Auburn, ME – Head Coach Kevin Cady sat down recently to discuss the state of the Mustang's new hockey program. Cady, hired from an impressive field of quality applicants last Fall, has served as chief of recruiting over the past eight months. Cady and Athletic Director Dave Gonyea have overseen the monumental task of student athlete recruitment, the procurement of equipment, and the build-up of a first class locker room facility at the Norway Savings Bank Arena in Auburn.
CM: What has it been like to build a team from scratch?
KC: When hired it was clear the immediate mandate was recruiting players and students to attend CM. Fortunately, my background in hockey includes prospects scouting and I like to evaluate hockey talent and skill level and trying to forecast where a player will be two and three seasons down the road. At the end of the day, my job is to find the best student hockey talent to enroll at Central Maine. It gets a bit complicated with the understanding that most kids in competitive hockey are at a crossroads when they reach eighteen and nineteen years of age. I ask kids "Is an NCAA Division I coach speaking with you?" And if not, "what are your hockey and college options." The junior hockey regiment is appropriate for many but not everyone. Central Maine offers a chance to play college level hockey for free as long as one is a full time student at CM. For many we are the best option to continue playing hockey while garnering those coveted college credits.
CM: What type of background in hockey do you have?
KC: I played hockey back in the late 1970's in the Casco Bay Hockey organization up through U-18. There were very few high school teams then and I attended Cheverus High School which had not begun its hockey program by the time I graduated in 1981. I worked on the equipment staff of the Philadelphia Flyers in Portland as a trainer with the AHL's Maine Mariners from 1977 through the 1983 season. When the Flyers sold the Mariners franchise to the New Jersey Devils I was promoted to equipment manager in Philadelphia for the 1983-84 season. I was with the Flyers organization for nine seasons total and was part of the team that went to the Stanley Cup Finals against the Edmonton Oilers during the 1984-1985 season. Later I worked on the equipment staff with the AHL Portland Pirates under the Buffalo Sabres tenure; including being an equipment manager for the 2010 AHL All Star Classic. In total I have worked about 800 AHL and NHL games over 11 seasons. I worked with many NHL players but most proud to have spent time with Hockey Hall of Fame Inductees Bob Clarke, Darryl Sittler, Mark Howe, Bernie Parent, and Bill Barber.
From a coaching standpoint I learned from some of the best. I worked on the staff of NHL coaches Mike Keenan, Pat Quinn, Tom McVie, Bob McCammon, Bill Barber, Ted Sator, E.J. Maguire, and Kevin Dineen. I have coached with the Casco Bay and Portland Junior Pirates organizations winning several state championships. For the past few seasons I have been a coach with Cheverus High School working with the varsity and junior varsity boy's hockey student athletes. Today, I am working on USA Hockey's level 4 coaching certification.
CM: How is the Central Maine Men's hockey program stacking-up today?
KC: Every hockey team starts with solid goaltending. We have four outstanding goalie prospects arriving this Fall. Joshua Ehiorobo, Tyler Freil, Michael Jones and Kenny Miller are vying for the starting position in goal. Ehiorobo (Maranacook) and Freil (Brewer) are local athletes while Miller hails from Loveland, Colorado and Jones arriving from Mansfield, Texas.
At forward we have talented hockey players opting to jump to college hockey from the junior ranks. Matt Henderson (Greater Metro League in Toronto, Ontario), Jordy Knoren, Sederick Simons (Maine Wild), and Caleb LaBrie (South Shore Kings) played this past season at a very high and skilled junior level. Cameron Burpee (Bangor), and Joshua Noyes (Falmouth) were top performers in the MPA Class A Boy's hockey during 2016. Evan Sullivan (Holyoke, Ma.), Charles Campagna (Lac-Magantic, Quebec), Dana Fifield-Taylor (Grayson, Ga.) round out players opting to attend from Canada and outside of Maine. Others looking to make the opening day roster include Spencer Reynolds (Turner), Kyle Radziszewski (Poland), and Aaron Vaillancourt (Lewiston).
On defense Cade Chapman (Auburn), Tyler Couture (Auburn), Keagan Crawley (Charlotte N.C.), Kevin Knight (Leavitt High), and Dylan Farrell-Reny (So. Portland) will vie for the top defensive pairings in the line-up. Farrell-Reny (Maine Wild 2016) plays both defense and wing.
CM: What does the opposition look like?
KC: CM anticipates playing 25 games. Teams already scheduled are Bentley, Dartmouth, UNE, Thomas College, Bates College, UMaine - Orono, New England College, and Rhode Island College. The season schedule will be finalized at the ACHA meeting in early September.
We are thrilled to call the Norway Savings Bank Arena in Auburn as our home rink. Marc Gosselin runs a first class arena and we are fortunate to also call on him coach the CM hockey team.
The Mustangs will begin collegiate hockey competition during the upcoming 2016-17 season at the Norway Savings Bank Arena in Auburn, Maine. We have been working closely with Marc Gosselin, the arena's general manager and Mustang's assistant hockey coach. The team will compete in the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA--probationary member), an organization of over 415 college and university affiliated programs under the umbrella of USA Hockey. Now celebrating its 25th season of existence, the ACHA provides structure, regulates operations, and promotes the quality of collegiate ice hockey. Since 1991 the ACHA has sent 18 players on to pro careers; including 12 to the NHL.
