Mike Cavanaugh is no stranger to the state of Maine.
The second-year head coach of the University of Connecticut’s men’s hockey team captained the hockey and football teams at Bowdoin College in Brunswick and spent 18 seasons as an assistant coach at Boston College.
Cavanaugh and his Huskies, in their first season in Hockey East after moving over from Atlantic Hockey, will invade Orono at 7:30 p.m. Friday for a game against the Maine Black Bears before the two teams journey to Hartford, Connecticut, for a 2:05 p.m. matinee on Super Bowl Sunday.
Friday night will mark their first meeting as Hockey East rivals and it will be just the fourth time they have ever met.
The 46-year-old Cavanaugh has already told his players what to expect at Alfond Arena.
“I don’t know if it’s the best atmosphere in Hockey East but it is one of the best and it is one of the best in all of college hockey,” said Cavanaugh, a native of North Andover, Massachusetts. “It’s a lot of fun to play there.
“It’s always electric. Their student section is outstanding. And I love the pageantry in Orono. I really enjoy coaching up there,” he added.
UConn went 18-14-4 under Cavanaugh a year ago, 15-9-3 in Atlantic Hockey. The Huskies got swept by eventual league tourney champ Robert Morris in their best-of-three quarterfinal series.
Cavanaugh is glad to be in Hockey East.
His team is 7-12-5 overall, 4-6-2 in the league, including wins over Boston College and UMass Lowell.
“I experienced a lot of things for the first time last year and I wasn’t familiar with many of the teams in the league. It was difficult from a preparation standpoint,” he said.
He also noted that his team played in front of crowds of 400 in some Atlantic Hockey venues.
“It wasn’t exciting. You had to create your own energy,” explained Cavanaugh.
But he said having spent the previous 18 years in Hockey East has given him a “pretty good feel” for what to expect.
“It’s easier to prepare, which puts my mind at ease. The kids won’t be surprised by a certain type of forecheck,” said Cavanaugh, who cherished his four years at Bowdoin and has remained a close friend of Bowdoin hockey coach Terry Meagher.
He remembers playing for Bowdoin against Maine in Portland in 1988-89 and 1989-90.
“David Capuano played for them and Garth Snow was in net one time,” recalled Cavanaugh. Freshman goalie Snow shut them out 7-0.
Cavanaugh said the fan support for the team has been tremendous and that he is hoping to “parallel what Shawn Walsh did at Maine.”
Walsh transformed a losing program into a national power and two-time NCAA champion.
Cavanaugh said he has an exceptional group of players to coach.
“We haven’t scored a lot of goals but we make up for it with grit and competitiveness,” said Cavanaugh, who expects his team to have its hands full this weekend.
“They’re 6-2 in their last eight and Devin Shore and Ben Hutton are two of the better players in our league,” said Cavanaugh, the winner of the 2013 Terry Flanagan Award given to an assistant coach for his career body of work. “Their goaltending had solidified itself and I know they will be very well-coached. Red [Gendron] is as detailed a coach as there is in this league.”