UConn Huskies men's ice hockey

UConn Huskies men's ice hockey
Current season
University	University of Connecticut
Conference	Hockey East
Head coach	Mike Cavanaugh[1] 9th season, 103–135–33 (.441)
Captain(s)	Adam Karashik (C), Brian Rigali (A), Zac Robbins (A), Carter Turnball (A)
Arena	XL Center Capacity: 8,089 Surface: 200' x 85'
Location	Hartford, Connecticut
Colors	National flag blue and white[2]
Conference Tournament championships
2000

The UConn Huskies men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents the University of Connecticut. The Huskies are a member of Hockey East. They play at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut.^[3]

History[]

The Huskies men's ice hockey program began in 1960 under head coach John Chapman. UConn began NCAA competition at the NCAA Division III level in the ECAC East.^[4]

Prior to 1998, the Huskies played all home games outdoors at a partially enclosed rink on-campus near Memorial Stadium. The UConn Hockey Rink had a roof but was open on the sides.^[5] However, in preparation for the upgrade to Division I, the University built the Mark Edward Freitas Ice Forum. Construction began in 1996, and the first indoor home game for UConn was on November 7, 1998.^[6][7]

The move to NCAA Division I status allowed the team to join other Husky athletic programs. In 1998 they joined the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, after previously playing for 38 years in the Division III ECAC East.^[8] At the time, head coach Bruce Marshall was in his tenth season at the position. In its 2nd season in the 2000 MAAC Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Uconn beat Iona 6-1 to win its 1st league championship. However, due to a 2-year probationary period placed on the MAAC for an automatic bid to the NCAA Ice Hockey championship by the league champion, UConn was unable to participate in the NCAA tournament that year. It has been the only championship Uconn would earn since moving to Division I (as of May, 2016). But when the athletic department was forced to remove all athletic scholarships from the sport in order to comply with Title IX,^[9] and the Huskies consistently finished in the bottom few spots of the national computer rankings before the most recent season.^[10] In 2003, the MAAC formed a new league called Atlantic Hockey.

In June 2010, the University announced that the team would face Sacred Heart at Rentschler Field in East Hartford on February 13, 2011, as part of a doubleheader also featuring a game between the women's team and the Providence Friars.^[11] The Huskies won this game 3-1, in front of 1,711 fans. The Huskies also played their first ever game at the XL Center in downtown Hartford that year, though this was not originally scheduled. Due to heavy snow accumulation on the Freitas roof, the team's February 5 game against Army was moved to the off-camps arena, also home to the Connecticut Whale of the American Hockey League.^[12] In spite of free admission, only 891 fans turned up on short notice to watch the Huskies lose 5-3.^[13] As a whole, the 2010-11 season was also a major improvement for the Huskies, who advance to the Atlantic Hockey Tournament semifinals at Blue Cross Arena before being eliminated. They finished with a final record of 16-18-4. One of the major factors in the turnaround was the young recruits the Huskies had signed. Freshman Cole Schneider led the team with 32 points, while sophomore Sean Ambrosie finished second with 29.^[14] Meanwhile, sophomore Garrett Bartus set a school record with 1,085 saves.^[15] The 2011-12 AHA preseason rankings reflected the newly gained reputation, with the Huskies ranked fifth out of twelve teams.^[16] The Huskies posted a winning record once again in the 2012-13 season.

On June 21, 2012 Connecticut announced the program will join Hockey East as the conference's 12th member beginning in the 2014-15 season.^[17] Prior to the move into Hockey East, on January 7, 2013, head coach Bruce Marshall resigned after 25 years ^[18] and was replaced in interim by Asst. Dave Berard.^[19] The season ended with a record of 17-13-4. The team finished 4th in the AHA, drawing a crowd of 1438 for their final home game of the season against Sacred Heart. As part of the move from Atlantic Hockey to Hockey East, the university added 18 scholarships for the men's ice hockey team and additional scholarships to existing women's sports programs to meet Title IX gender equity requirements.^[17] The university is also investigating options to significantly renovate the Freitas Ice Forum, which has a seating capacity around 2,000 fans, and mostly consists of metal bleachers; or build a new, larger ice arena on-campus.^[17] As a new member of Hockey East the team will play home games at the 15,635-seat former NHL arena, the XL Center in downtown Hartford, with other select (home) games at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, CT. A study by the university projected a cost around $20,000 a game to play at the XL Center.^[17]

New Head Coach Mike Cavanaugh, who spent 18 seasons as an assistant at Boston College, was hired to guide Uconn into their new era of scholarship hockey in the Hockey East. He coached Uconn's final season (2013–14) in Atlantic Hockey to a record of 18-14-4, with wins over future Hockey East opponents Providence and Umass, while playing to a 2-2 draw with eventual 2014 NCAA Champ Union . Uconn made a successful transition to Hockey East in 2014-15 as they finished in the top 10 nationally in home attendance (5,396) while also leading their new conference . They were also competitive on the ice as their transition year resulted in 4 wins over top 20 teams while gaining ties with national championship game finalists Providence and Boston University. Starting in the 2015-16 season all home games were played at the XL Center, which drew a much better attendance per game (5,879) than those at the Webster Bank Arena (2,900) in which Uconn appeared during the 2014-15 season.

Groundbreaking took place on May 22.2021, to start construction for Uconn's new $48 million ice hockey rink at the Storrs campus, for an opening in fall 2022. The 2,600-seat arena (plus standing room), will be located adjacent to the current Freitas Ice Arena in the Athletics District on Jim Calhoun Way. The team facilities will also include team lounges; dry locker area and locker rooms with video displays; training space with a hydrotherapy area; strength and conditioning room; and other areas such as coaches' offices. The new 97,300-square-foot facility will meet all NCAA Division I ice hockey requirements and all Hockey East regulations, which the Freitas Ice Forum does not.

Season-by-season results[]

Source:^[20]

Coaching staff[]

^[21] The Huskies are coached by Mike Cavanaugh, the fourth head coach in program history.

All-time coaching records[]

As of completion of 2020-21 season^[4]

Tenure	Coach	Years	Record	Pct.
2013–present	Mike Cavanaugh	8	103–135–33	.441
2012–2013	David Berard	1†	19–10–3	.641
1988–2012	Bruce Marshall	25	332–377–69	.471
1981–1988	Ben Kirtland	7	85–98–2	.465
1960–1981	John Chapman	21	196–221–7	.471
Totals	5 coaches	61 seasons	735-841-114	.469

† David Berard served as an interim head coach after Bruce Marshall took a medical leave of absence.

Awards and honors[]

NCAA[]

All-Americans[]

AHCA Second Team All-Americans

ECAC East[]

All-Conference Teams[]

First Team All-ECAC East

Second Team All-ECAC East

MAAC[]

Individual Awards[]

All-Conference Teams[]

First Team All-MAAC

Second Team All-MAAC

MAAC All-Rookie Team

Atlantic Hockey[]

Individual Awards[]

All-Conference Teams[]

First Team All-Atlantic Hockey

Second Team All-Atlantic Hockey

Third Team All-Atlantic Hockey

Atlantic Hockey All-Rookie Team

Hockey East[]

All-Conference Teams[]

Second Team All-Hockey East

Third Team All-Hockey East

Atlantic Hockey All-Rookie Team

Statistical leaders[]

Source:^[20]

Career points leaders[]

Player	Years	Games	Goals	Assists	Points	PIM
	1988–1992		92	127	219
Todd Krygier	1984–1988		99	101	200
Ryan Equale	1992–1996		79	109	188
	1990–1994		61	92	153
	1988–1992		78	73	151
	1991–1995		64	85	149
	1990–1994		68	80	148
	1984–1987		70	87	148
	1979–1983		66	79	145
	1982–1986		59	77	136

Career goaltending leaders[]

GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

Minimum 50 Games

Player	Years	Games	Minutes	W	L	T	GA	SO	SV%	GAA
	2010–2014	59	3082	25	19	6	119	2	.926	2.32
	2013–2017	93	5386	31	46	15	239	10	.918	2.66
	2018–Present	71	4195	32	33	5	201	2	.906	2.87
	1996–2000	93								3.02
	2009–2013	111	6353	40	58	9	320	5	.911	3.02

Statistics current through the start of the 2021-22 season.

Current roster[]

As of August 12, 2021.^[22]

No.	S/P/C	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
1		Ryan Keane	Junior	G	5' 9" (1.75 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	1998-03-15	Lewisville, Texas	Jamestown (NAHL)	—
4		Roman Kinal (A)	Junior	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1998-07-20	Waterford, Michigan	Dubuque (USHL)	—
5		Aidan Metcalfe	Freshman	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	191 lb (87 kg)	2000-01-24	Palos Verdes, California	Shreveport (NAHL)	—
6		Ryan Wheeler	Senior	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1997-08-24	Lancaster, New York	New Jersey (NAHL)	—
7		Jonny Evans	Senior	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	1997-05-01	North Delta, British Columbia	Powell River (BCHL)	—
8		Carter Turnbull (C)	Senior	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1998-09-08	Nanaimo, British Columbia	Powell River (BCHL)	—
9		Cassidy Bowes	Sophomore	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1999-02-17	Sturgeon County, Alberta	Whitecourt (AJHL)	—
10		Vladislav Firstov	Junior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2001-06-19	Yaroslavl, Russia	Waterloo (USHL)	MIN, 42nd overall 2019
11		Jáchym Kondelík (C)	Senior	F	6' 5" (1.96 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	1999-12-21	Budějovice, Czech Republic	Muskegon (USHL)	NSH, 111th overall 2018
12		Gavin Puskar	Sophomore	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2001-06-21	Farmington, Connecticut	Hotchkiss (USHS–CT)	—
13		John Wojciechowski	Senior	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	1998-02-18	Mamaroneck, New York	Langley (BCHL)	—
16		Jake Flynn	Junior	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2001-05-26	Bridgewater, Massachusetts	Thayer (USHS–MA)	—
17		Marc Gatcomb (A)	Senior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1999-07-22	Woburn, Massachusetts	The Gunnery (USHS–CT)	—
18		John Spetz	Sophomore	D	5' 10" (1.78 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1999-12-01	Oak Ridge, New Jersey	Chicago (USHL)	—
19		Kevin O'Neil	Graduate	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1998-02-23	Latham, New York	Yale (ECAC)	—
21		Nick Capone	Sophomore	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	2001-12-17	East Haven, Connecticut	Tri-City (USHL)	TBL, 157th overall 2020
22		Hudson Schandor	Sophomore	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	2000-09-29	North Vancouver, British Columbia	Surrey (BCHL)	—
23		Carter Berger	Junior	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1999-09-17	North Vancouver, British Columbia	Victoria (BCHL)	FLA, 106th overall 2019
24		Sasha Teleguine	Freshman	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2002-09-17	North Attleborough, Massachusetts	Chilliwack (BCHL)	—
27		Harrison Rees	Junior	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2000-03-19	Mississauga, Ontario	North York (OJHL)	—
28		Ryan Tverberg	Sophomore	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2002-01-30	Richmond Hill, Ontario	Toronto Jr. Canadiens (OJHL)	TOR, 213th overall 2020
29		Jake Veilleux	Freshman	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2000-01-19	South Windsor, Connecticut	Victoria (BCHL)	—
31		Matt Pasquale	Sophomore	G	6' 2" (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2000-10-06	North Reading, Massachusetts	Northeast (NAHL)	—
32		Artem Shlaine	Sophomore	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2002-03-17	Moscow, Russia	Shattuck-St. Mary's (USHS–MN)	NJD, 130th overall 2020
33		Darion Hanson	Graduate	G	6' 3" (1.91 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1997-05-19	East Bethel, Minnesota	Union (ECAC)	—
35		Logan Terness	Freshman	G	6' 1" (1.85 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2002-09-18	Burnaby, British Columbia	Trail (BCHL)	—
60		Jarrod Gourley	Graduate	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	212 lb (96 kg)	1999-06-29	Calgary, Alberta	Arizona State (NCAA)	—

Huskies in the NHL[]