Perhaps you could fill the void by comparing and contrasting current Coach Cav and former Coach Cedorchuck
You asked for it, Felgie ... file this under "giving the Devil his due", and pull up a chair, mon ami ...
Anyway, for folks whose memories may not go back far enough to remember, Steve "Count" Cedorchuk - like Luce Canaan - came into prominence (if we allow "prominence" to include assistant coach of an NCAA D-1 hockey program) as an assistant coach at Boston College under a legendary, generational head coach. Whilst Luce learned at the foot of master Head Coach Jerry York - currently the all-time NCAA D-1 wins leader as a head coach - The Count learned at the foot of Lenny "The Rug" Ceglarski, who coincidentally also was the all-time NCAA D-1 wins leader as a head coach when he retired from BC in 1992.
When Ceglarski stepped down after the '92 season, The Count stepped in to take over the top job at BC from his mentor. To say he was unprepared to lead an NCAA D-1 program would be an understatement. Whereas his mentor had a record that in retrospect may rival former UNH HC Dick Umile's in terms of big-game futility at the highest levels over a long stretch, The Count took a listing BC program that had posted a rare losing season when Ceglarski retired, and dragged them down further to a 9 win season in '93, pretty much at the bottom of HEA with a season-long -70 goal differential (not a misprint).
Frustrated by the futility of his rookie season in charge, Cedorchuk would go into infamy, and earn his nickname when he started handing out scholarships like penny candy, either ignoring or being blissfully unaware of NCAA limitations on how many a program could hand out at a given time. And while BC semi-rebounded to a more respectful (yet still below .500) finish in '94 that saw The Count's D-1 career end in double OT at the "Farewell to Snively" game, the temperature was rising behind the scenes on The Heights, and Cedorchuk was shown the door to save his alma mater from the embarrassment of overextending their limits and avoiding further NCAA scrutiny. Keep in mind, of course, this was all during an era when folks who were running D-1 Hockey programs were, shall we say, more "creative" with outside-the-box thinking, including the start of the unforgettable "retroactive financial aid" concept that eventually (temporarily) sank Walshy up in the Downeast.
The Count has since followed a long winding path on the fringes of the local hockey universe, and ironically after retiring from a long career as a math (!) teacher, he took a post-retirement coaching job at a prep school south of Boston, where at last check he still coaches. By all accounts a thoroughly decent man, he seems to have found his happy place. Good for him.
Now, on to the man I *reverentially" call Luce. Another guy who played his college hockey at BC - D-3 Bowdoin College, not at The Heights - Luce's best year on the ice came a year post-grad when he potted an amazing 62 goals in 28 games as the player/coach in leading the Richmond (UK) Flyers to a 7th place finish in an 8 team league. He came back Stateside to assist a small local prep program for a year, and then spent a year apiece as a volunteer assistant at Bowling Green (under Coach York) and then at Dartmouth, where he got his first paying D-1 assistant's job in his second year in Hanover.
Picking up where The Count left off at The Heights ... Coach York took over in '94/'95 and inherited Jimmy Logue from The Count's staff, and filled out his first staff with former Scott Paluch, a former BGSU defenseman who played on their national title team under York. The third member of the staff was none other than (drum roll please) Barry Pederson, who had just finished his NHL career, and IIRC was a remnant from the short-lived Mike Milbury Era on The Heights, and eventually went to work at NESN. When Pederson left BC after a single season, Coach York would go on to hire Luce as the 3rd assistant. York would keep the 3 assistants in place through the end of the '02 season, after which Paluch would take over the head coaching job at BGSU for seven years, before eventually landing at USA Hockey. Paluch and Logue were the two Associate HC's up through 2004, when Logue turned 65, and for the first time Luce was elevated to Associate HC. Greg Brown was added to the staff at that time, and the future (current) BC Head Coach would eventually finish up as an Associate HC.
Luce would stick around at The Heights through 2013 as the Associate HC, and of course was there for BC's 3-out-of-5 seasons' run of NCAA D-1 titles, before moving on to his current post as HC of the UConn Huskies, who would finish 4th out of 12 teams in their final AHA season, before moving up to HEA where they've been since. During his first 5 years at UConn Luce's teams went a combined 60W-95L-23T (per hockeydb.com). That's roughly a 12W-19L-5T annual record, which is a .403 winning pct. (allowing ties for .50 of a win). In his three seasons since then, UConn's teams went a combined 45-42-6 for a .515 winning pct., highlighted by their first winning season in HEA and first postseason wins, both coming last season.
Comparables to be considered FWIW:
Mike Souza (first 4 seasons at UNH): 47W-63L-16T (.436) after Umile's final 10-20-6 season
Dick Umile (first 5 seasons at UNH): 109W-62L-14T (.627) after 5 Holt/Kullen non-winning seasons
Norm Bazin (first 5 seasons at UML): 118W-47L-20T (.692) after Blaise's 5-24-4 finale
Greg Carvel (first 5 seasons at UMA): 94W-75L-10T (.553) after Micheletto's 8-24-4 finale
Nate Leaman (first 5 seasons at PC): 104W-65L-24T (.601) after Army's final 8-18-8 season
Shawn Walsh (first 5 seasons at UMaine): 112W-95L-6T (.540) only 5 years removed from D-2
Jerry York (first 5 seasons at BC): 91W-78L-18T (.535) after The Count's debacle (see above)
I've said here in the past that Luce's career record reminds me a bit of Jim Madigan's at Northeastern. I checked that out, and it turns out that was quite a bit unfair to Madigan, in both the 5 year (80W-77L-26T .508) and 8 year (148W-113L-39T .558) split records. So it turns out that, of the above listing of coaches, Luce's record is most comparable to ... Mike Souza.
Ouch (and I say that as both a critic of Luce, and a fan of UNH Hockey).
Rounding back to Felgie's original remit ... I don't think there's any comparison to be had regarding on-ice success between The Count and Luce. As mediocre as Luce's head coaching career has been to date at UConn, it would take some doing to be a worse HC than The Count. And while it turned out The Count's best days were as second-in-command to Lenny the Rug, Luce tramples all over The Count in that role as well. As CT Husky has pointed out, Luce may arguably be the greatest assistant coach in the history of assistant coaching, although the vociferous pro-Jimmy Logue and Grant Standbrook factions may beg to differ. So when it comes to on-ice, behind the bench performance, Luce romps to a lopsided victory.
Off the ice? Hmmm ... let's see. The Count took his medicine, and in leaving BC in a quagmire caused by his own failure to, well, count responsibly, he didn't try to drag anyone else down with him. After losing Joe Mallen to start-ups UMass Amherst after his first season in charge at BC, he hired Jimmy Logue as one of his two assistants in '94, augmented by Mark Leach, who would be at The Heights for only that one eventful season, before leaving for a long career eventually as an NHL scout. The taint of the almost-scandal at The Heights would fade away quietly with The Count. The main beneficiary of The Count being a good BC soldier was former BC/current Navy AD Chet Gladchuk, whose reign at The Heights was marred by several scandals, including an admissions scandal in Hoops and a (... wait for it ...) gambling scandal in Football before leaving for an AD job in Houston. Chet's continued ability to work in college athletics to this very day is largely due to The Count being a stand-up guy, and if The Count's former boss isn't sending him an annual Christmas card, he's a total, absolute ingrate.
As far as Luce ... well, even limited to what I'm allowed to post due to long-standing commitments I've made to confidential sources (still very much alive and/or posting on the USCHO boards), let's just say that his post-BC career has pretty much been built on his ability AND willingness to trade on his past association with Coach York and BC. Lord knows, recruiting is hardly a discipline of virtue and modesty to begin with, but when your best oft-used pitch is predicated that your mentor has yet to win a National Title without you - overlooking that whole Bowling Green thingie from the pre-Internet days of CHDA - that's hardly a badge of "honor among thieves" now, is it? Like the character of Trooper Duffy in the old
F Troop series, who constantly bigged himself up (comedically) as the lone survivor of The Alamo, "shoulder to shoulder, backs to the wall, with Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie", there has apparently been nothing else to crow about, but ironically it didn't stop Luce from playing his BC/York card one final time to leverage a lifetime contract out of the suckers at Storrs.
Hmmm, I think I've seen this movie somewhere before, now where was it ...
So, in conclusion, Luce wins on the ice by a landslide, The Count wins off the ice in a landslide, too.
