A recent story in the Mankato Free Press mentioned Mike Guentzel's name as a possible candidate for the head coaching job at Minnesota State Mankato.

Troy Jutting was reassigned -- a nice word for dismissed -- on April 1. Kevin Buisman, the Mavericks' AD, said he has a short list of names and will have a new hockey coach by the end of the first week in May, if not sooner.

The Free Press lists three associate head coaches in the WCHA as possibilities: Guentzel of the Gophers, Cary Eades of North Dakota and Mike Hastings of Nebraska Omaha. Only Eades has expressed interest in the job.

Guentzel returned to the Gophers this season after being gone for three. He worked primarily with the defensemen and turned an inexperienced group into a usually reliable blue line corps.

Two other names the Free Press has mentioned are John Harrington, former head coach at St. John's University in Collegeville, and Tom Ward, the successful high school coach at Shattuck-St. Mary's.

* Sweden beat the U.S. 3-2 in an exhibition game before the U18 World Championships in the Czech Republic. The U.S. team had a 32-17 shot advantage. The winning goal came on a penalty shot. Defenseman Brady Skjei, a future Gopher, had an assist for the U.S.

The U.S. team plays Finland in its first game in the World Championships on Thursday.