Latest / Coaches Corner / Mike Cavanaugh - Merrimack Week
Transcript
- All right, coach, coming off two game road trip up in Vermont weekend split. Both goaltenders played well five goals Saturday, so I want to get your thoughts on this past series and then heading into a third home game this Friday against Merrimack and home and home with them. Yeah. I was was certainly happy to get that split on on Saturday. I was especially being down two nothing on the road and after losing on Friday night the way we I thought that power play goal was a big goal for us at the end of the second period, and then you know, I felt like it taken a month to get three goals and we got three in a minute. So it was nice that finally broke open and we were able to get that win. And it's it's been a a long five weeks with you know, eight out of our first ten on the road, and with the exception of Friday night, I thought the teams play pretty well. H and we're looking forward to getting back here at Tiscana. Awesome. All right, we'll open up for questions. Randy, you want to start us off? You got it? Hello, coach? How you doing today? I'm great, Randy? How are you really good? Thank you? Good. Yeah, just if you could expand a little on like that three goal outburst and you know, you reference that you've been in every game and are generating opportunities. Is there like a sense of relief among the guys when, like you know it, their their obvious offensive talent kind of comes through after you know, so many games of frustration. Yeah, I don't know. I mean we got five against Union, you know, and I just think it's something that we have to continue to focus on playing well and creating scoring opportunities and maybe getting the puck to the net more. You know, that was certainly a point of emphasis for us on Saturday, is getting more bodies and pucks to the net. And you know when you saw with Fraser's goal, he got to the net. You know, Maddy Woods both his goals, he got to the net. So those are things that we are really focused on. Defensively, You know that Corps has been limiting opportunities and shots on goal. Both goalies have been playing well. What is what are you doing right defensively? What's something we could look for that when you guys are right defensively is happening. I just think it's team defense, you know, it's not necessarily. Obviously, your goaltenders have to be able to make saves. You're going to give up chances in a game. There's a lot of good teams. We're playing Merrimac and they have, you know, some outstanding players and Jeffries and Caponi, and we're going to give up, you know, chances and your goaltender is going to be there. You've got to avoid giving up second and third opportunities. You got to avoid giving up odd man rushes. I think when we're playing well defensively, you don't see us giving up odd man rushes and you don't see a lot of second and third opportunities there. I think Hugo OLiS big six foot eight goalie. Sure, I know they split goalies, but like when you face a goaltender that you don't see many six eight goalies, do you change anything or is it still about generating your offense and shooting as you would on you know, any regular I guess quote unquote regular sized goalie. Yeah. No, we don't change. We really don't change anything the way we play and we've played against him for the past couple of years. He's an excellent goaltender. Again, if he sees it. You know, when he gets a clean look at it, it's hard to beat him. So we're going to have to have deflections, rebounds and take his eyes away. Okay, thank you, Sure, Randy, Joe will head over to you. Thanks Colin, morning, Coach, Jaman and Joe. Face offs have been something we've talked about a lot. And you've got four guys, your fourth centermen are all above fifty percent on the winning face offs this year. What have they done different? What do they work on? How do they work on it in practice? What's the what's the process behind becoming better on the dot? Yeah, I just think it's something that we do work on in practice. We'll work on it today. In practice, we put a lot of emphasis on it. It's not necessarily just the centerman though. I think you have to have help from your wings or your defenseman because a lot of draws are fifty to fifty and it's who's going to get in there and help win it. So it's you know, and then you know, Hudson Chandra has a lot of experience taking face offs in this sleep and Sam who's you know, he's always been a pretty good face off guy. He's just has a knack for it. Taber's done a good job for us, and we've had a bunch of other guys take draws too. I think a Tristan Fraser can get in there and and take draws, and Oliver Flynt has done a decent job. But it is something we work on in practice, and you know, I'd like to keep it well above fifty percent. That bodes well for us. Jack Pascucci got got to run on Saturday. What had he done in practice from the first game of the year to now that encouraged you that that he can carry his load with Harrison on that defense. Paroit. Yeah, he's continued to work hard, I think, you know, as all our defensemen have, and you know he had sat out a couple of games, and he brings a big physical presence to our lineup, and uh, you know, there was no real it was just it was time. I thought we get him back in the game. You know, we were coming off a loss and they're pretty physical. They're pretty physical team Vermont, so we thought his physicality could help us. And I thought he played very very well on Saturday night Final one for me CAF. What's a typical Mirrormack team, and does this year's team exemplify what they're what they've been like. Yeah, I think Scott does a great job of getting them to play with a lot of pace in high tempo. You know, I don't there's not a big drop off between any one of their lines. The defensemen are very active. They get in the game. If if you turn the puck over, they got three or four guys right in the rush coming at you. So we're going to really have to manage the puck well through through the neutral zone. They have a smothering defense in the offensive zone. We're gonna have to keep the puck moving in the offensive zone and not let it stall. And they've got two excellent goaltenders. Thank you yep, Well, hello over to you. Dan mentioned earlier how you finally get a game at home. It's crazy that we're into mid November. You played twice at home, once at Tuscano, and it's not like your road trips have just been you know, up the road. So how helpful it is is it for the team to get a game here at home on a Friday night and just to start having a little bit of regularity at home too. I think it would be great, you know. I mean three of the last five Thursdays you're getting on a bus and going on the road, you know, So for us to be able to be home on a Thursday night and play at home on Friday and kind of have a normal day, it'll be a nice change for us. But also I think playing on the road can can harden your team, and I think that pays it ends later on down the road later in the season. You know, having gone through those types of games, it's hard to win on the road in college hockey, it really is. And we've played pretty well. Like I said, with the exception of Friday night, I thought we've played pretty well in our opponent's buildings. In normal circumstances, we'd be looking at our cities two four goals against average in nineteen sixteen savee percentage and saying he's having a pretty good year. But Ethan's numbers are just crazy right now, with a GAA one, three, nine, and then a nine to forty two save percentage. I feel like a lot of times when we talk about a goaltender competition, it's this guy's not playing well enough to stay there. But is there also another side of it where just one guy is so good that you can't take him out, You know, that's certainly can happen. I don't think at that point yet, But you know, if one guy is just playing completely lights out, yeah, I mean throughout my career, you've had no problem riding a hot goaltender if that's the case. But I do think they've both played exceptionally well and given us chances to win hockey games every night. With a young goaltender like our City, it seemed like he had a bit of a rough night up at UVM. Is it important to stick with him and continue showing him that confidence after rough outing when, like you said, he's played pretty well and won bad game is not going to sing. You know. The thing about our City, I'm sure he would have liked to have had the first two goals back. You know, one was he just fell down on the first one and it was kind of mishap there. The second one, I'm not you know again, I think that's a goal that he'd probably liked to have back. But also in that game, we gave up sixteen greade A opportunities, the most we had given up in a game prior to that was eight. So he held us in there on the second and third and you know, gave us a chance to try to get back in that game. We just couldn't score any goals for him. So there are some nights where that happens and your team gets a game back to three to three in the in the second and you got a chance to win it, you know, and he gave us I thought he made I was really impressed with how he performed in the second and third period after having our first period like you did. Then Nick Copone midst of the weekend at Union with that lower body injury, came back for Lowell and then back out. Is it just the type of injury that you have to manage and you know he may be there some days, maybe not. Was it a reinjury? Just what's his status going forward? Yeah, well he was the injury he sat out for at Union, was not the injury he set out for last week. He has not practiced yet this week. I haven't talked to the trainers yet or to Ed yet to find out what his status is for today. But hopefully, you know, he can get back because he's certainly a big physical presence in our lineup, and I'd like to have him in there, but he's got to be, you know, one hundred percent healthy before we get him back in the lineup. All right, Adam will jump over to you. Yeah, thank you very much, coach. You know, I think we've talked all season about how the chances have been there, and College Hockey News put out some analytics in the last day that shows that Yukon is the team that has the lowest goals scored versus expected goal scorer, which I mean, it just speaks to what you are talking about. Does that feel right that you are at this point sort of the unluckiest team in the country and scoring goals? Well, it doesn't feel right that we're unlucky, I would say, but it's sometimes that happens. It's also only ten games, so usually that stuff evens out over the course of thirty four games. So if we continue to play the way, I'm more concerned with us creating those chances and being a team that, you know, if we're constantly in the four and a half to five expected goals a game, it's gonna usually even out for you somewhere along the line. So that's kind of the number on more creating chances the number are more concerned with. Yep, thank you, coach. Yeh, Randy will head back to you. Yeah, just want to follow up on Daniel's question. With both goalies playing so well, how much do you credit the internal healthy competition of pushing each other. You know, it's been two years in a row of goalies that have played well, and you know, also the I guess the factor of staying fresh, Like how much are they complimenting each other to succeed as individuals as much as they are well? I think with our schedule where I kind of alluded to earlier, where you're playing eight out of ten on the road, and a couple of those have been you know, Friday night at seven and Saturday at four, you know, I know, like up at Colgate at Union back here when we played Lowell. It certainly is helpful to have a fresh goaltender in the net. And you've seen the success the Bruins have had with it, and you've seen a lot more pro teams, you know, splitting the net because the wear and tear on goaltenders is a lot when you're playing every single game. So that being said, if both goalies that are giving us a chance to win, will continue to play two goalies. If there's one that separates themselves, then we'll go in that direction. Thanks, Joe will go to you. Okay, CAF, can you explain exactly what constitutes a great a chance? I've never heard that fully explained. Essentially, it's they draw like a little house, Joe, between you know, the faceoff dots and the top of the circles, and if you're getting a chance in that area, it's usually a great a chance. So if you could picture that, you know, from from the face off dots going directly to the posts out to the top of the face off circles. That's why they say the house, get shots in the house. Those are great A opportunities. Okay, my DIY is that drop? So I'll have to draw it out. Thank you. Yeah, next time I'll see you. Next time I see I'll do it for you, Dan, I'll head back to you. Aside from Nick, anyone that is a question mark for this weekend, I don't think so. Yeah, not not as of right now. No. And then I know it's like right on that shoulder season of weather, but have you broken out the big heavy winter stuff for this game at Merrimack in that rink, I have not. They've done some renovations to it which look really nice, so I think that'll be fine. But with my you know, my my three quarter zip's pretty warm, so I'll be all right. Speak for yourself. I'm gearing up for that one. All right, we're an extra layer. You got anything else for coach, guys? Awesome? Well, thank you, coach appreciated. Good luck this weekend. All right, thanks guys, but