Massachusetts hockey coach Don Cahoon has agreed to a contract extension, although the terms of the deal were not disclosed. Cahoon's current contract is not yet expired and, despite the recent struggles of the Minutemen, last season's NCAA Tournament berth displayed the progress Cahoon has made in his eight-and-a-half seasons at the helm of the program. "I didn't even know I needed a new contract," Cahoon joked after the team's practice yesterday. "I'm just glad to know I'll be here for the foreseeable future. I'm comfortable with where I am, and I'm happy to be here." UMass athletic director John McCutcheon was unavailable for comment. In his time at UMass, Cahoon has posted a record of 101-139-28. Prior to UMass, he spent nine seasons as the head coach at Princeton University. He had similar success with the Tigers, and after a few tough seasons, they became a consistent contender in the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference. Aside from the NCAA Tournament appearance last season, Cahoon guided the Minutemen to one appearance in the Hockey East finals and three appearances in the semifinals of the conference tournament. "We've made some good progress in my time here, and I'm glad to know that I'll be around to hopefully continue that," he commented. Where's Wessbecker? Junior defenseman John Wessbecker has not played since Nov. 30 against Cornell due to an undisclosed injury - the game ended in a scoreless tie. Cahoon said yesterday that there is no timetable for his return to the UMass lineup, and he is not going to hurry him back. "He's definitely out for the foreseeable future. There's no way of knowing exactly how long because of the type of injury," Cahoon said. In his absence, redshirt freshman Kevin Kessler, redshirt senior Patrick Dineen and freshman Doug Kublin have all seen time on the blue line. "They've all stepped in and done a great job for us when called upon. It's been great," senior captain Mike Kostka said. "Obviously, with John out, we need that from them. They've shown that they're all capable defenseman in John's absence." Kessler is in his second season with the program. After sitting out all of last season, he provided a steady reserve for the Minutemen. His first game of the season came against New Hampshire on Dec. 8. In the matchup against Hockey East's top offense, Kessler posted a plus-1 rating. Dineen also made his season debut in a match with the Wildcats. He scored UMass's first goal in the game, but the Minutemen let the 2-0 lead slip away and fell to the Wildcats 3-2 to start their current six-game winless streak. Mental adjustment Cahoon expressed displeasure with his team's recent performance. The Minutemen allowed the Vermont offense to do anything it wanted during last weekend's series. Although the Catamounts did receive some favorable bounces in the pair of games, UMass didn't help itself; especially on the defensive end. UVM's fourth goal on Friday caromed into the net off the skates of junior defenseman Topher Bevis. After the game, Cahoon said that while it was certainly bad luck, Bevis could have positioned himself better to avoid such a situation. "Stick-positioning on the ice, posture on the ice, awareness, communication, these are all things that we need to emphasize on the ice," Cahoon said. "We need to focus on drills that commit us to that type of play in games. "You can't blame it on any one thing. I know that it all came after a part of our schedule that our players absolutely detest. To say they dislike [winter break] is an understatement. [UMass] is a ghost town, they have a lot of free time even with a majority of them taking courses, and it's just not a healthy environment for them. That's not an excuse, it's just the reality." UMass's last game before the break was a 5-4 victory over Colorado College in the championship game of the Lightning College Hockey Classic. The win was the first ever for UMass in a holiday tournament. The championship earned the team a No. 5 national ranking - the highest in the program's history. Complacency then set in, and the urgency that pushed UMass to the top of Hockey East. "We need to be a little more desperate in the third period. Vermont played to win in the third period. They played to win, and we played to not lose," Kostka said.
Joe Meloni can be reached at joe.meloni@gmail.com.
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