The Forecheck: UConn has high hopes despite significant departures

After losing a big chunk of the roster that reached the Hockey East championship last season, the Huskies are still expecting to compete for trophies this year.

Aug 25, 2022

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Despite heavy losses, UConn not planning to take a step back this season

When the puck hit the back of the net in overtime of the Hockey East championship and UMass spilled over the boards to celebrate its title, it felt like UConn had reached the end of an era. After four years of steady progress with the same core, much of that group was set to graduate.

Once the offseason began in earnest, the Huskies lost 15 players — nine to graduation, five to the transfer portal, and one to the pros. The forwards were especially decimated with just five players returning from last season.

UConn appears to be entering a transition year, but not as much of a rebuild as the 2018-19 campaign — in which the team lost seven in a row at one point and went over three months without a Hockey East victory — but will likely see the program take a step back after three straight top-five finishes.

Just don’t tell that to anyone inside the building.

“There's a lot of belief in that locker room that we can get back to that place,” Mike Cavanaugh said.

Cavanaugh is good friends with UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma and recently, it’s become an annual tradition for Auriemma to scoff at the notion that the previous year’s season-ending loss is motivating the current team.

“That might be one of the all-time greatest lines of bullshit I've ever heard in my life, how players go, ‘I'm using this to motivate myself for next season.’ That lasts until about April 14 and after that, it's gone,” Auriemma said in June.

However, he did provide a caveat: In 2001, the Huskies blew a 16-point first-half lead to Notre Dame in the Final Four and lost 90-75. Then-freshman Diana Taurasi had one of the worst games of her career, shooting 1-for-15. That loss stuck with the team and they responded by putting together arguably the greatest season in the history of the sport in 2001-02.

“When Sue (Bird) and Dee (Diana Taurasi) and those guys lost in St. Louis, they were so embarrassed, they were so pissed off that from the minute the plane landed when we got back to Connecticut, there was this cut-throat mentality on our team that lasted from the day we landed until they cut down the nets in San Antonio every day — and no one said a word about it. But it was there every day. You could feel it,” Auriemma said.

So what’s that have to do with UConn men’s hockey’s quest to return to the TD Garden and come back with a trophy? Like the 2002 women’s basketball team, everyone knows the mission even though it remains unspoken.

“I think that attitude permeates through the locker room and I've watched it during their workouts here through July,” Cavanaugh said. For UConn as a program, staying consistently good is part of reaching the next level.

Despite such significant roster turnover — especially up top — the coach also believes the combination of All-American Ryan Tverberg as well as Hudson Schandor, Nick Capone, and Chase Bradley along with transfers Ty Amonte, Adam Dawe, and Justin Pearson will give the Huskies a much higher floor than the 2018-19 squad had. Instead of freshmen playing central roles — like the 2018 class that featured Jachym Kondelik, Ruslan Iskhakov, and Jonny Evans did — they’ll only have to fill 3-4 spots up top if everyone is healthy.

“I think it's different than when we were in this position four years ago,” Cavanaugh said. “We had that big class but it was a little bit different…We're bringing in three forwards up front who have a lot of experience playing college hockey…it's not like we need to necessarily rely on younger players.”

Still, with so many new pieces, the Huskies will need time to gel, which could lead to a slower start.

But in the offseason, hope springs eternal. UConn now has the experience of a championship game appearance under its belt and will be starting from a higher point than it did four years ago. With the new arena set to open and the Huskies’ best-ever recruit in Matthew Wood arriving this fall, they might not have to wait long to get back to the TD Garden — even if it’s not this year.