#MikeCavanaugh

[mitchbeck]

UCONN MATT WOOD SELECTED IN NHL DRAFT

By: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - On the first day of the NHL draft, the Nashville Predators selected UConn's Matt Wood at number 15. Wood slipped down a bit further than he was expected to be selected partly because Anaheim, picking at number two, and the Arizona Coyotes at number six, made surprise choices that gave some other teams an opening to select differently than they had wanted or planned to. Speaking to ESPN's Emily Kaplan right afterward, Wood was very complimentary of his UCONN coaches led by Mike Cavanaugh. "(I was) really happy to be there and play for my coaches and they helped me to get ready for this." Wood was the fifth UCONN player since joining Hockey East to be drafted. He wore #71 for his idol Evgeni Malkin. In speaking to Kaplan, incoming Nashville GM Barry Trotz, who's replacing the retiring David Poile, was succinct in his initial evaluation, "Short term, we'll let him develop (back at UCONN). We look at the profile; he's a big body that can score. He's got a long way to go. If you wanna go far in the playoffs, you gotta score. We hope he'll exhibit (his scoring) and he checks all the boxes." Nashville has two former Huskies under their umbrella, Czechs Jachym Kondelik, the Huskies all time-assist leader, and goalie Tomas Vomacka, who they both drafted and played in the minors with the Milwaukee Admirals (AHL) and the Florida Everblades (ECHL), respectively. Wood played very solidly as a 17-year-old freshman. He led the Huskies in scoring with 34 points in 35 games. Wood was superb in the IIHF U-18 bronze medal game for Canada with the game-tying goal in the last minute with the goalie pulled and made a beautiful feathered short pass to Macklin Celebrini for the game-winner in OT 4-3 win over Slovakia. Wood had a three-point performance, garnering a plus-12 and 13 points in just seven games in the tournament. He will return to Storrs next season, be among the top players in Hockey East, and is WJC eligible for Canada. He turned down an offer from the WHL Regina Pats, who drafted him and ex-Pack championship head coach, the current Regina head coach and VP of Hockey Operations John Paddock, to play there and with the first overall selection, Connor Bedard. Instead, Wood chose to come to UCONN and chart his course. At 6'4, he surpassed Tage Thompson as the highest-drafted Husky ever. A total of 10 Huskies have been drafted in the short Hockey East history of the program. RANGERS SELECTIONS The Rangers drafted 23rd overall and selected were able to have a strong player fall to them in Gabriel (Gabe) Perreault. He has lots of offensive upside potential and is heading to Boston College (HE) with linemates Will Smith (San Jose) and Ryan Leonard (Washington). They were together on the USNDTP (USHL) last fall. All three will face Wood at the XL Center when BC comes to play UConn at the XL Center in a marquee matchup. Perreault broke the team record for scoring held by Auston Matthews with 159 points. "It's cool because he's one of the guys I look up to and one of those guys to look up above you," said Perreault to ESPN. Hockey is a big part of the Perreault family. His sister Liliane just completed her collegiate career at Mercyhurst (Erie, PA) (AHA), and his brother Jacon plays with San Diego. His father, Yanic Perreault, is the skills development coach in Chicago and, for eight consecutive seasons, held the NHL's best faceoff percentage at an average of 62.89%. He played 859 games with three tours in Toronto, LA, Nashville, and his hometown Montreal. NOTES: UCONN got another commit for next season in New Hampshire native LW Ben Muthersbaugh, who played for the NJ Titans (NAHL) last year after spending time previously at Tilton School (NHPREP). Ex-Sound Tiger Paul Flache takes a second stab as an assistant coach with the Flint Firebirds (OHL) after being with Atlanta (USPHL Premier) for the last three years. Joining him is a former Ranger from the early-to-mid 1980s and two-time Stanley Cup winner in Edmonton making his North American return is Reijo Ruotsalainen. The 63-year-old Ruotsalainen had been coaching in Europe, though not over the last three years. His previous coaching assignment was with, Kiekko-Vantaa (Finland-Mestis) as an assistant coach. While he had a successful NHL career of 443 games and 344 points and was voted the best defenseman in the 1980 WJC (his third) tourney, had he been playing hockey today, he would rival Erik Carlsson of the San Jose Sharks in the skill game from the blueline in this more free-wheeling era of hockey. After leaving the NHL, he played in three World Championships, one Olympic tournament for Finland, and another 402 games in Europe (Switzerland, Sweden, and Finland). He hasn't been to North America since 2001 as an assistant coach with the long-defunct New Orleans Brass (ECHL), featured one-time Rangers head coach Ted Sator at the helm, and had former New Haven Senator Jeff Lazaro as a player. Ross Colton (Taft Prep), who scored the game-winning Cup-clinching goal three years ago for the Tampa Bay Lightning, was traded to the Colorado Avalanche. Connor Doherty (Sacred Heart University) re-signs with the Maine Mariners (ECHL). After four years in Denmark and nine in Europe, Mike Little of Enfield, the SonderyskE team captain last season, has left the team. Is this the end of the road for the 35-year-old, or is he likely to play a few more years in a new destination? Derek Barach (Salisbury School) heads from Ässät Pori (Finland-FEL) and takes the risky proposition and signs with Vityaz Moscow (Russia-KHL) to continue his European-only career. The newest college hockey program was announced at the Bridgestone Arena in Tennessee, the site of the NHL Draft. It will be the first at a historically black college and university (HBCU). The club will be Tennessee State and play at the ACHA club hockey division level. The coaching staff is yet to be determined. The project was an all-in process as the NHL, NHLPLA, and College Hockey Inc. were all involved. The program will start in the 2024-25 season with a look toward going varsity Division-1 level down the road, and it will be the first hockey at an HCBU, hopefully leading to more significant participation of Blacks, Latinos, and other ethnic groups in the sport of hockey in the US and around the world. The college hockey season is over by nearly three months activity continues as Quinnipiac University stands at the mountaintop. UCONN HOCKEY HOME Read the full article

[sweconnecticut]

Mike Cavanaugh Interview w/ #BigLou

[mitchbeck]

CANTLON: HARTFORD WOLF PACK OFFSEASON VOL 4

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - The New York Rangers defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins in a dramatic first-round playoff series and now face an elimination game with the Carolina Hurricanes (nee Hartford Whalers) who lead the series three games to two in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Meanwhile, back in the American Hockey League (AHL), the two teams in the Atlantic Division, the Springfield Thunderbirds and the Charlotte Checkers, are meeting in a 2-3-2 format. Springfield dominated from start to finish in Game 1 on Sunday afternoon at the Mass Mutual Center, crushing the Checkers 6-0. Sam Anas had two goals and an assist, while Joel Hofer, the game's First Star, had a 35-shot shutout. (GAME SHEET) EX- HARTFORD WOLF PACK PLAYERS MOVING Ex-Hartford Wolf Pack forward Brodie Dupont has officially retired and becomes the full-time head coach for the Cardiff Devils (Wales-EIHL). Under Dupont's leadership behind the bench, Cardiff won the EIHL championship. He is the 96th ex-Wolf Pack/CT Whale player to enter coaching. Dupont played as a Wolf Pack and CT Whale member and was weighing an offer to return to Connecticut. Ex-Wolf Pack, Ryan Gropp departs IF Björklöven (Sweden Allvenskan). Another ex-Pack, Nick Ebert, leaves Örebro HK (Sweden-SHL) for HV 71 (Sweden-SHL) next year. In his tenth year of Polish hockey, New Britain's Mike Cichy leaves GKS Tychy (Poland-PZIHL) and signs with Unia Oswiecim. Rayen Petrovicky, the son of former Hartford Whaler Róbert Petrovicky, moves from TUTO (Finland-Mestis) home to HK Dukla Trencin (Slovakia-SLEL). Brooklyn Kalmikov, the son of former Sound Tiger Konstantin Kalmikov, saw his Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL) eliminated. So he's now heading from "The Q" and signs with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for next season. MORE MOVES Closer to home, following his sophomore year, Ryan Doolin (Westminster Prep) left Sacred Heart University (AHA) and transferred to D3 Colby College (ME) (NESCAC). Travis Turnbull, the younger cousin of former New Haven Nighthawk Randy Turnbull, heads from Schwenniger (Germany-DEL) to EHC Straubing (German-DEL). Jack Marottollo (North Haven), the son of Sacred Heart University (AHA) head coach C.J. Marottollo, goes from South Shore (NCDC) and enrolls at Wesleyan University (Middletown) (NESCAC) in the fall. THOSE STILL PLAYING MEANINGFUL HOCKEY... In June, the major junior playoffs continue in Canada, leading to a later-than-planned Memorial Cup in an old AHL city, Saint John, New Brunswick. In the WHL, current Ranger's prospect Matt Rempe, who's playing with the Seattle Thunderbirds, has four goals and five points in ten games, won their Game 7 finale against the Portland Winterhawks to advance to the next round. Goalie Dylan Garand, heading to Hartford on his Entry-Level Contract (ELC) in the fall, moves on. Garland's Kamloops Blazers (48-17-3-0) will play against Rempe's Thunderbirds (44-18-4-2) in the WHL Western Conference championship beginning Friday. Garand's 1.51 Goals-Against-Average (GAA) is the WHL's second-best in the post-season. The Red Wing's 6'6 prospect, Sebastian Cossa of the Edmonton Oil Kings, is slightly better at 1.48. Both have three shutouts. OTHER HARTFORD WOLF PACK PROSPECTS Another fall training camp player is winger Ryder Korczak of the Moose Jaw Warriors. Korczak was last week's WHL Player of the Week with ten points in ten games. Unfortunately, the Winnipeg Ice eliminated the Warriors. In the WHL Bantam Draft, Lochlan Tetarenko, the son of Joey Tetarenko (Beast of New Haven), was selected in the third round (62nd overall) by the Saskatoon Blades. In the US Priority portion of the draft, the son of Whaler Grant Jennings, forward Gordon Jennings, was taken in the second round (35th overall) by the Prince Albert Raiders. The Alaskan native played last season for the U-14 Alaska Oilers AA team. California had the most players taken, with 44 drafted at 17, followed by Minnesota with 13 and Texas with nine. WESTERN CONFERENCE Over in the OHL, two top Rangers prospects will compete against one another in the Western Conference Championship. Will Cullye of the Windsor Spitfires has eight points in eleven games. That's good for second-best on the team. Their opponent, Brennan Othmann of the Flint Firebirds, has a team-best 17 points on eight goals in 12 games. Othmann had three assists in a series-clinching Game 5 with a big 7-1 clincher over Sault Ste. Marie. Each of these players is the captain of their respective team. They met in February in a wild 7-6 overtime game, with each recording a hat trick. Cullye wears #13 and Othmann #78. The Spitfires won seven of the eight games in the regular season, and they will play for the Wayne Gretzky Conference trophy. The series started on Saturday in Windsor. Cullye had an assist and game-high eight shots while Othmann went pointless and had one shot. Game two is on Monday. WINDSOR SERIES Listen to the Windsor series on old school over-the-air radio on CKLW-AM 800 (Windsor-Detroit) and online. The Eastern Conference series begins on Friday between Hamilton and North Bay. The game can also be heard on CHML-AM 900 (Hamilton). There were no Ranger prospects in the QMJHL, but former Wolf Pack, Ranger, and Springfield Falcon, and now a head coach, Gordie Dwyer, saw his Saint John Sea Dogs eliminated in the first round of the President Cup playoffs. However, the team does get an automatic Memorial Cup cup berth as the host city. ANOTHER RANGERS SIGNEE Centerman Gustav Ryhahl signed a one-year, one-way, free-agent deal with the Rangers paying him $750K in the NHL and AHL. Rydahl, 27, is a 6'3 and 201-pounds physical player from the LeMat Trophy Swedish Hockey League champs Färjestad BK (Sweden-SHL), where he amassed 30 points in 44 games. In the Clark Cup (USHL) best-of-five series final, the Sioux City Musketeers are tied at one game apiece with the Madison (WI) Capitols. A few CT names dot the rosters of both teams. Jake Percival (Avon) plays for Sioux City and is a UCONN recruit for the fall. Madison has Ohio State (Big 10), Richard (DJ) Hart (Stamford), and Westport's and QU-bound in the fall Matt McGroarty (Brunswick School). Hart, who played at UCONN in Hartford twice this year, is a fall commit. COLLEGE HOCKEY The changes at Storrs keep coming. According to sources heading to Boston University will be UCONN's associate head coach West Haven's Joe Pereira, an ex-Sound Tiger, also formerly of South Kent Prep. He played as an undergraduate for 139 games. He was a  captain his senior season, as one of the new assistant coaches for Jay Pandolfo's staff after his nine-year run as an assistant to the Huskies Mike Cavanaugh. He began his college coaching career at Sacred Heart University (ACHA Division-2) as the head coach of their D2 club team, winning the Northeast Collegiate Hockey League championship in 2012-13. As a player, he spent two years as a minor league professional. Augustana (SD) University Vikings, the 62nd and newest NCAA D1 program, has been accepted as a new conference member for the CCHA, bringing the league to eight teams. TRANSFERS ACCEPTED One way for a team to improve its roster is to dip into the transfer portal. NCAA D1 Independent, the Long Island University Sharks, announced seven transfers on Thursday. The transfers are of all types, undergraduate, grad, inter-conference, non-conference, several Division-3s to Division-1, and even several cross-continent moves. As of this week, the total jumps to a staggering 157, comprised of 88 grad transfers and 69 school transfers. The Sacred Heart Pioneers (AHA) gets Julian Kislin from Northeastern (HE). The Quinnipiac Bobcats lose sophomore winger Ty Smilanic to Wisconsin (Big 10). Smilanic's NHL rights were traded from Minnesota to Arizona. Meanwhile, the Bobcats received three grad transfers. Over at Yale, they saw a grad transfer in goalie Justin Pearson who heads to UCONN (HE) next year. UCONN's Cassidy Bowes has yet to declare his next destination. Still, according to several sources, he's likely to play Canadian college hockey out in Western Canada, which is closer to his home in either the CWUAA, ACAC, or the BCIHL. MORE MOVES Rangers prospect Simon Kjellberg has left RPI (ECACHL) for the greener pastures of Northern Michigan (CCHA). A laundry list of players remains uncommitted, including Kyle Johnson of Yale and John Fusco of Harvard. Eric Gotz, the nephew of former Hartford Wolf Pack player and Head Coach Ken Gernander, heads from Michigan Tech (CCHA) to Vermont (HE), where his twin uncles matriculated as young men, Jim and Jerry Gernander. John Emmons Jr. commits to Miami (OH) (NCHC) from the Oakland (MI) Grizzlies (HPHL). IIHF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS US had a close call winning 3-2 in OT over defensive-minded Austria. Ex-Sound Tiger Kieffer Bellows scored in the game. Unfortunately, the US dropped their second game 4-1 to Finland. Next was a battle with Great Britain, which had Jackson Whistle in the net. He is the nephew of former New Haven Nighthawk Rob Whistle. Bellows scored twice in a 3-0 win. The US knocked off Sweden on Adam Gaudette's hat trick as ex-Springfield Falcon TJ Tynan, the two-time reigning AHL MVP, set him up with his second helper of the game. Canada saw Pierre-Luc Dubois score twice in an opening 5-1 win. In other games, the Czechs fell to Sweden 4-3 as ex-Pack Tomáš Kundrátek, and ex-UCONN recruit Matej Blümel scored in a comeback bid, but a 5-3 loss and then lost to Austria in their second game. Michael Spacek scored in a 5-1 win over Latvia. HUSKA Current Wolf Pack Adam Húska was in net for Slovakia's 5-1 loss to Canada and 5-3 loss to Switzerland. Huska gave up a goal to ex-Springfield Falcon Denis Malgin (one of five ex-Falcons playing in the tourney). Even though he made some acrobatic diving saves, the lack of goal support followed him to Finland from Hartford. The Slovaks did make the quarterfinals with a 4-3 win over Kazakhstan. Húska faced little work (11 shots), and all three goals resulted from direct rebounds. Huska picked up a secondary assist on the third goal. The Slovak team capitalized with three power play goals on Pavel Akolzin's ill-advised major for charging in center ice right in front of the Kazakhstan bench. The Slovaks secured their chance to continue to play by beating Italy 5-2, with Húska manning the cage. Surefire top draft pick in July, Jaroslav Slafkovky, scored again. Ex-Pack Andres Ambühl was the hero setting up the game-winning goal with 4:21 left for Switzerland in a 3-2 win over Kazakhstan. Sweden has played ex-Pack Magnus Hellberg in the net for three of their four games. One of them was winning a championship-level-like final, a 3-2 shootout win over Finland. Former QU Bobcat Latvian Kārlis Čukste earned the secondary assist on the game-winner with 6:19 left to play as Latvia rallied for a late 4-3 win over the British. HARTFORD WOLF PACK HOME Read the full article

[mitchbeck]

CANTLON: (3/19) UCONN WINS SEMIFINAL GAME

BY Gerry Cantlon, Howlings BOSTON, MA - At 3:06 of overtime, sophomore Aaron Bohlinger’s shot from the left point went off the UCONN’s Jachym Kondelik and sailed past a thoroughly screened Darion Hanson to give UMASS a 2-1 victory and the Hockey East championship for the second year in a row. UCONN was unable to get the puck out of their zone. First, UMASS’s Anthony Del Gaizo came down from the right point forcing Kevin O’Neil to lose the puck. Then UMASS MVP Bobby Trivigno fished the puck out and backhanded a pass across the ice to Bohlinger from deep in the right-wing corner. A right-handed shot, Bohlinger sent a perfect shot on the net as Del Gaizo converged with teammate Garret Wait around Roman Kinal, thoroughly screened Hanson. Bohlinger hadn’t scored since last year’s NCAA title game. “Well, first I would like to congratulate Greg (UMASS Head Coach Greg Carvel) and UMASS on winning. We clawed; we fought and hung in there to try to win our first tile, but it wasn’t meant to be. Simply put, UMASS played better than we did. The puck has eyes sometime in overtime,” said UCONN Head Coach Mike Cavanaugh. Kondelik was trying to block the shot but had it go off his left arm into the top part of the net, ending UCONN’s season. With a record of 20-16-0 overall, 16-11-0 in HEA, the team ends one of the program’s deepest runs of any of its teams in its short Hockey East history. The loss means the Huskies will miss out on a Hockey East championship and a berth in the national tournament. The UMASS (21-12-2 overall, 17-8-2 HEA) Minutemen are the defending national champions and earn one of the automatic NCAA regional bids based on winning the conference championship. The regionals this year are in Albany, NY, Worcester, MA, Loveland, CO, and Allentown, PA. THIRD PERIOD The third period was an extraordinary tight-checking affair as UCONN was held to just two shots for the period and twenty for the game. They saw their shot at a championship game go to OT for the first time in 13 years. However, UCONN could not match their game to UMASS, who smothered the Huskies and were willing to grind it out for the 63-plus minutes. “We had a hard time sustaining offensive pressure. Ironically, we had decided to change our forechecking patterns in overtime. We tried to change things up because nothing was working. They’re a good team. They kept up the pressure,” a downcast Cavanaugh said. SCORING Vladislav Firstov, a Hockey East All-Tournament pick, and a Minnesota Wild draft choice, scored the game’s first goal, the third-straight game UCONN tallied first. John Spetz, an all-tournament selection, was also at the right point. His shot was going wide, but Firstov made an NHL-like re-direct between his legs and through the five-hole of the screened Matt Murray (19 saves). It was his 12th goal of the year. Trivigno tied the game at 16:06 of the second with his 20th goal and showed why he is one of the ten finalists in the Hobey Baker conversation. Trivigno caught UCONN in a bad change at center ice on the left-wing side. He received a pass from Colin Felix and was wide-open to go to the net. He took off for the net with speed and ripped one off the inside of the left pad of Hanson, evening the score at one. INJURED D-MAN UCONN was stronger on the puck in the second period. However, despite the rise in play, they suffered a setback as they lost defenseman Jarrod Gourley for the game as he got dinged off his helmet with the puck when it hit him with his back to the play. The referee told him to stay down until the UCONN trainer came out. Jake Flynn and Marc Gatcomb helped escort him off the ice. In the first period, the Minutemen possessed the puck for most of the period. Hanson continued his strong post season staying square to the shooters and a top of the blue paint area. He made a vital stop on a bouncing puck off the ice at 9:47 on Marc Del Gaizo and stopped Darien’s Scott Morrow from the left point on another and Oliver MacDonald with a tip-in attempt. “He was great,” Cavanaugh said. “He gave us a chance to win the game. He played great. He was outstanding not only tonight, but all season for us.” UCONN scoring chances were few and far between. They had a two-on-one with Kondelik and Firstov. However, Kondelik’s backhanded shot at the end of a PK hit the side of the net. MORE STRONG PLAY Chase Bradley had a solid first period making the other 31 NHL teams wonder how he got to the seventh round for the Detroit Red Wings. Bradley had strong hits on Trivigno behind the UCONN net but took a penalty for his hit in front of the UCONN bench at the end of the period. Bradley plastered Lucas Mercuri in the right-wing corner of the UMASS zone that left him dazed after the contact. Cavanaugh ended his post-game presser philosophically. “The precious things in life are non-transactional. You can’t put a price tag on the experiences those twenty guys just had. They did many exceptional things this season.” However, one accomplishment did elude them, and that was for a chance to skate around the TD Garden with the Lamoriello Trophy. UCONN HUSKIES HOCKEY HOME Read the full article

[mitchbeck]

CANTLON: UCONN WINS HOCKEY EAST SEMIFINAL

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings BOSTON, MA - The UCONN Huskies turned in a stellar three-period, three-zone performance, allowing them to knock off the regular season’s champion #11 Northeastern, 4-1. UCONN’s game plan included attacking the Northeastern defense and targeting captain Jordan Harris all night. “The way they play together is fun to watch, “remarked an emotionally exhausted but happy head coach Mike Cavanaugh. The team will play defending Hockey East and national champion UMASS tomorrow at 7:30 pm on NESN. SMALL PLAYS ARE KEY TO GOALS The third goal gave UCONN a two-goal cushion due to solid forechecking and a hit by Hudson Schandor on Jayden Struble, which forced a turnover in the Northeastern zone. It led to leading scorer Ryan Tverberg getting the puck. He went right to the net, made a great move to get past Tommy Miller, then outwaited goalie Devon Levi who dove out. Tverberg held on to the puck, shifted it to his backhand, and then tucked his 14th goal of the season inside the left post after going to his forehand at 4:32. “It was playing your own game nothing changed really, do what we always do. It’s great to be part of history. We will now focus on tomorrow, “said Tverberg in the post-game. Coach Cavanaugh played the emotional keys all week. “We showed video of Mark Messier talking about winning the Stanley Cup (with the Rangers in 1994), when nobody wanted to talk about it. We’ve talked openly about all our goals. People were afraid to say it and we’re trying to meet all these challenges head on. We weren’t star struck to be in the building.” Cavanaugh commented. UCONN was consistently finishing their checks all game long, and Northeastern could not gain any traction on goaltender Darion Hanson, who stopped Hughes from 25-feet out on a quick snapshot at 13:37. CAVANAUGH REACTS “I was happy with the way we competed today for sixty minutes. Last week we sat back a bit with the lead against BU. Today we didn’t, but this game, we were on our toes in the third period and played a strong game for the full sixty, and we’re very happy to be playing tomorrow. I’m very proud of my team,” UCONN head coach Mike Cavanaugh said hoarsely from his game-long elevated voice level required in the raucous, rowdy TD Boston Garden. Marc Gatcomb, the nearby Woburn product, put a cap on the game. His goal, the team’s fourth and eighth of the season, was also a product of another small play. Vlad Firstov took McDonough out to center, freeing up the puck for his teammate to put a backhander into the empty cage. That goal started the celebration at 17:52 as the UCONN faithful were ready to dance down Causeway and Canal Streets with UCONN banners in hand. “That was so much to watch and be a part of the last two minutes that was Husky hockey. We had a timeout and looking around seeing (everybody) it was so much fun. To see the level of UCONN support surprised me a bit. To see during warm ups, the whole UCONN section fill up, it motivated us. We’re gonna need them all tomorrow,” said Hanson. McDonough thought he got his 25th of the season with 4.3 seconds left, but after a video review, the play was ruled offsides nullifying his goal and cementing that it was UCONN’s night. A shot at the Lamoriello Trophy is now within UCONN’s grasp. GOALTENDERS In the second period, each team had their chances as Northeastern scored off the opening draw. Harris had a backhander go off a McDonough pass ten seconds in, but Hanson was atop his goal crease to make the save. Levi showed why he has the nation’s best save percentage as Jonny Evans sprung Turnbull free for a shorthanded breakaway at 5:32, and Turnbull made a smart deke. Still, Levi flashed his glove and snatched Turnbull’s bid and briefly UCONN’s hopes when it seemed they would again fall prey to Levi’s goaltending. Hanson did his version when Jack Hughes split the defense in two down the middle of Ryan Wheeler and Harrison Rees and went straight in on Hanson. Still, there was no room Hanson gave him as he repelled his break-in bid at 7:19 after Firstov blew a tire at the Northeastern blue line, and Harrist sent the loose puck up to Hughes. “I was focused on doing my job, not focused on anything else that can be detrimental (to our effort) do what I can to help the team win,” Hanson stated amidst the post-game pandemonium. SCORING RECAP UCONN made it to 2-1 at 13:47 of the second period. Harrison Rees sent an outlet pass to Chase Bradley. He got the first shot on Levi as he used Tyler Spott as a screen on the shot. It went off his glove, and a rare rebound was available. Bradley followed up on the play with a shot off the far post as Vladislav Firstov lifted Harris’s stick as he was going net-front, allowing Roman Kinal, who was pinching in from the left point, to fire in the eventual game-winner. It was his third of the year, and it came off a rebound. Jachym Kondelik nearly had a goal on a deflection at 15:19, but Levi was equal to the task. Kevin O’ Neil had an intense rush but lost the puck as it rolled off his stick at the last second. Then on a two-on-one break, Hudson Schandor’s pass attempt across meant for Ryan Tverberg was deftly broken up by Tommy Miller, thwarting a critical UCONN chance at the last second. Sam Colangelo of Northeastern on the left wing with a solid chance was turned aside by Hanson. Northeastern tied the game at one on their dangerous power-play, which has been UCONN’s game all season-long penchant for taking too many penalties occurred. All five players on the ice touched the puck as Gunnarwolfe Fontaine from the left-wing sent it back to Jordan Harris at the point in the umbrella format slipped it over to Aidan McDonough, and he made no mistake with his 24th on a one-time slapper from the right-wing circle at 14:13. UCONN got the all-important first goal of the game as Bradley moving across the slot, shot it toward the net. Nick Capone, cruising in front, swung his stick at the puck, got a piece of it, and Firstov put in the loose puck that hit him in the skate first for his 11th at 11:39. It was a physical encounter with several after whistle scrums-UCONN showed it had come to play and would not be intimidated, not backing off an inch-they had come to play. Carter Turnbull had an early wraparound chance stopped by Levi, and Hanson handled what came his way. NOTES 42 collegians have turned pro, including the latest Patrick Giles of BC signing a PTO with Charlotte (AHL), and Philip Lagunov, a transfer to Vermont from UMASS, signs with Tucson (AHL). Bo Hanson, no relation to UCONN’s Darion, is on his third college at Northern Michigan University, heads to the Wheeling Nailers (ECHL). Teammate Garrett Klee, son of former NHL’er Ken Klee, signs with the Kansas City Mavericks (ECHL). Gunnarwolfe Fontaine’s older sister Skylar is a big part of the Northeastern Lady Huskies Hockey champion program that lost in double overtime to Minnesota-Duluth 2-1 last night. The Yale women lost in the semi to Ohio State. Expect Harris to sign with Montreal and head to the Laval Rocket (AHL) in the coming days, signing a deal with Montreal GM Kent Hughes, father of his two Hughes boys (Jack and Riley), and may play for Martin St. Louis the interim Canadiens head coach the father of another teammate, Ryan St. Louis. UCONN HOCKEY HOME Read the full article

[mitchbeck]

CANTLON: UCONN WINS FIRST PLAYOFF GAME

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - UCONN punched their ticket to the Hockey East semifinals with their first-ever playoff win in Hockey East, 3-1 over the #16 ranked Boston University Terriers on Saturday. The win gave the Huskies 19 on the season (19-15, overall) and established a school record for the most wins in a single season in school history. The win also ended an 0-9 record in post-season play. UCONN take on Northeastern, who were 3-2 winners over Boston College after another stellar Devon Levi performance. The game will be on Friday at 4:00 PM. Levi stopped 100-of-103 UCONN shots two weeks ago in a two-game series. CAVANAUGH EXCITED As the seconds ticked off the XL Center scoreboard, Huskies Head Coach Mike Cavanaugh turned around and, with both fists, slammed the glass behind the UCONN bench. Ten years of emotion poured out and let out a primal scream joining the frenzied scene at the UCONN bench. “It was raw emotion. When I came to UCONN, my goal was I wanted to build a blue-chip program, not a dot com (one with a transitory presence). Not win a few years and go back down again. A program that got better and better. Face it, we as a program hadn’t won a playoff game. We had great efforts, but we still hadn’t done it yet. So, when we finally did, it was raw emotion (that) came out.” THE FINAL SAVE A grad transfer from Union College, Darion Hanson, came to the Huskies with the second most playoff experience (19 junior A games) behind Jarrod Gourley (23 and a championship with Spruce Grove - AJHL) faced just one shot in the final 1:53. “It felt like more,” Cavanaugh said with a laugh. With the extra attacker on the ice for the Terriers, the last save for Hanson came off a left-wing circle face-off win by BU’s William Skoog. He got it back to Domenick Fensore at the left point and launched his fourth shot on the net. Hanson Hanson found the puck through a maze of players to make the save. “They won the face-off. So it’s my job as a goalie to follow the puck at their point. I saw the release from the point. I didn’t see it a little bit and lost it. It came through some skates, then it hit something, deflected and it hit me in the hip. I was down on the ice, on my hands, and looked over and saw it there. The rebound was there for anybody to take,” Hanson said, recounting the scene. “I didn’t see anything for a second, but then I saw (teammate) Marc Gatcomb came in and swept it away,” Hanson added. “When that happened I knew it was over. That’s something I’m not gonna forget for awhile.” Hanson set a school record for Division-1 wins (19). He made 38 saves, with 19 of them coming in the third period as BU put pressure on. BRADLEY BACK Chase Bradley missed the last six games with an injury. He had a sure goal late in the first period that rolled off his stick, but he would capitalize later with an empty-net tally to secure the win. He tugged his jersey as he skated around the BU net. The UCONN bench and the fans erupted in spontaneous joy at the win. “We missed him for six games and we were two-and-four without him. Having him and Nick Capone back in our lineup tonight created momentum for us. He’s a strong player, strong on the puck. He’s a strong presence for us.” GAME-WINNING GOAL Jonny Evans ended an eight-game goal-scoring drought with what proved to be the game-winner for UCONN. It was the game’s second goal and came off a strong play by Ryan Wheeler. Evans’ shot went off BU goaltender Drew Commesso. The rebound went to Wheeler after hitting BU defenseman Domenick Fensore. The puck caromed to Marc Gatcomb, who calmly corralled the loose puck and set it on the backdoor to Evans, who went to the forehand and buried his sixth of the season past Commesso at 10:26. Evans had no nervousness being around the semi-open net. “Honestly, I didn’t think about it. I just wanted to get it over his pad. It was a slight angle, but we got a good bounce.” Cavanaugh was very pleased with Evans. “His compete level was high and he was making plays in front of the net. He could have had a couple of goals and did all the little things to be successful.” Getting two, but especially getting that first past, Commesso was important. “We came out strong and that was a point of emphasis getting one by him. Sometimes you do all that work and have nothing to show for it. We got that goal and felt pretty good about ourselves going into the second period,” remarked Cavanaugh of an 18-shot first period. GOALS AND DEFENSE Vladislav Firstov circled back in the offensive, made a perfect tip of Jake Flynn’s shot from the right point for the first UCONN goal. The UCONN team defense limited Fensore and William Skoog to four shots apiece for the game and the lethal Luke Tuch to none. “I’m glad for us. We practiced this all week and that we had a game like this, this the way it’s gonna be like (in the semifinals) the further you go the greater it will be.” Fensore’s goal for BU (19-13-3) at 13:01 of the third period caused a tightening of UCONN’s neck collars. Fensore blasted a Jay O’Brien pass from the left-wing corner in the lower face-off circle. It would be the only puck to evade Hanson in the game. HANSON STRONG IN THE THIRD PERIOD Entering the third leading by two goals, Hanson was calm, cool, and collected as he evoked memories of another Connecticut goalie, Jeff Malcolm, who now finds himself just across the hallway as the goalie coach for the Hartford’s Wolf Pack (AHL). Malcolm led Yale to a national title in 2012. Malcolm also was calm, measured, and deliberate about facing that pressure heading into the third. “To be honest, it’s nothing noteworthy. A big piece of being successful in the playoffs is you just try to block out the noise. It’s the third period. We’ve got the lead. It’s not like something we haven’t seen before. They are playing great and I have trust in these guys. We just went out and were shaving off minutes, one by one.” Cavanaugh paid his goalie the props he deserved. “He made that big-time save at 2-1, and he’s been doing that all year long for us. He’s been steady as a rock and he’s a super kid. He’s better off the ice, than on if you can believe that, and glad he is in our goal.” Cavanaugh also didn’t shy away from the matchup of Jachym Kondelik, the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year, and BU’s Alex Vlasic. It’s a clash between two giant-sized players as Kondelik is 6’6 and Vlasic is 6’7. “I think they were matching Vlasic on him, not the other way around,” Cavanaugh said with a wry smile. Kondelik was double-shifted in the third period. “He was named as the best defensive forward for a reason. He’s a strong player, and wins puck battles. The thing I’m most proud of with Jachym is how he has grown into it and become a real leader for this team.” LINES Gatcomb-Evans-Turnbull Firstov-Kondelik-O’Neil Schandor-Schlaine-Tverberg Bradley-Capone-Veilleux Kinal-Spetz Wheeler-Rees Flynn-Gourley Berger Hanson Terness SCRATCHES Sasha Telguine John Wojciechowski Aidan Metcalfe Gavin Puskar Matt Pasquale Cassidy Bowes NOTES Somewhere in the heart of Kansas City, where defenseman Miles Gendron, the former Huskies captain, plies his trade professionally in the ECHL, saw his declaration from over three years ago come true for this group of Huskies. He and his old collegiate and current teammate, Zac Robbins, can celebrate the UCONN victory as they got the mountain peak a little later than they wanted, but they got there. UCONN HOCKEY HOME Read the full article

[mitchbeck]

CANTLON: (2/19) UMASS SNEAKS PAST UCONN

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - All the game's scoring occurred in the third period as the UMASS Minutemen came away with a 2-1 victory on Friday over the UCONN Huskies at the XL Center. The game-winner came off Jason Lopina's stick as UMASS kept pursuing a loose puck after it was blocked on the left wing as Ryan Wheeler made the block. Still, Lopina swept in unchecked on his forehand scored his eighth goal. He's part of the potent UMASS first line and followed up on the loose puck with no back-pressure and scored at 16:07. UCONN did get a late power play goal of their own with 1:08 left. It was one of their few offensive forays and net-front plays for the night as Jachym Kondelik and Vladislav Firstov were on the puck and created a logjam. The puck came loose to Turnbull, who came out of the traffic fired his ninth goal past UMASS Matt Murray who had lost his stick in the milieu of players, he sought a review, but the late tally counted. UMASS was able to take the lead as UCONN as they took three straight penalties early in the third. ”We took too many penalties. We were still in the game in the third period. You give a power play that three-in-a-row (in UMASS). When you do that, you’re asking for trouble,” remarked UCONN Head Coach Mike Cavanaugh of his troops. Ryan Ufko, a right-handed shot, on the first UMASS power-play unit was left unchecked at the right point. He took a pass from the leading scorer on Bobby Trivigno, stepped into the puck, and fired a rocket of a shot for his fourth goal on the power play at 7:46 for the first goal of the contest. For most of the night, UCONN was either too selective or when presented with a chance, either missed the net altogether or just didn’t capitalize on opportunities. “We didn’t get enough (shots) at their net,” Cavanaugh said as they had a mere twenty shots with few secondary chances at Matt Murray. "We didn’t get enough pucks to the net or traffic around the net.” The two teams engage in a rematch tomorrow night at 7:30 pm at the Mullins Center and UMASS improved, but fell to second place behind UMASS-Lowell is 12-5-2-3 in Hockey East action overall improve to 17-9-2 while UCONN fell 16-12-0 overall and 12-7-0 in conference falling to fourth place. The two teams remained deadlocked at zero after 40 minutes of play. “UMASS was the better team tonight, I thought in a lot of areas,” remarked Cavanaugh. LINES Firstov-Kondelik-O’Neil Gatcomb-Evans-Turnbull Schandor-Schlaine-Tverberg Veilleux-Capone-Wojciechowski Wheeler-Rees Berger-Spetz Kinal-Flynn Gourley Hanson Terness SCRATCHES: Cassidy Bowes Gavin Puskar Ryan Keane Austin Metcalfe Matt Pasquale UCONN HOCKEY HOME Read the full article

[mitchbeck]

CANTLON: (2/12) UCONN BEATS BC 6-4

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings CHESTNUT HILL, MA - UCONN earned two points in a wild 6-4 road win over Boston College at Kelley Rink. Carter Turnbull, Jachym Kondelik, and two goals from an unexpected scoring source defenseman, Jarrod Gourley, as UCONN won its sixth straight Hockey East contest and their second straight win at the Kelley Rink. UCONN is now tied with Boston University in points but also has two games in hand and one more win over the Terriers. The Huskies are winning games and looking to secure a home playoff date. Their record is now 16-11-2-1-2 overall and 12-6-0-2-1 in the conference. “We're certainly pleased with the three points tonight. That’s not how we wanted to play against BC. We know how strong they are up-front and on the rush. We didn’t want to trade chances back-and-forth, but we did. We were fortunate enough to score as well. Certainly, not the blueprint we drew up as a game plan. "Overall, I was happy with the win, but there is a lot we have to work on,“ said an exhausted UCONN head coach Mike Cavanaugh in his post-game remarks. The Eagles, uncharacteristically, find themselves in eighth place in Hockey East. Their record is 10-15-4 overall and 5-10-3-0-1 in Hockey East play. This loss ended a tough week for them, as they lost in the Beanpot, and then for a second time this season at home to UCONN. The Huskies are off until next weekend when they will play the conference’s first-place team and the defending national champion, the UMASS Minutemen in a home-and-home series. FIRST PERIOD FLURRY It was a blizzard of goals between the Huskies and Eagles who had a combined seven goals off 17 shots in the first period. The Huskies scored first as Ryan Tverberg (Toronto) tallied off a two-on-one break-in, feeding Artem Schlainen (New Jersey) who found the open net and buried his fourth goal of the season at 1:21. "Turnbull’s been playing some great hockey. Since Christmas he has been outstanding. The whole line has been doing a nice job for us," remarked Cavanaugh of the Turnbull-Jonny Evans and Marc Gatcomb (the Gunn School) trio. He liked the team's start. “It was a good way to start, but I didn’t like giving away that many chances,” He said. The Eagles responded with Jack Dempsey sending a cross-ice pass to Casey Carreau who was wide open on the right-wing side. He buried his fourth of the season at 4:49. Five minutes later, at 9:49, UCONN regained the lead as a BC turnover by Trevor Kuntar that was forced by Kondelik (Nashville) was found by Vladislav Firstov (Minnesota). He made a drop pass back to Kondelik, who had a team-best five shots, who then moved in alone on the right-wing. Kondelik registered his eleventh goal of the season from the face-off circle. Kondelik now has eight goals in his last 13 games. SCORING WAS NOT DONE YET BC’s Colby Ambrosio was in his zone and sent a head-man pass to speedy defenseman Mitchell Warren at center ice. Warren motored down the left-wing past UCONN’s Chase Bradley and circled the net and then threw the puck back at the net. Darin Hanson made the save but left a rebound. Liam Izyk got to the puck before John Spetz and poked his first goal of the season into the net at 13:20 putting deuces on the scoreboard. ”That’s not how we wanna play. We want to play with more structure in our own zone. We compromised ourselves defensively when pucks started going in. We were selling out to score goals and you can’t do that against Boston College because they have forwards who can hurt you on the rush.” Gourley had seven Division-I goals in three years with the Arizona State Sun Devils to his credit. He scored the next two goals. At 13:56, Turnbull was on the right wing with two BC Eagles, Justin Wells and Patrick Giles marking him. He zipped a cross-ice pass to Gourley as a third BC player - a mid-season Yale transfer from last year - Jack St. Ivany (Philadelphia) made a blocking attempt who deposited his second goal of the season behind Eric Gop. GOURLEY In the offensive zone at 14:12, Hudson Schandor won the draw clean from BC’s Gentry Shamburger (Avon Old Farms) in the left-wing face-off circle. Gourley stepped into a rolling puck off the left point and blasted it to the short side past Gop to make it 4-2. Gourley's only previous collegiate two-goal game was against Brown in his sophomore year on January 11, 2020, when he scored the game-winner. In his previous goals, they have all been against ECACHL teams during his junior and sophomore years. He hasn’t had two goals in a game before that since his days at the Grant Fuhr Arena with the AJHL Spruce Grove Saints. “He’s been great all year long. He brings a great level of maturity to our team and a calming influence to our defensemen. He can really shoot the puck. It was really two big goals for us.” The Eagles cashed in with 39.9 seconds left in regulation as Izyk registered his second of the game. He redirected a pass from Ambrosio who was behind the net. The Eagles went to the locker room only trailing by one at  4-3. IN BETWEEN LOCKER ROOMS After seven goals, and in between periods, his players did the majority of talking, but the coaches were heard too. “It was a combination of both. We have a very experienced team. They knew this was not how we wanted to play this game. It was not the recipe for success against Boston College to keep trading chances with them. They drove the conversation more than I did.” The goal didn’t faze UCONN as they scored twice in the second period to expand their lead they never lost. “The second period was more in how we wanted to play.  I thought we controlled that period and we got a fortunate bounce (on the first goal we scored). Carter Turnbull made a nice move on his goal and I liked how we were playing," said Cavanaugh. They restored the two-goal lead as Aidan Hreschuk attempted to exit the BC end of the ice, but lost the puck to an unforced error by Turnbull who went off on a breakaway before making a nice backhand-to-forehand move for his eighth of the season at 7:16. Schandor (plus-3) made another good play and with solid puck protection on Hreschuk chasing him in the BC zone, sent a solid backhand pass to a wide-open Kevin O’Neil. He raced in and beat Kuntar to the loose biscuit and made a nice finishing move and swept in his fifth of the season at 10:01 through the five-hole. The goal gave UCONN a commanding 6-3 lead. BC’S Casey Carreau closed out the scoring with his second of the night and fifth of the season at 15:34 to make it closer than it was. NOTES Jack St. Ivany had a tough night for BC at minus-4, and Pat Giles had a pointless night, a minus-3, and went without a shot on goal. LINES  Gatcomb-Evans-Turnbull Firstov-Kondelik-O’Neil Schandor-Schlaine-Tverberg Capone-Veilleux-Bradley Berger-Spetz Wheeler-Rees Flynn-Kinal Gourley Hanson Terness SCRATCHES Metcale Puskar Pasquale Wojchiwchowski UCONN MEN'S HOCKEY HOME Read the full article

[mitchbeck]

CANTLON'S CORNER: UCONN-UMASS BIG NIGHT

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings STORRS, CT - The apex of UCONN’s Hockey East regular season rests with their fourth meeting this season with a national champion in the program’s Division I hockey history. UCONN begins a home-and-home series with the UMASS Minutemen starting tomorrow night at the XL Center in downtown Hartford at 7:00 PM. “Over the last few years, they have been the class of the league (and the country), and he (Greg Carvel) has done a fantastic job since he got there, and winning the national championship. “This year, he’s right there again. This is a solid team from their first line, defensive corps, and the goaltending of Matty Murray. From top-to-bottom, it’ll be quite a test for our club,” said UCONN Head Coach Mike Cavanaugh.” The second half of this battle in Amherst, MA, is Saturday at 7:30 PM in the Mullins Center. EVANS SPEAKS “We’re pretty even-keeled right now. We realize every game is big, and first place is on the line,” remarked rejuvenated UCONN senior Jonny Evans. The Huskies enter the game riding a six-game winning streak. They are 12-6 and in second place in Hockey East and have a 16-11 record overall. UMASS is tops in the conference at 11-5-2 and holds a 16-9-2 overall record. UMASS is ranked #10 nationally. However, for the second time in school history, UCONN comes in ranked at #20. “This is what we have strived for,” Cavanaugh said of this meeting between the number one and number two teams in the conference. “Since I came to UCONN, this has been my expectation. The vision was to play in these type of games late in February. Our team is excited. I’m sure UMASS is exited, and I’m excited for a big game tomorrow night at the XL Center.” SCOTT MORROW The play of Darien native and the nephew of former Hartford Whaler, his namesake, Scott Morrow, bears watching for UCONN. “His puck skills are outstanding and are as good as anybody in the league. That first power play unit moved the puck so well. They get the puck to the net quickly. They have great deception in their game. They make it look like they’re going to pass one way and then go another. We’re going to have to be very cognizant when he is out on the ice.” EVANS One of the reasons for the revived offensive output has been switching Evans from right-wing to center and pairing him with his former Junior-A teammate at Powell River (BCHL), Carter Turnbull. Over this stretch, they have combined for six goals in each of the last three games. Evans has been enormous, and his line has revived UCONN’s offense and made it highly effective. “We’ve had such balanced scoring having 18 goals in our last three games. Nobody has gotten more than two in a game. So that says a lot about the balance of our lineup,” Cavanaugh said. “Switching from center (early in the second semester) from the wing is the biggest change I’ve made; a little different position,” Evans said with a wry smile and soft laugh. “He (Cavanaugh) talked to me and said, ‘Hey, we’re gonna put you at center.’ I Iove to be back there and help the team anyway that I can. I played four years of junior (at center), so it felt comfortable to go back there.” NO MAGIC POTION Cavanaugh admits this wasn’t a magic elixir he concocted in his hockey lab in his basement. “I certainly like the results. I’d like to say a lot of thought and conversation went into it, but I was just trying to get him going. Give him a different look, and get his mind off why he wasn’t scoring.” While admitting he has work to do on his faceoffs, he’s also having some fun with it. He and his much-taller team captain, centerman Jachym Kondelik (eight goals in his last 13 games), have a friendly post-practice competitive ritual going. “After practice, we do some drills one-on-one with the other centerman, and then me, and Jachym do a little game thing head-to-head with each other. It’s kinda fun.” Evans said with a smile. “Its fun to get under a big guy like that. I try to get lower than him, honestly. ‘Try to get lower,’ Jachym says, and he is a pretty good centerman so I try to get tips from him. We’ve been doing it the last couple of weeks. We start out with five warm-ups and then do a best-of-five and see who wins and who gets bragging rights. He won last week. So I gotta get him this week.” MARC GATCOMB Along with Marc Gatcomb (the Gunn School), the whole line has been a big plus for the Huskies. Despite the switch, he does his best to stay within the structure Coach Cavanaugh has been preaching since September. “We all can skate pretty well. We’re a pretty fast line. Marc has a heavy game and Carter and I played together back at Powell River. We have a little chemistry and now we’ve played a bit together (here) and we’re clicking together.” ” We haven’t played much together in college, so let’s play like we did in Powell River; do our thing and go out there and enjoy it. It’s our last year here, and that’s all we’ve been doing out there is having fun.” The game at the XL will be on a regulation surface, while the game at the Mullins Center will be on the larger international surface, but Evans doesn’t feel the difference will faze him. He welcomes it. “We’re a fast team, so honestly a bigger surface is better for us. We can adapt to any ice surface we’re on.” The explosion of offense has been fueled by solid net-front play. “We’re in front of the house (net) more; getting the greasy goals, which is good. We’re not afraid to take it to the net.” The team has also gotten help from unexpected sources, such as Jarrod Gourley, who had two goals against BC for his first muti-goal game in two years (ASU- Brown Jan. 11, 2020, scoring the game-winner). UCONN MEN’S HOCKEY HOME Read the full article

[mitchbeck]

CANTLON: (2/5) UCONN GETS LATE WIN OVER PC

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - Ryan Tverberg’s late breakaway goal with 4:17 left gave the UCONN Huskies a 2-1 win Friday night over the visiting Providence Friars at the XL Center. “Certaintly, we're very pleased with tonight’s win," remarked UCONN Head Coach Mike Cavanaugh. "I told the boys we were in the same position last week in the third period with a tied game. Tonight we found the right play to win the game.” The Huskies won their third-straight Hockey East game. Their record improves to 9-6-0 in league play and 13-11-0 overall.  The Friars record falls to 8-9-1 in the league and 17-11-2 overall. They remain in seventh place now one point behind Merrimack and Providence College. TVERBERG WITH THE WINNER The winning play started just before a shift change as John Spetz got the puck to Artem Schlaine who in turn carried it out of the zone and smartly put it off the right-wing boards. Tverberg did the rest. Tverberg got inside position on Max Crozier for the breakaway. He got Jaxson Stauber, in net for the Friars, to make the first move, which opened the five-hole. Tverberg slipped his backhander by Stauber's right pad. Tverberg ended a 12-game scoreless drought with his tenth goal on the season. He also had an assist on the first goal for a multi-point effort. UCONN who just came off of a close, tight, physical game against Quinnipiac, found themselves in another game just like it. BALANCED ATTACK The Huskies received offensive contributions from all parts of the lineup. Jonny Evans, Carter Turnbull, and Spetz each had five shots on goal. Harrison Rees put four on the net as did Tverberg. Nick Capone, Schandor, Vlad Firstov, and Jake Flynn each had three shots. The two teams scored both goals early in the second period. Providence opened up the scoring on the back end of a brief power play as Parker Ford made a cross-ice pass to Crozier who buried his third of the year at 47 seconds past Darion Hanson. HUSKIES ANSWER BACK At 1:50 as Firstov was standing next to the Huskies bench before departing for his line change. He kept the puck in and got it to Spetz. A tightrope walk ensued for Spetz along the blue line as he went from the right point to dead center where he launched a high-rising shot. Traffic was going on in front of the Friars' net. Stauber was moving his feet and went against the grain shot for his goal. “It happened quickly. The puck came up between Vladdy’s legs and just went on my stick. I was thinking at the time to get to the middle. I just shifted it on net I don’t know who was in front (Tverberg). It was a great screen. It just floated in.” Spetz said of the goal. Cavanaugh was ebullient about Spetz's play. SPETZ “John Spetz might have had his best game of the year, tonight. Not only scoring a goal but playing well on both ends of the ice. In our defensive end, he did an excellent job.” Spetz complemented his coaches on his improved play. “The last couple of games I had slappers and one-timers that just missed the net. I did a little work with Coach (Todd) Helton this week keeping my head up when I shoot. That was the big reason for the goal, I kept my head up the whole time. Sometimes you bury your head and hope. That was brought to my attention to keep my head up and be calm out there.” The Huskies believed they had the goal ahead goal on a shorthanded play, which would have been their first shortie of the season. After an extensive and lengthy video review, the goal was nullified. The gamble in challenging the play paid off for Nate Leaman's team. Jachym Kondelik’s smart follow-up was between Nick Poisson and William Callahan on Chase Bradley’s breakaway at 14:11. It came just ten seconds into Turnbull’s penalty. FIRST PERIOD The first period was an extension of the Quinnipiac game with a dose of big hits as PC had the puck forcing UCONN to chase the game. Right off the bat, the Huskies took a penalty that negated an early power play. UCONN didn’t register a real shot on goal until the 12-minute mark off the stick of Shandor. UCONN tried to change the game with their ice breakers with some big hits on the Friars. The first came from Tverberg on the left-wing boards near the PC blue line on Ford of their first line. Then twin hits first from Jacob Gourley at center ice on Chase Yoder that sent him flying and then Capone suckered into a powerplay on Jamie Engelbert, but UCONN gave it right with a  penalty of their own shortly thereafter. LINES FIRSTOV-KONDELIK-O’NEIL GATCOMB-EVANS-TURNBULL SCHANDORE-SCHLAINE-TVERBERG BRADLEY-CAPONE-VEILLEUX WHEELER-REES BERGER-SPETZ KINAL-FLYNN GOURLEY HANSON TERNESS SCRATCHES Austin Metcalfe Cassidy Bowes Gavin Puskar John Wojciechowski Sasha Teleguine Ryan Keane UCONN MEN'S HOCKEY HOME Read the full article

[mitchbeck]

CANTLON: UCONN 2021-22 SEASON PREVIEW

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings STORRS, CT - As if on cue, the first-morning dew on campus heralded a new hockey season for the UCONN Huskies and their head coach, Mike Cavanaugh. “I’m excited to be with the team and to make a deep push in Hockey East and maybe the NCAA tournament (both at the Boston Garden this year). We’ll have our fifth practice today, and I hope we’ll have 16 before next weekend’s first game with Sacred Heart (University) at the XL Center.” SHU is the Division I level team UCONN has had trouble with and has not beaten them at the D1 strata. “Not only have our freshmen, but none of our sophomores have played there, so we want to get them acclimated to the building,” remarked Cavanaugh. LAST YEAR The team, which posted a 10-11 record last year and lost to Providence College in the playoffs’ opening round, hasn’t advanced in Hockey East post-season action. They have a slew of grad transfers, and it’s different but not unique to future opponents. “It was like they were recruiting us in (goalie) Darion Hanson (Union College), Kevin O’Neil (Yale), and (Jarrod) Gourley (Arizona State). They didn’t play last year. They spoke to us, and I have spoken to their coaches, who would love to have had them back for a fifth year, and they spoke highly of them. “Boston University, our second opponent, has seven (transfers). We just have three, and they have been committed to us for a long time. They give us a different perspective and are a great for me and a great resource for our players,” remarked Cavanaugh. IN NET In net, Hanson will share duties with Logan Terness, who’s a highly touted freshman from Trail (BCHL). They will also have one goalie coming off labrum (hip) surgery, Matt Pasquale. They will also have one having it, Ryan Keane (Coppell, Texas), who both had zero time behind the off to the NHL, Tomáš Vomáčka, who played every second last year. “It’s wide open; not a lot of them played last year. Darion has the most experience of the three goalies, so I expect he’ll get the most work early, but we have five or six practices to go before that decision is made.” Upfront, the Huskies have a solid returning cast led by last year’s Hockey East top scorer, senior Jonny Evans. They’ll also have senior Carter Turnbill, and after not being offered a contract, 6’6 center from the Czech Republic, Jachym Kondelik (Nashville). FIRSTOV Vladislav Firstov (Minnesota) is giving Cavanaugh a rare luxury they haven’t had. "This is the best depth we’ve had since I’ve been here. We really don’t have a fourth line. I can spread Jonny on one line, Vladdy Firstov on another, Carter Turnbull on one, Jachym (Kondelik) on another. This could be the strength of our team this year.” On defense, Yan Kuznetsov and Tomas Vomáčka went pro, Kuznetsov, though, was a surprise. “Tomas, a goalie, they offered him a contract, and they give out only five or six goalies. One, you gotta take it, and it shows they think he can play. So, you have to take the contract. Yan, by the same token, was a surprise. It wouldn’t have hurt him to come back,” remarked his now-former head coach. SOPHMORES His younger sophomore class with Hudson Schandor, Artem Schlaine, Cassidy Bowes, and Nick Capone (East Haven/Salisbury School) (Tampa Bay 6th round #157) got to know Hockey East last year, introduced themselves, and got quality minutes. He has high hopes for Capone. “He is really a good player. He can do a lot of things (well) that can translate to getting to the next level. I want him to be more of a factor night in and night out. I want him to play a power forward game like Tom Wilson without the suspensions, antics, and penalties. I want him averaging three or four shots a game, and he’s capable of that, and can bring that intimidation factor to the game too.” On the backline, Jake Flynn and Carter Berger, are a pair that have made early good impressions. CAPTAIN KINAL On his team’s new captain, Roman Kinal, Cavanaugh was philosophical. “He’s on a trajectory like (former defenseman) Wyatt Newpower was (now with Cleveland-AHL). He struggled on-and-off the ice in the classroom the first year and struggled with his play and injuries in his second year.” His freshmen class is a more traditional mix in net with a high-end goalie prospect in Terness, who’s in the mold like Adam Huska and Tomas Vomacka, who both came before him. There’s also a late defenseman to commit, Aidan Metcalfe, and in-state kid Jake Veilleux (South Windsor/Selects Academy at South Kent Prep), another BCHL grad from the Victoria Grizzlies, and Sasha Telguine. “Aidan was a surprise. He is a big kid, strong, skates well; Veilleux can play forward or defense. He’s pretty versatile, and Sasha has a lot of skill. We’re not going to have to rely on them because we’re a veteran team. Injuries in a season will happen, so it’s good to have some players to slide into those positions, on a veteran-laden team.” POSTSEASON HOPES The change in the post-season conference playoff system to the one-and-done structure from the three-game series that Cavanaugh has advocated for over the past several years. “I think you’ll see more conferences going toward it. It mirrors our national tournament. Shooting for Boston is a team goal.” The new captain Kinal replaces Adm Karascik (Ridgefield/Avon Old Farms) will play a post-grad year at ND. “The (Boston) Garden has been talking about all (offseason and all year) Hockey East is there, the Finals (Frozen Four) are there. We’ve been talking about it all year to get to the Garden; that’s our goal. That’s our long-term goal. We also, of course, have individual goals. That starts with winning October 2nd against Sacred Heart and goes from there.” DRAFT PICKS That some of his players and just five nationally (three in the first six picks) with more incoming players selected surprised Cavanaugh. “When you’re drafted, that means the work has just begun. When you’re drafted, you sign a million-dollar deal; you’re taking home $400,000 after taxes, escrow, and paying your agent, and we’re bringing in business people to educate the kids about the business inside and outside of hockey. It’s sticker-shock when you go to places like Seattle and California,” said Cavanaugh. The brand new yet unnamed rink is taking shape. “It’s great,” said Cavanaugh. The new (UCONN) rink will be the second smallest rink in the conference to Matthews Arena (home to Northeastern built over 100 years ago and occupied in 1910.) We’re already getting benefits on the recruiting trail with inquiries from kids we wouldn’t have heard from before, say, three or four years ago. It’s exciting; once a week at the top of the hill, I can look in, and you can see the foundation of the building now.” CAPTAIN PUMPED His captain is equally enthused. “I pass it every day going to class. It’s awesome. You definitely see progress being made. Every year they would talk about. Now you see the stones being set in place. Now you see the work being done. It’s pretty cool were excited for sure,” said Kinal. The season looks to be a bright one for UCONN. COLLEGE NEWS Heading pro is Wisconsin-River Falls (WIAC) player from Division III in Christian Hausinger, with Wichita (ECHL) as the seventh D3 player. The Division-1 breakdown is: Hockey East 29, Big 10 has 23, NCHC 17, AHA 11, ECACHL with eight, CCHA, formerly the WCHA with four, and independent Arizona State with two. Division-I pro signees are 94, underclassmen who have left school early 36, and ALL college players signed from Division I and III in North America are now up to 132. Grad school transfers are at 51, and school transfers are 81 for 132 players who switched schools. In addition, 36 Division I and III have headed to Europe, including the latest Jaako Heikkinen (Denver University). Three went to Canadian college and university, and one went to Canadian major junior. COACHES A whole slew of volunteer coaches and assistant coaches were named. Jordy Murray at ND, Jack Riley heads to Division III independent Albertus Magnus College (New Haven), Ryan Zapolski, former Team USA goalie in the 2018 Pyeongchang, South Korea Games at Mercyhurst (AHA). Peter Ward is the new is senior advisor for coaches at MSU with Dylan Strom, the Spartans volunteer, Matthew Vanden Berg at Maine (HE). Minnesota State in the new CCHA and Colgate ECACHL are the preseason favorites to win their conferences. The brand new Ed Robson Arena at Colorado College ribbon is cutting is coming up shortly. UCONN HOCKEY HOME Read the full article

[mitchbeck]

CANTLON: UCONN LOSES 6-1 AT H-E QUARTERS

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings STORRS, CT - Six different Providence College (11-8-5) players scored with four having multiple-point games as the Friars dominated UCONN 6-1 on Sunday afternoon at Freitas Ice Forum. The Friars advance to the Hockey East semifinals on Wednesday against UMASS-Amherst. With the loss, UCONN is eliminated from the postseason. UCONN season ends with a sub-.500 record (10-11-2) and failed again to advance beyond the quarterfinal round. “It just wasn’t our night tonight,” said a clearly disappointed UCONN Head Coach, Mike Cavanaugh. "I give credit to Providence (College). They played a great game tonight. They came out in the first and jumped us, and I thought we survived that and played OK, but it wasn’t our night.” UCONN had a momentum swing chance in the third period, but despite taking 20 shots (41 for the game) on goal they couldn’t get one past Jaxon Stauber (40 saves), who surprisingly, was not selected as a Hockey East All-Star team selection.

THE DAGGER

At 7:52 UCONN had an apparent goal wiped out. Despite appearing on the video replay to have fully crossed the goal line,  Carter Turnbull, with Artem Shlaine there at the net, had his shot go off the back skate of Stauber and into the net. The referees decided otherwise. Following the overturned goal, what followed Cavanaugh felt was the dagger to the Huskies. PC’s Tyce Thompson early third-period goal (1:25) epitomized the afternoon of frustration for UCONN. After Tomáš Vomáčka stopped him, the loose puck was between his pads. Thompson just chipped it and it rolled over the UCONN netminder's pads and went past him. As he reached back to try and stop it from crossing the goal line,  Vomáčka's own elbow inadvertently knocked it in. The goal was Thompson’s 11th of the season. “We had a good shift to start and then come down and scored and I haven’t seen the replay yet, that was a backbreaker. I don’t think we came out slow, it was just the way the puck bounced. It was a microcosm of how our night went and the second goal our guy got a piece of it and it knuckles over Tomas into the net and things didn’t go our way.”

VOMACKA

Cavanaugh was not displeased with Vomáčka's (37 saves) performance and explained just how courageous his goaltender's last month has been. “I have to look over the goals in the third period, but you got to understand something, he's played the last month with a torn meniscus (cartilage in the knee) and has been grinding it out.  I gotta give that kid all the credit in the world. He has fought through a lot of pain to finish this season. I wouldn’t have wanted another goaltender in the net the way he competes and what he went through for this team.”

MORE FRIAR GOALS

Providence College followed with two more goals. The Huskies' Marc Gatcomb turned over the puck to Patrick Moynihan. He made a quick entry into the UCONN zone and Nate Yoder took his backhanded pass and zipped a shot that was initially stopped by Vomáčka. PC’s Brett Berard, a New York Rangers draftee, tallied off the rebound for his fifth goal of the season making it 5-1 at 10:53. Max Crozier closed out the scoring with an easy tap in goal after  Vomáčka made a spectacular save a Yoder’s shot. In the second period, Providence College continued its dominance scoring two goals a minute apart in the first five minutes of the period. At 1:58, the Friars' Chase Yoder won the draw from Hudson Schandor. John McDermott (Darien/Westminster Prep) shipped the puck back to defenseman Cam McDonald. He sent it over to Uula Riukka at the right point, and he clanked it off the post into the net as McDermott and Berard were in front creating traffic. “We thought one of the keys to the game was winning face-offs and winning the battles in our house, and they won more battles in the house than we did,” commented Cavanaugh, The Friars won a one-on-one battle behind the net. The puck stayed inside the UCONN zone as Ben Mirageas (Avon Old Farms) launched a left-point shot that Vomáčka made the save on, but there was a rebound, and Nick Poisson, who had inside position, buried it for his fourth goal and a 2-0 lead for Providence College.

MCDONALD'S RETURN

McDonald’s addition was very important to PC head coach Nate Leaman. “We lost him to COVID and having him back in the lineup helped settle things down and he gave us the help we needed and the fact we stayed out of the box in the first helped.” Vomáčka made three critical stops that prevented the Friars from running away from UCONN early and kept his team in the game. UCONN narrowed the gap to 3-1 at 9:20 when, on his second whack at it, Jachym Kondelik at a rebound of a Jonny Evans shot went off Stauber’s body and the puck flipped up and nestled in the upper right corner, a greasy goal that UCONN's hard work earned. Kondelik who's been without a goal in 21 games, tallied his fourth in two games.

HOWARTH SERIOUSLY HURT

After a series of penalties, UCONN was able to create some space for an Evans wraparound chance that was stopped but saw the Huskies suffer a tough player loss. Winger Kale Howarth was battling in front of the net with PC’s Jason O’Neil at 15:33. He fell forward and with his left leg twisted awkwardly behind him O’Neill, who was behind him, came down and fell with his full body weight on the back of his knee. Howarth was writhing in pain and clutching his left knee while kicking his right skate into the ice. He was escorted off the ice with the assistance of the team trainer and John Spetz putting no weight on the leg. Needless to say, his game was finished. Cavanaugh did not provide an update on Howarth's condition in his post-game press conference.

FIRST PERIOD

The first period saw PC’s hold a 19-8 advantage in shots with only Vomáčka’s superb goaltending keeping the game close. Michael Callahan, Mitch Crozier were stopped before the Friars scored the game’s first goal. Riukka, a PC d-man, was at the right point and fired a shot. Parker Ford was able to get a piece and the puck evaded Vomáčka. The best chance for UCONN came from the stick of Carter Berger coming in all alone off the left-wing, he got Stauber to commit, went around him, and tried for the open short-side, but ran out of space and Stauber reached back to swallow the puck at 10:15. A 3-on-1 saw Greg Printz got behind Yan Kuznetsov, but Vomáčka shut the door. Evans had one of his few chances of the night a right-wing toe drag that Stauber was square on and made a right pad stop. Crozier and Printz of the Friars made another chance for the Friars, but Vomáčka kept them at bay.  Ford hit the post at 14:02.

LINES:

Marc Gatcomb-Jachym Kondelik-Jonny Evans Vladislav Firstov-Hudson Schandor- Ryan Tverberg Kale Howarth-Artem Shlaine-Carter Turnbull Zac Robbins-Brian Rigali-Eric Linnell Yan Kuznetsov-Adam Karashik Carter Berger-John Spetz Roman Kinal-Harrison Rees Jake Flynn

INJURED:

Nick Capone (lower body)

SCRATCHED:

Ryan Wheeler

NOTES:

In Hockey East playoff action, UMASS-Lowell knocked off the favored Boston University Terriers 2-1. UMASS-Amherst defeated Northeastern 4-1, and the nation's number one ranked team, Boston College, held on for a 3-2 over UNH. Hockey East semifinals will be on Wednesday with PC playing UMASS-Amherst and Boston College hosting UMASS-Lowell. In the Big 10 tournament,  after being sidelined 34 days because of COVID-19 protocols and missing eight games, the Penn State Nittany Lions doubled-up on Notre Dame, 6-3. Minnesota avoided a major upset and squeaked by Michigan State 2-1 in overtime. Michigan beat Ohio State 5-1, and Niagara University tripped up Robert Morris, 2-1. Saturday saw Sacred Heart University eliminated by Army in the 9th longest game in NCAA post-season history, losing 4-3 in triple overtime.

SIGNINGS

Several college players have signed pro deals. The latest to sign is Josh Dunne of Clarkson University (ECACHL). He puts his name to a contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets (NHL) and was sent on loan to the Cleveland Monsters (AHL). Bryce Misley of the University Vermont (HE) signs with the Iowa Wild (AHL). Division-III's Adam Parsells of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (WIAC) signs with the Utah Grizzlies (ECHL). Two Connecticut players make college commitments.  Max Phillips of the CT Chiefs (EHL) will head to Division III's Southern New Hampshire University (Northeast-10) which was formerly known as New Hampshire College. Alex Mosian (Greenwich/Hotchkiss Prep) makes a commitment to Division III's Trinity College (Hartford) Bantams (NESCAC). Micah Gernander, the Connecticut-born (Newington) son of former Hartford Wolf Pack head coach and player, Ken Gernander, has made a commitment to Gustavus Adolphus (St. Peter, MN) for 2021-22. He currently is skating with the Rochester (MN) Grizzlies (NA3HL). UCONN HOCKEY HOME Read the full article