Latest / Coaches Corner / MHOC Mike Cavanaugh - Media Day Sept 23

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MHOC Mike Cavanaugh - Media Day Sept 23 · Coaches Corner

0:00
Speaker 1: Well, the offseason went too quick, as it normally does,
0:03
Speaker 1: but we're excited to be back, you know, after finishing
0:08
Speaker 1: the way we did last year. I think there's a
0:09
Speaker 1: lot of excitement in the room, and I feel like
0:12
Speaker 1: there's probably some unfinished business we have. But the one
0:16
Speaker 1: thing that we've been able to do is turn the page.
0:19
Speaker 1: And if anyone understands I do that last year has
0:25
Speaker 1: no bearing on what this team's going to do. We
0:27
Speaker 1: have great leadership coming back, we have goaltending coming back.
0:30
Speaker 2: We've got some experience on defense.
0:32
Speaker 1: But it's a new season and we're going to have to,
0:37
Speaker 1: you know, play very well to be.
0:39
Speaker 2: Successful in this league.
0:40
Speaker 1: This is not a league that you can bring a
0:43
Speaker 1: B game and expect to win. So, as I said,
0:48
Speaker 1: two weeks, well not even two weeks, less than two
0:50
Speaker 1: weeks from now, we'll be teeing it up out at Colorado,
0:53
Speaker 1: and I'll be looking forward to seeing what we have
0:55
Speaker 1: under the hood.
0:56
Speaker 2: Okay, Lobis said.
0:58
Speaker 1: Last year about what I've seen you kind of.
1:01
Speaker 3: Create a stand of the culture.
1:03
Speaker 2: Did that stay in tact?
1:05
Speaker 1: Was that passed along to.
1:09
Speaker 3: Uh?
1:11
Speaker 2: I think so?
1:12
Speaker 1: I think so. You know, Ryan Taddle and Hudson are
1:15
Speaker 1: from the same area. They're very close. Taber Heaslip was
1:18
Speaker 1: a captain last year. You know, Joey muldowney's new to
1:21
Speaker 1: the leadership group, but he's another one though who understands
1:25
Speaker 1: and certainly respected what Hudson and John brought. And I
1:28
Speaker 1: think they're trying to pick up right where they left off.
1:32
Speaker 2: Can that can that door shut or no? I said,
1:35
Speaker 2: I don't know.
1:36
Speaker 4: You had a chance to sit back and think about
1:39
Speaker 4: last year, was doing one thing about the season, the
1:42
Speaker 4: development that surprised you, and has that carried over.
1:45
Speaker 5: Into this year so far?
1:49
Speaker 2: Development from from what standpoint joe from start to finish. Yeah,
1:55
Speaker 2: I think that.
1:56
Speaker 1: Uh, there was a lot of belief in that locker
1:58
Speaker 1: room last year, I said, but we also understood, just
2:02
Speaker 1: like we understand this year, that just because we didn't
2:06
Speaker 1: fare as well the year before that didn't mean that
2:09
Speaker 1: we weren't going to have a good team last year.
2:12
Speaker 1: And just because we had the year we had last
2:14
Speaker 1: year doesn't mean that this year is going to be successful.
2:19
Speaker 1: If you look at you know, I look at I
2:22
Speaker 1: think twenty three to twenty four, Merrimack came off their
2:24
Speaker 1: first trip to the National Tournament, and they had pretty much.
2:29
Speaker 1: They had both goalies back and a lot of their
2:30
Speaker 1: team back, and they would pick third in the conference,
2:33
Speaker 1: just like we were, and they finished tenth, you know,
2:36
Speaker 1: when we were pitched fifth in the conference and we
2:38
Speaker 1: finished eighth.
2:39
Speaker 2: So it has no bearing on what we're going to do.
2:43
Speaker 1: It just matters whether that team in there is going
2:45
Speaker 1: to gel as a team and play connected and play
2:48
Speaker 1: for each other and rise to the occasion. In this league,
2:53
Speaker 1: you got to be comfortable playing in one goal games
2:55
Speaker 1: or tight games in the third period and find a
2:59
Speaker 1: way to win them.
3:00
Speaker 6: Are there any tells that you've been able to pick up.
3:02
Speaker 3: When you're in the locker room that over.
3:04
Speaker 6: The years to say a team that when you reflect
3:06
Speaker 6: back said, oh, this was really a connected team. I
3:08
Speaker 6: saw this from them early on. Like, are there any tells.
3:12
Speaker 2: In that not this early?
3:14
Speaker 3: You know?
3:15
Speaker 1: I think you can reflect back maybe and say that,
3:17
Speaker 1: But for me to sit here and tell you, oh,
3:20
Speaker 1: I saw something last week, I know we're going to
3:22
Speaker 1: be good.
3:23
Speaker 2: I can't do that. I'm not a chemistry.
3:26
Speaker 6: Like the chemistry.
3:29
Speaker 1: Again, Like we haven't played a game yet, you know,
3:31
Speaker 1: So what did Mike Tyson say? Everybody is a play
3:36
Speaker 1: until they get punched in the mouth, and then we'll
3:37
Speaker 1: see what happens. So, you know, we haven't played a
3:40
Speaker 1: game yet, we haven't got punched.
3:41
Speaker 2: In the mouth. So I don't know how this team's
3:42
Speaker 2: gonna respond.
3:43
Speaker 1: Last year when we got swept by Merrimack, we responded
3:46
Speaker 1: in a great fashion. I don't know how this team's
3:49
Speaker 1: going to respond if that happens.
3:51
Speaker 3: What have you seen that makes you feel confident? Like
3:53
Speaker 3: you said earlier, that they've turned the page from last year.
4:00
Speaker 1: I think the fact that we have seven seniors and
4:04
Speaker 1: they've been through a lot of wars.
4:06
Speaker 2: They've been good, down good. I think they also understand that.
4:13
Speaker 1: Rankings and where people predict you to be not an
4:17
Speaker 1: indicator of your success. It's how hard are you gonna
4:20
Speaker 1: work every day in practice? Are you going to take
4:23
Speaker 1: care of yourself away from the rink? Are you gonna
4:25
Speaker 1: hold guys accountable? That's all stuff that's yet to be seen.
4:31
Speaker 3: Has anyone of the attorneys taken a would have been
4:35
Speaker 3: jumped more than you might expect in your growth, either
4:38
Speaker 3: on or off the ice?
4:41
Speaker 1: Again, you know in the weight room, yeah, you know
4:43
Speaker 1: some of our numbers, I mean, most of the kids
4:46
Speaker 1: were here this summer, and mo did a fabulous job
4:51
Speaker 1: with him, as she always does. So as I look
4:54
Speaker 1: at where our numbers were a year ago in the
4:57
Speaker 1: weight room to where they are now, yeah, they've taken
4:59
Speaker 1: some great jumps. But does that translate onto the ice,
5:03
Speaker 1: I'm not sure yet. You know, Like Jerry Jerry Yorkis
5:08
Speaker 1: always say yeah he's on the all bus team. He
5:09
Speaker 1: gets off the bus, he looks great, but the game comes,
5:13
Speaker 1: I don't know what's gonna happen.
5:15
Speaker 3: You know.
5:16
Speaker 4: Yeah, a lot of newcomers, seven new covers. How if
5:21
Speaker 4: they blended in cabin, is that give you the ability
5:25
Speaker 4: to kind of start.
5:26
Speaker 2: Faster because most of the guys.
5:27
Speaker 6: Have d his system.
5:29
Speaker 1: Yeah, well they were all here this summer. So for
5:33
Speaker 1: those guys, I think it's been a seamless transition. They
5:36
Speaker 1: understand what the expectations are of this team. And I
5:39
Speaker 1: think when you have leaders, uh like we have up
5:43
Speaker 1: front with Taber and Ryan Taddle and on defense with
5:47
Speaker 1: Thomas Sineo and Moose and net you know, because we
5:50
Speaker 1: have new goalies coming in, we have new defensemen coming in,
5:53
Speaker 1: we have new forwards coming in, they've been able to
5:56
Speaker 1: tutor them all in that position, pretty well.
6:00
Speaker 5: Every rule has different every sport has different rules, and
6:04
Speaker 5: hockey was a place where you could get drafted, maybe
6:06
Speaker 5: go to a developmental camp, and then come back.
6:09
Speaker 2: But how do we get.
6:10
Speaker 1: From that to where now AHL players could come back
6:14
Speaker 1: and play in hockey.
6:15
Speaker 2: Do you have any thoughts on that? Yeah, that's a
6:17
Speaker 2: good question, Tom, I don't know.
6:23
Speaker 1: You know, there's part of me. There's part of me
6:26
Speaker 1: that says, how are we any different? I mean, there's
6:28
Speaker 1: kids getting paid a lot of money to play college sports,
6:31
Speaker 1: so how is that any different than a kid being
6:33
Speaker 1: paid in the East Coasts? So part of me wants
6:36
Speaker 1: to say I do think there needs to be an
6:38
Speaker 1: age limit though, So up until you're twenty one, I
6:43
Speaker 1: don't care where you've played, you know, really I don't,
6:45
Speaker 1: because we can be considered professional. But when kids are
6:50
Speaker 1: twenty three, we're twenty four coming in to be freshmen
6:54
Speaker 1: and they've played pro hockey, it just doesn't seem right
6:58
Speaker 1: to me. It doesn't seem like that's the spirit of
7:02
Speaker 1: where we want to go in college athletics.
7:05
Speaker 2: But I'm not making those decisions kind of in that
7:09
Speaker 2: same dame.
7:09
Speaker 3: But if this is the first year you got major
7:11
Speaker 3: junior kids. What impact do you expect that to have
7:15
Speaker 3: on the sport, and then how have you navigated that
7:17
Speaker 3: as a program.
7:20
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean we're certainly out there recruiting those. I
7:23
Speaker 1: don't see a major difference honestly between the Major junior
7:27
Speaker 1: kid and the USHL kid.
7:29
Speaker 2: I really don't.
7:31
Speaker 1: I think the leagues are very comparable, and I hope
7:33
Speaker 1: at some point that they all become one league, you know,
7:37
Speaker 1: and that there's not infighting in between leagues, and there
7:41
Speaker 1: should be a development process where you go midgets to
7:44
Speaker 1: juniors or prep school, you know, to juniors, to college
7:49
Speaker 1: to pro.
7:50
Speaker 2: That's what I'm hoping.
7:52
Speaker 1: I think there are some people still buying for their turf,
7:55
Speaker 1: and I think it's childish and sophomoric, and we need
7:59
Speaker 1: to move away away.
8:00
Speaker 2: From that and all work together.
8:02
Speaker 1: That's what I think, because it really it should be
8:06
Speaker 1: about the player and what is the best development path
8:09
Speaker 1: for that player to achieve the goals they want to achieve.
8:13
Speaker 1: And we're certainly going to need help from the NHL.
8:16
Speaker 1: The NHL is going to have to intervene here at
8:18
Speaker 1: some point and say this is the development path we
8:21
Speaker 1: foresee for the NHL. And I think if they step
8:25
Speaker 1: in and do that, it'll be a lot more a
8:29
Speaker 1: much smoother ride going forward in the future.
8:33
Speaker 3: So what's it been like just opening that recruiting territory
8:37
Speaker 3: Because you recruited a ton in BCCHL, you had those
8:40
Speaker 3: connections to the USHL. What's the process been like just
8:43
Speaker 3: building those connections in those leagues, kind of figuring out
8:46
Speaker 3: each team, each league and all of that for bringing
8:50
Speaker 3: in guys for yourself.
8:51
Speaker 1: Well, the travel hasn't been any different. I mean, I
8:53
Speaker 1: was in Victoria this weekend watching a couple of our
8:55
Speaker 1: kids play, and I was there a couple of years
8:57
Speaker 1: ago watching players play. So the travel really isn't any different.
9:02
Speaker 1: It's just the relationships with those coaches. They're not all
9:09
Speaker 1: happy that colleges are coming in to recruit their players.
9:12
Speaker 1: So where in the.
9:13
Speaker 2: Past the BC coaches would work with you.
9:17
Speaker 1: And it's a fact of life, Like the NHL is
9:21
Speaker 1: going to come in and take our players, and I
9:23
Speaker 1: understand that, and that's what they should do when the
9:25
Speaker 1: kid's ready, and I think it should be the same
9:29
Speaker 1: for us. There are some junior players that are playing
9:31
Speaker 1: junior hockey right now that have no business playing junior hockey.
9:34
Speaker 2: They should be playing collegiate hockey.
9:37
Speaker 1: But there's still a little bit of a as I said,
9:39
Speaker 1: turf war between.
9:41
Speaker 2: Both leagues.
9:43
Speaker 5: Jerys, he's not necessarily trying to replicate his twenty nine
9:46
Speaker 5: goals from last year, but improving in other things, maybe
9:49
Speaker 5: getting more assistant stuff. Are you encouraging that you want
9:53
Speaker 5: to a more well rounded game or just let the
9:55
Speaker 5: goals come for him.
9:57
Speaker 1: I'd like to see him put up another twenty nine goals, certainly,
10:00
Speaker 1: but I'm not going to put any pressure on him
10:03
Speaker 1: to do that. I think we're going to take the
10:04
Speaker 1: same tact I took with him last year. It is like, Joey,
10:08
Speaker 1: I want you to become the best two hundred foot
10:10
Speaker 1: player you can become. And the thing about Joey was
10:12
Speaker 1: when he was scoring his twenty nine thirty goals, he
10:15
Speaker 1: wasn't cheating on the defensive end to do it. So
10:21
Speaker 1: he's one player I don't have to worry about. He
10:23
Speaker 1: comes out here every day and works on his craft
10:25
Speaker 1: and he's committed to playing at both ends of the sheet.
10:29
Speaker 2: And whether he gets twenty.
10:30
Speaker 1: Nine goals, thirty nine goals, or nineteen goals, I'm not
10:34
Speaker 1: concerned with that as long.
10:35
Speaker 2: As he's given us a great effort at both ends.
10:38
Speaker 5: There's something you want to see him prove his game?
10:46
Speaker 1: I think everybody can improve. I don't know if there's
10:48
Speaker 1: one specific thing in his game. He shoots the puck
10:52
Speaker 1: pretty well, he competes, he can make a play.
10:58
Speaker 2: So.
11:00
Speaker 1: I don't know if there's one specific thing we want
11:02
Speaker 1: to see him improve. I just want to see him
11:03
Speaker 1: get better in all areas. Did you notice any added
11:06
Speaker 1: buzz to the program after the defending the tournament last
11:09
Speaker 1: year just out of the recruiting trail or out of course, Yeah,
11:12
Speaker 1: talk about kind of how I noticed it. Yeah, Well,
11:17
Speaker 1: you know, I've tried to tell people that that wasn't
11:22
Speaker 1: Everybody seems to seem like, Wow, what a season that
11:25
Speaker 1: came from out of nowhere.
11:28
Speaker 2: Not really.
11:29
Speaker 1: You know, six of the last eight years we finished
11:31
Speaker 1: in the top five in this league. Three of the
11:33
Speaker 1: last four we've had twenty win seasons and finished in
11:36
Speaker 1: the top four.
11:37
Speaker 2: So to me, that wasn't a one off.
11:40
Speaker 1: Like we've been building to get there for a long time,
11:45
Speaker 1: and I think that's what I.
11:48
Speaker 2: Envisioned for this program.
11:50
Speaker 1: I knew it wasn't going to happen overnight, but now
11:53
Speaker 1: I think the next step for us is let's get
11:55
Speaker 1: in the top three, let's get in the top one.
11:58
Speaker 2: You know, let's win.
11:59
Speaker 1: A conference championship. Those are all things that now we're
12:03
Speaker 1: aspiring to do.
12:05
Speaker 6: To that point, what has it been like to see
12:07
Speaker 6: maybe that people outside of these walls are seeing what
12:10
Speaker 6: you've been working on four years at years.
12:13
Speaker 2: And years, I'm sorry, I'd like.
12:17
Speaker 6: To see that people outside of this building are starting
12:20
Speaker 6: to recognize what we talk about it every year, write
12:22
Speaker 6: this chip on your shoulder, and their disrespect and that
12:25
Speaker 6: sort of thing. But now people outside the walls are
12:27
Speaker 6: starting to see it because you did hit that next.
12:31
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I think more importantly than the people outside
12:36
Speaker 1: the walls or the people inside the walls, and those
12:39
Speaker 1: are the guys that I'm really focused on. And those
12:42
Speaker 1: guys know what our expectations are, they know what they
12:47
Speaker 1: have in that room, and they know where we want
12:51
Speaker 1: to go as a program. That to me is way
12:53
Speaker 1: more important than the people outside the walls and what
12:56
Speaker 1: their impressions are of our program.
13:00
Speaker 3: Do you have any goalie coach, Yeah, what do you
13:03
Speaker 3: like about him?
13:03
Speaker 2: Why, how did you find him?
13:05
Speaker 3: And what are you expecting from him?
13:07
Speaker 2: Well?
13:07
Speaker 1: The first person that tipped me off on him was
13:09
Speaker 1: Vince Stilletti. He said to me, I think this is
13:12
Speaker 1: a guy that you should look at. You know, Detroit
13:15
Speaker 1: let go of their whole staff, and I've known him
13:17
Speaker 1: for a while and I didn't realize it was nice
13:21
Speaker 1: to have a coach that's my age, you know. Nick
13:24
Speaker 1: Carusi was putting me in the same breath with his
13:27
Speaker 1: parents today, and I guess I am. I'm old enough
13:30
Speaker 1: to be his dad. But that kind of hit home
13:34
Speaker 1: a little bit. So it's nice to have another approaching
13:37
Speaker 1: fifty year old on the staff for one. But he's
13:40
Speaker 1: got a I remember coaching against him when he was
13:43
Speaker 1: at Yale. He was an outstanding goaltender and you know,
13:46
Speaker 1: he's worked eight years in pro hockey, so I think
13:50
Speaker 1: he brings a different.
13:55
Speaker 2: Set of experience than we've had in the past.
13:58
Speaker 1: You know, Andrew Raycroft brought a little bit, but he
14:00
Speaker 1: was only here a couple of years and he was
14:02
Speaker 1: a volunteer. Westy's full time, and he can talk to
14:06
Speaker 1: the kids what it's like at the pro level. Haven't
14:10
Speaker 1: been there for the last eight years, and being in
14:12
Speaker 1: Detroit and working with you know, a Dylan Larkin type player.
14:18
Speaker 1: You know, he's seen all types and what it takes
14:22
Speaker 1: to succeed at that level. So I think that's really
14:24
Speaker 1: beneficial for our current players who have those aspirations.
14:29
Speaker 3: Your last two assistants have had a lot more experience
14:32
Speaker 3: than pretty much every other one that you hired. Was
14:34
Speaker 3: that intentional and wanting to have more established guys or
14:37
Speaker 3: is that just a coincidence.
14:39
Speaker 1: I think I'm always looking to hire the best fit
14:41
Speaker 1: for our program, and with Nick, at the time, I
14:45
Speaker 1: thought he was the best fit. And with Westy, I
14:49
Speaker 1: thought he was the best fit. So I don't really
14:54
Speaker 1: listen Joe. When I hired Joe Perreira, he didn't have
14:56
Speaker 1: a day of recruiting experience at all, but I thought
14:59
Speaker 1: at the time that's what we needed. And you know,
15:01
Speaker 1: you're going to make mistakes in hiring, and you're going
15:03
Speaker 1: to make good hires hopefully, you know. I think we've
15:08
Speaker 1: made a lot of good hires here over the course
15:10
Speaker 1: of thirteen years, and I think the last two are
15:15
Speaker 1: going to fit that bill as well.
15:17
Speaker 4: How does the speed still as good as last year wise?
15:21
Speaker 1: I think so, you know, the kids we brought in
15:23
Speaker 1: can all skate, and we've got a lot of returners.
15:25
Speaker 1: I think it's important that you have a good It's
15:27
Speaker 1: not only how fast you skate, it's about how fast
15:30
Speaker 1: you think the game. So, you know, Jake Rashard might
15:34
Speaker 1: not be a burner, but he probably thinks the game
15:36
Speaker 1: faster than anybody on our team, so he can make up,
15:40
Speaker 1: you know, what some guys might have, and you know,
15:44
Speaker 1: god given natural speed, he makes up with his brain.
15:48
Speaker 1: So not that he doesn't he skates poorly, but if
15:51
Speaker 1: you're going to race he and Joey Muldowney, Joey's going
15:54
Speaker 1: to win ten out of ten. But Jake thinks the
15:56
Speaker 1: game pretty quick.
15:57
Speaker 4: To that point, having a veteran defense come back to
16:00
Speaker 4: and the familiarity they have with each other, they able
16:03
Speaker 4: to sort of think faster without familiarity and allow you
16:06
Speaker 4: to do what you want to do in.
16:08
Speaker 2: Your system play.
16:09
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think having a veteran team, you know,
16:13
Speaker 1: also knowing we didn't have to spend a ton of time.
16:17
Speaker 2: On systems here early in the season. It was more about.
16:21
Speaker 1: Trying to get into game shape quickly, into you know,
16:29
Speaker 1: that first game. We're not going to be a finished product,
16:32
Speaker 1: you know. And I also understand Colorado College isn't going
16:35
Speaker 1: to be a finished product, but that night, I'm hoping
16:39
Speaker 1: that we're further along than they are.
16:42
Speaker 2: We'll see, we'll see on October third.
16:44
Speaker 1: I don't know if that's going to be the case
16:45
Speaker 1: or not, but that's why you play the games. But
16:48
Speaker 1: that's kind of what we've been focusing on, getting really
16:50
Speaker 1: into game shape and playing at the pace we want
16:53
Speaker 1: to play at game one. And sometimes that's you know,
17:00
Speaker 1: certainly not the easiest thing to do right out of
17:05
Speaker 1: the gate because you want to continually be getting better
17:08
Speaker 1: and better, and that's going to be our goal throughout
17:10
Speaker 1: the season. But when you have a veteran team, you
17:13
Speaker 1: want to try to play as close to the pace
17:15
Speaker 1: we want to play at in game one.
17:19
Speaker 2: Kevin Hitzderal doing Yeah, he's doing great. You know.
17:24
Speaker 1: A credit to Ed Blair and our medical staff, and
17:28
Speaker 1: credit to Kevin because he really worked at it.
17:30
Speaker 2: Last year.
17:31
Speaker 1: Some of you guys who were around saw him doing
17:33
Speaker 1: putting in the work and so far, knock on what
17:36
Speaker 1: he's he's been healthy and he's been playing really well.
17:39
Speaker 2: So he's like full back. He's full back.
17:42
Speaker 3: How about anyone else?
17:43
Speaker 2: Everyone else doing good? Ah? Yeah, we should have a
17:48
Speaker 2: full practice today. In like long term terms, I think so,
17:51
Speaker 2: I think we're fine as of right now.
17:54
Speaker 4: Yeah, before we end, coach was just announced that you
17:58
Speaker 4: commonly be playing in Belfast twenty twenty six.
18:01
Speaker 2: Yeah, just get a statement from you on that. Yeah.
18:03
Speaker 1: I we're super excited about that. That's we were there.
18:06
Speaker 1: What year it was seventeen or eighteen, eighteen nineteen. It
18:10
Speaker 1: was such a I think great experience for our team
18:15
Speaker 1: being able to go over to a foreign country learn
18:19
Speaker 1: about some history. You know, a lot of kids, a
18:22
Speaker 1: lot of our kids had no idea about the conflict
18:25
Speaker 1: and the troubles that went on in Ireland, and I
18:27
Speaker 1: think that was eye opening.
18:29
Speaker 2: You know, when we went to.
18:30
Speaker 1: The Wall and Belfast and.
18:32
Speaker 2: Then playing over there.
18:33
Speaker 1: It's always a very energetic, enthusiastic crowd when you're playing
18:38
Speaker 1: over there, and it's a trip that you know, I think, yeah,
18:44
Speaker 1: we're going to be playing for a trophy, but I
18:46
Speaker 1: think it's more than that. I think it's a it's
18:48
Speaker 1: a life experience that the kids will never forget. So
18:52
Speaker 1: we're really grateful that they asked us to come back,
18:55
Speaker 1: and we'll be excited to go back there.
18:58
Speaker 2: Thanks coach. Thanks, alright, it's okay.