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Mike Cavanaugh - Lowell-Maine Week · Coaches Corner

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  All right, coach, coming off one game non conference against Startmouth offense exploded
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  for six goals, had a great game from the team. Just wanted to
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  get your thoughts headed into third matchup this season against UMass Lowell and then a
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  game Sunday against Maine to wrap up the first half. Yeah, I was
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  telling the team yesterday in practice. I just think it's a great way to
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  end our first half because we've always had tremendous battles with Lowell. You know,
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  I've said many times before I have the utmost respect for Norman how he
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  runs his program, and it appears that every time we play them, it's
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  always a tight game, and I expect more of the same on Friday night.
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  And then we get to travel up to Maine, which, if it's
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  not the toughest road win in our league, it's certainly in the conversation.
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  It's such a you know, rabid fan base, dynamite atmosphere, and Alphonda
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  fortunate to coach many games up there, and uh, it's always a real
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  fun, fun atmosphere and place to play. Awesome. I right, will
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  open it up for questions. Go ahead, Daniel. I was looking through
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  the stats and noticed that Joey Muldowney is second type for second on the team
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  and assists. Just how have you seen him progress through his freshman year,
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  especially he seemed a little surprised at the way he performed when he showed up
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  for camp. Well, he well, he was a kid that certainly had
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  the ability to score goals, and that's the reason why San Jose drafted him.
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  I think, you know, when he got here, it was like
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  we had a pretty good team, and uh, it's always a big jump,
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  you know, for freshmen. But the one thing I think he's really
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  found a home with Christian Fraser and Ryan Taddle. That line has been you
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  know, dynamite for us the past three games. So I've been happy with
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  his progress and they've really, you know, brought a lot of energy that
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  those three to our team in the past three games. Johnny will head over
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  to you, Hey, coach, nice to meet you. Just a question
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  about Louell's desperation. They lost back to back games this past weekend. You
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  guys obviously coming off that big six to one win, you know how they
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  play, but how can you match that energy level knowing that they're desperate to
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  get back in the win? Calm it's a Hockey East game, Johnny.
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  It doesn't matter really what's happened in the past. I know that, you
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  know what what fuels Norm is the next game he has on his schedule,
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  and that happens to be us so and we treat it the same way.
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  It's you know, the six to one win over Dartmouth has nothing to do
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  with how we're going to play on Friday night. It's how are we going
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  to practice this week? How are we going to prepare and are we going
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  to execute on Friday night? And I would imagine that that's the same mindset
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  that Lowell's in right now. Well, hid back to you, Dan,
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  was it intentional that the main game ended up on a Sunday so that you
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  had a travel day up there or is that just how it worked out?
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  Well, Lowell and Maine are two of the four teams that we play three
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  times this year, so we had to there's always tricky finding that time for
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  that third game. And uh, I think Lowell's doing the same thing with
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  Vermont. You know, I think they're traveling up to Vermont on Sunday,
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  so because we are going to Maine, it made sense that you know,
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  there was a day off in between. If I remember correctly, last time
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  you went up there a couple of years ago, you stopped at boat in
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  Midway, right, Are you dead in that? I don't think so.
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  This year because it's a Saturday. We did that because it was on a
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  Thursday and we could get ice in the afternoon. I believe they have a
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  We looked into it because the guys don't mind stopping halfway and getting a skate.
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  But I think this year there for a women's game or even a men's
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  game maybe on Saturday afternoon, so we're just gonna practice here and drive up.
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  We couldn't get ice at Maine, so it made sense to practice here
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  and drive up. Johnny, we'll go back to you. Is there a
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  hidden gem on this roster? I always like to ask about players who maybe
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  don't get enough attention from the rest of the league. A guy that you
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  see every day that might not be as noticeable as the you know, Matthew
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  Woods, the draft picks. Yeah, I think we've got a plethora of
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  them. You know, there's a lot of guys on our team I believe
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  that are really good hockey players. You could start with, you know,
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  our our three senior captains you know in Hudson Schandor and uh, I could
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  say four captains, you know, Andrew Lucas, Harrison Reeese, Jake Flynn.
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  I don't know if they get a ton of attention, but you know,
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  the four of them drive the bus every day. Uh, they're awesome
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  leaders and uh raise the level of practice every day. And well they might
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  not get the All league attention. I think they're great pieces of a puzzle
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  that that make our team go. Go ahead, Dan, you said that
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  Alphons one of the time as places to get a win. Do you enjoy
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  going into those type of atmospheres and those really hard places to win or you
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  know, is it something not that you dread but they don't totally look forward
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  to. No, I love it. I think it's great. Uh.
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  You know what I dread is going to a building where there's one hundred people
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  like then there's no atmosphere and you've got to create your own energy. Sometimes
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  you do have to do that. But when you go to Alphon, like
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  the pageantry they have up there, the kids waiting outside when you're walking into
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  the rink to get into the game, it's uh, it's awesome. It's
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  it's one of my favorite places to go play. Coach, I'll jump in
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  if you could just speak briefly about the Frasier line. I know you've had
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  some high praise for them in the past couple of games, and Ryan taddleget
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  his first goal on Saturday, and you know, that line having another good
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  game. If you could just speak to what you're continuing to see from that.
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  Yeah, they're continuing to skate and put pressure on the opponent, and
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  I believe they just work really hard. They all have good skill, you
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  know, and you saw Ryan's goal was a great goal the other day,
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  snapping that puck far side, about twelve inches off the ice. You know,
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  Joey and and Tristan and Ryan, they just really have some chemistry right
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  now. As I said, they skate really well, they compete, and
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  you know, they take away time and space from the opponent and they're playing
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  great hockey right now. Go ahead, Dan, you just reminded me of
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  that. But after the game, Ryan talked about how it's been a theme
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  of shooting for or I think he said shooting thirteen is the way he phrased
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  it, that you want to put it thirteen inches off the ice on either
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  side of the goalie. Is that something new that you guys have talked about
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  or is that just something that usually comes up every year? Oh? I
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  think that's If you watch a lot of hockey or watch the NHL highlights,
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  a lot of goals have scored there. It's a tough spot just under the
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  glove or under the blocker and above the pads. It's a tough spot for
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  a goalie to get to. I mean, it's it's not a secret or
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  a revolutionary concept. That's uh a place where goal scorers score goals. And
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  you know, we've been preaching it. I mean the ones off you know,
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  bar down look great, but they're hard, They're hard to get the
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  you know, score goals there, and it just seems like more goals are
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  scored when pucks are shot, you know, thirteen inches off the ice.
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  Laura will head over to you, Hey, coach, I know that Lowell
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  presents a lot of troubles, especially for teams through the neutral zone. With
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  that in mind, like, what are some of the things that your team
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  needs to really be dialed in on heading into this weekend. Yeah, there,
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  it's a great observation. They're an excellent neutral zone team. And I
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  find that, you know, just about everybody we've played is a you know,
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  really tries to clog up the neutral zone and much like we do as
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  well, because you don't want teams gaining a lot of speed attacking you with
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  speed through the neutral zone. I think the most important thing is when we
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  manage the puck. There's a time where we can carry it into the zone
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  and this time where we're going to have to you know, dump it in
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  and go get it back. And recognizing what the situation is and when to
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  carry it in and went to dump it is going to be crucial for us
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  on Friday night. And also your team has been I think it's three to
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  zero zero when you score first and starting on time. Potentially just looking at
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  the box scores has been something that maybe you're struggling with. What's been the
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  message to the group about starting on time and maybe not necessarily getting that first
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  goal, but making sure that you're playing good from the jump. Yeah,
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  it's well, I didn't know that stat but if we are three and normal
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  was scour and first, I hope you score first again on Friday, But
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  you always want to try to score first, you know. I think that's
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  the mentality we always go in, you know, and I've been pretty happy
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  with most of our starts. There's been a couple of games where they haven't
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  been great, and that's going to occasionally happen. And I think in this
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  league, and we talk about it a lot, that you're going to have
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  a bad period here and there, or you might not be in sync for
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  a period, and you've got to be able to weather the storm that's going
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  to happen. There's a lot of good teams in our league, and if
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  you can't weather the storm every now and then, you're gonna you're not going
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  to be successful. So that's what we talk about more than the start,
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  is if things aren't going well, let's make sure it's not a disaster and
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  we don't put ourselves in such a big hole that it's hard to come out
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  of it. Johnny, Well, we'll lend it with you. This is
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  my first time seeing the new rink. I just want to know what it's
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  done for the program as far as recruiting and just the overall attraction to come
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  to play for you. Conn Well, it's I think you're going to be
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  pretty impressed. It's certainly got a lot of curb appeal, but more importantly,
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  it's a great venue for our student body just to walk over from their
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  dorms to support our team, and also for our players just the resources they
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  have here to develop and become the best player that they can be. You
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  know, we're second to none, probably in the country. So those are
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  the things that you know, I think are most important. You know,
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  some other might disagree because those The clubroom's pretty cool, and the sidelines are
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  great. It's certainly got an awesome atmosphere. On game night, I was
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  also told to say hi for Max Calter. He's one of my best friends.
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  Are you bragging or complaining both? He's awesome? Tell Max? I
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  said hello, I will awesome. Well, thank you, coach, Thanks
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  everyone, good luck this week, and coach, thank you. Colin appreciate
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  it. Thank you.