The vacancy opened up my asst coach Mike Kemp's move to Nebraska has been filled, and the Badgers didn't have to look far. Mark Johnson has resigned as the head coach of the CHL Madison Monsters to become an assistant coach at UW. On the face of it, this may seem a "step down" (head coach --> asst coach), but Johnson has expressed a desire to be a head coach at the college level, and this is a way to get his foot in the door. You may recall that he applied for an asst coaching job at UW two years ago, but didn't get it. Speculation is certain to run high that Johnson will be the successor to Sauer when he retires, especially because of the legacy of Badger Bob Johnson and Mark's popularity within the Madison community. As for the Monsters, they are apparently "looking for another Mark Johnson" to take the program beyond its record-breaking expansion year. (Johnson was named coach of the year for his efforts.) Shawn Walsh, anyone? <g> -john nash -==-John R. Nash-==-Dept of Chemistry, [log in to unmask] HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.