Saturday night in St. Paul, Bob Driscoll presented the NCAA ice hockey national championship trophy to the coach of the University of Minnesota-Duluth, Scott Sandelin.

This week, he's narrowing the search for the coach who, he hopes, will one day bring that trophy to Providence.

According to sources close to the PC program, Cranston native David Quinn --coach of the AHL's Lake Erie Monsters, and a former associate head coach at his alma mater, Boston University, where he was an all-Hockey East defenseman -- was on campus today for an interview.

He'll be followed into town, sources say, by Mike Cavanaugh, associate head coach of the Boston College Eagles, and Nate Leaman, the head coach at Union.

Driscoll, who was in Minnesota over the weekend in his role as chairman of the NCAA Ice Hockey Championship Committee, would say only that he hopes to have a new coach in place no later than the middle of next week.

"We have some great candidates involved," he said. "This job is highly sought after."

Driscoll would love to have the same success with this hire that his former college teammate at Union, Bob Corran, did after bringing Sandelin to UM-D.

Corran, who now is the director of athletics at the University of Vermont, was the A.D. at UM-D in 2000, when he hired Sandelin to coach the Bulldogs.

"I texted him after the game," said Driscoll. "When I handed the trophy to Scott, I thought how nice it was to be giving it to a man who was hired by my good friend and former teammate."

Mark Divver, the Journal's Assistant Sports Editor, who keeps close tabs on all things hockey, noted in his column last week that hiring Quinn "would be a grand slam for Driscoll and PC."

In listing the top candidates to replace Tim Army, Divver also said Cavanaugh would be "a terrific hire."

The Friars, who have failed to qualify for the Hockey East playoffs the past three seasons, have a long way to go to be a Frozen Four-caliber team.

But, as with the recent hiring of Providence native Ed Cooley to coach the PC basketball team, there appears to ample reason for optimism regarding the rejuvenation of the struggling ice hockey program, given the caliber of candidates interested in the job.