Connecticut Huskies men's ice hockey

Connecticut Huskies men's ice hockey
Current season
University University of Connecticut
Conference Hockey East
Head coach Mike Cavanaugh [1]
4th year, 42–55–18 (.443)
Captain(s) Derek Pratt (C), David Drake (A), Spencer Naas (A)
Arena XL Center
Capacity: 15,635
Surface: 200' x 85'
Location Storrs, Connecticut
Colors National Flag Blue and White[2]
         
Conference Tournament Champions
2000

The Connecticut 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] As part of the move from Atlantic Hockey to Hockey East, the university will add 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] 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.

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. For the 2015-16 season all home games will be 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.

Current roster

As of September 7, 2016.[20]

# S/P/C Player Class Pos Height Weight DoB Hometown Previous team NHL rights
1 Illinois Creel, TannerTanner Creel Junior G 5' 10" (1.78 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 1994-04-10 Arlington Heights, Illinois Odessa (NAHL) —
2 Massachusetts Pratt, DerekDerek Pratt (C) Junior D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1994-03-12 Mount Hermon, Massachusetts Waterloo (USHL) —
4 Massachusetts Nelson, BryanBryan Nelson Freshman D 6' 3" (1.91 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1996-02-19 Upton, Massachusetts CT Jr. Rangers (USPHL) —
5 Illinois Drake, DavidDavid Drake (A) Junior D 6' 6" (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1995-01-07 Naperville, Illinois Des Moines (USHL) PHI, 192nd overall 2013
6 Minnesota Austin, JohnnyJohnny Austin Junior D 5' 11" (1.8 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1995-07-22 St. Louis Park, Minnesota Benilde-St. Margaret's (USHS–MN) —
7 Finland Kunnas, JoonaJoona Kunnas Senior D 6' 4" (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1993-07-28 Vintaa, Finland Islanders (USPHL) —
8 Minnesota Naas, SpencerSpencer Naas (A) Junior F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1994-07-14 Minnetonka, Minnesota Benilde-St. Margaret's (USHS–MN) —
9 Quebec Payusov, AlexanderAlexander Payusov Freshman F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1997-07-26 Montreal, Quebec Madison (USHL) —
10 Massachusetts Gendron, MilesMiles Gendron Sophomore D 6' 3" (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1996-06-28 Shrewsbury, Massachusetts Penticton (BCHL) OTT, 70th overall 2014
11 Massachusetts Ronan, CoreyCorey Ronan Junior F 5' 8" (1.73 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1995-10-06 Franklin, Massachusetts St. Sebastian's (USHS–MA) —
13 New Jersey Masonius, JosephJoseph Masonius Sophomore D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1997-02-17 Spring Lake, New Jersey USNTDP (USHL) PIT, 181st overall 2016
16 Quebec El-Mir, KarlKarl El-Mir Sophomore F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1996-03-14 Montreal, Quebec Grande Prairie (AJHL) —
17 Ontario Schwartz, JesseJesse Schwartz Junior F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1994-04-10 Toronto, Ontario Victoria (BCHL) —
18 Illinois Kalter, MaxMax Kalter Sophomore F 5' 8" (1.73 m) 160 lb (73 kg) 1996-03-01 Highland Park, Illinois Sioux City (USHL) —
19 British Columbia Richardson, EvanEvan Richardson Senior F 5' 8" (1.73 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1994-05-30 Nanaimo, British Columbia Boston College (HEA) —
20 Minnesota Newpower, WyattWyatt Newpower Freshman D 6' 4" (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1997-12-09 Hugo, Minnesota White Bear Lake (USHS–MN) —
21 British Columbia Wight, JeffJeff Wight Junior F 6' 3" (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1995-12-04 Coquitlam, British Columbia Merritt (BCHL) —
22 Minnesota Howell, JustinJustin Howell Freshman F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1997-04-26 St. Paul, Minnesota Des Moines (USHL) —
23 Finland Ojantakanen, KasperiKasperi Ojantakanen Junior F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1995-01-12 Helsinki, Finland Jokerit U20 (Nuorten SM-liiga) —
24 Maine Freeman, BenBen Freeman Freshman F 6' 5" (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1996-01-10 Falmouth, Maine CT Jr. Rangers (USPHL) —
27 Russia Letunov, MaximMaxim Letunov Sophomore F 6' 3" (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1996-02-20 Moscow, Russia Youngstown (USHL) SJS, 52nd overall 2014
28 New Hampshire Morgan, BrianBrian Morgan Senior (RS) F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1994-04-01 Windham, New Hampshire Maine (HEA) —
29 Connecticut Thompson, TageTage Thompson Sophomore F 6' 5" (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1997-10-30 Orange, Connecticut USNTDP (USHL) STL, 26th overall 2016
30 Slovakia Huska, AdamAdam Huska Freshman G 6' 4" (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1997-05-12 Zvolen, Slovakia Green Bay (USHL) NYR, 184th overall 2015
31 Texas Nichols, RobRob Nichols Senior G 5' 11" (1.8 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1992-09-10 Dallas, Texas Wenatchee (NAHL) —
35 Massachusetts Thulin, SteveSteve Thulin Junior G 6' 3" (1.91 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1993-02-02 North Reading, Massachusetts CT Jr. Rangers (USPHL) —

Notable alumni

Various alumni have gone on to play in the minor leagues, including the American Hockey League, ECHL, and Central Hockey League. Former Husky Todd Krygier played ten seasons in the National Hockey League.[21]

Coaching staff

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

All-time coaching records

As of completion of 2014-15 season[4]

Tenure Coach Years Record Pct.
2013–present Mike Cavanaugh 3 39–54–15 .431
1988–2013 Bruce Marshall 25 351–387–72 .478
1981–1988 Ben Kirtland 7 85–98–2 .465
1960–1981 John Chapman 21 196–221–7 .471
Totals 4 coaches 54 seasons 670–758–99 .471

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.uconnhuskies.com/sports/m-hockey/mtt/mike_cavanaugh_858038.html
  2. ↑ "Brand identity Standards" (PDF). University of Connecticut. Retrieved 2015-06-08.
  3. ↑ "Connecticut Huskies Men's Hockey". U.S. College Hockey Online. Retrieved April 10, 2011.
  4. 1 2 "Connecticut Huskies Men's Hockey Team History". U.S. College Hockey Online. Retrieved January 10, 2012.
  5. ↑ Newell, Bill (12 September 1956). "Hockey Rink, Arena Planned at Uconn". Hartford Courant. Ebsco. Retrieved 27 January 2012. (subscription required (help)).
  6. ↑ "UConn Facilities - Mark Edward Freitas Ice Forum". Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  7. ↑ "New covered ice arena now ready for play". Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  8. ↑ "UConn Hockey Record Book" (PDF). University of Connecticut. 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2012.
  9. ↑ McDonough, Matt (October 19, 2011). "Hockey needs more support". Daily Campus. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
  10. ↑ http://www.theuconnblog.com/2010/2/9/1302109/uconn-hockey-enough-is-enough
  11. ↑ http://www.uconnhuskies.com/sports/w-hockey/spec-rel/060210aaa.html
  12. ↑ "CBS Local - UConn Hockey Games Moved to XL Center". Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  13. ↑ "UConn-Army Box Score, UConnhuskies.com" (PDF). Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  14. ↑ "Connecticut Huskies 2010-11 Stats". Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  15. ↑ "Garrett Bartus - UConn Huskies.com". Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  16. ↑ "Bentley Falcons: Atlantic Hockey Preseason Poll Released".
  17. 1 2 3 4 Associated Press Staff (June 21, 2012). "Connecticut joins Hockey East". ESPN. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
  18. ↑ "Bruce Marshall Resigns As UConn Men's Hockey Head Coach". www.uconnhuskies.com. Retrieved 2016-05-19.
  19. ↑ http://articles.courant.com/2013-01-07/sports/hc-uconn-hockey-coach-bruce-marshall-resigns-20130107_1_bruce-marshall-hockey-east-marshall-lives
  20. ↑ "2015-16 Roster". University of Connecticut. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
  21. ↑ "U. of Connecticut Alumni Report". HockeyDB.com. November 2010. Retrieved January 9, 2012.
  22. ↑ "Bruce Marshall". University of Connecticut. 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2012.

External links

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