Anzalone lands on his feet in the ECHL

The Johnstown (Penn.) Chiefs of the ECHL announced today at a press conference that Frank Anzalone is the teams new head coach and sixth in team history.

The 51-year-old Anzalone comes to the Chiefs after spending the last four seasons with the Lake Superior State Lakers, his second head coaching stint with the school.

Anzalone, a Brooklyn N.Y., native, is no stranger to the ECHL. He has been behind the benches of the former Nashville Knights (1991-92), Roanoke Express (1993-98) and Pee Dee Pride (1999-00). His career ECHL coaching record is 269-183-41 (.587), including six playoff appearances in eight seasons.

He also has American Hockey League coaching experience with the Newmarket Saints (1990-91) and captured the Atlantic division title with the Lowell Lock Monsters in 1998-99.

Anzalone will reside in Johnstown with his wife, Theresa, and son, Francis.

No surprise - Olver hired by Wildcats

Northern Michigan has found their man to replace Dave Shyiak and to many, it comes as no shock that John Olver is the Wildcats' new associate head coach under Walt Kyle.

Shyiak left Northern on June 14 to become head coach of the University of Alaska Anchorage.

"This is a major move for our program," Kyle said in an NMU press release. "With Dave leaving, I thought we would have a difficult time finding someone with that kind of experience and ability. But we found it in John. He's one of my closest friends and I have used him as a resource for recruiting. He already has some experience with the program. John has experience with many different areas of hockey which will help the program."

Olver, the head coach and vice-president of hockey operations for the Idaho Steelheads of the ECHL since 2000, is the the father of Wildcat junior icer and team leading scorer Darin Olver. His younger son, Mark, just completed two seasons playing for the Marquette Electricians midget AAA hockey team and has verbally committed to attend and play hockey for NMU beginning with the 2006-07 season.

Read the story from the Mining Journal here.

Montoya hints at U of M return

Michigan goalie Al Montoya said in a recent article in the New York Daily News that coming back for his senior year in Ann Arbor isn't such a bad idea and that signing a contract with the New York Rangers may have to wait a year.

"I know I'm ready for this level - I know that," Montoya said. "But the thing is: Is another year of college going to hurt me? I don't think so."

Read the full article here.