For years, Brian Day flirted with retiring from being Nobles boys hockey's head honcho among his assistant coaches.
But as fast as he would think about doing it, Day was always back the next season. He couldn't stay away.
"I never believed him," Dan McGoff said.
It became more serious this past winter, as Day made it official — the 2024-25 season would be his last as the Nobles boys hockey coach. The bounceback: McGoff, then an assistant on Day's staff, was going to apply for the job.
Fortunately for him, he had the backing of Day, who had been the boss since 2001.
"We had already had conversations about how he thought I would be a good fit," McGoff said. "He was very instrumental in putting my name forward and backing me up. Letting the athletic director and the school know that he thinks I should be the guy who takes it over.
"I feel like this has been the plan for the last four or five years. It was just a matter of when Brian was going to retire."
McGoff, a Charlestown, Mass., native, played under Day when he was at Nobles in the early 2000s. He used that to become a defenseman at Boston University from 2004-08, where he played under legendary head coach Jack Parker (Somerville, Mass.) and assistant coach David Quinn (Cranston, R.I.).
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"Those guys were teaching us all we needed to know about the game," McGoff said.
McGoff bounced around different professional spots in the United States, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. By 2012, he hung up his skates and looked for the next phase of his life. While he didn't know what he wanted to do next, he did know that he wanted to stay involved with hockey.
So, in 2012, he was back home at a Nobles game and ran into Day. His former coach asked if he wanted to help out on the ice during practice, and McGoff was more than happy to do it. Two years later, he got a spot on the bench as an assistant.
McGoff has been coached by various hockey minds. But as a coach, McGoff has only worked under one head coach: Day.
"I'm happy that he took the time to get me ready," McGoff said of Day. "I think that he feels like he's leaving it with the right person. That's important to me, and it's important to me that I don't let him down."
The Bulldogs have been one of the more successful teams in New England prep hockey over the past number of years. They went 18-8-1 last season and finished as the No. 8 seed in the Elite 8. Under Day, they went 381-181-47.
McGoff isn't taking over a ship in need of a new direction or one that must be pulled from the ocean floor. Instead, it's continuing to preach a similar message as Day and improving on it.
"My message is go play fast and free and not worry about making mistakes," McGoff said. "I don't want kids gripping their sticks and being afraid to screw up. That's all part of learning."
That message will likely be directed at the forward group next season. The Bulldogs graduated five of their top six scorers from last season, including Yale commit Kyle O'Leary (Medfield, Mass.), Ethan Cox (Westboro, Mass.), Dennis Davidson (Newton, Mass.), Teddy MacAusland (Westwood, Mass.) and Matthew Welch (Boxboro, Mass.) — all names who became synonymous with good times.
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The scoring will be built around rising senior and Brown commit Billy MacAusland (Westwood, Mass.), who broke out for the fourth-most points in prep last season with 61. Despite being drafted in the 15th round of the USHL Phase 2 Draft by the Muskegon Lumberjacks and the QMJHL being the shiny new toy up north, MacAusland is slated to be at Nobles next season.
"He'll be the cog of our offense," McGoff said. "He's the type of player that you want every kid to be."
That young forward group will also be tasked with handling one of McGoff's main objectives.
"For our forwards, it's getting inside and paying the price to get to the inner rink and to the dirty areas," he said. "It sounds cliché, but it works."
While there will likely be an inexperienced group tasked with the offense, McGoff was handed a strong defense and netminding situation.
The only defenseman who graduated was Lou Munger (Dedham, Mass.). Rising junior Kris Soja (Ludlow, Mass.) will likely be a leader on the back end.
"He's a tough kid," McGoff said. "I just love the way he plays. He's fearless."
Also back there will be seniors Tuck Gilbane (Chestnut Hill, Mass.) and Jack Hartwell (Cohasset, Mass.), junior Alex Munoz (Weston, Mass.), and sophomores Eben Alden (Dover, Mass.) and Kasen Walsh (Warwick, R.I.).
McGoff is also fortunate to inherit two strong goalies. Justin Lee (Newton Center, Mass.), an '09, broke out and took the starter's job this past winter with a 2.55 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage. That led him to be a fourth-round pick in the USHL Phase 1 Draft and a sixth-rounder in the QMJHL Draft. Behind Lee is Tucker Monroe (Wellesley, Mass.), an '07, who got strong experience in net last season, too.
"We're built from the net out," McGoff said. "That's how you want to build a team. We're still going to be competitive. We might not score as many goals as we did last year, but I still think we're going to be that defensive team that we always have been."
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The biggest buzzword for McGoff, however, will likely be authenticity.
"Be authentic," McGoff plans to tell his team. "Compete as hard as you can for your teammates and yourself. If you do that, nine out of 10 times you're going to win the hockey game."
