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Boston College hockey fans can breathe a bit easier this morning as it looks like the program will hold onto its associate head coach for another year.
According to multiple sources, the University of Denver is set to hire Jim Montgomery to succeed George Gwozdecky as the Pioneers bench boss. Montgomery, 43, is the head coach and GM of the USHL's Dubuque Fighting Saints and has served as an assistant at Notre Dame (2005-06) and RPI (2006-10). A former standout at Maine, Montgomery captained the Black Bears to the program's first National Championship in 1992-93 along with a guy named Paul Kariya you may have heard of. He is the program's all-time leading scorer with 301 career points from 1989-1993.
Boston College associate head coach Greg Brown was reported to be one of the finalists, joining Montgomery, Rensselaer coach Seth Appert and the USHL's Green Bay Gamblers coach Derek Lalonde, a former DU assistant. Appert withdrew his name from consideration after signing an extension through 2020-21 with the Engineers.
Montgomery was also considered a favorite to land the Maine job. In an interesting twist, former DU coach George Gwozdecky is interested in the Maine opening. The former DU bench boss in Orono and the former Maine star in Denver?
BC's Brown reportedly interviewed with Denver on Friday. While Brown's name could resurface for either the Maine or UConn head coaching vacancies, it appears the program will hold onto its associate head coaches for another season and a possible title run in 2014. When asked about the possibility of Brown leaving the Heights, York told the Herald's John Connolly that it would have to be a pretty good offer.
"That's something we try to promote," said BC head coach Jerry York about his coaches interviewing elsewhere. "It's part of hockey; it's part of the process. But BC is a great place to work, too, and it would have to be a fantastic offer to leave."
Whether UConn, which will transition from Atlantic Hockey to Hockey East for the 2014-15 season, or Maine is willing to make that fantastic offer to a coach like Brown remains to be seen.