Latest / Coaches Corner / MHOC Coach Mike Cavanaugh Dec 3 - Pre BC

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MHOC Coach Mike Cavanaugh Dec 3 - Pre BC · Coaches Corner

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: All right, coach, one more game of the first half
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: of the season, Wednesday night matchup versus Boston College. Rematch
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: of an earlier earlier matchup where you guys came out
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: on top. Just want to get your thoughts and into
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: this final game.
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I can't believe the first half has already coming
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: to an end for us, but uh, you know, I'm
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: excited about the way the team has been playing. I
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: think certainly the BC game and the two games against
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: Lowell we played pretty solid hockey for nine periods and
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: we're looking to continue that trend against the Eagles. We
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: know it's going to be definitely a tough task at
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: CONTI form.
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: You know. There. As I said a couple of weeks
• 0:53
  Speaker 3: ago when we were getting ready.
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: To play them, there's not really whole not many holes
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: in their game, from the goaltender to the experience defenseman
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: to the elite forwards they have. They're just dangerous all
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: over the ice, and we're gonna have to play a
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: very solid game, managing the puck well and disciplined as well.
• 1:13
  Speaker 3: If we want to be successful.
• 1:18
  Speaker 4: All right, we'll open it up for questions. Who wants
• 1:20
  Speaker 4: to kick us off? Go ahead, Dan.
• 1:32
  Speaker 5: How's Jake Richard doing coming back from his injury?
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: He's uh, he's making progress.
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: Dan, Uh, you know, he practiced uh, you know, non
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: contact this week, and I think it's going to be
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: more of a game time decision on whether or not
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: you can play or not.
• 1:55
  Speaker 5: How is this team? Uh, maybe surprise so far in
• 2:01
  Speaker 5: the first half compared to what you were expecting coming
• 2:03
  Speaker 5: into maybe the preseason.
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, every year is different.
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: I would say so far this season based on what
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: we dealt with last year, really struggling scoring goals. You know,
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: with the exception of maybe our last game we could
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: beat one nothing. We've been able to manufacture goals in
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: a lot of different ways. So I think that's been
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: a positive and something for us to continue to build
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: on in the second half and if we can.
• 2:39
  Speaker 3: You know, again, I think.
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: Our special teams have improved because we have four shorthanded goals.
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: We might lead the country in shorthanded goals, so we've
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: been a dangerous team shorthanded. I'd like our percentages to
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: be a little higher, probably killing penalties. And at the
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: same token, you know, our power play has been you know,
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: scoring goals lately and been dangerous lately, but I'd really
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: like to see that our special teams solidified going forward,
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: and I think we could be a real dangerous team.
• 3:13
  Speaker 5: Anyone that you think has generally played well, but maybe
• 3:16
  Speaker 5: their numbers don't match up with their performance.
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: Uh that's a good question, because a lot of our guys,
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: you know, our scoring has been uh well balanced, So
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: I don't know if there's many guys on the team
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: with you know, zero points, I'm not sure. I have
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: thought that, you know, the star line has gotten better.
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: I thought Murta Murtag has really improved his game and
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: has been a factor in games like Muldowney and and
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: Tattle and Frey sure have been really solid all year long,
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: So you know, on defense, I would say that, uh,
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: you know, both Kaijian Veriah and Tray Scott have been
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: really good additions to our team.
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: So I don't know.
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: I think everyone's been I don't know if there's someone
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: on the team where I feel, you know, then probably
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: not getting rewarded for how well they're playing. I think
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: it's been pretty well balanced scoring and I've been happy
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: with a lot of the performances so far.
• 4:42
  Speaker 4: Eric will jump over to.
• 4:43
  Speaker 6: You, Hey, cav Hope you're well. Good to talk to
• 4:46
  Speaker 6: you again, Eric dan Stole. My first question about any
• 4:50
  Speaker 6: under the radar guys that stand out. I guess, what
• 4:54
  Speaker 6: have you seen from your power play maybe these last
• 4:56
  Speaker 6: you know, five six games, whatever it is versus in
• 5:00
  Speaker 6: the season? Has it been tinkering later in the year
• 5:03
  Speaker 6: or do you feel like it just took a little
• 5:05
  Speaker 6: time to get going with the group that you have.
• 5:08
  Speaker 3: Well, I actually thought we had some good chances early
• 5:10
  Speaker 3: in the year.
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: We weren't putting the puck in the net, and some
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: of that maybe is because we weren't getting to the
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: inside enough.
• 5:18
  Speaker 3: It was a little bit perimeter.
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: But we you know, there haven't been many power plays
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: that we've had where the puck's just iced, We come
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: back in, they get it, they ice it again, and
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: you know, we don't have any zone time. There's been
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: very few of those. But lately I think we've been
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: doing a better job of getting the puck to the net.
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: Whatever.
• 5:40
  Speaker 6: Not that you need to reveal the whole farm if
• 5:42
  Speaker 6: you're not ready to yet, but where are you in
• 5:45
  Speaker 6: goal right now with the three guys that you have,
• 5:47
  Speaker 6: And what did you see from Callum in his first
• 5:49
  Speaker 6: couple of starts well.
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: I thought Callum played extremely well at Lowell. You know,
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: we gave up two goals and two games. I think
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: any coach in the country would take that against a
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: very good team. Time Muslik is still out, so it's
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: right now we have Calum and Tommy Heaney as our
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: two goaltenders.
• 6:11
  Speaker 6: This is going back a little ways, but the game
• 6:13
  Speaker 6: I did, I thought Thomas played pretty well at be
• 6:15
  Speaker 6: you considering the circumstances, but you know he held you
• 6:19
  Speaker 6: guys in for a little while there.
• 6:22
  Speaker 3: Yeah, he played well.
• 6:23
  Speaker 6: Yeah. What out of that game against BC, what was
• 6:29
  Speaker 6: the for lack of a better word, I guess what
• 6:31
  Speaker 6: was the thing you were most proud of the way
• 6:33
  Speaker 6: that you guys played? And then what's the adjustment or two?
• 6:37
  Speaker 6: Perhaps as you go into another game with them a
• 6:40
  Speaker 6: couple of weeks later.
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: I thought we I managed the game pretty well and
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: we competed hard. We got off to a great start.
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: You know, on the road is always a tougher game.
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: But you know that being said, I don't think the
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: game plan is going to change much. You know, they're
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: an extremely dangerous team, and especially off the rush. You
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: know we're gonna have to make sure that We're not
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: turning the puck over in the neutral zone and giving.
• 7:11
  Speaker 3: Them numbers coming at us.
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: We're gonna have to make sure that you know, we
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: don't compromise our defensive structure for offense. And if you
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: can do that and stay out of the penalty box, Eric,
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: that's the other thing. If we're gonna give BC five
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: or six power plays, we're just asking for trouble.
• 7:34
  Speaker 6: Awesome, Thanks cav.
• 7:35
  Speaker 3: Appreciate that. Dan.
• 7:39
  Speaker 4: We'll jump back to you.
• 7:41
  Speaker 5: I know it lined up well with Thanksgiving for you guys,
• 7:44
  Speaker 5: But did you, hockey wise or team wise, did you
• 7:49
  Speaker 5: guys do anything to take advantage of your bye week
• 7:52
  Speaker 5: this past weekend or this past week?
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: Yeah, no, I think we did.
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: We did, you know we Obviously they didn't practice for
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: ten days, so I think we took a three game
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: a three day break, gave the kids Thanksgiving. I think
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: that's always good to kind of the local kids could
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: go home and recharge the batteries a little bit. But
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: we got back to work Saturday and we'll get four
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: good practices in, which is basically a normal week for
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: us before we play. So we did a little community stuff. Community.
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: We had a nice outing downtown Hartford with the Parkville
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: School and some different things open. Hearth had a good
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: day there and I think some of the guys went
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: to the Bruins Canucks game, so they got to enjoy.
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: A little downtime. And now we're back to work.
• 8:44
  Speaker 5: How much does it help having a weird Wednesday game,
• 8:48
  Speaker 5: being able to kind of build your schedule how you
• 8:50
  Speaker 5: want coming in as opposed to playing on Saturday and
• 8:52
  Speaker 5: then having to turn around for Wednesday.
• 8:56
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it was nice.
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: I mean the fact that we have a Wednesday game
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: and we didn't have to play this weekend I think helped,
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: you know, and sometimes it was just quirks in the schedule,
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: and it happens all the time. It happens with us constantly,
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: where you know, the schedule comes out and we can't
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: play a game here because there's a football game or
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: there's a basketball game or you know this the administration
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: doesn't want to tax our workers here, which I understand.
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: And it's not great for your fans either, because we'll
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: have fans that cross over and want to go to
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: both games. So I think that was the situation with BC.
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: I think you know, they have a building where they play,
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: you know, four teams play out of one building. Fortunately
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: we don't have that situation, but we have to move
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: the game, and this was the only time we could
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: find it play it.
• 9:47
  Speaker 5: Do you like getting into Christmas break a little bit
• 9:50
  Speaker 5: early or like, do you like a longer break, a
• 9:53
  Speaker 5: shorter break?
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: You know, I think with us coming back on the
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: twenty sixth, you know, we're only getting into the break
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: like maybe three days early. We probably would have been
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: playing this weekend anyway, and that would you know, we
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: really only give him a couple of weeks, two and
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: a half weeks, because we're all coming back on the
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: twenty sixth, and we're playing on the twenty eighth, So that.
• 10:19
  Speaker 3: Christmas break always goes really fast.
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: Especially for us because we're recruiting and I feel like
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: it's not much of a break.
• 10:29
  Speaker 4: Brandy will jump over to.
• 10:30
  Speaker 7: You, thank him, pardon me, morning, cav. How you doing today.
• 10:35
  Speaker 7: I'm great, you very good.
• 10:37
  Speaker 3: Thank you.
• 10:38
  Speaker 7: Just one from me, just a little more on tongue, Like,
• 10:41
  Speaker 7: how important was it, you know, for him being injured
• 10:44
  Speaker 7: at the beginning of the year.
• 10:45
  Speaker 3: Just feel the puck.
• 10:46
  Speaker 7: I mean obviously he played great, only gave up two goals.
• 10:49
  Speaker 7: Like you said, you know mentally, how you know, much
• 10:53
  Speaker 7: of a relief was that for him to get in
• 10:55
  Speaker 7: there and perform as well as he did.
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think you'd have to ask him, but I
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: would say, Uh, from our standpoint, I thought it was great.
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: That's not an easy thing to do. He hasn't you know,
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: he's never played a college game, and uh, you know,
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: he was out for a long time and when he
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: came back, and you know, he had some he the
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: week before we played Lowell, he obviously he practiced every
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: day that week, but the prior week he got on
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: the ice a couple of times with Vince, so he
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: did wasn't able to feel the puck a little bit.
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: And I'm sure he's feeling better about his game or
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: I'm sure he was nervous and never played in a
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: college game and he hadn't really been on the ice
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: a ton because of his you know, status, and.
• 11:45
  Speaker 3: I'm sure he gave him some confidence.
• 11:47
  Speaker 7: And what does he I haven't seen him yet live,
• 11:49
  Speaker 7: So what does he do well? What like? What are
• 11:52
  Speaker 7: his uh you know, good you know, strong attributes as
• 11:56
  Speaker 7: a goal Well.
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: He's big and he's athletic. I think he tracks tucks well.
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: Uh you know he's uh, he competes, so he has
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: all the intangibles to be a really good goaltender and
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: that's why we recruited up.
• 12:13
  Speaker 3: All right, thank you see up there.
• 12:16
  Speaker 4: Okay, Randy, Josh will jump over to you.
• 12:20
  Speaker 8: Awesome high coach. Good morning, Nice to talk to you. So,
• 12:26
  Speaker 8: going back to the BC Yukon matchup, the last few years,
• 12:29
  Speaker 8: there have been some instant classics. You guys have had
• 12:33
  Speaker 8: as much success against BC as any other team in
• 12:35
  Speaker 8: Hockey East. I think four goals a game against them.
• 12:39
  Speaker 8: Is there anything other than just two good programs matching
• 12:43
  Speaker 8: up that brings the best out in your group against BC?
• 12:47
  Speaker 8: Is it roster composition or yeah?
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: I mean we've we've won one game in the last
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: four so I don't know if we've had as much
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: success as anybody, but I know what you mean, We've
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: we've played them pretty well. Uh No, I I don't know.
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: I just think we try to play everybody the same way.
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: And I think this program over the last few years,
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: it's not like it was when I first started here,
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: where there was games where we were holding on for
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: dear life.
• 13:19
  Speaker 3: Now, every now and then you have a game like that.
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: But I think certainly, you know, I don't know, you know,
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: I'd have to I guess you'd have to ask our kids, Josh.
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: But I don't think we treat this game any differently
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: than playing Lowell. Like every Hockey East team. If you
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: look at the pairwise rankings right now, there's probably eight
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: teams in the top twenty. So it's just a really
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: tough league. And you know, it doesn't matter who you're playing,
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: you have to get up and get ready to play
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: the game because if you don't, whether it's BC, whether
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: it's Merrimac, which we found out the hard way, whether
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: it's Vermont, whether it's Maine, you're going to get beat
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: if you don't come ready to play. So I just
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: I'm not sure, like I know. The answer I think
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: everybody wants is, oh, it's BC, you get up to
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: play BC. No, we have to get up to play everybody.
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: And that's what we're trying to instill with our players.
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: It doesn't matter what team we're playing, it's you. We
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: got to play our game and we got to play well.
• 14:37
  Speaker 8: Is there something about the way that they play, because
• 14:40
  Speaker 8: I think the difference in goals per game is like
• 14:43
  Speaker 8: maybe one and a half to two you against b
• 14:46
  Speaker 8: C against other teams. Is it because they like to
• 14:48
  Speaker 8: blow things wide open that that you guys are able
• 14:51
  Speaker 8: to find the back of the net more or is
• 14:53
  Speaker 8: it a grittier style that you guys play.
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: No, I mean, I don't know.
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: I think you know, I mean they yeah, I don't know.
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: I haven't really looked at it that way. I don't
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: know if our style matches up well against their style.
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: I'm not sure if that's the case. You know, there
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: have been games, I know, over the years with that
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: team where that always hasn't been the case. So I
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: just think I just think.
• 15:29
  Speaker 3: It's like it's a really good league.
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: And if you look up and down, I'm sure there's
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: other teams that have had success against BC as well.
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: Like I said in my book, in one win out
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: of the last four, that's not a ton of success.
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: We may have played them well, but we're not really
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: here for moral victories either, So you know, I'm just
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: focused not so much on what's happened in the past, but.
• 16:03
  Speaker 3: How we're going to play tomorrow night. Awesome, Thank you coach.
• 16:07
  Speaker 4: Yep, Darren, We'll go back to you.
• 16:11
  Speaker 5: Just back to Callum quickly. Is the way he played
• 16:16
  Speaker 5: against Lowell in those two games. What you saw from
• 16:19
  Speaker 5: him and juniors and kind of the goaltender that you
• 16:22
  Speaker 5: recruited it is.
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I saw that quite a bit, and especially last
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: year towards the end of the year in the playoffs,
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: he was you know a goaltender who you know, when
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: he's playing really well, Dan, He's making all the safs
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: he should make and then a couple that he shouldn't.
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: And I think that's probably the hallmark of a lot
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: of great goaltenders. It doesn't matter who we play or
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: you're always going to give up a couple of great a's.
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: Like It's like I said, the league is so good
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: that teams are going to get great a's, and if
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: they get five great a's, you want your goaltender to
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: make four of those saves, and sometimes he makes one
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: that he really shouldn't make. And I think Callum has
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: that ability when he's on his game.
• 17:16
  Speaker 5: Then you mentioned Tye and Jake Richard, but just other
• 17:20
  Speaker 5: than those two, how are you healthwise going into the game.
• 17:24
  Speaker 3: I think we're pretty good as of today. We are.
• 17:26
  Speaker 3: Let's hope we get through practice. Knock on wood.
• 17:32
  Speaker 4: Anything else for coach guys, awesome. Well, thanks everyone, coach,
• 17:37
  Speaker 4: thank you, good luck this weekend.
• 17:39
  Speaker 3: All right, guys, have a great day. Thanks