Watertown.

The Bentley hockey program, which had suffered through nine straight sub-.500 seasons, has been revitalized since the arrival of coach Jim McAdam in 1993. Since then, the Falcons have posted a 72-50-9 record and made four appearances in the ECAC North/Central/South playoffs, including last year’s 18-9-1 campaign, Bentley’s first ECAC Central regular-season title.

The remainder of Bentley’s athletic teams will continue to compete at the Division II level, in the Northeast-10 and Eastern Football conferences.

Division II Powerhouse Bemidji Jumps To D-I

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Bemidji State University announced Tuesday that its men’s ice hockey team will play the 1998-99 season as a Division I independent, ending the school’s run as a Division II powerhouse.

Official notification, expected to be filed with the NCAA shortly, will confirm that the Beaver men’s team will play a mixed independent schedule next season before starting its first full Division I schedule in the fall of 1999.

Bemidji’s new varsity women’s hockey team has limited play planned for next winter and will develop a full schedule for the 1999-2000 campaign. Other Bemidji athletic programs will remain Division II members of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.

“By recommendation of the Division I Exploratory Committee, we have decided to go forward with our commitment to moving the Bemidji State University men’s ice hockey program to Division I,” said Dr. Jim Bensen, university president.

The decision, which will make Bemidji the fifth Minnesota school playing Division I hockey, was made following a 60-day fundraising campaign which has totaled approximately 75 percent of its $175,000 goal.

“This is a landmark day in Bemidji State hockey history,” said BSU athletic director for hockey and men’s head ice hockey coach R.H. “Bob” Peters. “This is a natural evolution for our program. Our tradition has endured and prospered since 1947, and this is the dawn of a new era.”

The Beavers have competed for the NCAA Division II national championship every year since the title series was reinstated in 1993, winning four of the six. However, Bemidji’s decision means that five of the remaining 12 D-II programs have announced plans to move up to Division I within the next two years, leaving the future of D-II men’s hockey in doubt.

Women’s Hockey To Be Added As MIAC Sport

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Women’s hockey will be a championship sport in the 1998-99 season, the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference has decided. A vote was taken on the issue at a meeting of the conference’s faculty athletic representatives May 22 at Macalester College.

“I am pleased and excited about the conference decision to expand opportunities for women in collegiate ice hockey,” said Carlyle Carter, MIAC Executive Director. “The MIAC has very strong, competitive programs for women in intercollegiate athletics and I anticipate that ice hockey will be a tremendous addition.”

Augsburg, Gustavus Adolphus, St. Benedict, St. Catherine, St. Mary’s and St. Thomas will have varsity programs in the 1998-1999 season, and will compete for the MIAC championship. Concordia College-Moorhead will add women’s hockey for the 1999-2000 season, and Hamline will join the league in 2000-2001.

St. Olaf and Carleton, also MIAC schools, have women’s hockey at the club level and would be candidates to add the sport at the varsity level in the future. St. Olaf recently reinstated men’s hockey, which had been discontinued.

Hockey is the 11th women’s sport awarded a championship by the MIAC.

St. Olaf Hockey Reinstated

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St. Olaf College has announced that more than 75 donors have pledged $250,000 to help preserve varsity hockey and wrestling at the institution. The pledges were made only weeks after an announcement by the college that the two sports would be dropped to club status as part of a budgeting move.

“We are delighted and overwhelmed by the generosity and outpouring of support from our alumni, parents and donors,” said St. Olaf President Mark U. Edwards, Jr. “Clearly, we underestimated the level of support we could gain for St. Olaf athletics.”

Edwards said when the plan was initially announced on April 8, the hope was that the two programs could be continued with the support of fundraising efforts.

The effort to raise the additional funds was spearheaded by Whitey Aus, a former hockey standout, coach and athletic director at St. Olaf.

“Whitey Aus has tremendous rapport with all St. Olaf athletes — current and past,” Edwards said. “We are truly blessed as a community to have Whitey’s dedication, commitment and skills at work for a better St. Olaf.”

The $250,000 will serve to buy time for the college to raise a $3.5 million endowment for intercollegiate athletics, a part of the college’s ongoing fund-raising efforts that is expected by the end of 2001.

Merrimack’s Scoville Signs With Calgary

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Merrimack’s Darrel Scoville has opted to pass up his final year of college eligibility to sign a two-year contract with the NHL’s Calgary Flames.

Scoville, 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, ranks among Merrimack’s all-time leading defensemen in scoring with 17 goals and 61 assists for 78 points in 107 career games. In 1995-96, Scoville was named to the Hockey East All-Rookie Team after recording six goals and 19 assists for 25 points.

In 1997-98, Scoville finished with 30 points on four goals and 26 assists, helping Merrimack to a quarterfinal upset of Boston University and the school’s first-ever berth in the Hockey East semifinals. Scoville was named to the Hockey East All-Tournament Team after scoring one goal and adding six assists in the playoffs. His seven playoff points tied him for the league lead.

“I really expected to be back at Merrimack,” Scoville told the Lawrence (Mass.) Eagle-Tribune. “A few teams expressed interest, but nothing really impressed me. Then, all of sudden a few weeks ago, Calgary offered an incredible deal.”

Calgary is the closest NHL team to Scoville’s home in Regina, Sask. Terms of the deal were undisclosed, but according to the Eagle-Tribune, the contract includes a “healthy” six-figure signing bonus.

“He’s one of the best defensemen in Hockey East,” new Merrimack coach Chris Serino told the Eagle-Tribune. “Are we going to miss him? Absolutely. It’ll hurt. But someone else will have to pick up the load.”

“It wasn’t easy,” added Scoville. “I have a lot of great memories and friends here. I didn’t want to let the guys on the team down, like I was bailing out. But this was an offer I couldn’t refuse; plus, I’ve promised I will go back for my degree beginning next summer.”

Scoville, 22, was named to the Hockey East Academic Honor Roll in each of his first two years at Merrimack.

UMD’s Doell Forgoes Two Remaining Years

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Curtis Doell, who led Minnesota-Duluth defensemen in scoring last season, has decided to forego his final two years of college eligibility, signing a three-year deal with the Florida Panthers of the NHL.

The 21-year old Doell, a 6-1, 220-pounder from Saskatoon, Sask., skated in 39 games last year and racked up nine goals and 23 assists for 32 points while totaling 120 penalty minutes, the second-most ever by a Bulldog.

The previous season, Doell was named to the WCHA All-Rookie Team, becoming the first Minnesota-Duluth defenseman to achieve that honor. His freshman year, he was also the recipient of the Bob Junkert Award for the best plus-minus rating of any UMD player.

Minnesota-Duluth posted a 21-17-2 overall record in 1997-98, placing fifth in the WCHA standings with a 14-12-2 mark.

Vermont Elevates Women’s Hockey

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Beginning next season, the University of Vermont has lifted women’s hockey to varsity status. The team will continue to play in the ECAC Women’s Alliance, where it has been a member since the team’s inception in 1995.

“This university has a strong history of promoting the personal development of its student-athletes by providing a comprehensive and equitable varsity sports program,” school president Judith Ramaley said. “This step takes us farther along that path, and it fits well with our athletic mission.”

“The women’s ice hockey club team has functioned with Student Association sponsorship for a number of years, and has solidly maintained its student interest,” said athletic director Richard Farnham.

Dennis Miller, a former Vermont men’s hockey player, has served as the part-time coach for the past two seasons. Miller was Koho Coach of the Year last season in the ECAC Women’s Alliance after guiding the Catamounts to an overall record of 12-7-4. Farnham and Miller will meet in the coming days to discuss coaching the team next season.

Mankato State To Join WCHA For 1999-2000

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After hearing a final presentation from representatives of Mankato State University, WCHA members voted unanimously today to admit Mankato as a full member of the conference, beginning in the 1999-2000 season.

Mankato’s admission has been viewed as likely for several months, especially considering the school participated in the WCHA playoffs last season — and will again in 1998-99 — after the departure of Northern Michigan left the league with nine members. Recently, however, a number of schools, including Nebraska-Omaha, Niagara and Bemidji State, have been mentioned as possible candidates for conference affiliation, causing some WCHA members to wonder how many, if any, of those schools might eventually be admitted.

Nevertheless, the league’s three Minnesota members — Minnesota, Minnesota-Duluth and St. Cloud State — had all announced publicly that they would support Mankato’s candidacy. Upon admitting Mankato, the league immediately placed a moratorium on acceptance of applications beyond those already in hand.

“We are delighted to welcome Mankato State University into the Western Collegiate Hockey Association family,” said WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod and chairperson Norm Chervany in a joint statement. “Mankato State is a quality academic institution with an outstanding athletic and Division I ice hockey program and an impressive commitment to the student-athlete.”

Said Don Amiot, Mankato State’s director of athletics, “Needless to say, we’re very honored and ecstatic about being admitted into the WCHA. Not only is this a great day for the University, but for the entire community of Mankato and southern Minnesota and all the people that have worked so hard to put our program in this position.”

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