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]
3rd year, 28–33–11
Captain(s) Patrick Kirtland (C), Shawn Pauly (A), Derek Pratt (A)
Arena XL Center
Capacity: 15,635
Surface: 200' x 85'
Location Storrs, Connecticut
Colors Blue and White
           
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.[2]

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.[3]

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.[4] 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.[5][6]

The move to NCAA Division I status allowed the team to join other Husky athletic programs. In 1998 they joined Atlantic Hockey, previously the team had played for 38 years in the Division III ECAC East.[7] At the time, head coach Bruce Marshall was in his tenth season at the position. After posting winning records in their first two seasons at the highest level, the Huskies started to struggle. The athletic department was forced to remove all athletic scholarships from the sport in order to comply with Title IX,[8] and the Huskies consistently finished in the bottom few spots of the national computer rankings before the most recent season.[9]

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.[10] 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.[11] In spite of free admission, only 891 fans turned up on short notice to watch the Huskies lose 5-3.[12] 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.[13] Meanwhile, sophomore Garrett Bartus set a school record with 1,085 saves.[14] The 2011-12 AHA preseason rankings reflected the newly gained reputation, with the Huskies ranked fifth out of twelve teams.[15] The Huskies posted a winning record once again in the 2012-13 season. Long-time head coach Bruce Marshall stepped down during his 25th season and was replaced in interim by Asst. Dave Berard.[16] 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.

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]

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.

Players

Current roster

As of September 4, 2015.[18]

# S/P/C Player Class Pos Height Weight DoB Hometown Previous team NHL rights
1 Illinois Creel, TannerTanner Creel Sophomore G 5' 10" (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1994-04-10 Arlington Heights, Illinois Odessa (NAHL) —
2 Massachusetts Pratt, DerekDerek Pratt (A) Sophomore D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1994-03-12 Mount Hermon, Massachusetts Waterloo (USHL) —
3 Massachusetts Segalla, RyanRyan Segalla Junior D 6' 1" (1.85 m) 198 lb (90 kg) 1994-12-29 Rockland, Massachusetts Salisbury (USHS–CT) PIT, 119th overall 2013
4 Colorado Huson, KyleKyle Huson Senior D 6' 6" (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1991-10-31 Parker, Colorado Wenatchee (NAHL) —
5 Illinois Drake, DavidDavid Drake Sophomore D 6' 6" (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1995-01-07 Naperville, Illinois Des Moines (USHL) PHI, 192nd overall 2013
6 Minnesota Austin, JohnnyJohnny Austin Sophomore D 5' 11" (1.8 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1995-07-22 St. Louis Park, Minnesota Benilde-St. Margaret's (USHS–MN) —
7 Finland Koonas, JoonaJoona Koonas Junior D 6' 4" (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1993-07-28 Vintaa, Finland Islanders (USPHL) —
8 Minnesota Naas, SpencerSpencer Naas Sophomore F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1994-07-14 St. Louis Park, Minnesota Benilde-St. Margaret's (USHS–MN) —
9 Washington (state) Pauly, ShawnShawn Pauly (A) Senior F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1992-01-08 Bellingham, Washington Wenatchee (NAHL) —
10 Massachusetts Gendron, MilesMiles Gendron Freshman D 6' 3" (1.91 m) 192 lb (87 kg) 1996-06-28 Shrewsbury, Massachusetts Penticton (BCHL) OTT, 70th overall 2014
11 Massachusetts Ronan, CoreyCorey Ronan Sophomore F 5' 8" (1.73 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1995-10-06 Franklin, Massachusetts St. Sebastian's (USHS–MA) —
13 New Jersey Masonius, JosephJoseph Masonius Freshman D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1997-02-17 Spring Lake, New Jersey USNTDP (USHL) —
14 Massachusetts Golonka, WillWill Golonka Sophomore F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1995-02-02 Carlisle, Massachusetts Belmont Hill (USHS–MA) —
16 Quebec El-Mir, KarlKarl El-Mir Freshman F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1996-03-14 Montreal, Quebec Grande Prairie (AJHL) —
17 Ontario Schwartz, JesseJesse Schwartz Sophomore F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1994-04-10 Toronto, Ontario Victoria (BCHL) —
18 Illinois Kalter, MaxMax Kalter Freshman F 5' 8" (1.73 m) 161 lb (73 kg) 1996-03-01 Highland Park, Illinois Sioux City (USHL) —
19 British Columbia Richardson, EvanEvan Richardson Junior F 5' 8" (1.73 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1994-05-30 Nanaimo, British Columbia Boston College (HEA) —
21 British Columbia Wight, JeffJeff Wight Sophomore F 6' 3" (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1995-12-04 Coquitlam, British Columbia Merritt (BCHL) —
22 Austria Richter, MarcoMarco Richter Freshman F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 187 lb (85 kg) 1995-11-19 Vienna, Austria Madison (USHL) —
23 Finland Ojantakanen, KasperiKasperi Ojantakanen Sophomore F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1995-01-12 Helsinki, Finland Jokerit U20 (Nuorten SM-liiga) —
24 Connecticut Kirtland, PatrickPatrick Kirtland (C) Senior F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1991-01-22 Rocky Hill, Connecticut Des Moines (USHL) —
28 Michigan Ferriss, JoeyJoey Ferriss Senior F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1992-12-28 Novi, Michigan Michigan (NAHL) —
27 Russia Letunov, MaxMax Letunov Freshman F 6' 4" (1.93 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1996-02-20 Moscow, Russia Youngstown (USHL) ARI, 52nd overall 2014
29 Connecticut Thompson, TageTage Thompson Freshman F 6' 5" (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1997-10-30 Orange, Connecticut USNTDP (USHL) —
31 Texas Nichols, RobRob Nichols Junior G 5' 11" (1.8 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1992-09-10 Dallas, Texas Wenatchee (NAHL) —
35 Massachusetts Thulin, SteveSteve Thulin Sophomore G 6' 3" (1.91 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1993-02-02 North Reading, Massachusetts Connecticut (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.[19]

Coaching staff

[20] 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[3]

Tenure Coach Years Record Pct.
2013–present Mike Cavanaugh 2 28–33–11 .465
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. ↑ "Connecticut Huskies Men's Hockey". U.S. College Hockey Online. Retrieved April 10, 2011.
  3. 1 2 "Connecticut Huskies Men's Hockey Team History". U.S. College Hockey Online. Retrieved January 10, 2012.
  4. ↑ Newell, Bill (12 September 1956). "Hockey Rink, Arena Planned at Uconn". Hartford Courant (Ebsco). Retrieved 27 January 2012. (subscription required (help)).
  5. ↑ "UConn Facilities - Mark Edward Freitas Ice Forum". Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  6. ↑ "New covered ice arena now ready for play". Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  7. ↑ "UConn Hockey Record Book" (PDF). University of Connecticut. 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2012.
  8. ↑ McDonough, Matt (October 19, 2011). "Hockey needs more support". Daily Campus. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
  9. ↑ http://www.theuconnblog.com/2010/2/9/1302109/uconn-hockey-enough-is-enough
  10. ↑ http://www.uconnhuskies.com/sports/w-hockey/spec-rel/060210aaa.html
  11. ↑ "CBS Local - UConn Hockey Games Moved to XL Center". Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  12. ↑ "UConn-Army Box Score, UConnhuskies.com" (PDF). Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  13. ↑ "Connecticut Huskies 2010-11 Stats". Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  14. ↑ "Garrett Bartus - UConn Huskies.com". Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  15. ↑ "Bentley Falcons: Atlantic Hockey Preseason Poll Released".
  16. ↑ http://articles.courant.com/2013-01-07/sports/hc-uconn-hockey-coach-bruce-marshall-resigns-20130107_1_bruce-marshall-hockey-east-marshall-lives
  17. 1 2 3 4 Associated Press Staff (June 21, 2012). "Connecticut joins Hockey East". ESPN. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
  18. ↑ "2015-16 Roster". University of Connecticut. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
  19. ↑ "U. of Connecticut Alumni Report". HockeyDB.com. November 2010. Retrieved January 9, 2012.
  20. ↑ "Bruce Marshall". University of Connecticut. 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2012.

External links

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