Don Cahoon

Don 'Toot' Cahoon (born April 13, 1949) is a retired American ice hockey coach. He was the head coach of the Princeton Tigers when they won their first conference tournament championship in 1998.[1] For almost 40 years Cahoon worked behind the bench of various collegiate hockey programs, reaching the NCAA tournament twice as a head coach.[2]

Biographical details
Born (1949-04-13) April 13, 1949
Lynn, Massachusetts
Playing career
1969–1972Boston University
Position(s)Left wing
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1973–1974Lehigh
1974–1979Boston University (assistant)
1979–1982Norwich
1982–1983Vienna Capitals II
1983–1986UMass Lowell (assistant)
1987–1988Boston University (assistant)
1988–1990Minnesota North Stars (scout)
1990–1991Boston University (assistant)
1991Team USA
1991–2000Princeton
1995Team USA
2000–2012UMass
Head coaching record
Overall346–398–78 (college)
Tournaments1–2
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
ECAC Hockey (1998)

Career

Cahoon's start in collegiate hockey came as a player for Boston University starting three seasons for the Terriers (typical as freshman did not play varsity at the time) which included back-to-back National Championships in 1971 and 1972. He also played for the United States national team at the 1972 ice hockey world championship pool B tournament in Romania.[3]

After graduating with a B.S. in education,[4] Cahoon continued his playing career for one more season, lacing it up for seven games for the New England Blades of the EHL, the league's last year in operation.[5] Cahoon began his coaching career the following season, leading Lehigh University club team to the 1973–74 Mid-Atlantic Conference title. After a successful campaign his first time out, Cahoon joined the staff at his alma mater, becoming an assistant at BU under 2nd-year head coach Jack Parker. Cahoon enjoyed as much success as an assistant with the Terriers as he had as a player, winning three consecutive conference tournament titles, three regular season titles, and the 1978 National Championship. After five years as an assistant coach Cahoon accepted the head coaching duties for the Division II Norwich Cadets. In his three seasons at Norwich Cahoon led the Cadets to the postseason each year while continuing the University's strong hockey tradition.[6] After 1981–82 Cahoon headed across the Atlantic to become the head coach and direction of hockey operations for the Vienna Capitals.[7]

Cahoon's European stint only lasted one season, however, and he was back as an assistant coach in college, this time for Massachusetts-Lowell as they made the transition from D-II into the Division I ranks. Though not unexpected Massachusetts-Lowell grew progressively worse while Cahoon was there and he left the university after his third season. After a year off, Cahoon returned to BU for the second time, spending a year as an assistant for Jack Parker before accepting a job as a pro scout for the Minnesota North Stars of the NHL. Cahoon's second foray into professional hockey lasted only slightly longer than his first and he rejoined the Terriers two years after he left for the second time. During his third trip behind the bench for BU, Cahoon also served as the head coach for Team USA at the 1991 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, leading the Americans to a respectable 4th-place finish.[4]

After 1991 Cahoon left Boston University for good when he received his first Division-I head coaching job, replacing Jim Higgins at Princeton.[1] The Tigers were one of the founding members of ECAC Hockey and in the thirty years prior to Cahoon's arrival they had a winning season only once, in 1967–68. That trend continued for the early part of Cahoon's tenure but he was able to get the Tigers head's above water with a plus-.500 campaign in 1994–95. After a lull the following year, Cahoon pushed Princeton to three consecutive winning seasons, including a conference tournament title in 1997–98 and its first 20-win season the following year. Despite the success, Cahoon left the Tigers after the 2000 season to take on the same role with Massachusetts, a team that had recently brought back its ice hockey program but had yet to see much success.[8]

Similar to how he had improved Princeton, Cahoon took a couple of years to right the ship in Amherst, posting two 8-win seasons before leading the Minutemen to a 19-win campaign in year three, their first winning record since joining Hockey East in 1994. Cahoon continued to enjoy moderate success with UMass for the next several seasons, hovering around .500, and brought the Minutemen to their first NCAA berth and win in 2007 behind the stellar goaltending of Jonathan Quick, but the results started to turn bad in the second decade of the 21st century and Cahoon agreed to resign from his post after the 2011–12 season.[9] Cahoon ended with a 346–398–78 record as a head coach.

Head coaching record

College
Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Lehigh Mountain Hawks (ECAC 3) (1973–1974)
1973–74 Lehigh 10–5–2
Lehigh: 10–5–2
Norwich Cadets (ECAC 2) (1979–1982)
1979–80 Norwich 12–13–09–12–0ECAC 2 West Quarterfinal
1980–81 Norwich 18–11–114–8–19thECAC 2 West Semifinal
1981–82 Norwich 18–11–115–9–1ECAC 2 West Quarterfinal
Norwich: 48–35–2
Princeton Tigers (ECAC Hockey) (1991–2000)
1991–92 Princeton 12–14–19–12–19thECAC Quarterfinals
1992–93 Princeton 9–17–36–13–310thECAC Quarterfinals
1993–94 Princeton 10–15–37–12–39thECAC First Round
1994–95 Princeton 18–13–49–10–37thECAC Runner-Up
1995–96 Princeton 7–19–45–14–210thECAC First Round
1996–97 Princeton 18–12–411–8–3t-5thECAC Third Place Game (Loss)
1997–98 Princeton 18–11–77–9–67thNCAA West Regional Quarterfinals
1998–99 Princeton 20–12–213–8–14thECAC Third Place Game (Loss)
1999–00 Princeton 10–16–48–9–4t-6thECAC First Round
Princeton: 122–129–3275–95–26
Massachusetts Minutemen (Hockey East) (2000–2012)
2000–01 Massachusetts 8–22–47–15–29th
2001–02 Massachusetts 8–24–23–19–29th
2002–03 Massachusetts 19–17–110–14–06thHockey East Semifinals
2003–04 Massachusetts 17–14–612–9–33rdHockey East Runner-Up
2004–05 Massachusetts 13–23–26–16–28thHockey East Quarterfinals
2005–06 Massachusetts 13–21–210–15–28thHockey East Quarterfinals
2006–07 Massachusetts 21–13–515–9–34thNCAA East Regional Finals
2007–08 Massachusetts 14–16–69–13–58thHockey East Quarterfinals
2008–09 Massachusetts 16–20–310–14–37thHockey East Quarterfinals
2009–10 Massachusetts 18–18–013–14–0t-7thHockey East Quarterfinals
2010–11 Massachusetts 6–23–65–16–68thHockey East Quarterfinals
2011–12 Massachusetts 13–18–59–14–4t-8thHockey East Quarterfinals
Massachusetts: 166–229–42109–168–32
Total:346–398–78

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

Awards and honors
Award Year
All-NCAA All-Tournament Team 1971 [10]

References
  1. "Princeton Men's Hockey Team History". USCHO.com. Retrieved 2014-05-21.
  2. "Don Cahoon Year-by-Year Coaching Record". USCHO.com. Retrieved 2014-05-21.
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-05-08. Retrieved 2016-06-06.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. "Don Cahoon". UMass Athletics. Archived from the original on 2014-05-22. Retrieved 2014-05-21.
  5. "Eastern Hockey League [1933–1973] history and statistics". hockeydb.com. Retrieved 2014-05-21.
  6. "Norwich Men's Hockey Team History". USCHO.com. Retrieved 2014-05-21.
  7. "Don Cahoon". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 2014-05-21.
  8. "Massachusetts Men's Hockey Team History". USCHO.com. Retrieved 2014-05-21.
  9. "Don Cahoon resigns from head coaching position at UMass". The Mack Report. 2012-06-19. Archived from the original on 2014-05-22. Retrieved 2014-05-21.
  10. "NCAA Frozen Four Records" (PDF). NCAA.org. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Dick Umile		 Bob Kullen Coach of the Year Award
2002–03		 Succeeded by
Jerry York
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