Weekly Roundup: A bitter end... or is it?
The Huskies season came to a close with an ugly performance in the Hockey East Quarterfinals.
Welcome to the UConn Hockey Hub newsletter, which catches you up on all the stories, trends, and anything else you might have missed, along with some quick takes and leftover notes from the weekend.
Subscriber news
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: Assuming UConn’s season is over, we’ll be pausing the Patreon so we can turn our full attention to UConn women’s basketball coverage this March. This means you’ll get this newsletter and one more podcast before we pause the billing cycle for April. We’ll (tentatively) return in the middle of April and update everyone on our plan for the offseason.
This doesn’t necessarily mean we’re going totally dark, though. If there’s major news that comes through (i.e Mike Cavanaugh officially signs the extension we reported; Tomas Vomacka signs with Nashville, etc.) you’ll still get the breaking news alert.
While the season appears to be over, UConn could still get an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament. I’m not expecting it, though. Obviously, we’ll keep coverage on here rolling if the Huskies’ season does continue.
Weekend thoughts
Well, that’s a disappointing way for the season to end — a 6-1 drubbing at the hands of Providence that was never particularly close. After all the growth of this season…
I still can’t really wrap my head around what happened. UConn dominated the Friars nine days ago and then completely laid an egg on Sunday. The Huskies came out looking really shaky and by the time they settled in they were down 3-0. Not good.
It’s hard to ignore the fact that Cavanaugh is now 0-11 in the postseason — including the first year in Atlantic Hockey. It’s hard to figure out why, especially since he coached in plenty of high-stakes games as an assistant at Boston College. Cavanaugh has done an unbelievable job building this program — especially considering the circumstances — but the lack of postseason success really stands out.
As I said in one of our recent podcasts, UConn’s previous teams were overachievers. This year felt a little bit more disappointing because it was a clearly solid team that was not overmatched. Once the Huskies break through, I’m sure we’ll see them go on a run.
Kale Howarth’s injury looked really bad on TV. As of Tuesday morning, he still hasn’t had an MRI but the outlook isn’t good.
Also, Tomas Vomacka played the entire final month of the season with a torn meniscus. That’s an incredible feat and one that deserves all the possible praise.
Not much more to say about the game. UConn played poorly and lost. Cavanaugh has trouble in the postseason but the program is still trending upward.
Not all hope is lost. The Huskies are still on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament because the NCAA doesn’t require teams to be above .500 in order to be eligible for an at-large bid this season. If UMass beats Providence on Wednesday in the semifinals, UConn will likely be ranked as the fourth-best Hockey East team in Pairwise. Whether or not that’s enough to get the Huskies into the field is another debate. But they stay alive as long as the Friars lose.
Take this for whatever it’s worth. The program feels like it has a “50-50 chance” to make the NCAA Tournament if UMass beats Providence.
Looking back, this has been such a bizarre season. From the scattered games in December to the false-positive test in January, not having Vladislav Firstov and Yan Kuznetsov for a huge chunk of the year, adding Ryan Tverberg midseason, Hockey East announcing games week-by-week and unveiling a secret formula to determine the standings, it’s been a lot. We made it, but I don’t want to do this sort of thing again.
By next October, things should be back to normal (or close to it) and we’ll all be back at the XL Center for the start of the new season. Hopefully, the fan support is there for a team that’s on the rise despite its postseason performance.
BC’s Spencer Knight beat out Jonny Evans for Hockey East Player of the Year and BC’s Jerry York won coach of the year over Cavanaugh. Knight deserves it, he’s been spectacular this season. As for York, I’m not really sure why he got it after finishing in first — the same place his team was picked in the preseason poll.
Roster Notes
Cavanaugh said all the seniors will be welcomed back to use their extra year of eligibility. If I had to guess (no inside info), I don’t foresee any of them doing so, but things can change.
UConn is expecting to lose Tomas Vomacka to the pros — hence why Union transfer Darion Hanson and freshman Logan Terness are coming in — but that’s not set in stone, from what I’ve been told. I wonder if his torn meniscus could be a factor.
Hanson hasn’t signed his letter of intent yet. I’d imagine he’s waiting to get confirmation that Vomacka is leaving before he officially joins the program.
As of now (again, things can change), Jachym Kondelik and Kale Howarth are expected back, though I was told that before Howarth’s injury. I don’t know what that means for their NHL Draft rights. Another issue is that Howarth only came in with three years of eligibility, which apparently could be an issue. I’m not sure why that is considering all winter athletes got an extra year of eligibility, I’m just passing along what I’ve been told.
Signee Nate Hanley is likely going to spend an extra year in junior hockey. He was originally projected to come to Storrs as part of the 2021 class before he dealt with some health issues.
Links
How Vladislav Firstov transforms UConn men’s hockey’s offense
UConn men’s hockey looking to end losing streak in Hockey East playoffs
Jonny Evans becomes first UConn men’s hockey player named Hockey East First Team All-Star
UConn men’s hockey regular season awards
UConn men’s hockey’s Jonny Evans named finalist for Hockey East Player of the Year
Mike Cavanaugh in “final stages” of contract extension
Video: Mike Cavanaugh pregame availability
Episode 15: UConn Hockey Hub Podcast
Preview: UConn vs. No. 17 Providence
Hockey East Tournament Preview: UConn vs. No. 17 Providence | 3:30 p.m., SNY
Hockey East Quarterfinals: UConn men’s hockey dropped by Providence, 6-1
UConn Hockey Hub Postgame Show
Video: Mike Cavanaugh postgame press conference
Three stars
Each week, we normally highlight UConn’s top performers from the weekend. But we’ll look at the Huskies’ best players from the entire season.
First star: Tomas Vomacka
Vomacka was UConn’s most important player all season long and the fact that he played through a torn meniscus for the final month of the season is nothing short of remarkable. If this is the end for him in Storrs, it’s been fun to watch him grow over these last three seasons. For my money, he’s the best goaltender ever to come through the program.
Second star: Jonny Evans
Evans had one of the best seasons in the Huskies’ Hockey East history with 14 goals, 14 assists, and 28 points. In one offseason, he went from a solid player with nine goals and 10 assists as a sophomore to the top scorer in the conference. With another year of development and a stronger supporting cast around him, Evans should be a legitimate Hobey Baker Award candidate as a senior.
Third star: The freshman class
Okay, we’re cheating a bit with this one but there’s no obvious candidate for the third star and the entire freshman class was spectacular this season. Hudson Schandor finished third on the team with 14 points (six goals, eight assists). John Spetz led all UConn’s defensemen with 11 points (three goals, eight assists) and his 53 blocks were tops in the conference.
Artem Shlaine is a dynamic player who is a top candidate for a breakout sophomore season, Nick Capone impressed even if he didn’t produce much (one goal, four assists) and Ryan Tverberg added a fantastic spark midseason with his speed and skating ability.
Even Cassidy Bowes and Gavin Puskar, who were inactive for the majority of the season, showed plenty of potential when they did make the lineup. UConn’s coaching staff crushed it with this freshman class.