Here are some excerpts from todays St. Paul Pioneer Press article (written
by Gary Olson) regarding Frank Serratore's new coaching job:
 
"Frank Serratore is only 36, but the coach and director of hockey
operations for St. Paul's International Hockey League team brings a wealth
of experience to his new job.
 
His name is Glen Sonmor.
 
Serratore and Sonmor were introduced as the backbone of the hockey
department for the still-unnamed team at a press conference Wednesday...
 
Serratore comes to the IHL expansion team after four years as coach at
the University of Denver. He played high school hockey at Greenway
(Coleraine), junior hockey for the St. Paul Vulcans and college hockey at
Western Michigan and Bemidji State. He coached USHL teams... and was an
assistant at the U. of North Dakota before landing the Denver job.
 
He was fired as coach of the Pioneers 30 days ago.
 
'Losing the Denver job was a real job tragedy, not a life tragedy,'
Serratore said. 'Carol (his wife) and I talked about it, and we wondered
how we'd ever find a situation that we liked as well. Today I have a job
nine blocks from where Carol grew up and in my surrogate hometown. It's an
unbelievable turn of events.'
 
'It's a great opportunity. I'm excited about what Kevin [MacClean, the
team owner] is trying to accomplish in St. Paul.'
 
At this point, MacClean interrupted and good-naturedly suggested that what
he is trying to accomplish is to bring a winning hockey team back to St. Paul.
 
'Here we go again,' Serratore said, a smile taking over his face, 'another
guy trying to take the fun out of my job.'"
 
The article then goes on to talk about Glen Sonmor, who coached the
Gophers from 1966-71, and the North Stars in the 70's and 80's. More
recently, Sonmor was a scout for some NHL teams and, this past season, did
color commentary for the Gopher games on radio. He sounded pretty
excited about this opportunity to get back into the management end
of a hockey team. He was quoted as saying "Working with the Gophers
this past season reminded me how much I missed the feeling of caring
who wins and who loses a hockey game. This is Frank's show, but I
believe I'll have something to contribute" (Sonmor's official title for the
team is director of player development).
 
 
- Indy Rutks ([log in to unmask])