Long-time BC Hockey assistant Mike Cavanaugh is set to become UConn's new head coach. This is great personal news for Cavanaugh as he finally gets his chance to run his own program. For BC, it is a different issue.
Jerry York is the man and mind behind BC's sustained excellence the past 20 years. But his assistants were a critical component. Cavanaugh came to BC after spending a year with York at Bowling Green. He has been here for the rise and sustaining BC's dominance. Because he and Greg Brown have been so integrated into BC's decisions, recruiting and scouting, the program was able to continue relatively smoothly when York missed time with his eye issues.
Now York will have to find a new assistant to replace Cavanaugh. I am sure some of his areas of responsibility will shift to Brown and fellow assistant Jim Logue. Others will go to the new guy. Coaching under York is a dream job for any young hockey staffer, so Jerry will have his pick.
Long-term this is probably a good issue for BC. It makes Brown the clear in-house heir apparent when York retires. It also gives Cavanaugh some valuable experience running a team away from BC. Both Brown and Cavanaugh would have been favorites to be the next BC head coach. What might have been a coin-flip decision given their similarities now has real differentiation.
I don't think UConn is an easy college hockey job, so if Cavanaugh does succeed, that will speak to his abilities running a program. I wish him luck except for when he plays BC.
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It is nice to know of "Alvin" York's background with Bowling Green. At one time, St. Louis University had a very good hockey program and their big rival was Bowling Green. Mike Liut of NHL fame was their goaltender. Political correctness then emerged at SLU and the program was scrapped in honor of Title IX. There had been also an attempt to bring back football with a club program which was thrown in the pit at the same time. The basketball program finally had a good year for the first time since the 70s and its escape from the Missouri Valley. The point is that SLU is Jesuit just like BC and the Rev William Patrick Leahy, who came from SLU, could very easily have started a "fire sale" at BC. He did not and as a SLU graduate, you need to thank your lucky stars that he didn't. Read the news on page 10. SLU is now "throwing out" its president, Lawrence Biondi, SJ, after 25 years with major demonstrations and it all started with Title IX.
Big loss for BC, but neat opportunity for Cav to build a program from the ground up. When Jerry retires, we should now have the choice between a loyal BC assistant (Brown) and another long-term BC assistant who by then will also have head coaching experience (Cav). That's a nice choice to have.
It was probably crucial that Cav get that HC experience somewhere....it will make him that much more marketable in a few years.
It will be interesting to see how the team reacts. There is definitely a bit of a sentiment that a lot of the X's and O's coaching of the forwards was Cav's responsibility and that our continued success in that regard is as attributable to him as to JY. He is also an outstanding recruiter...although at this point the program and Jerry probably sell themselves. I hope he does well down at UConn. he has always been a standup guy as long as he has been at BC and is the kind of guy you definitely want to root for.
JBQ, way to grind your Title IX ax. Despite the unbelievably "graceful" segue from Cavanaugh to SLU, this argument has no place here. Nothing anywhere about Biondi's retirement references athletics or anything of the sort....it all points to faculty and student disapproval over academic issues.
Political correctness didn't all of a sudden set in at SLU, but compliance with federal law did. A lot has been written and about Title IX that tells us it has had a dramatic positive effect on the way that women experience their university and not just athletically. Obviously none of that will change your chauvinistic and clearly biased mind.
Last, comparing BC with SLU or Leahy with Biondi is about as apples/oranges as it gets. Apart from being Jesuit, the schools and presidents don't share much else in common. Leahy hasn't been at SLU in any official capacity since his 20s. It's not a matter of thanking lucky stars as much as it is doing the smart thing. We needed to cut programs at BC in order to gain compliance, and we did. Do you really think a fire sale was even a remote possibility with the history of BC Athletics and membership in major conferences?
Enjoy complaining about girls finally getting their fair shake...it will make you very popular in all the places you want to be.
Ry--So basically what you're saying is that if you dislike Title IX, that makes you chauvinistic? If you're against gay marriage does that make you homophobic and against women's rights as well in your view? What a terribly assinine comment.
@Ry: Don't agree. If they want full equality, then let them play football or wrestle. Since they can't, they must destroy everything they can't do. SLU is a perfect example of the destruction of a university to fit the needs of minorities. If you think that it can't happen at BC, just look down the road at St. John's and see what happened within the last week with a suicide and the embezzling of one million dollars. The president dropped football to appease the feminists and found out too late their real agenda.
JBQ, give it a rest. Your devil's advocate approach to equal rights shows quite well that you don't take women or their rights seriously. My consolation is that the younger generation does not think like you. I'm sure you were throwing a fit when organizations had to integrate.
Bravesbill-- actually, yes, if you are against gay marriage, you are homophobic. Give me some reasons why the marriage of two men/women who have absolutely nothing to do with you detracts from your marriage, infringes upon your rights, etc.
And if it's the religious reason, plenty of people (slave-owners, bigots, racists, anti-miscegenation activists, Westboro Baptist Church) have used religion to defend their beliefs, so try harder.
UConn is showering praise on BC by stealing a top assistant. You want to mimic success. I wonder why there couldn't have been a deal made to guarantee a succession to York when the time came. York is beginning to have physical problems.
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