Don McKenney resigned from the head coaching job at Northeastern after
    only two years on the job.  His record was 24-44-4.  The former Bruin,
    who will be 57 in a month, took over two years ago after serving 19
    years as assistant to Fern Flaman.  McKenney won a Lady Byng while
    with the B's and is still one of Boston's few career 200-goal scorers.
 
    Rumored candidates in order of speculation are assistant Jim Madigan, 27;
    Merrimack head coach Ron Anderson; RPI coach Buddy Powers; and in any
    order, BC associate Steve Cedorchuk, BC assistant Joe Mallen, Minnesota
    assistant Jack Blatherwick, and former Minnesota/St Cloud/US Olympic/
    NHL coach Herb Brooks.  There are some pretty big names there.
 
    The Boston Globe and Boston Herald seem to think Anderson is the top
    candidate.  I slipped Madigan in there ahead of him because of my knowledge
    of the Merrimack and Northeastern programs.  I don't think Anderson would
    leave Merrimack now for NU (maybe a more prestigious one like BU, say)
    after the work he did to get Merrimack where it is.
 
    Let me say that you'll never find a nicer guy in hockey than Don McKenney.
    He may not have been the right guy for the job because of that, but you
    can never doubt his dedication to the players and concern for their
    well-being.  This past season clearly added several years to Don's life,
    and I am not surprised that he made this decision.  I never knew Don to
    raise his voice even once in the three years I spent at Northeastern, and
    he was always available whenever someone needed him.  I wish Don all the
    best and hope we'll still see him around the Boston rinks for many years
    to come.  I'm sure we will.
 
 
    - mike