UConn Huskies men's ice hockey


The UConn Huskies men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association 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.

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.
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. 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.
The move to NCAA Division I status allowed the team to join other Husky athletic programs. In 1998 they joined the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, after previously playing for 38 years in the Division III ECAC East. At the time, head coach Bruce Marshall was in his tenth season at the position. In its 2nd season in the 2000 MAAC Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Uconn beat Iona 6-1 to win its 1st league championship. However, due to a 2-year probationary period placed on the MAAC for an automatic bid to the NCAA Ice Hockey championship by the league champion, UConn was unable to participate in the NCAA tournament that year. It has been the only championship Uconn would earn since moving to Division I. But when the athletic department was forced to remove all athletic scholarships from the sport in order to comply with Title IX, and the Huskies consistently finished in the bottom few spots of the national computer rankings before the most recent season. In 2003, the MAAC formed a new league called Atlantic Hockey.
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. 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. In spite of free admission, only 891 fans turned up on short notice to watch the Huskies lose 5-3. 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. Meanwhile, sophomore Garrett Bartus set a school record with 1,085 saves. The 2011-12 AHA preseason rankings reflected the newly gained reputation, with the Huskies ranked fifth out of twelve teams. The Huskies posted a winning record once again in the 2012-13 season.
On June 21, 2012 Connecticut announced the program will join Hockey East as the conference's 12th member beginning in the 2014-15 season. Prior to the move into Hockey East, on January 7, 2013, head coach Bruce Marshall resigned after 25 years and was replaced in interim by Asst. Dave Berard. 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. As part of the move from Atlantic Hockey to Hockey East, the university added 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. 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. 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 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.
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 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 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. Starting in the 2015-16 season all home games were played at the XL Center, which drew a much better attendance per game than those at the Webster Bank Arena in which Uconn appeared during the 2014-15 season.

Season-by-season results

Coaching staff

The Huskies are coached by Mike Cavanaugh, the fourth head coach in program history.

All-time coaching records

As of completion of 2018-19 season
TenureCoachYearsRecordPct.
2013–presentMike Cavanaugh678–109–27
2012–2013David Berard1†19–10–3
1988–2012Bruce Marshall25332–377–69
1981–1988Ben Kirtland785–98–2
1960–1981John Chapman21196–221–7
Totals5 coaches59 seasons710-815-108

† David Berard served as an interim head coach after Bruce Marshall took a medical leave of absence.

Awards and honors

ECAC East

All-Conference Teams

First Team All-ECAC East
Second Team All-ECAC East

Individual Awards

MAAC Defensive Rookie of the Year
MAAC Tournament Most Valuable Player
First Team All-MAAC
Second Team All-MAAC
MAAC All-Rookie Team

Individual Awards

Atlantic Hockey Player of the Year
Atlantic Hockey Best Defensive Forward
Atlantic Hockey Regular Season Goaltending Award
Atlantic Hockey Regular Season Scoring Trophy
First Team All-Atlantic Hockey
Second Team All-Atlantic Hockey
Third Team All-Atlantic Hockey
Atlantic Hockey All-Rookie Team

All-Conference Teams

Second Team All-Hockey East
Third Team All-Hockey East
Atlantic Hockey All-Rookie Team

Career points leaders

''''''
Bryan Krygier1988–199292127219
Todd Krygier1984–198899101200
Ryan Equale1992–199679109188
Brian Sutherland1990–19946192153
Jeff Ray1988–19927873151
Bryan Quinn1991–19956485149
D. J. LeBlanc1990–19946880148
Harry Geary1984–19877087148
Dave L'Ecuyer1979–19836679145
Mark Kosinski1982–19865977136

Career Goaltending Leaders

GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average
Minimum 50 Games
''''''''
Matt Grogan2010–20145930821192.9262.32
Rob Nichols2013–200593538623910.9182.66
Marc Senerchia1996–2000933.02
Garrett Bartus2009–201311163533205.9113.02
Beau Erickson2006–20098548912642.9023.24

Statistics current through the start of the 2018-19 season.

Current roster


As of July 25, 2019.

Huskies in the NHL

PlayerPositionTeamYearsStanley Cup|
Todd KrygierLeft WingHFD, WAS, ANA1989–19980
Cole SchneiderRight WingBUF2015–20170
Tage ThompsonCenterSTL, BUF2017–Present0