UNO Hockey Taps Renfrew as New Assistant
Aug 16, 2011 | Hockey
OMAHA, Neb. – University of Nebraska Omaha hockey head coach Dean Blais announced today that Brian Renfrew has been hired as the team's new assistant coach. Renfrew replaces Mike Guentzel who left earlier this summer after one season to take a similar job at Minnesota.
“Brian is an outstanding coach who has experience at some of the great programs in college hockey,” said Blais. “He'll be able to make immediate contributions to our program both on the ice and in our recruiting, and I am glad we could add him to our staff.”
Renfrew comes to UNO from Michigan State where he spent the past eight seasons, the last three as the associate head coach to Rich Comley who retired at the end of the 2010-11 season. While with the Spartans, Renfrew was the recruiting and scheduling coordinator and worked primarily with the team's goaltenders and defensemen.
Renfrew has mentored some of the top netminders in college hockey during his career, most recently former Omaha Lancers Drew Palmisano and Jeff Lerg who both played at Michigan State. In addition, current MSU defenseman Torey Krug was named the Central Collegiate Hockey Association Best Offensive Defenseman and an All-CCHA First Team selection for the 2010-11 season. Renfrew has coached five All-Americans, two Hobey Baker Award finalists, 13 players who have been named either first or second team All-CCHA and five members of the CCHA All-Rookie team.
Prior to Michigan State, Renfrew was an assistant coach at Northern Michigan from 2001-03 after spending one year as an assistant coach at Alaska Fairbanks during the 2000-01 season.
“I'm excited to join the UNO hockey program, and I'm really looking forward to working with Dean and Mike Hastings,” said Renfrew. “This is really a win-win for me – to be able to work with two great coaches and be right in the middle of this evolution of college hockey as UNO transitions to a new conference in two years.”
Renfrew is a former college player, having played in goal for Western Michigan from 1991-95 where he was a letter winner each year and won 39 games and posted a 3.17 goals-against average for his career. He was named WMU's Most Improved Player in 1993 and its Dedication and Perseverance Award winner in 1995. He earned his bachelor's degree in liberal studies from Western Michigan in 2000.
The native of Fairbanks, Alaska played four years of professional hockey, primarily in the ECHL, before returning to college hockey. He and his wife, Michelle, have three daughters: Brianna, Emily and Lily.
