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Princeton University Athletics
A Message From Coach Don Cahoon
February 14, 2000 | Men's Ice Hockey
Dear Friends,
Happy New Year! I hope everyone enjoyed the turn of the century and finds themselves and their family enjoying good health.
I am currently on my annual trip that our office plans for me during the early stages of final exams. While our team is dedicating their effort toward successfully engaging in these challenges, our office is finalizing the recruiting chores for admissions this coming April. So, while the team does not practice formally for several days, both players and coaches have a lot to do that can enhance our personal situations. I like to think this supports one of our themes: "We are all in this together."
If you have been following the club, you can sense that periodically we have played pretty well, and at times have gotten a little sloppy and struggled. Thus, we are 6-7-3 overall and fighting for position with many teams in the ECAC. At exam break we stood in third place, with Harvard and Yale ahead of us. We have a game in hand on Harvard and, hopefully, we can put that to good use in the future.
All of this sounds great. However, RPI, Colgate, St. Lawrence, Dartmouth and Cornell can surpass us, or at the very least, close the gap in the standings as they have games in hand on us. My guess is that when the league starts its full weekend play on Jan. 28 and 29, we will be somewhere between fifth and seventh. This should leave us no more than four or five points off the lead, certainly within striking distance of "home ice" for the playoffs. All of this stated, we will be in a game-to-game struggle to stay involved in the playoff picture. How we respond to our exam layoff and how we recapture the " competitive spirit" (that is the cornerstone of any good team) are pivotal questions.
All of our competition, aside from Harvard, are playing and developing now. We must find a way of getting back in rhythm as soon as we can. This prompted us to schedule UMass-Lowell right after exams. So, without much practice, we will jump into game circumstance. Quite frankly, we are not worried about the outcome, other than where we are mentally and physically. Hopefully, this will give us an edge when RPI and Union visit Princeton on Jan. 28 and 29.
Most years I am writing to discuss our play in a Christmas tournament. This year we visited Notre Dame and although there was not a tournament trophy to play for, we enjoyed a good series with a good opponent. One of the highlights of the trip was a fabulous tour of Notre Dame. Thanks to the effort of a good friend, Art Mohler, a Notre Dame grad with deep roots in Notre Dame athletics, we were given the "cook's tour" of all athletic facilities.
Yes, we walked into the football locker room and the President's Box and got a great feel for the tradition that exists there. From Art's effort, we had two gentlemen lead the tour, answer questions and point out many special and interesting facts for us. Bill Thistlewhaite, superintendent of grounds, and Dale Getz, manager of athletic facilities, were eager to extend themselves for our players and staff. We are very grateful to them for making this tour so special. Along with the Notre Dame tour, we enjoyed a walk-through at college football's Hall of Fame in South Bend.
Looking down the road, we have the meat of our schedule in front of us. We are still a young team with much to learn. Keeping players healthy is an important issue for our club as we do not have the depth of other teams this year. Our staff has worked to ensure this is not an issue in the future, but for now, we have to work hard while working smart to best utilize our whole talent pool.
We had a great turnout of alumni and friends at Harvard. It makes a difference. Please come out and cheer us on. Until then,
Best wishes,
Toot