Needles and Pins

Can we please have a new men’s hockey assistant coach announced ASAP? I am tired of waiting. Matt Wellens tweeted yesterday that we should know soon, so I assume that means tomorrow at like 4:59 PM.

Thanks to Derek Plante for your dedication to the program over the past few years. I was skeptical of Plante due to his lack of experience in coaching and recruiting, but my concerns were unfounded, and he did a fantastic job. You’ve always represented the Bulldogs well as a player, as an alumnus, and as a coach. Enjoy watching your own kids play, instead of someone else’s.

I don’t really have a guess as to who the coach might be. I haven’t done much nosing around and there hasn’t been much chatter coming through my timeline so I don’t have any guesses. I spent more time guessing who the new UND assistant would be, but that’s because they wrote a ridiculous job description that would ensure they got the specific candidate they wanted, and I wanted to figure out who fit that profile. Then they went and hired a non-alumnus and I didn’t see that coming.

I thought earlier in the year that tUMD would hire Tyler Palmiscno, former head coach of the East Grand Forks boys’s team. He stepped down as head coach a few weeks ago, and I thought for sure he would be coming to tUMD. Sandy coached him at UND and most likely recruited him, he’s had great success with the Green Wave, and he’s a relatively young guy. He seemed like Sandy’s type. A couple different people told me he wouldn’t be coming here, so while we won’t know for sure until they make a hire, it’s unlikely I’m right. I still think it was a good guess!

Maybe Brett Larson will come back? I doubt it. Someone mentioned the name to me, but in a “let’s toss around some names” manner, not a “hint hint wink wink” manner, and I don’t think that’s likely either. I don’t know what purpose it would serve for Brett to come back here as an assistant coach when he’s an associate head coach at Tighty Whitey State. My guess (hope) is when Brett comes back to Duluth, it’ll be as head coach.

It’ll probably be some junior hockey coach I’ve never heard of, but really, guys should be beating down Sandy’s door begging to come here to coach. This team is primed for a championship, with all eligible players returning (even Farley, despite a small panic yesterday), some darn good recruits coming in, and a hometown player as captain. Just hurry up and announce who will be lucky enough to jump on the bandwagon for the 2016 national championship!