Heading home: Cahoon leaves men's hockey for UMass-Amherst

After resurrecting an ailing Princeton men's hockey program, head coach Don Cahoon announced yesterday that he now will seek to turn around another squad — leaving the Tigers after nine years to take the helm of the University of Massachusetts men's hockey team.

Cahoon's winding hockey journey began in Massachusetts as a player and coach for Boston University. After passing through New Jersey, taking Princeton to unprecedented heights, Cahoon is returning home — looking for a new challenge in a familiar place.

This most recent journey began less than one week ago in his Baker Rink office and ended yesterday at the Frozen Four — the Final Four of college hockey — in Providence, R.I. In a whirlwind effort to fill its vacant coaching position, UMass contacted, interviewed and lured Cahoon away from the Garden State in a span of only five days.

Cahoon first found out about UMass' intentions late last week and interviewed all day Tuesday before the Minutemen gave him 24 hours to accept the head-coaching offer. His decision to resign from Princeton and take the reins at UMass was announced in a press conference last night in Providence.

The move came as a surprise to most of the Princeton players but was the right fit for the Massachusetts native.

"I'm a Massachusetts resident," Cahoon said. "I grew up there, played hockey there and coached there. It's a coming back home of sorts for me."

"At this point in my life, jobs only come once in a while with a chance to return home," he added.

Cahoon leaves Princeton as one of the most successful coaches in school history. A 1972 graduate of Boston University, he took control of the Tigers in the 1990-91 season and led them through three losing seasons before winning 18 games in his fourth season — the first coach in Princeton history ever to do so.

He followed with 18 or more wins in three of the next four seasons, giving him the only four winning seasons for Princeton hockey since 1967. Cahoon accumulated a 122-129-32 record in his nine seasons with the program, eight wins short of the Princeton coaching record.

"[Cahoon] has done a wonderful job of restoring our hockey program to more than respectability in the nine years he has been at Princeton," Director of Athletics Gary Walters '67 said. "Winning the Ivy championship and the ECAC crown were things that we didn't aspire to before coach Cahoon arrived at Princeton. Now these are things that our team strives for each season."

Cahoon said he leaves the Tiger organization on good terms and with nothing but happy memories.

"I could never say enough about Princeton," Cahoon said. "I told the team that being at Princeton has been part of the journey, and I've enjoyed the journey. I have a lot of friends that I'm leaving down there, especially the players."

Get the best of ‘the Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

Princeton's best two seasons in the latter half of this century came under the guidance of Cahoon, when he led the Tigers to their first-ever Eastern College Athletic Conference championship and NCAA tournament berth in 1998 and a 20-win effort the following season. That year, the Tigers were ranked as high as sixth nationally and won the Ivy League title for the first time since 1953.

Cahoon now has the job of taking over a nascent Division I team. His predecessor at UMass, Joe Mallen, left when his contract was not renewed after this past season. The Minutemen reestablished a hockey team only seven years ago after a 14-year hiatus from the sport.

Mallen took over the team at its rebirth, but was unable to lead it to a winning season in his seven at the helm. His highest finish was a tie for sixth in the nine-team conference.

The Minutemen play in Hockey East, a conference stacked with strong opposition. Boston College and Maine — two of the teams in this year's Frozen Four. UMass stumbled to a 11-20-5 overall record last season, good for eighth in the conference.

Princeton must now fill the empty spot behind the Tiger bench. Walters said the school will explore all of its options.

"As with any coaching vacancy, we will go through a national search to find a replacement," Walters said. "That is something that we will begin as soon as possible."