Gophers women’s hockey coach Brad Frost is an "unlikely" candidate for an assistant coaching job with the 2010 U.S. Olympic women’s team according to Minnesota athletic communications.  

Frost, who is in his second year as head coach with the Gophers, is "in the mix" however it is unlikely the U.S. Olympic Committee Preparation Division would select two coaches from the same conference.

On the other hand, the Star Tribune is reporting that Jackie Barto of Ohio State, which plays in the women’s division of the WCHA, is one of two candidates along with Harvard’s Katey Stone.

Last summer, Frost, a Canadian by birth, said he’s pulling for the U.S. when it comes to women’s hockey. He served as an assistant for the U.S. National Team this past Nov. at the Four Nations Cup and served on several other national coaching staffs in recent years.

If somehow Frost was appointed, it could leave the bench at Ridder Arena a little short staffed. Current Gophers assistant coach Natalie Darwitz is likely to compete in her third-straight Olympics when 2012 rolls around. I haven’t seen Darwitz’s contract, so I’m not even sure if she’ll still be with the team. However I do know that Minnesota’s allowance of her to train with the U.S. National Team was discussed before she came aboard. Darwitz was at the press conference today in Madison, where UW women’s coach Mark Johnson was named head coach.

USA Hockey will announce the team’s assistant coaches in February.