Bill Riga may be a rookie head coach at Holy Cross, but he’s no beginner. In fact, it’s hard to imagine how he could be any better prepared.
At one time or another over the last 18 seasons, Riga has worked alongside three of the top coaches in the college game – Quinnipiac’s Rand Pecknold, Providence College’s Nate Leaman and Union’s Rick Bennett.
That trio has combined for 1,077 wins, six trips to the Frozen Four and two NCAA championships.
The 47-year-old former UMass Lowell forward broke into college coaching on Leaman’s staff at Union in 2003. It was an eye-opener from the get-go.
“You come into your first job as a college coach and you think you know something about hockey, recruiting, preparing,’’ he said.
“It took me about two hours in a room with Nate to realize how much I didn’t know and how much harder you have to work and think. It was an education. The best example of that is probably the depth of the video, the scouting report, what our opponents are doing and what we’re doing, It was just a whole ‘nother level to me,’’ said Riga, who spent five seasons at Union.
“In the time that I was there I needed to learn things and I needed to be told things that maybe I didn’t want to hear and he was right there to push me to make sure I was doing those things.
“Besides the X’s and O’s and all the things I learned from him as a pure hockey person, as a professional and a coach his ability to help me get better and get me to the point where I was doing those things is something I’ll never forget.’’
Bennett joined Riga as an assistant on Leaman’s staff in 2005.
“Rick does things his own way, and I mean that in the best way possible. Very straightforward, very honest. It’s hard to beat Rick Bennett into the office in the morning. It’s not easy to get there before him. He’s dedicated. He’s driven. He does things in straight lines. It’s refreshing. … He was almost a role model to me in terms of finding a different way to do things. Rick does things the same way to this day, I’m sure, and his players love him for it,’’ said Riga.
“(Leaman and Bennett) are different in their styles and in how they go about things, but they both very much have their own vision for how they are going to build and run a program. It really gave me a couple of different ways to look at things, one way or another way, and be successful. You need to figure out what’s your best way for the program you are at.’’
Riga moved on to Quinnipiac in 2009 and spent 13 seasons there, first as one of Pecknold’s assistants and as associate head coach since 2014. During Riga’s time in Hamden, the Bobcats emerged as one of the top programs in the country.
“Rand really has a very intellectual way of looking at things. He’s trying to find a way that (Quinnipiac) can do things a little bit better than everybody else. And if you can add all those marginal gains up we can compete with the teams that may or may not have what people consider to be better talent than we do. So let’s find ways in our systems and our recruiting and our development model, developing players once you get them there. Let’s find a way to do things a little bit differently to make us be able to compete with those teams with the top-three-round draft picks,’’ Riga said.
“His ability to reinvent things, think outside the box. He really has a smart way to look at things, a patient way to look at things. It’s been very valuable during this process at Holy Cross.’’
This weekend, Riga will step behind the bench as head coach for the first time when the Crusaders face Northeastern on Friday and Boston College on Saturday in the Ice Breaker Tournament at the DCU Center in Worcester.
While the Crusaders will be underdogs, they are embracing the challenge.
“It’s going to be a great time in downtown Worcester. I’m excited to see what we can do. Our attitude is we’re going to go in there expecting to win those games. We’re going to develop a game plan and we’re going to do what we can to try and get that done. Obviously, we understand how good the players are and the teams are and the history of those programs,’’ he said.
“We’re excited for the challenge and looking forward to it. We’re going to know where we’re at and where we need to go throughout the season if we want to be a top team in Atlantic Hockey.’’
Waiting game for Cashman
By the time Reid Cashman coaches his first regular-season game at Dartmouth later this month, it will have been just short of 17 months since he was hired to succeed longtime coach Bob Gaudet.
Asked how he’s held up during the long, pandemic-induced wait, Cashman responded with a tongue-in-cheek answer.
“I would say our staff was extremely prepared for the first couple of days of practice. We had plenty of time to get organized.’’
His players are ready, that’s for sure.
“Honestly, the energy our guys are providing is incredible right now. Whether they played junior hockey last year and had their season disrupted in some way or they are returning guys that lost their season, there’s been a renewed appreciation,’’ he said.
“It was easier on coaches than it was on players. For me, first-time head coach, learning Dartmouth as an institution, learning the Ivy League, the admissions process, friends group, meeting alums, there’s a lot that goes on with this program and its great history.
“I selfishly felt that I had a chance to get my feet wet. Now we’re as prepared as we can be as a program, how we want to recruit and how we want to play.’’
Before Dartmouth, Cashman spent two seasons as an assistant coach with the Washington Capitals. He was an assistant with Hershey of the AHL before that.
But he has deep roots in the college game. He was an All-American defenseman and a Hobey Baker Award finalist at Quinnipiac and an assistant coach at his alma mater for five seasons.
“I’m invigorated by the passion of the college athlete and of the college campus. I was extremely spoiled to be around the best players in the world for two years (in the NHL) and in the American League, an unbelievable league.
“The passion that a college hockey player brings and being part of a campus and a community and how proud you are to wear that 'D' on your sweater, it’s been really exciting for me to be around,’’ he said.
