UM assistant finalist for North Dakota post

Shantel Gammie, who is in her fifth season as an assistant coach with the University of Maine women’s hockey team, is one of three finalists for the head coaching job at the University of North Dakota.

North Dakota is beginning its women’s program next season.

“It’s very exciting. Even if I don’t get the job, it has been a great experience,” said the 29-year-old Gammie. She is joined in the final field by Bruce Olson, the varsity boys coach at Roseau High School (Minn.), and Laura Solberg, an assistant at the University of Saskatchewan who also served as an apprentice coach for the Canadian Olympic team.

“I had the opportunity to help start the Maine [varsity] program as an assistant and this would be a chance to start one as the head coach. Becoming a head coach is the next career move I want to make,” said Gammie. “Their new rink [11,300-seat Ralph Engelstad Arena] is awesome. The only bad thing is the timing. If I got the job, I’d have to start right away.”

Gammie said the original target date for naming the new coach was Jan. 1.

She added that the people were friendly and she had a “great visit.”

“There are a lot of similarities between North Dakota and Maine. They’re just in different parts of the country,” said Gammie, who visited the campus in Grand Forks, N.D., last month.

She also said Maine head coach Rick Filighera has been “very supportive” of her decision to pursue the job.

“He knows it would be a great opportunity for me,” added Gammie, who lived in Winnipeg, Manitoba when she was a youngster. Winnipeg is a two-hour drive from Grand Forks.

She said the administration at North Dakota intends to provide the new coach with three scholarships for the first season and gradually increase it to the 18 allowed under NCAA guidelines.

Gammie, who is in her first year with the title associate head coach at Maine, played hockey at Rochester Institute of Technology where she earned a bachelor’s and masters degrees in mechanical engineering. She is currently pursuing a second master’s degree from Maine in exercise science.