Mike McMahon floats four names as possible candidates for Boston College men’s hockey job

In the “take it for what it’s worth” department, some 5 or so hours after Jerry York announced his retirement, one of college hockey’s most respected and plugged in reporters has identified four potential candidates for the Boston College men’s hockey coaching job.

Mike McMahon (of his own substack and College Hockey News) hosted a Twitter Space today, reacting to the BC news and the rest of the college hockey coaching carousel, which now includes BU and Michigan State, too:

In it, he named four names, none of which are especially surprising:

-Mike Cavanaugh, former deputy to Jerry York and current head coach at UConn. There have been some Twitter rumors suggesting Cavanaugh was recently on campus, though nothing that we’ve been able to confirm at this time.

-Greg Brown, long considered a or perhaps the leading candidate, who is now head coach for the USHL’s Dubuque Fighting Saints. He was York’s long-time associate HC before leaving to become an assistant coach for the New York Rangers under David Quinn. Brown played at BC.

-Mark Dennehy, BC alum and former Merrimack coach, who now is chief scout for the New Jersey Devils, after previously coaching their AHL affiliate.

-Scott Gordon, another BC alum who took a few stints as a head coach in the NHL, steering the Islanders from 2008-11, and serving as the Flyers’ interim coach in ‘18-19. In 2020-21 he was head coach of the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

-

McMahon didn’t say any of this came from sources or specific reporting, but given his credibility and knowledge within the game, it’s fair to take things he says as trustworthy.

While we don’t know yet how BC’s search will take shape, these would be unsurprising names to start a process with.

We’ll have more in the days to come about potential names outside the BC universe, as well as other alumni and BC-connected individuals who could theoretically be candidates for the job - and of course will share if any reports come out suggesting there’s a leader.