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MHOC Mike Cavanaugh Zoom March 4 - UVM · Coaches Corner

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: All right, coach, wrapping up the regular season, then the
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: long season, the fun season. We got one last game
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: up in Vermont. I just want to get your thoughts
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: and into that game.
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's hard to believe that this is a
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: final game of the season, but you know, we're certainly
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: excited to finish up, and we know we have a
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: strong opponent in Vermont ahead of us. We had a
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: great series with them here back God when was that November?
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: Maybe early November and two overtime games. I think, you know,
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: the thing about their team is I just think they're big,
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: they're heavy, they skate really well. They've got a lot
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: of seniors that have played a lot of hockey, with Walters,
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: Zappernick and Matta just seasoned Hockey East players. That it's
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: going to be a really I think, spirited, physical and
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: tough game Thursday night.
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: All right, who wants to start us off? Go ahead?
• 1:09
  Speaker 3: Dan?
• 1:11
  Speaker 4: Does it actually feel like the season's been that long
• 1:13
  Speaker 4: or does it feel like it's gone by pretty quick?
• 1:15
  Speaker 4: Because you mentioned the Vermont series being in November, and
• 1:18
  Speaker 4: if he told me that was two or three weeks ago,
• 1:21
  Speaker 4: I think I also would have believed that.
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: I know about that. For me, it's maybe been a
• 1:26
  Speaker 3: little longer. Dan Uh.
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: It's just you know, it's you know, you start whatever
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: it is the Tuesday or Wednesday after Labor Day and
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: here we are the first week of March. It's just
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: that's six months. And yeah, it does go quickly, but
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: it's also it's also a grind, you know, week in
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: and week out, especially playing in this league.
• 1:54
  Speaker 4: How much fun of you had with this team, given
• 1:57
  Speaker 4: you know, the history that they've been making, this SSS
• 2:00
  Speaker 4: that you've had and just all of that throughout the year.
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: It's been a real fun group to coach, no question
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: about it. And I don't know if I said it
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: a thousand times, and maybe I'll say to a thousand more.
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: I just think that because of John Spetts and Hudson
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: Chandor really leading the way, that's what's made it even
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: more fun.
• 2:29
  Speaker 4: It's been a few games since he played, But is
• 2:32
  Speaker 4: Mike Murtag healthy or he is?
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: He's healthy and he's playing well, and I feel very
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: confident that if he's in the lineup he can help us.
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: Just right now, the group we've been going with has
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: been playing pretty well, and we've been sticking with it.
• 2:49
  Speaker 4: What have you liked from Houston?
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: Brings a lot of energy on the bench. He's very
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: well respected in the locker room. I think he holds
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: guys accountable on the bench, and for a guy that
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: doesn't play a lot, he has everybody's respect and attention. So, uh,
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: he plays his role really really well, and if I
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: have to, if he plays them. You know, there's a
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: few times during the game where I'll put him out
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: there in certain situations and he's He's really come a
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: long way since his freshman year.
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: Uh.
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  Speaker 2: You know, I think early on his biggest issue was
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: never as skating or his strength or a skill level.
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: It was more positioning and understanding how we want to play.
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: And that's not a factor for him anymore. He knows exactly,
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: he's very rarely out of position, knows how we want
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: to play, and uh, we don't lose a lot.
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: When he goes into the game.
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: Joe will jump over to you.
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: Thanks morning, Calf, Good morning Joe.
• 3:53
  Speaker 5: Viking obviously got his first goal, which was nice to
• 3:57
  Speaker 5: see on Saturday. How has he improved during the season
• 4:00
  Speaker 5: from the time he got here to now? Ah, well,
• 4:06
  Speaker 5: you know, he always had a good skill set. I
• 4:11
  Speaker 5: thought right from the beginning. I think Joe right now,
• 4:14
  Speaker 5: he just feels very comfortable playing in our system and
• 4:18
  Speaker 5: the way we want to play. You know, we're a
• 4:21
  Speaker 5: very aggressive team. We like to stay in people's faces.
• 4:24
  Speaker 5: We've got a little bit of a.
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: Unique defensive zone, and for a defenseman, it takes a
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: little bit to learn that. But once he's grasped those concepts,
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  Speaker 2: I think you're he just keeps getting better and better.
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  Speaker 2: He's long, he defends well, and as I said, offensively,
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  Speaker 2: he's got a better skill set than some people would anticipate.
• 4:50
  Speaker 5: I know you mixed the defensive combos up during games,
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  Speaker 5: but it seems like the two kids have played it
• 4:55
  Speaker 5: off a lot lately. Kai and Trey. How do they
• 4:59
  Speaker 5: compliment each other's skill set?
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: Oh, they're both very good with the puck, you know,
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  Speaker 2: so when they go back to break pucks out.
• 5:08
  Speaker 3: It's pretty easy for them.
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  Speaker 2: They can go back and see a play before it happens,
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  Speaker 2: so and if they don't, they pass it to their
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  Speaker 2: partner and the next one can do it.
• 5:18
  Speaker 3: So, you know they.
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: Offensively, they're very gifted and they have a lot of poise,
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: both of them. They just don't throw pucks away. So
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: I think that's a great attribute to have as a defenseman.
• 5:33
  Speaker 5: And as strong as the league has been, this getting
• 5:37
  Speaker 5: six or seven teams into the tournament seem realistic.
• 5:41
  Speaker 3: Well we have five in now, so yeah, I think so. Yeah. Thanks.
• 5:49
  Speaker 3: I'll ask end up, Mike.
• 5:52
  Speaker 6: Have you had a chance to, even for a minute,
• 5:55
  Speaker 6: enjoy the fact that you're going into the last game
• 5:57
  Speaker 6: of the season in the playoffs, that you have an
• 6:00
  Speaker 6: NCAA birth locked up?
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: You know, I spoke about it yesterday with the team
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: because it's something that we do talk about on a
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: you know, a regular basis, and I said, it's a
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: great accomplishment, but I said, as far as this team's concerned,
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: we're not talking about it anymore because we've accomplished it.
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: And now that we've accomplished it, that's on the back burner.
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: We're going to totally focus on Hockey East and that's
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: what has our one undivided attention right now is Vermont
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: on Thursday night and then the Hockey East playoffs. And
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: the best way too. We can't win the regular season title,
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: we can certainly compete for the Lomarillo Trophy, and the
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: best way to do that I believe is to try
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: to secure a buye and not have to play in
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: the play in game on Wednesday. So and the only
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: way we do that is by being successful on Thursday night.
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: So Vermont right now has our undivided attention.
• 7:05
  Speaker 3: Right as it should.
• 7:07
  Speaker 6: Saturday was as good a ford checking game, as a
• 7:11
  Speaker 6: most complete game as I think we've had this season,
• 7:15
  Speaker 6: And being outside the locker room, I mean, you couldn't
• 7:17
  Speaker 6: hear everything by verse, but there seems to be some
• 7:22
  Speaker 6: what's the word I'm looking for, defiance I guess in
• 7:25
  Speaker 6: your voice, maybe from some of the eras in the
• 7:28
  Speaker 6: third period on Friday night, but it just seemed like
• 7:31
  Speaker 6: whatever it was, message received and the guys really went
• 7:34
  Speaker 6: after it on Saturday night.
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and again it's uh, We've tried to be very
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: consistent this year with our message, and it's been the
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: same message all the year, Bob, I've just tried to
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: reinforce it and right now at times, I think you
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: what you witnessed Saturday night was a team that understands
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: the message and wants to keep improving and getting better.
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: They understand exactly how we want to play, They understand
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: exactly what makes us a successful team. And if we
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: don't go off script, we can be very good. If
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: we decide to go off script and try to pretend
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: we're something we're not, that's where you can get in trouble.
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: So and again, I think our leadership understands the message
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: and they relay it to the team as well. But
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: right now, you know, as long as we stay true
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: to our identity, we can be a pretty good team.
• 8:43
  Speaker 3: Right.
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  Speaker 6: Last one for me, I mean, your kid line has
• 8:46
  Speaker 6: been sensational all season. Yeah, just discuss their development, the
• 8:51
  Speaker 6: two Ethans and Katan and what they brought.
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's been fun to watch.
• 8:55
  Speaker 4: You know.
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  Speaker 3: We had them together for a little while and we
• 8:57
  Speaker 3: broke them up.
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: And the one thing about when you play a freshman line,
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: you have to understand there'll be some growing pains.
• 9:07
  Speaker 3: But that being said, it's.
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: Easier sometimes for three freshmen to play together than one
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: freshman with two upper classmen or two freshmen with one
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: upper classmen, because a lot of times they'll just defer
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: to the upper classmen. And when all three of them
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: are together, I think they can play free and loose
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: like they want to play, and that they're.
• 9:29
  Speaker 3: You get the best out of their skill sets. When
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: that's the case when they're not deferring to a teammate.
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: So I've really enjoyed watching them. But the biggest improvement
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: they've made.
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: Is they don't I thought early on when they were
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: together they would trade chances, they would always create chances,
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: but they were giving up a lot of chances.
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: And now that's not so much the case.
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: They're very reliable and cognizant of how they have to
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: play in the defensive zone, and in turn, they're creating
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: a lot more chances now than they're giving up.
• 10:07
  Speaker 6: Didn't Kiton sell out on a play Saturday?
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: He dove in the defense. Great play there, really nice play. Yeah, yeah, Dan,
• 10:19
  Speaker 3: go ahead.
• 10:21
  Speaker 4: Uh, just speaking of that line, I know you've been
• 10:24
  Speaker 4: having Ethan play center. Just how do you think he's
• 10:28
  Speaker 4: progressed there throughout the season.
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: I think he's progressed really well.
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: I think early on face off sort of problem for him,
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: but now, uh, you know, he's worked on it quite
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: a bit, and I think that's an area that he
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: certainly improved. But you know, if he can continue to
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: improve there, it's nice to have a six foot four
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: center up the medal. I'll tell you that.
• 10:52
  Speaker 4: Sorry, the printer next to me just kicked on if
• 10:54
  Speaker 4: you hear some background noise. But if you win on
• 10:57
  Speaker 4: Thursday or just get one more win, you hit twenty
• 11:00
  Speaker 4: win mark. Yeah, which would be the third time in
• 11:02
  Speaker 4: the last four seasons and those previous two years you
• 11:05
  Speaker 4: talked about that as being a pretty significant milestone for you.
• 11:09
  Speaker 4: Just why is that a nice mark and how meaningful
• 11:13
  Speaker 4: would it be this year?
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: I think that is the benchmark for college hockey. If
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: you have a twenty win season, that's a really good season.
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: If you look up and down. I don't know how
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: many teams have twenty wins yet, but I would venture
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: to guest of the sixty three it's probably fifteen or under,
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: I would say. And in the sixty five years of
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: Yukon hockey before well, I should say in the first
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: sixty years of Yukon hockey, it was only done twice,
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: once when they were Division III program and the first
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: year they were in the MAC. So it's quite an
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: accomplishment for Hudson and John that if we're able to
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: get twenty wins again, I mean three times in four
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: years is pretty impressive when it had only been done
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: twice before that.
• 12:05
  Speaker 4: And then if I'm not poking into any state secrets.
• 12:08
  Speaker 4: But he said that what you do in the defensive
• 12:10
  Speaker 4: zone when you were talking about Viking can be a
• 12:12
  Speaker 4: little different. Just what makes it a little tricky for
• 12:14
  Speaker 4: defensemen to pick up.
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: It's just our scheme. It's nothing really, it's nothing revolutionary.
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: There's a lot of teams that play a very similar scheme.
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: But when you're coming over and you haven't played it before,
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: there are little nuances that you have to learn and
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: that just takes time. That's anywhere. You know, you see
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: a lot of college football players that are all Americans,
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: and you go play for Bill Belichick and the schemes
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: are a lot different. And I'm not saying that we're
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: Bill Belichick. It doesn't matter where you go. You go
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: play for Andy Reid, you go play for any coach.
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: I'm sure.
• 12:55
  Speaker 3: You know.
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: If you're a high school basketball player and you come
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: in and you're playing for Danny Hurley, his schemes are
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: a lot different than probably what you're used to. So
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: I just think that's natural for anybody coming into a program,
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: new to a program.
• 13:14
  Speaker 6: Anything else, guys, Yeah, just one more thing for me
• 13:18
  Speaker 6: day of the game, because you go up what you're
• 13:20
  Speaker 6: going to run tomorrow night, right, correct?
• 13:22
  Speaker 3: You have a day of the game skate.
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: We usually this time of year. Yeah, this is ice,
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: but we usually just make that optional. There are some
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: kids that don't If you don't take the ice, then
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: you'll do a stretch with mo. But there are some
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: kids that like to go out for ten minutes, fifteen minutes.
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: I don't like to make it mandatory because there are
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: some that don't like it at all. So I just
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: like it to be a player of preference and whatever
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: gets them in the best frame of mind to play
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: the hockey game that night. That works for me.
• 13:59
  Speaker 4: You have a favorite spot in Burlington.
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: Oh, there's a lot. There's a lot of spots in Burlington.
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: But uh, I don't know where we're going have I
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: gotta check the itinerary. I don't even know where we're
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: going for dinner tomorrow night yet. But it'll be a
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: quiet night for me, Dan, I won't be out on
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: the town tomorrow night.
• 14:17
  Speaker 3: Awesome.
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: Well, thanks thanks guys for jumping on coach. Thank you,
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: good luck this weekend, all right, thanks guys,