Nebraska-Omaha assistant coach Brian Renfrew has left the Mavericks after accepting a scouting position with the Winnipeg Jets, according to the Omaha World-Herald. Renfrew’s decision was originally reported on Twitter by Chuck Schwartz.
Renfrew spent the 2011-12 season at UNO after the previous eight seasons as an assistant coach at Michigan State.
The story notes that Renfrew will be able to work out of Lansing, Mich., where his family had maintained its residence after Renfrew took the UNO job last summer.
“We’ll look for just the best available coach no matter the position [of expertise],” Nebraska-Omaha head coach Dean Blais said in the story. “At this time of year, you just find the best guy available. We all share in the position responsibilities and specialty teams. There are good people out there who are willing to move.”
This is now Blais’ second coaching change this offseason as former associate head coach Mike Hastings left in April to become head coach at Minnesota State. Steve Johnson was named Hastings’ successor in June.
UNO recently added Sam Spomer as its director of hockey operations, while Bliss Littler, who worked as a volunteer assistant coach for the Mavericks after dismissal by the United States Hockey League’s Omaha Lancers midway through last season, was recently named head coach of the Wenatchee (Wash.) Wild of the North American Hockey League.
