It is officially unofficial. RPI has a new men’s hockey coach.
According to sources at the U.S. Hockey Report, University of Denver men’s hockey assistant Seth Appert was offered, and accepted, Rensselaer’s vacant head coaching position yesterday, but only after former Los Angeles Kings Head Coach Andy Murray declined the job.
Multiple sources at RPI hinted Tuesday that an assistant coach at a championship program in his early 30s, was the candidate they “wanted,” fitting Appert’s profile. The 31-year-old was also seen on campus last week touring the facilities and meeting with several administrators and players. Appert, who was a goaltender at Ferris State from 1992-1996, has coached at Denver for nine years and was part of the Pioneers back-to-back championships teams in 2004 and 2005, heading up recruiting, on-ice coaching, video breakdown, and game analysis.
Sources close to the men’s hockey team said the Engineers had not been informed that Appert was the head coach, but did say they would be happy with him as the coach and are anxiouslt awaiting next year under Appert or whomever the new head coach turns out to be.
According to on campus sources, Murray was the Institute’s top candidate for the position. Supposedly RPI had narrowed its search down to three choices and the Institute’s top choice was a candidate with no ties to Rensselaer, professional and Olympic head coaching experience, and a man who “would be giving up millions to do this.”
Such a description would seem to indicate Murray, who coached the Kings from 1999-2006 and has over 10-years of professional coaching experience. Murray, who guided the Canadian National Team to two World Championship gold medals from 1996-1998, was recently fired from his post with the Kings on March 21 of this year, despite the team being nine games over .500 at the time.
The other member of the triumvirate was Boston College Associate Head Coach Mike Cavanaugh, who has been with the Eagles for 11 years. B.C. lost to Wisconsin in this year’s Frozen Four title game.
However, mum is the word in the RPI athletic department these days.
The school, and athletic director Ken Ralph, have remained extremely tight-lipped regarding RPI’s search for a new men’s hockey coach, only saying RPI will remain true to its predetermined timeline to have a coach by the American Hockey Coaches Association National Convention, which occurs this weekend in Florida.
An announcement introducing the coach should come sometime later this week, likely after President Shirley Ann Jackson returns to campus from a fundraising trip Friday morning. Although a time has not been officially set, Friday at 8 pm has been rumored by several sources familiar with the process.
Sources familiar with the situation told The Polytechnic an announcement was scheduled for Monday, which never materialized. The sudden change of plans seems to suggest that Murray was indeed offered the job, but balked.
Ralph refused to confirm or deny any candidates mentioned yesterday. Neither Ralph nor any other sources would, or could, verify that the interview process is complete or that contract negotiations with any potential coach are complete.
Ralph would say he was very happy with the quality of candidates that applied and the administration’s commitment to the timeline, which was set when Dan Fridgen resigned after a 12-year reign as RPI’s head coach in March.
The search for a new coach was expedited after one of the Engineers’ top recruits, Chris Huxley, rescinded on his commitment to Rensselaer. He has instead decided to play at the junior level next year before joining Harvard for the 2007-2008 campaign.
Accelerating the hiring process was challenging considering RPI received over 100 inquiries about the position and had, according to Ralph, 40 “hard-core applicants” that went through the entire process.
The Rensselaer athletic director also said he actively recruited eight to 10 individuals for the opening, but he would not say if they were among those still being considered.
“We are very happy and feel great about where we are,” Ralph said. “We are in a no-lose situation … this search committee did a great job and worked really hard to find the right guy.”
