The Forecheck: This season will test UConn's culture after run to Hockey East final
The Huskies expected to win this past season. Can that standard keep up with a transition year on tap?
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This season will test UConn’s culture
Two months after UConn fell to UMass in heartbreaking fashion in the Hockey East Final, Mike Cavanaugh still hadn’t gotten over the loss. It didn’t matter that the Minutemen were defending Hockey East and national champions who completely shut the Huskies down over the final 20+ minutes. The fact that UConn went further than it ever had in the postseason didn’t provide any solace either.
“I don't know if you ever come to terms with losing in overtime,” Cavanaugh said at the UConn Coaches’ Road Show in June.
Time did provide some healthy perspective, though. The Huskies had their best season in program history with their most wins in Hockey East, their highest ranking ever, their first playoff win, first trip to TD Garden and first time beating every team in the league.
While the defeat still stings, it faded enough after awhile for Cavanaugh to take a step back and appreciate the year in full — not just the ending.
“I certainly had time to reflect on the season and see how how much we accomplished as a program,” Cavanaugh said.
UConn didn’t quite have enough to claim its first Hockey East trophy and trip to the NCAA Tournament, the journey to the final did have value. In the short term, it helped the Huskies recruit out of the transfer portal by raising the visibility of the team. More important, it helped establish a standard for the program that Cavanaugh had been working towards since he took over nine years ago.
“I think the biggest thing that we accomplished was when you're building a program, you get to the point where your team truly, actually expects to win,” he said. “You can say that and it sounds great but you just know it as a coach when you walk in the locker room and you see the energy in the locker room you can feel that the club expects to win the game. I told our seniors going out that that was their legacy that they've left for the program.”
It’s a process that’s been slowly building over the last few years in particular. The team’s expectations over even the last two seasons have changed pretty dramatically. In 2020-21, UConn had a good team that was expected to compete for home ice in the playoffs, but wasn’t regarded as a true contender for the Hockey East regular season title. But last season, the Huskies were expected to be in the mix for both the league’s trophies as well as the NCAA Tournament.
That’s not to even mention the buildup during the 12-20-2 campaign in 2018-19 or the 15-15-4 campaign in 2019-20. Each year, UConn got better and better before the breakthrough last March. But if there were a single moment Cavanaugh could point to, it would be the win over Northeastern in the semifinals at TD Garden.
“The BU win was a good win but I think the Northeastern win was even more of a statement game for us like, ‘Hey, we're here on the big stage and we're not afraid of it. Actually, we’re relishing this opportunity.’ So I think that’s probably a game that sticks out in my mind,” he said.
Now, the challenge will be maintaining that standard. The Huskies lost most of their top producers to graduation and another set of players to the transfer portal. They’ll replace them with a trio of incoming transfers but mostly a host of freshmen. There’s almost certain to be growing pains next season but Cavanaugh believes the expectation of winning will be a one-way door.
“I think if you have the right leadership and you keep doing a good job recruiting good players, that's how you keep that going. It can happen,” he said.
As an example, he pointed to UConn women’s basketball’s past season. Geno Auriemma’s squad was hammered with injures and lost six games — their most since 2004-05. Still, every loss came as a shock and next year, it’ll still be national championship or bust for the Huskies. The same is becoming true for the men’s basketball program as well.
“Geno might have an off year or the men's team might have an off year but that expectation to win doesn't go away,” Cavanaugh said. “It's been established over a long time ago.”
UConn men’s hockey isn’t at the level of either of the basketball programs. But it’s certainly been on an upward trajectory over the last few years and establishing those high expectations is a key milestone. While the Huskies still have plenty more to accomplish — namely an NCAA Tournament appearance — they’re on the right track.
Now, that progress will be tested with an apparent transition year on the horizon. UConn survived the last one in 2018-19 and used that as a foundation for the success throughout the past three campaigns. At the best programs, wins and losses vary but the culture remains intact. This season should show us just how established it is for the Huskies.
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