UMD Hockey Loses Assistant Coach Rohlik to Ohio State

According to sources, UMD men's hockey assistant Steve Rohlik has resigned. He will be taking a position at Ohio State, where he gets to work with former Wisconsin assistant and new tOSU head coach Mark Osiecki.

Anyone who knows me knows my opinion of Rohlik. He was a huge part of the UMD staff. If nothing else, his recruiting ability and bench intensity will be missed and not terribly easy to replace.

Update at 8:30 P.M. Central: I have not seen an official press release on the move yet, but it has been expected and it has happened. Remember, Rohlik and Osiecki were teammates at UW, and it seems likely Rohlik was a top choice for Osiecki from the second he took the tOSU job.

I have received a couple e-mails and texts asking who will take over for Rohlik. I am not smart enough to be able to intelligently speculate on the search, but the natural reaction is to fall back on former players. With one former Bulldog -- Brett Larson -- already on the coaching staff, it makes sense that head coach Scott Sandelin might not feel any real pressure to hire an alum this time around.

Doesn't mean UMD won't go in that direction, but it doesn't seem like a slam-dunk.