UMD coach will ride hot goalie Reiter in Frozen Four

Minnesota Duluth coach Scott Sandelin said he probably would stay with junior Kenny Reiter in goal against Notre Dame in the first semifinal of the Frozen Four on Thursday of next week.

The last time Reiter played at Xcel Energy Center, Bemidji State beat him and UMD 3-2 in overtime in the Final Five quarterfinals March 17.

"The Bemidji game was a low point for our team, but Kenny is a competitor," said Sandelin on Tuesday during a Frozen Four conference call with the four head coaches. "He knows he did not have his best game, but we are not pinning it on Kenny. He has paid his dues. He is a mature goaltender."

Reiter played three seasons in the NAHL with stops at Texarkana, Cleveland, St. Louis and Fairbanks honing his skills.

The 24-year-old Pittsburgh native was named the MVP of the East Regional last weekend at Bridgeport, Conn. He stopped 32 shots as UMD beat Union 2-0 and 30 more as the Bulldogs upset Yale 5-3.

"He got some early saves on Union on their power play and that was an early boost for him," Sandelin said. "He had proven over the last couple years what type of goaltender he can be."

Reiter, who has started the past eight games, is 14-7-5 this season with a 2.29 goals-against average and three shutouts. Freshman goalie Aaron Crandall has a better record (10-3-1), but a higher goals-against average (2.79).

"We're hoping with our new building, recruiting in Minnesota will be a staple for us," Irish coach Jeff Jackson said. "And I don't want to go after the second-best players, I want the best and the brightest.

"Minnesota kids have done well here and are a great character fit for Notre Dame."

Next season the Irish will play in a new 5,000-seat, on-campus arena called the Compton Family Center.

"We have been selling out every [home] game over the last two years," Jackson said. "And this will add an additional 800 seats for the student body [and 1,200 more for the public]. It's a real positive."

Four of top coaches at X The coaches of the Frozen Four teams account for half the finalists for the Spencer Penrose Award, given to the coach of the year in Division I hockey.

The other four finalists are Dean Blais of Nebraska- Omaha, Nate Leaman of Union, Paul Pearl of Holy Cross and Jerry York of Boston College. All four of them were named the coach of the year in their respective conferences, as was Jackson in the CCHA.

Etc. • WCHA Commissioner Bruce McLeod, asked about two of the conference's team advancing to the Frozen Four: "We're very happy, but we would have liked to have three. We feel bad about the matchup of our Nos. 1 and 2 teams, North Dakota and Denver, in one regional."

Gross revenues from the Final Five earlier this month were the fourth-highest ever, McLeod said, at about $1.7 million.

• Berenson, asked about the Big Ten Conference starting in 2013-14: "It's a little premature to talk about it. I have not read the statement released by the Big Ten. I hope it is good for college hockey."