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MHOC Mike Cavanaugh Media Avail - Northeastern Week · Coaches Corner

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  So okay, all right, coach, we're turning our attention to Northeastern this
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  weekend on the road Friday up in Boston, home Saturday, Senior Night,
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  wrapping up regular season. Just want to get your thoughts into the one of
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  the last few regular season weekends. Yeah, it's certainly going to be a
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  test for us. I think Northeastern's been playing some of the best hockey they've
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  played all year long, especially you know, going up to Maine and getting
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  a split. That's a very tough place to get went up there, but
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  coming off their bean pop win, and I know they're finally healthy, So
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  they're going to be a real test for us this weekend, that's for sure.
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  All Right, we'll open up for questions, Dan, you can start
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  us off. How's practice been this week? Good? Good? We've had
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  two good practices. Today was more of a skills day, but Monday and
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  Tuesday were very spirited practices. So I like the energy and the enthusiasm we
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  had. Do you try and blush last weekend or the last four games,
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  or do you use those and acknowledge them as fuel or a way to build
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  going forward. I think there's always value in learning from the previous weekend.
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  You know, you know, we we did some good things last weekend.
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  We didn't do enough, and we played against a very good team. Arguably,
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  you know, it's gonna come down to b U and BC to see
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  who wins the league in a year where the league's been so strong. So
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  you know, we just probably we didn't do enough last week to stay competitive.
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  I thought we hung in there for two periods on Saturday night, but
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  clearly in the third we weren't very good. And you know, the first
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  period we played great at home and we're down to nothing. So that was
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  a little frustrating, but you know, we just have to take some of
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  those positives and move on. Johnny will go over to you, Hey,
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  coach, is good to see again. Hi, Johnny. Just curious if
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  you're playing off the bus Friday or if you guys are going Thursday. We'll
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  go up Friday Friday. Yeah, we usually go the day of the game
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  to Boston. It's not that far. Joe will jump over to you.
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  Thanks, take care, how you doing. I'm good, Joe? Thanks?
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  How did Cartman play on Saturday? I get a chance to see the
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  game. Obviously, thrown into a difficult situation, without Chase and Hudson.
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  How did he play? He didn't really play much. It wasn't fair.
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  I think he got one shift for thirty seconds. So I don't think it
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  would be fair one way or the other to comment on his play. But
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  he a great kid and he works hard. How is Hudson doing? Will
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  you be will he be able to play this weekend? Uh? It's still
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  fifty to fifty right now. He did not practice Monday or Tuesday. Uh.
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  He did skate this morning and we'll kind of see how he responds tomorrow.
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  And was that just in the shop chat blocks on Friday? Pretty much?
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  Yeah? Okay, thank you. Laura will jump over to you.
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  Hey, coach, just want to follow up on Hudson in the hopes that
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  he is able to play this weekend, especially because it's senior weekend. Uh.
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  Sure. I think I saw on the call last week that you said
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  he's one of the most positive kids you've ever coached, And that's such a
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  that's a pretty big statement. How would you like, is there a moment
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  or a memory that kind of encapsulates that that you have of him? You
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  know, I think there's been so many when he was at Yukon but I
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  probably when I went to recruit him when he was playing for Surrey out in
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  the British Columbia League. And you know, I started his team go down
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  late in the game three to two, and he was right there pumping everybody
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  up. And he didn't even know I was at the game. So you
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  know, he can tell sometimes a kid's body language and how they're going to
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  be. And he wasn't sulking when the team, you know, went down
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  late in the game. He was still very positive and pushing his team to
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  be better. So I'd say it started right from the recruitment and since we've
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  had him, he's been the same way for four years. Yeah, I
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  can tell just by being on the bench with you guys during the games.
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  He's always pumping up his teammates. I also wanted to ask just about the
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  whole senior class generally. Yeah, what this group been like to coach?
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  Well, they've been great. It's you know, you can really tell a
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  lot about a class. A lot of times with the season we've been having
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  where we've up and down and we've had some struggles, and the frustrating part
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  is you're playing pretty well and you're not getting rewarded for it. They sometimes
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  they'll they'll give up, or they'll just want to graduate and move on.
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  And that's not been the case. This class has been fantastic the entire time.
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  They've been positive, they've been coachable, you know, supportive of their
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  teammates. They're a great group, a really, really good group that we're
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  going to be sad to see go, that's for sure. And then just
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  one more for me. I wanted to ask about your second line. And
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  I know that Matthew Would and Tristan Frasier have kind of been switching in and
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  out of that center spot, but it seems like no matter what combination of
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  those four you have in there, they've been playing really well recently. What
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  step have you seen them take as a group in the past few months.
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  Yeah, well, Christian's really took a step this year. I think he's
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  improved this game. You're probably talking about Ryan Taddle and Joey Muldowney because they've
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  been the constance there and and they've been fantastic. You know, they skate
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  extremely well, they compete hard on puck, say, have good skill.
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  Both of them have kind of metamorphosed into penalty killers for us, So It's
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  been, you know, fun to watch your development, that's for sure,
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  and they've been solid players. Randy will jump over to you. Thanks good,
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  afternoon, cav How are you. I'm good, Randy, you pretty
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  good? Thank good. You speak every week about the importance of the task
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  at hand and the game that is right in front of you. Is that
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  even I mean, seems a little silly almost to ask it this way,
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  but is a little more pronounced as you get towards the end of the line
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  tournament, play around the corner and you knowviously valuable points on the line here
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  Friday night, no question. I think you know. Our ultimate goal right
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  now is to be playing the very best hockey we can going into the playoffs.
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  So we certainly don't want to have an effort on Friday Night where we
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  feel like we left stuff on the table. You're not going to win playoff
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  games if you're not given, you know, a great effort for sixty minutes.
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  So that's kind of where our mindset is right now. I want to
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  ask about Fraser a little bit more. This year. He's been a real
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  physical presence. It's it's it's not just the production, but he finishes his
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  checks, does so you know, without going to the box. I mean,
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  is he a guy that you kind of can can look to is as
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  somebody who you know exemplifies physical play and in the best kind of way.
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  Yeah, no question, he skates, he's physical, he's certainly he had
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  that lant last year, but I think it's probably more pronounced this year in
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  his game. And you know, he's a guy that we're gonna need,
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  you know, rely on in the years to come too, because he's he
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  brings such a heavy presence when he plays, and he's had some you know,
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  I know, he's had more goals this year than he did last year.
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  So I like the way he brings the puck to the net too.
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  He's fearless in the offensive zone. All Right, So for me, thank
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  you see a Saturday. Sure, okay, Randy, Natalie, we'll head
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  over to you, all right. Thanks Colin coach, how you doing good?
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  How are you Natalie? Good? Thanks? Good to see you again.
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  I guess in light of a senior night, somebody that I wanted to
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  kind of ask about is Nick Capone. He obviously has quite the physical presence
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  about him on the ice. He's a big kid. But what are some
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  things about him that that stand out that maybe not a lot of people know
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  about or isn't talked about a lot. Well, he does have a physical
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  presence, but I think I think you know, he's also he can play
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  hockey. He's got a good skill set. If you notice on one of
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  the power plays he's in that bumper position and he plays it really well.
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  The other thing he does I think that's underrated is he's pretty good on face
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  offs. He's got a heavy stick, and you know, I trust him
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  on face offs. He takes those face offs on the power play. There's
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  times we're in the D zone, I want him taking the face off because
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  I know that he's got a very heavy stick and there's a good chance that
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  the other team's not going to win it clean when he's out there. So
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  besides the physical presence, I would say is ability to make a play and
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  also his face off play. And how important is that to have someone who
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  is reliable on the face off, like, oh, extremely extremely important.
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  You know, if you're losing face offs clean in your own zone, you're
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  going to give up a scoring chance. So it's you know, and you're
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  probably going to have to take anywhere from ten to twenty face offs in your
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  own zone throughout a game. So if you're losing fifty percent of those,
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  you know you're giving up five or six seven scoring chances as a game that
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  you can eliminate or mitigate by tying up off the face off or winning that
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  face off. So I think it's extremely important. Thank you, Sure,
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  Dan, we'll jump back to you. A guy like Jake Flynn. I
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  know he's not the first guy that you've brought in straight out of high school,
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  but for him to come in at such an early age and now he's
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  been here for five years, how have you seen him grow just as a
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  person, Oh tremendously. I think he was probably a little anxious when he
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  first got here, you know, as a true basically a true freshman.
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  But I've watched him mature over the years. He's developed into a great leader.
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  I know he's going to be super successful well in whatever he does.
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  I'm sure he's going to try to play hockey when he's finished here at Yukon,
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  but at some point when hockey ends, I know that he'll go out
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  into whatever profession he goes into. I know he's going to be successful because
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  kids that are extremely coachable, kids that are willing to learn, kids that
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  want to work hard, kids that you know are not opposed to new ideas
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  and can have empathy for others, like as he does. Like he embodies
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  all of those characteristics. It's just, you know, that's a blueprint for
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  success in life. Then one near other defenseman, Andrew Lucas has his point
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  total for defense has been huge since you've been in hockey, So just how
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  much has he made an impact on the ice? Is that offensive type defenseman?
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  Yeah, he's probably the first real true off defensive defense when we've had,
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  you know, a kid that you know, quarterbacks your top power play
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  and breaks pucks out pretty easily and joins the play. So we're gonna miss
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  him, like we're trying to right now. You know, we have a
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  player recruited for next year and hopefully that can take his place, but it's
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  going to be a while before I think he fills Andrew's shoes. Johnny,
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  we'll go over to you now that Toscano has been your guys home for a
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  little over a year. Is there an extra appreciation now for like an older
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  arena like Matthews. Well, I've always had an appreciation for Matthews. Uh,
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  you know, just the history of it with you know, the Bruins
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  playing there at one point and the bean Pots start, you know, playing
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  games there. You know, I've played high school games there myself when when
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  I was back in high school, and I think it's just always been a
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  great building to play in. It's it's fun for I I'm sure you know,
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  Northeastern appreciates it because it's their home rink, but I know as a
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  visitor, our guys appreciate it as well. So it's a it is it's
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  a throwback a little bit like Appleton up at Saint Lawrence and some of those
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  older rinks are. They're fun to play in. And you don't have to
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  answer this one if you don't want to mean to be like a controversial question.
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  But with the fight that happened last weekend in Alaska, I'm curious just
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  if you have a thought on fighting in college hockey, if it's something that
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  could ever come to be, or just your overall thought on the situation that
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  happened. Yeah, I probably it's never going to happen in college hockey,
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  so I'm not sure it's worth really talking about it. You know, I
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  think there is a place for in the pro game, and I understand why
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  it's in the pro game, and it's there for a lot of good reasons.
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  And if you've seen it in the pro game, there's not nearly as
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  many fights as there used to be, and when it happens, there's a
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  reason why it's happening. Uh, you know, they kind of police themselves
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  a little bit, but it's never really it's never gonna happen in college hockey.
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  So I don't think it's really worth commenting on Joe. Let's talk to
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  you, Okay. Cav Alex Campbell's been a real good pick up for them
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  out of the transfer portal. What does he bring to the bring to the
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  table maybe either they were missing or that he's atted to. He's good,
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  he's super skilled, he skates pretty well, and uh, you know,
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  he's a great addition for those Rascovian brothers. You know, that's that line
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  is certainly in line we're going to have to pay attention to on Friday night.
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  There. They skate well, they got you know, their hockey IQ
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  is really high. They make you know, pretty unique plays throughout the offensive
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  zone. So you know, he's been a great addition for them, and
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  what is Whitehead doing better? Now? Another talented freshman goalie. Seen plenty
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  of them this year, but he seems like he's played extremely well as of
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  late. What is his strengths and goal Yeah, you know, I'm not
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  sure, Joe. I haven't studied him, okay, really closely, and
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  we haven't played them yet, but he certainly came in as a pretty highly
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  touted kid, and it's not easy coming in as a freshman, and he's
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  probably just got his feet under him. And they had a lot of injuries
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  early on too, like Rascovian was hurt, McDonald was hurt. So as
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  they've gotten healthy and he's gotten more confident. You know, you can see
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  that he's a talented kid. Thank you, Sure, awesome. We'll go
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  Randy, Laura, and then we'll end it with Dan. Thanks Colin.
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  You know, coach, Saturday's kind of an exciting day in that it's a
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  doubleheader women you know, of course won the season championship and hosting a playoff
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  game with seen your day and just want to hear your thoughts on you know,
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  the women's playoff game beforehand being a part of the day, and then
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  your game following it. And you know what a day that's going to be
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  like at Tuscano. Yeah, I'm glad you brought that up, Randy,
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  because I probably should have started the press conference congratulating Chris and his staff and
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  the women's team. It's been fun to watch them this year, you know
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  now that you know, one of the best things about Tuscano is that we
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  have a lot more interaction with the women's team. When we were in Fretus,
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  it was, like I said, it used to be like a cattle
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  call. Kids came in for practice and then left, but nobody hung around
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  the rink. And now where you share a weight room and you share a
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  training room, and you know, kids hang around the rink. I've got
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  to know so many of the women's players, and I'm so excited for especially
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  those seniors that that have been some you know, like Cam Wong and Ainsley
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  stayed five years. It's such a great accomplishment for them, and I'll be
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  rooting for him. It's gonna be nice because the one thing I don't like
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  about Tiscana as much as when I go up there, I'm there for the
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  day now, whereas at the Excel I can bounce home for a little while,
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  but it'll be fun on Saturday being able to stick around and watch your
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  game. Thank you, Go ahead, Laura. I just wanted to follow
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  up on a question Dan asked about Jake Flynn. He's right, it is
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  pretty unusual for a player to come straight out of high school. So what
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  encouraged you to recruit him and bring him in right out of there? How
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  did you know that he was ready for this level. I wasn't sure he
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  was ready. I was hoping he was ready. He played for Tonya Monti,
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  and you know, I went up and watched him play. They're playing
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  against Saint Sebastian's in their big rivalry game, and I just love the way
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  he skated. I love this compete and uh, Tony, you know,
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  raved about him and had nothing but great things to say about him. Mike
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  Motto, who played for me at BC, was watching a lot of their
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  games at the time, and he came highly recommended from Mike, who I
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  trust, you know, implicitly, So he was just you know, we
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  took a chance and it paid off, because I think if Jake went to
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  junior hockey, I'm not sure we would have got him at that time.
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  You said also that he was kind of like a little bit. I think
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  the word I don't know if timid was the word that you use, but
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  came from a differ I said. Anxious, Just anxious like most like when
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  you come in as a freshman. Most freshmen are anxious to begin with.
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  When you come in as a true freshman, it's even a little more overwhelming.
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  When you've played sixty seventy games in the USHL and you've had some success
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  in that league, you know it's going to translate to college hockey at some
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  point. When you're coming straight in out of prep school, that's different.
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  And uh, you know, he he did. He handled it pretty well
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  and he's just gotten better and better. Thank you. Awesome? All right,
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  Dan, Well and do it with you With how much you said you
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  enjoy Matthews, Are you gonna take any time to appreciate it a little bit
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  more because there have been the rumors about it potentially having to be torn down
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  and Northeastern building a new building. Just do you think this trip will feel
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  any different because of those Well, I think they'll be playing in Matthews next
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  year, right, I don't. I don't think it's I don't. I
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  haven't heard that it's going to be torn down immediately, but I think it's
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  a couple of years out before that building's But to answer your question, if
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  it was our last game in Matthews, yeah, probably it would be uh
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  be sad to see it go because it has so much history and as I
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  said, as personal history for me as well, haven't played in that building,
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  and uh, you know, one state tight, we want a state
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  tournament game in that building, and uh you know it will be it be.
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  It would be sad to see it go, that's for sure. Then
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  last one. But you've only had Ethan here for a year, but maybe
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  less hockey and more as a person. How has he impacted the program?
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  He's fitting seamlessly, just like you know Kevin O'Neill and Tiamonti and Justin Pearson.
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  I feel he's had the same effect on our team. And he's a
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  kid that you know, he does have the ability to play one more year.
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  I'm not sure that's gonna happen with us. If it did, we'd
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  be thrilled because I think not only is he a really good goalie, but
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  he's just a tremendous human being and he's it's fun to be around him every
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  day at the rink. Awesome. Well, all right, guys, appreciate
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  it. Coach, thank you. Good luck this weekend, all right.
• 20:59
  Thanks guys, have a good week. Thanks Jap, Thanks Jap.