Latest / Coaches Corner / MHOC Coach Mike Cavanaugh Oct 7

Transcript

MHOC Coach Mike Cavanaugh Oct 7 · Coaches Corner

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: I got you guys.
• 0:03
  Speaker 2: Awesome, awesome.
• 0:04
  Speaker 3: All right, we'll get this thing underway. Coach, 26, 27
• 0:09
  Speaker 3: seasons finally upon us. You guys head into action this weekend,
• 0:14
  Speaker 3: Friday versus Penn State, Saturday Bowling Green for the Icebreaker Tournament.
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  Speaker 3: Just want to get your thoughts, you know, finally being
• 0:21
  Speaker 3: able to hit the ice versus another opponent.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, we're excited. It's been a long preseason. You know,
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  Speaker 1: after a while you get tired of playing against you know,
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  Speaker 1: your teammates and you want to go out and tee
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  Speaker 1: it up against an opponent. So we're excited to get
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: going Friday night against the Nittany Lions at Toscano. That's
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: for sure.
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  Speaker 3: All right, Joe, you can start us off.
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  Speaker 2: Always go with the oldest. Good morning, coach. How are you?
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: Great, Joe.
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  Speaker 4: How are you?
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: I'm good. I'm good. It was interesting watching your guys
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  Speaker 2: go through their paces yesterday. How have the seven kids
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: from Canadian junior hockey fit in? And can you talk
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: a little bit about buying into that a little bit
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  Speaker 2: more this year than last year when you just had
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  Speaker 2: the three?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think you're going to see that trend continue.
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  Speaker 1: It's clearly one of the best development leagues that we
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  Speaker 1: get to recruit from. So I think you're going to
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  Speaker 1: see the majority of kids that are entering college are
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  Speaker 1: going to have played in the the CHL. Now we're
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  Speaker 1: still recruiting kids out of the USHL and we have
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  Speaker 1: a couple of those kids as well. And I think
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  Speaker 1: that's a great league. And, you know, if it were
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  Speaker 1: up to me, they'd all combine and we'd have one
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  Speaker 1: North American tier one junior league. I think that's would
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  Speaker 1: be the best development path. But until that changes, we're
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: still going to recruit pretty heavily from the CHL.
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  Speaker 2: And have those kids all fit in the seven newcomers
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  Speaker 2: pretty well, the CHL kids?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I have not found any difference. I think it's
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  Speaker 1: a very... They have a similar experience in the CHL
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  Speaker 1: as they do in the USHL, I believe. Yeah, to
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  Speaker 1: answer your question, it's been a seamless transition for all
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  Speaker 1: those kids.
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  Speaker 2: What trait have you missed most from the kids who left,
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  Speaker 2: graduated after last season that you have to see build
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  Speaker 2: on during the early part of the season?
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  Speaker 1: Well, I don't know yet. We haven't played a game,
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  Speaker 1: but you're going to miss their experience. There was a
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  Speaker 1: lot of games, Tabor Heaslip and Jake Percival, Tristan Frazier,
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  Speaker 1: Tom Massinio, Ryan Tattle. They played a lot of hockey
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  Speaker 1: games here. So you're going to miss that experience. That
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  Speaker 1: being said, and I've said this on a couple of occasions,
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  Speaker 1: the new kids don't have to replace them. When you
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  Speaker 1: run in a good program, Now it's time for Murtag
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  Speaker 1: and Gardula and Shahan and Whitcomb. They have to replace
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  Speaker 1: those minutes. And it's their turn and it's their time
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  Speaker 1: to shine. So those younger kids can work their way
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  Speaker 1: in just like Tattle, Frazier, Percival, and Heaslip did when
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  Speaker 1: they were freshmen. They weren't asked to carry the load
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  Speaker 1: when they were freshmen. And neither will our guys that
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  Speaker 1: we're bringing in.
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  Speaker 2: Last question for me of the returnees of the juniors
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  Speaker 2: and seniors. Which kid have you seen step up a lot?
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  Speaker 2: in the preseason, not just on ice, but as a leader?
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  Speaker 1: Well, I think, you know, we've got a bunch of them.
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  Speaker 1: I think that junior class we have, there's a lot
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  Speaker 1: of leaders in that class and the kids that I
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  Speaker 1: just mentioned. And if you throw in Trey Scott and
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  Speaker 1: Kai Janveraia as well, you know, that's a really strong
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  Speaker 1: class for us. And I think they've all stepped up
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  Speaker 1: their leadership.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you. Randy, go ahead.
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  Speaker 5: All right, Coach Cav, good to see you.
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: Nice to see you, Randy.
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: All right.
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  Speaker 5: I wanted to, my first class was about, or question
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  Speaker 5: was about that junior class, so maybe go in a
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  Speaker 5: little bit more. Like Ethan Whitcomb scored in each goal,
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  Speaker 5: scored in each game of the Hockey East Tournament last year,
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  Speaker 5: and Shahan had a really good run in the first half. Oftentimes, right,
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  Speaker 5: like the juniors take that next step. What would taking
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  Speaker 5: that next step for some of these guys look like?
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  Speaker 1: On the ice? Well, it starts with minutes. You know,
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  Speaker 1: I mean, they probably all averaged 12 to 13 minutes
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  Speaker 1: last year, and they're going to be asked to play
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  Speaker 1: more minutes this year in more crucial roles, whether that's
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: five on six, four on four, special teams. You know,
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  Speaker 1: they're going to get their five on five minutes, but
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  Speaker 1: where you accumulate more minutes is in the special teams or,
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  Speaker 1: as I said, four on four, five on six. different
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  Speaker 1: situational hockey, we expect them to be playing in those roles.
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  Speaker 5: And then I want to ask about Jeremy Leranger, the
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  Speaker 5: transfer from Nebraska, Omaha, BCHL MVP before he came to college.
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  Speaker 5: Where does he fit? Is he a top six forward,
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  Speaker 5: I imagine? And what's his skill set?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, he's got a great skill set. He skates really well.
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  Speaker 1: He's one of those few players that I think he's
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  Speaker 1: faster with the puck than than he is without it.
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  Speaker 1: Or I should say he doesn't lose a step when
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  Speaker 1: he has the puck. Some guys get the puck on
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  Speaker 1: their stick and it slows them down. That's not the
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  Speaker 1: case for him, but he's got tremendous skill. He had
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  Speaker 1: a very strong freshman year at Nebraska Omaha. He's still
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  Speaker 1: only 19 or maybe he, yeah, he's 19 years old.
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  Speaker 1: So he's a younger sophomore. So far he's fit in
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  Speaker 1: really well with our, with our group.
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  Speaker 5: Um, fresh, obviously there's a lot of new faces, anybody
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  Speaker 5: standing out through camp. I know you got to see
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  Speaker 5: it on the ice in a, in competition, but if
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  Speaker 5: any of the new faces have really stood out and
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  Speaker 5: what stands out about them?
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  Speaker 1: Uh, I think they've all stood out in their own way. Randy,
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  Speaker 1: it's funny, you know, we've had three scrimmages and one scrimmage,
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  Speaker 1: it could be, you know, Amadovsky and Davis were really good.
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  Speaker 1: And then Frank and Allstead were really good and Morrison
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  Speaker 1: and MacIsaac, you know, it just, it seems like they're
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  Speaker 1: learning the ways and it's very, it's not just maybe
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  Speaker 1: some different hockey systems and different academic curriculum. They're living
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  Speaker 1: away from home. So they're getting adjusted to a lot
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  Speaker 1: of different things, but there's a lot of good hockey
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  Speaker 1: players there. And I see them being, they're going to
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  Speaker 1: have to be contributors to our team. They're going to
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  Speaker 1: have to play minutes for us. and important minutes for
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  Speaker 1: us to be successful.
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  Speaker 5: And just looking at Friday night opening up against, excuse me,
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  Speaker 5: Penn State, it's, you know, two big brand schools that
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  Speaker 5: kind of are on a similar trajectory in hockey. And,
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  Speaker 5: of course, you had the matchup a couple of years ago.
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  Speaker 5: With all the new faces, I mean, it's still a
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  Speaker 5: pretty exciting first game of the year. What are guys,
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  Speaker 5: you know, just some thoughts on, you know, Penn State
• 7:16
  Speaker 5: to open?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it's a great opening game for us.
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  Speaker 1: Guy Godowski's teams, year in and year out, they lead
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  Speaker 1: the country in shots on goal. If you look at
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: the last five years, they've led the country in shots
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: on goal in three of those years. While this team
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  Speaker 1: this year is a lot different than his team from
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  Speaker 1: last year, there's a lot of new faces. I know
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: Jackson Smith is back on defense and Matt Godowski is
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: back on defense, but they have a lot of new
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  Speaker 1: faces up front. And I'm familiar with Justin Poirier. He played,
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  Speaker 1: you know, but I don't think they're going to change
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  Speaker 1: his style. I've watched his teams play at Princeton and
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  Speaker 1: I've watched his teams play at Penn State. They're a
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  Speaker 1: high octane offensive team. And we're certainly going to have to,
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  Speaker 1: you know, manage the puck well and play sound hockey.
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  Speaker 1: We can't be getting into a game where we trade
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  Speaker 1: chances left and right.
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  Speaker 6: All right.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you.
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  Speaker 2: Daniel, go ahead.
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  Speaker 4: I know better than to ask who's starting on Friday,
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  Speaker 4: but just what have you seen from your three goalies
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  Speaker 4: in the preseason so far?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, they've all played pretty well. I feel confident in
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  Speaker 1: all three goalies we have. And I think that Alex
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: Westland does an incredible job with them. So tomorrow we'll
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: sit down, you know, before a practice and make a
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  Speaker 1: decision on who will go Friday night.
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  Speaker 4: Uh, Carlin and Alex, uh, both played Alexander played a
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  Speaker 4: lot last year, had pretty good freshmen seasons for you.
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  Speaker 4: How have you seen them grow and develop now that
• 9:03
  Speaker 4: they've got a full year under their belt and understand
• 9:06
  Speaker 4: the college world a little better?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think they've both, it's, it's, uh, It's always
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  Speaker 1: interesting every year to see the difference that a kid
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: makes from his freshman to sophomore year. I think that's
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  Speaker 1: usually the biggest jump because they certainly, as I just
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  Speaker 1: alluded to earlier, where the incoming freshmen, everything's new to them, academics,
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  Speaker 1: living away, living here, hockey systems. It's very familiar with
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  Speaker 1: the sophomores and you can just see how much more
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  Speaker 1: comfortable they They are in the program than they were
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  Speaker 1: a year ago. And they're both excellent players. And I
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  Speaker 1: put them right in there with the juniors I mentioned
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  Speaker 1: earlier as being guys that are going to have to
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  Speaker 1: be big players for us this year.
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  Speaker 4: Then similar vein. Anthony was your youngest player last year
• 10:02
  Speaker 4: and looked like a kid at the beginning of the season.
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  Speaker 4: Then by the end of the year, might've been your
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  Speaker 4: best defenseman. So where you've talked very highly of him
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  Speaker 4: since he came on campus. So what are the next
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  Speaker 4: steps for him?
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  Speaker 1: Well, he's taken those next steps. He's, he's picked up
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  Speaker 1: right where he left off and, He still might be
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: the youngest player on our team, Dan, this year. I'm
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: not sure. But, yeah, he's just a tremendous talent, and
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  Speaker 1: he's going to be playing upwards of 25 minutes a
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: night for us. That's for sure.
• 10:36
  Speaker 4: Thanks.
• 10:42
  Speaker 3: Anything else for Coach, guys?
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  Speaker 2: I'll go one more if I could.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, go ahead, Randy.
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  Speaker 6: Okay.
• 10:47
  Speaker 5: Just general thoughts about, uh, participating in this, uh, tournament,
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  Speaker 5: what it does to have four different leagues represented and,
• 10:55
  Speaker 5: and UConn being a part of that co-hosting with Sacred Heart.
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it's great. They came to us, you know,
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: Sacred Heart and ourselves, we opened our rinks on the
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: same exact day, uh, three and a half years ago. And,
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: you know, after we opened the rinks, they had contacted
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: us and CJ and myself, would you be interested in
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: hosting this tournament? And that was an easy yes, uh,
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: I love starting the year with a tournament and you're
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: playing for a trophy right out of the gate. I
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  Speaker 1: think it sets the tone and, um, you know, we're,
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: we're thrilled to be able to host this tournament. That's
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: for sure. With the quality of teams that are coming in.
• 11:33
  Speaker 5: How does the trophy work? Um, with the, the format who.
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: Wins games and figure it out. That's how I say it.
• 11:45
  Speaker 3: Sounds good.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Go ahead. Last one for me, Kev. I was on
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: a NCAA webinar last week with the rules. Do you
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: like the new face-off rules and stuff?
• 11:56
  Speaker 4: I love them.
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: I'd actually like to see them go even further with
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: the face-off rules. I think it should just be a
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: stick battle. I don't think you should be able to
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: use your feet. I don't think you should be able
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: to go to one knee. I think it should just
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: be a stick battle and As you watch, like last year,
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: it was getting crazy. It was almost like a lacrosse face-off.
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: Guys were getting so low, and they're going to a
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: knee on the face-off. That's not the intention of it.
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: It should be a stick battle, and we're moving closer
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: to that. So I really like him.
• 12:30
  Speaker 3: Sean, go ahead.
• 12:32
  Speaker 6: What do you find is, I guess, maybe difficult about
• 12:36
  Speaker 6: having your first couple of games with a brand new
• 12:40
  Speaker 6: group be against different opponents as far as preparation goes?
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a good question. In some ways, Sean, it's
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: liberating because I'm not breaking down a lot of film
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: and over analyzing the opponent. I have an idea of
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: how coaches don't change that much They still play the,
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: they have a philosophy on how they want to play
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: the game. And I've known Guy for a long time
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: and I've known Dennis Williams for a long time and
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: I understand how they want to play. Now, personnel is different.
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: So from that standpoint, I think it allows us to
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: focus more on our game than have to worry about
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: the opponent. So in some ways it's good, but in
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: other ways, like I have no idea what they're going
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: to do for power play. I don't know how they're
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: going to kill a penalty. I mean, that can change.
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: you know, certain personnel more so like on special teams.
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: I just don't know yet how they, like they might
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: have a guy on a special, a lot of times
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: when you're trying to defend a power play, it's like, okay,
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: well let's take away their best option. I don't know
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: who their best option is right now. So it's going
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: to take us probably a period or two to figure
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: that out or just stay out of the box. That'll
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: work too.
• 13:58
  Speaker 3: Anything else for coach guys?
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: Awesome.
• 14:01
  Speaker 3: Well, coach, thank you so much for jumping on.
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: Good luck this weekend.
• 14:03
  Speaker 4: All right.
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: Glad to be back. Thanks guys.