University of Massachusets Athletics
Transcript From Hockey East Coaches Teleconference: Tuesday, Jan. 6
January 06, 2009 | Hockey
Jan. 6, 2009
On Tuesday morning, UMass hockey head coach Don "Toot" Cahoon spoke with the media during the Hockey East Coaches Teleconference. Cahoon gave his thoughts on the first half of the season, what he expects heading into the second half of the year, and about several Minutemen who have had solid starts to the year. Below is the transcript from the teleconference. For complete audio from each coach's 10-minute Q&A session, go to www.hockeyeastonline.com.
Cahoon On The First Half Of The Season:
I don't have the crystal ball, but I know the first half has been all about the unpredictable, and I think that has been the nature of our team. We have had some games where we have played at a very high level and executed well, but quite frankly it has been a while. We lost to Vermont at home going into the third period with a lead and we have not been the same since. We are working on defining ourselves a little bit and playing with a little more conviction on a regular basis. It is not all bad, but it certainly is not good enough to compete for a top spot in the league.
Cahoon On UMass' Areas For Improvement:
I think you get to the point where if you start pressing a little bit around the net, you do not put away golden opportunities. It shows itself a little bit in the power play. Having said that, not putting the puck away on Sunday against Cornell was clear because we had a number of good scoring chances, but we were a little tight and we did not complete plays. Our power play did show great improvement on Sunday, however. I am hoping that is the beginning, and hopefully we can stay fundamentally sharp and we do not let our inconsistency crawl too far between our ears. We have some good athletes who have shown that they can succeed, but now we need to do it on a consistent basis. There have been a few conversations, but you also need to relax sometimes and let the kids play a little bit.
Cahoon On The Motivational Factors Facing The Team:
We certainly have a big part of our season ahead of us with 18 league games left to play, and obviously a lot of things can happen in those games. You cannot get too lost in the length of the schedule or the difficulty of the schedule. We just need to take it as it comes, and today was about having a good practice and feeling comfortable and confident and trying to get ourselves back to right. The next game will be the New Hampshire game here, and we will try to take care of business as it comes. Then we have to turn around on Saturday and try to handle UNH at New Hampshire. It is a difficult tour, especially with New Hampshire playing so well and with a lot of confidence. Obviously they are going to be ready to play, but we just need to take it as it comes and bear down on all the little things that can make a difference in a game situation.
Cahoon On Avoiding The Burnout Factor During The School Break:
We are going through an interesting period at UMass with the intersession period, and it gets pretty quiet out here for about three or four weeks. So we are practicing in the morning so that the players can get to bed at night. We also have some kids taking intersession courses during the break, so we have study halls set up for those kids to be able to get extra help to be able to deal with the overload of work. We have some kids working in soup kitchens, with Big Brothers & Big Sisters, and some others teaching in an elementary school. There are some kids working with Amherst Youth Hockey, as well. So we have an array of activities going on with our players to try to keep their days full as if they were in class, so we can have productive practices.
Cahoon On The Challenge Of Climbing Up The Hockey East Standings:
We have not shown ourselves to be on of the top teams in Hockey East yet, and as disappointing as it is for me to say this, it's been a year since people have looked at us as and upper-tier team. This time last year was the beginning of our demise, and I think we have played better at times earlier this year, but we have not shown that we are ready to knock off Boston University, New Hampshire, Boston College or Northeastern. So we have to take it one day at a time, and that is how I am leaving it. At the end of the day, they will add up the points and then we will see where we stand. But I do not think we can predict what might happen over a nine or ten week period of time.
Cahoon On Senior Co-Captain Cory Quirk:
Cory is a terrific kid, and what you see is what you get with him. He gives you an honest effort in the classroom, he is socially responsible, and he comes to practice everyday and works hard. He has been on championship teams at Catholic Memorial, and then went out to Waterloo and played an entire year with a broken hand, and still had a productive year. I do not think people saw that he would be a 100-point player coming out of Waterloo, but that was because he had a cast on his hand and I do not think he got to show what his offensive capabilities were. It is great to have a kid right out of Massachusetts who played for a program like Catholic Memorial, to come here and have that much success. He is one of our co-captains and he is just a fabulous kid all around. He is a core kid on our team, and I think it is safe to say that he would have been a core player on any team.
Cahoon On Freshmen Casey Wellman And Matt Irwin:
You never know what to expect coming in as a freshman - they can get overwhelmed very easily. But they are both mature kids; they are kids who have gone through the trials of junior hockey and I think they benefited from that. I think they are physically ready to play at this level, so that growth and development that some freshmen need did not have to take place during the season. They both have skill sets that compliment the things that we are trying to do here. They obviously got off to a great start, and I would throw T.J. Syner into that mix as well. He is a kid from Springfield, Mass., that went out to the USHL and had a good season last year. Now he has come here and really played at a high level, and the three of them have been three of our better players lately.
