Latest / Coaches Corner / MHOC Coach Mike Cavanaugh - Media Day Sept 24

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MHOC Coach Mike Cavanaugh - Media Day Sept 24 · Coaches Corner

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Well, it's nice to see so many of these familiar
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: faces back here at Tuscano.
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: We're excited. This is our what fourth week, I think
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: since we.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Started skating, we started the Tuesday after Labor Day, and
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: I'm excited about the group. You know, we do have
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: fourteen new faces, but the same token, we have fourteen
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: experienced veterans coming back. And you know, of those fourteen
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: new faces, two are undergraduate transfers who have played college
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: hockey before, and two were graduate transfers.
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: Who have played a lot of college hockey. So we'll be.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: You know, intertwining, mixing some freshmen true freshmen in as well.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: But I like the team speed that we have that
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: I've watched early on here. I think we're a quicker
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: team than we were a year ago, and I like
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: our depth, and I'm excited to get going against Colgate
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: on October fourth.
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: Some are all different questions.
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: Is this team can you compare this team like to
• 1:05
  Speaker 3: the kind of league freshman years at all? Or because
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: of the fact that some of the newbies have experienced
• 1:11
  Speaker 3: that quite as guys getting their feet wet like they
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: had it that way back then.
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, it's an interesting comparison. Because that was a
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: really big freshman class as well. However, I don't think
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: we were quite where we wanted to be as a
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: program just yet when all of those guys came in.
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: We still have a lot of experience back on this team,
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  Speaker 1: and I think some guys that are really hungry to
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: show that they are, you know, great players in this league.
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: So it's a little bit different, Bob, but I definitely
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: can see the comparison with so many new faces.
• 1:50
  Speaker 4: I'll have a Huddie's fats stepped up in your leadership
• 1:53
  Speaker 4: goal cabin, or there are other guys who have been
• 1:55
  Speaker 4: here who have stood out in your mind as far
• 1:58
  Speaker 4: as being leaders.
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think they've been right, you know.
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: And you know, this is a third year in a
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: row we've had players who had an opportunity to go
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: wherever they want, you know, and they've come back as
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: fifth year seniors. It was Roman Canal three years ago,
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: it was Harrison Reese and Jake Flynn last year, and
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: now you know, with Hudson and Spetsy coming back, you
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: know as fifth year seniors.
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: You know, it means a lot to me.
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: It means that this university, in this program means an
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: awful lot to them and they want to finish their
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: careers here as Huskies.
• 2:31
  Speaker 5: Kap, but wonder you have strong finish at the end
• 2:34
  Speaker 5: last year, having a beat Vermont in the regular season finale,
• 2:37
  Speaker 5: then feed them the playoffs and take a dcat of
• 2:39
  Speaker 5: the brink for the fourteen returners. Does that strong finish
• 2:43
  Speaker 5: have a carryover effective of the offseason and then into
• 2:45
  Speaker 5: the beginning of the season.
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: Oh, I think so. I think no, there's no question
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: about it.
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: You know, and a lot of the players that we're
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: bringing in have played a lot of junior hockey too,
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: so you know, while they're young and they're new to
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: our program and how we do things, uh, they they've
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: still played a lot of hockey.
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: I think they'll come in and you've.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: Seen it across college hockey with a lot of teams
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: that the freshmen can have a big impact on your team.
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: So you know, yeah, there'll be some growing pains early,
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: but you know, by mid November, I think.
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: They're could have settled in pretty well when last season ended.
• 3:25
  Speaker 6: What would do a checklist of things.
• 3:27
  Speaker 5: That you need to do? You know, what did you
• 3:30
  Speaker 5: want to change?
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's interesting because normally you know, in the past,
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: in April and May you would do a deep dive
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: and analysis on your team and where you were good
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: and where you were bad.
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: Uh.
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: It was really a different type of offseason for us
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: last year because of the way the transfer portal is
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: now and having lost some players that maybe are.
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: Not expecting to lose. Uh. We lost some personnel.
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: Joe Ferris, who had been with me and our director
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: of ops, you know, moved back home, you know, to
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: the Midwest and took a job out there. And Mike Pereira,
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: who did a great job for us, got the head
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: coaching job at Choate.
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: So not only did we have to.
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: Replace players, but we had to replace personnel. So that's
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: what really took up a lot of our time was
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: filling with holes that we thought we had within the program.
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: And you know, it wasn't until probably July that we
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: that we sat down and said, Okay, where can we
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: be better as a team, and how does this team?
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: What can we do with this team speculating how we
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: think they're going to be as players, where can we
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: take advantage of our opponents? And what kind of team
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: do we want to be? And I thought Hudson and
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: John Spetz were excellent in that. We had some like
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: bi weekly meetings through the summer, and really I took
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: a lot of their input, you know, with you know,
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: Tyler and I sat to and listen to a lot
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: of what they had to say and we implemented, you
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: know a lot of that with what we thought we
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: needed to be better with. So that's kind of how
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: our off season broke down.
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: Do you usually.
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I like to get input from players. I think
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: that's important. I was just, uh, I was just reading
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: an article I actually put it up in the locker
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: room today about the kid neighbors the Giants wide receiver
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: who's a rookie there, but you know, he saw something
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: on film and he went to Brian Dable with it
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: and you know it turned into a touchdown. But because
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: sometimes as players you see things that coaches don't see,
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: these little idiosyncrasies, And I think it's very important to
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: empower your players and encourage them, you know, to give input.
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: Now do you always listen, No, But I think you
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: have to have that healthy conversation.
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: I think all good programs do.
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: How was Nick fitting on.
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: Their fit in on your staff and what have you
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: had him doing?
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: He's been great? Uh, It's been really a seamless transition.
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: He's certainly, you know, one of the top recruiters in
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: the country. You know, Northern Michigan actually had the top
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: recruiting class. That's what kind of drew me to him
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: last year. And you know, with him coming on, we've
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: we had one kid that was committed there and more
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: transfer from there that have both been.
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: Great additions to our program. So he's going.
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: To probably work with the penalty kill and really spearhead
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: a lot of the recruiting efforts. What's the skill set
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: that makes somebody a top recruiter, that makes somebody had
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: really good recruit Well, I just think it's hard work,
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: it's being very personal and hey, Tyler Helton's a great recruiter.
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: I think you know, our class was either five or
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: six in the country last year and that was primarily
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: you know, Mike Peira certainly had something to do with that,
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: but Tyler was an integral part of bringing this class
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: here to Yukon that we have this freshman class. So
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: I'm fortunate where it's not like I have one recruiting coordinator.
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: It's I have, you know, a.
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: Couple assistants who are pretty experienced and they get to
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: know a lot of the coaches out there, a lot
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: of the advisors, and they have their ear to the
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: ground and they're also very good at evaluating talent.
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: So but I think it's a lot of hard work.
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: It's it's being out there, it's being personable and convincing
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: kids to come to Yukon.
• 7:25
  Speaker 4: You lost for a lot of the blue line.
• 7:27
  Speaker 6: Who's stepped up so far, Cathy Well, I think Nick Carabin,
• 7:31
  Speaker 6: who's a graduate transfer from Princeton, has been excellent, you know,
• 7:37
  Speaker 6: so far.
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: You know, Thomas Sinio is doing a great job. He's
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: got some experience. Spetsy's obviously got a lot of experience.
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: But you know, Viking coming in here as a transfer,
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: he played a lot of minutes for Northern Michigan last year.
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: He's kind of had a seamless transition in here. Jack
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: Pascucci had a strong year for us last year. And
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: then we have, you know, the three freshmen we brought
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: in and Trey Scott, Kai Jan Vaiah and Kevin Fitzgerald.
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: We've brought those three in and you know, Bauer Swift
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: is back, and I know I'm probably forgetting somebody. Yeah,
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: Owen Simpson as well, so you know, we have ten
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: right now, and we've actually had a couple injuries, so
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: I'm glad we have some depth back there.
• 8:24
  Speaker 4: Is it harder for you guys to assimilate themselves to
• 8:27
  Speaker 4: what you want to do defensively?
• 8:29
  Speaker 5: Hut the front?
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: Yes, I think so.
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: I think it's always a tougher or a longer learning
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: curve coming into college as a defenseman as it is
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: a forward.
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: You skate hard, you finish checks, you compete.
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: You know, there's not as much thinking as there is
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: on defense, that's for sure.
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: Are you worried at all about the depth up top?
• 8:51
  Speaker 3: Just only having fifteen forwards?
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: Will it help if I worry about it?
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: No, I think you know, fifteen forwards is a pretty
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: good number, especially when all fifteen can play.
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: So I'm not really worried about that.
• 9:10
  Speaker 5: keV hockey's particularly strong last year. It's always strong, particularly
• 9:14
  Speaker 5: strong last year. What's your assessment what you know about
• 9:18
  Speaker 5: you know, newt coming into the league this season.
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: Well, I don't think it's going to change much.
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: I think that you know, there's still a lot of
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: talent coming in and with all the teams, I think
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: everybody's probably improved, you know, to do a good job.
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: When your league is that strong, it helps certainly recruiting players,
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: like players want to play in this league. So and
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: not only that, but there's just a lot of good
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: coaches in this league. If if you look around, you know,
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: there's a lot of experience, experienced coaches in this league
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: and we all kind of have a feel for how
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: each other play. So it's not like you're gonna surprise anybody,
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: you know, week in and week.
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: Out as your goaltending.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: Uh, I think it's pretty good, you know.
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: You know, we brought in Ty Musilik, who's a transfer
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: from you and h and before he got hurt last year,
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: you know, he had some big wins over bu and Quinnipiac.
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: Uh.
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: Callum Tongue is a pretty highly touted freshman who came
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: out of British Columbia. He's got great size at an
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: excellent playoff last year in British Columbia. And Uh, Tommy Heaney,
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: you know, I didn't know a lot about him coming in,
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: but I've been pretty impressed with him since he's been here.
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: What was the music the feeling the last year.
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: It was a knee injury.
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: It was something that had to get skulped, but he
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: tried to play.
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: Through it all year long.
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: And uh, you know he certainly you know, knock on
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: Ward looks healthy right now.
• 10:57
  Speaker 5: So Connecticut kid's been solid for two years junior year here.
• 11:03
  Speaker 5: Where do you think he could take his team because yeah,
• 11:07
  Speaker 5: pretty steady for years.
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: He's he's going to be an important piece of our team.
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: His his energy, his compete level is always really really high.
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: I think he's going to take another step. You know,
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: he's been snake bitting a little bit. I don't know
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: if anybody's hit more posts since I've been here than him.
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: But he's a great defensive player. He's an excellent penalty killer,
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: and I see him adding more offensively this year as well.
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: Any other any other returning guys standing out to you
• 11:41
  Speaker 3: so far?
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: I think Joey Muldowney and Ryan Taddle have kind of
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: picked up where they left off last year. I thought
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: they were really strong for us down the stretch. Tristan Fraser,
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: Oliver Flynn's doing a nice job. He's had a really
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: good preseason so far. So, uh, you know, those are
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: the guys up front, and as I said, I think, uh,
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: Thomas Sinio on the back end, has uh, you know,
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: played pretty well this preseason as well.
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: Anything else for coach guys awesome
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: All right, thank you guys, appreciate its