Sell Me On Cavanaugh

[The Viking]

Just got back from the XL to see our third offensive dud since the break ended.
We just lost to the 10th place team in the HE and even worse got completely owned in the final 10 minutes on home ice.
I always try to cut our coaches slack more so than others on the BY but I’m losing patience with Cavanaugh which is too bad because I tend to favor a good Irishman. And considering Ollie’s team sucks and we just lost Lashlee I was hoping one of our men’s programs could actually do something positive.
I understand the whole thing about it helps if we have a nice rink on campus but Cav was brought here as a golden boy from Boston Colllege who was supposed to be something special.
He is in his fifth year now so Where is the special? Considering the opponent and how we lost, that’s the worst loss on home ice in five years.
Go ahead and sell me

 

[Adios]

We hired the wrong freaking coach. Bruce Marshall's teams were scruffy, hard working. Cavanaugh's teams are prima donnas.

Another one of Warde's hiring screw-ups.

 

[The Viking]

Marshall wasn’t going to be coaching this team into the HE.

Who were the other candidates for the job when Cav got hired?

I keep thinking back to the fact we couldn’t win any one-on-one battles in our end the last 10 minutes and in OT. It must have been a three minute stretch where we could not clear the puck against a team that is 10th in the conference

 

[huskymedic]

He wasn’t necessarily the wrong coach @ the time. I think UConn sold Cav a bill of goods w/ the promises of an on-campus areana and better facilities to help w/ recruiting.

 

[ASweet3781]

Warde Manuel hired him! He has to be good.

 

[Adios]

He wasn’t necessarily the wrong coach @ the time. I think UConn sold Cav a bill of goods w/ the promises of an on-campus areana and better facilities to help w/ recruiting.

Even if he was sold a bill of goods, how does that justify players being prima donnas in front of large crowds? Horrible mentality.

 

[huskymedic]

Even if he was sold a bill of goods, how does that justify players being prima donnas in front of large crowds? Horrible mentality.

You have been throwing out the prima donna term in multiple posts for awhile - who exactly do you mean and how do you think Cav should handle it.

 

[The Viking]

Where do our recruiting rankings in the HE usually run? Are we toward the bottom every year?
Or Is he recruiting quality classes and not coaching them up?

 

[huskymedic]

Where do our recruiting rankings in the HE usually run? Are we toward the bottom every year?
Or Is he recruiting quality classes and not coaching them up?

@mac2351?

 

[zls44]

Well, Merrimack is one of the hottest teams in the country including just going out to Denver (the college equivalent of the Red Army right now) and winning there. Plus Bruce Marshall (RIP) was spectacularly bad as a coach and his teams were always among the bottom 5 in all of Division 1. And Cavanaugh has the worst facilities in the entire conference.

But sure, go ahead. Run him off. Go try and find a better coach- you will not be able to. Will. Not. Be. Able. To.

You think THIS is bad? Ask a Vermont fan. They just re-upped Kevin Sneddon for reasons beyond understanding and the next night the team came out and got drilled 6-0 by Lowell. They're 59th in Pairwise. Out of 60.

AND THEY HAVE ACTUAL FACILITIES!

Until UConn proves they're going to take serious college hockey seriously, it is pretty unfair to judge the coach, whomever it is. Mike Cavanaugh stepped up to the plate, and its on UConn to do the same. They owe it to Mike Cavanaugh, they owe it to their partners in Hockey East, they owe it to the fans.

 

[zls44]

Bruce Marshall's teams were scruffy, hard working.

And universally awful.

 

[FDNY99]

Well, Merrimack is one of the hottest teams in the country including just going out to Denver (the college equivalent of the Red Army right now) and winning there. Plus Bruce Marshall (RIP) was spectacularly bad as a coach and his teams were always among the bottom 5 in all of Division 1. And Cavanaugh has the worst facilities in the entire conference.

But sure, go ahead. Run him off. Go try and find a better coach- you will not be able to. Will. Not. Be. Able. To.

You think THIS is bad? Ask a Vermont fan. They just re-upped Kevin Sneddon for reasons beyond understanding and the next night the team came out and got drilled 6-0 by Lowell. They're 59th in Pairwise. Out of 60.

AND THEY HAVE ACTUAL FACILITIES!

Until UConn proves they're going to take serious college hockey seriously, it is pretty unfair to judge the coach, whomever it is. Mike Cavanaugh stepped up to the plate, and its on UConn to do the same. They owe it to Mike Cavanaugh, they owe it to their partners in Hockey East, they owe it to the fans.

@The Viking this is the Answer to your question/theory about Mike Cavanaugh. @huskymedic this should be pinned in a banner on the top of this forum with the headline: Before you pst about how bad Mike Cavanaugh is please read the following post!

 

[Husk1881]

WE HAVE NO FACILITIES. Who wants to have to strectch in the lobby of a tiny rink at he D1 level? Who wants to drive 30 minutes to play in the crappy XL center? It's hard to recruit this school in the current stage. And Hockey East is a top division. Unlike basketball and BD football we aren't losing becuase of poor coaching. It's a lack of talent. Guys play hard to some of these other schools are just faster, have better shots and higher IQs. The team is slowly coming together and students are taking notice. Give him a little more time.

 

[ct06111]

We need a better S&C coach.

 

[ct06111]

Where do our recruiting rankings in the HE usually run? Are we toward the bottom every year?
Or Is he recruiting quality classes and not coaching them up?

Recruiting Class Rankings - Neutral Zone - Men's Hockey

It says UConn's 2018 recruiting class is 3rd in the nation. (??? + !!!)

So, that would be incoming freshman for 2018-2019?

It says 10 commits with an average 4.08 stars.

 

[TheDoggPound]

It's unfortunate how this year is playing out, but it was predictable. We all knew that we didn't bring in enough scoring punch during the offseason. Next year's class could be the year we start seeing dividends.

 

[The Viking]

Well if those rankings are realistic and not some screwy formula then I’m impressed!
Still don’t know why he didn’t call a timeout late in the game when we were getting drubbed. It’s still a horrible horrible loss and now I see us finishing bottom three unless I’m missing something.
But the recruiting info is interesting

 

[mac2351]

I want to first preface this by saying I do believe Uconn lied to Cavanaugh about the facility situation in order to get him to come here and the facilities are a major recruiting drawback.

The one thing I will criticize Cavanaugh for is the last two recruiting classes. Any hope this season had died when the incoming class was finalized back in August. I was disappointed in the summer and am still disappointed in January with Cavanaugh on who he brought in this year. If Tage Thompson stayed for one more run, this program had the chance to make noise this season. Thompson left in March, Cavanaugh did nothing to replace his production. It has to be a huge criticism of him. Uconn is receiving, by far, the worst production from their freshman and sophomore classes than any program in Hockey East.

The 2018 recruiting class is the most important of his tenure. The program is losing at least 6 forwards ( I am including Letunov) and 3 defensemen. Next season’s incoming class has talent. It will be the most talented incoming class from top to bottom in program history. These are the types of classes in which a program’s future momentum is built. The question will become how does the program continue to develop the incoming talent.

 

[Adios]

You have been throwing out the prima donna term in multiple posts for awhile - who exactly do you mean and how do you think Cav should handle it.

I mean the players feel it's ok to not give 100% effort and be lazy during game play. Just ride the scholarship, not exactly appreciate what they have at hand in education and crowd support.

Cavanaugh seems to treat these players as if they are at Boston College; egos that would require treatment as professional players. We're not even that strong a program.

 

[Adios]

And universally awful.

What a genius you are.

 

[zls44]

The one thing I will criticize Cavanaugh for is the last two recruiting classes. Any hope this season had died when the incoming class was finalized back in August. I was disappointed in the summer and am still disappointed in January with Cavanaugh on who he brought in this year. If Tage Thompson stayed for one more run, this program had the chance to make noise this season. Thompson left in March, Cavanaugh did nothing to replace his production. It has to be a huge criticism of him. Uconn is receiving, by far, the worst production from their freshman and sophomore classes than any program in Hockey East.

I agree with a lot of this, but to say they didn't replace the output of a top 20 draft pick is ridiculous.

Yeah. No crap they didn't. Its not exactly easy.

 

[zls44]

We're frustrated. I'm frustrated, Butch is frustrated, you're frustrated. I get it.

But this is a long-term issue that's outside his control.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

I want to first preface this by saying I do believe Uconn lied to Cavanaugh about the facility situation in order to get him to come here and the facilities are a major recruiting drawback.

FWIW, wasn't Cavanaugh hired when UConn was still a member of the Big East conference with still great hoops, fairly decent football, and significantly higher revenues? Perhaps not, but the BE didn't dissolve until sometime in 2013. It's a SWAG on my part, but somehow I'm challenged to believe Manuel and Hearst flat out lied regarding UConn's then plans for facilities' improvements and construction. However, the current facilities absolutely are subpar by HE standards and a significant recruiting challenge versus HE and other competitors.

 

[TheDoggPound]

Did anybody think that the first 4 recruiting classes in HE-era would be better than the subsequent 4 to follow? Let's not go off the deep end here guys.

 

[Husk1881]

Again this team competes to superior talent. We are slowly getting better. Basketball and football you see a pattern of trouble. Hockey will get better with time and facilities. Trust the process.