ORONO – Guy Perron, the University of Maine men’s assistant hockey coach who has been the interim head coach of the Black Bear women’s team since April 1, has applied for that job along with former Maine All-American defenseman Chris Imes.

University of Maine Athletic Director Patrick Nero confirmed that Perron and Imes had applied.

“There were over 50 applicants,” said Nero, who added that the selection committee will whittle down the applicants to a pool of finalists for on-campus interviews.

He expects the committee to submit a name to him next month.

The new coach will replace Rick Filighera, whose contract wasn’t renewed after the season.

The 38-year-old Perron, who preferred not to comment, graduated from Maine in 1990 after playing four seasons for the Black Bears. He was a captain his last two seasons and has had three stints as an assistant at Maine: 1991-92, 1994-95, and this past year.

He served as head coach of the Chicago Freeze of the North American Hockey League from 1997-2003. He has also been an assistant coach at Dartmouth College and was the head coach of the Bangor High School boys hockey team for two years, earning Class A Coach of the Year honors once.

He played professional hockey in Sweden.

Imes played at Maine from 1990-91 through the ’94-95, was a two-time All-American, and was the Hockey East Player of the Year in 1995. That was the same year he was runner-up for the Hobey Baker Award given to the nation’s top Division I player.

Imes played professional hockey in Europe and has also coached in Europe and at the junior level in this country.