Joe Cavanagh 1967 Even before stepping foot in Massachusetts, Joseph V. Cavanagh Jr. had made a name for himself on the ice when he was named Rhode Island’s most valuable high school player in 1965 and 1966. He came to Andover as a PG and was part of a high-scoring 1967 line that included classmates Ford Fraker and Norman Cross Jr. During his first foray into college hockey as a Harvard sophomore in 1969, he made a big impression. Incredibly, he was selected as a First-Team All-American, a First-Team All-East, a First-Team All-Ivy, and a First-Team All-New England, received the Walter Brown Award (given to best American-born player), and was named most valuable player of the annual Beanpot Tournament—which the Crimson won by beating Boston University.
All-East, All-Ivy, and All-New England squads— and he won the Walter Brown Award again during his final season at Harvard. He was the team’s leading scorer all three seasons (tied with Robert McNamara as a junior) and also was given the John Tudor Memorial Cup Award as team most valuable player after his junior and senior seasons. Upon graduating in 1971, he joined the U.S. Olympic hockey team headed to Sapporo. Cavanagh suffered a career-ending injury in practice for those Olympics and retired from hockey. Recognized by numerous hockey organizations over the years, he was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in Minnesota in 1994. Now a lawyer with Blish & Cavanagh in Providence, Cavanagh and his wife, Carol, live in nearby Warwick, where they raised their nine children.
Following his junior and senior seasons, Cavanagh again was named to the first team All-American,
Cavanagh, number 9, in action on the 1967 hockey team
Andover Athletics Hall of
Honor
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