Orono, Maine — University of Maine men's ice hockey head coach Dennis "Red" Gendron has signed a second two-year contract extension, UMaine Interim Athletics Director Jim Settele announced today.



The terms of the extension, which runs through June 30, 2021, remain unchanged from the current contract.

Gendron has been UMaine head coach since May 2013, leading the Black Bears to a 18-16-4 season this year, including a trip to the Hockey East quarterfinals.



"We very much appreciate Red's ongoing efforts to build this team to a championship level," Settele says. "Under his leadership, we had an exciting year reaching the Hockey East quarterfinals, and we know that next year should be even more impressive. The coaching staff's guidance of our players has allowed them to succeed on the ice and in the classroom. With a returning core of solid players and some fantastic recruits, expectations are high for next year, and we look forward to Coach Gendron leading the way."



Gendron first came to the University of Maine in 1990, where for three seasons he was an assistant to Coach Shawn Walsh and the 1993 NCAA Division I National Championship team. When Gendron returned to UMaine as head coach, he signed a four-year contract running through the 2016 - –17 season. He signed a two-year contract extension in February 2016.



"We just finished an exciting year with a very young and very talented group of Black Bears," says Gendron. "Our players, our coaches and our staff all know how very bright our program's future is. Everyone in our program craves the work and relishes the challenges of doing their parts to propel Maine to the summit of college hockey.



"There is more work to do and, frankly, the work required never ceases, never diminishes," says Gendron, who just wrapped up his 39th overall year of coaching. "I am personally grateful to President Susan Hunter and Interim Athletic Director Jim Settele for the opportunity to continue to coach in the program I love, at the university I love, and in the greatest college hockey venue of all-time — Harold Alfond Sports Arena. I am also grateful for all of the fine work produced by our coaching staff, the leadership group inside our team, and all of our players, past and present, who commit to and do what is required each and every day."



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