Weekly Roundup: UConn does just enough to get by Maine
The Huskies didn't bring their A-game up to Alfond Arena but still came away with five of six points on the weekend.
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.
Weekend thoughts
One of the best signs of a good team is winning despite a sub-par performance. UConn didn’t play well this weekend and still came away with five of six points. The Huskies were better on Saturday than they were on Friday night, but they still have plenty of room to improve.
To be fair, Maine deserves a lot of credit. The Black Bears played hard and are a better team than their 0-7-1 record indicates. They aren’t very talented, but they’re tough to play against. Or, as our friend and subscriber Hurley Mania put it:
Alfond Arena is also one of the more intimidating atmospheres in college hockey. I’ve never seen a rink where the upper level is literally on top on the ice. It’s just a fantastic building, a great atmosphere and one of the best venues for college hockey in the country. They also had really good chocolate chip cookies available at the concession stands, which is a plus.
Strictly in terms of the eye test, Darion Hanson had his best weekend in a UConn uniform. The gaffe on Maine’s goal from center ice on Friday was bad but he responded well to it with a 10-save third period and didn’t let the mistake snowball.
The power play also scored on 3/7 opportunities for all intents and purposes (one them crossed the goal line as the penalty expired) and looked consistently dangerous.
There’s reason to remain optimistic about it moving forward, too. UConn made an adjustment to its power play late in the Dartmouth game and its last two opportunities with the extra skater were its best of the night. Instead of reverting back to its previous form, the power play carried that momentum into this weekend. The Huskies consistently created opportunities with the advantage and, most importantly, finished them.
Hockey is weird. With his two goals on Friday night, Harrison Rees has now scored as many times this season as Jonny Evans and Carter Turnbull combined.
Evans has no points over this last three games — but has arguably played his best hockey in that stretch. The points are going to come for the senior, but there’s only one puck and his line mates, Marc Gatcomb and Jachym Kondelik, have both been great this season.
Still, it feels like UConn’s offense won’t reach its full potential until Evans and Turnbull get going on a consistent basis.
Rees leads the team with 15 blocks this season. He had 18 all of last year. Right now, he looks like the team’s most improved player…at least, behind Ryan Tverberg.
Speaking of defenseman, Jarrod Gourley is the only skater to play in all nine games without recording a point, though he is tied for third on the team at +6. Even without the offensive production, Mike Cavanaugh is pleased with the Arizona State transfer.
“I think he brings a really calming presence to our defensive core. He's strong, he's physical, and he's mature way beyond his years,” the coach said. “I think he brings that maturity to our locker room.”
Even though UConn won both games in Orono, Maine awarded itself two of the three stars each night.
Hudson Schandor is doing his best Kondelik impression with no goals and seven assists this season. Those two players also happen to be tied for first on the team in that category.
Last year, only two Huskies — Evans and Turnbull — had more than seven goals. Tverberg already has that many in nine games.
Considering how much Cavanaugh lauded them during the preseason, both Carter Berger and Jake Flynn have underwhelmed so far. Berger has just one point and one assist, and looked shaky defensively at times against Maine. Flynn has yet to record a point, though he’s missed the last four games with an injury. Still, those two haven’t contributed as much on offense as I would’ve expected to this point.
Looking ahead to the future, at least three commits signed their letter of intent to UConn yesterday: Forwards Jake Percival and Tabor Heaslip, as well as defenseman Jack Pascucci. Forward Jake Black didn’t sign yesterday, though he will eventually. There’s no rush. It’s possible that others did and joined this trio, but I just haven’t been able to confirm.
Links
Video: Mike Cavanaugh and Darion Hanson pregame availability
Despite win, Mike Cavanaugh disappointed with UConn's performance against Maine
Play of the week
While Vladislav Firstov’s rocket from the blue line was impressive, we’ll give the nod to the team effort instead.
Three stars
Ryan Tverberg
Tverberg’s rise continues with three goals, one assist and a four-point weekend. The sophomore has easily been UConn’s best player this season but what’s most impressive is he’s scoring in a variety of ways. His first goal came thanks to good positioning and a great pass from Chase Bradley. His second was a result of following up a rebound and his lone goal on Saturday came from the top of the face-off circle.
The season is less than a third of the way through and we’re already running out of superlatives for Tverberg.
Harrison Rees
With two goals on Saturday — including the game-winner — Rees won Hockey East Defenseman of the Week. He’s quietly transformed himself into one of UConn’s best all-around blue liners and leads the team’s d-men with 16 shots. Rees now has five career goals — two of which also came in a multi-goal game last season at Merrimack.
The power play
After an abysmal 0/16 power play drought — worsened by an 0/7 night at Dartmouth — UConn finally broke through with two goals with the advantage on Friday and essentially another on Saturday. This is the best the unit has looked all season, though the Huskies will need that to continue over the next four games with BC, Providence and UMass Lowell all on tap.