On Tuesday, Sept. 19, the UConn men’s hockey team had their first media availability of the season. Head Coach Mike Cavanaugh spoke in addition to the three captains of the Ice Bus: Jake Flynn, Harrison Rees and Hudson Schandor.
The Huskies finished last season with a 20-12-3 overall record and 13-9-2 in conference play. They had a very strong defensive core in which they are returning four of their seniors, two of them being fifth year seniors in Flynn in Rees. After making the decision to take the fifth year at UConn, these two are now captains and are very familiar with the expectations of the program.
“To be able to have back to back 20 win seasons for the first time in school history and be a top-20 ranked team, it was a pretty good season, now it’s time to build on that, – I think we’ve got a good mix of veteran talent as well as we have some new faces that are going to push guys to be better players for us this season, said Coach Cavanaugh.”
“I was extremely fortunate to have Coach ask me to come back,” said Rees on returning to the Ice Bus as a captain. “ I love this school, I love being a UConn Husky. There was never anything for me to go anywhere else. I think I have gotten a lot of opportunity here and I am very thankful for that. I had no other decision than to stay so I’m excited about it.”
“You have a group of coaches that have given you a lot of opportunity and you have a brand new facility, you have great teammates, guys you want to be around,” said Flynn. “It’s fun coming to the rink everyday. I think you see how this program is built and the culture, it’s progressed every year. We talked about it, we’re ready to win here and I got one year to do it. This is the year I think we’re going to do it so why would you not want to come back – It was a pretty easy decision for me to make.”
UConn has a tremendous amount of senior leadership with Schandor and Nick Capone. They have a lot of depth as last year’s freshmen have a better understanding of the standards and the ways of the team.
“Going into this year, I think we have a more mature team,” said Rees. “All those freshmen have kind of taken a step in the right direction. We have our expectations and our goals and this preseason we’ve really been hammering on what those are and how we are going to get there. I think we are off to a really good start so far.”
Rising sophomore Matthew Wood broke records for the Huskies in the offseason when he was drafted in the NHL draft as 15th overall. He became the highest draft pick in program history when the Nashville Predators made the call from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. He will remain as a Husky for the time being, but he will not be the only weapon that UConn has this season as they are stacked with depth.
“Good teams have a lot of depth. It’s hard to just game plan for Matty Wood if Hudson Schandor is coming out next or Samu Salminen is coming out after him,” said Cavanaugh. “So that’s why it’s important to have great depth in your program where you’re not just a one-line team and we won’t be. Whatever line Matty’s on, we are not going to be a one-line team.”
Another major event that occurred for the Ice Bus last season was the official opening of their on-campus area, Toscano Family Ice Forum. The men’s and women’s hockey teams at UConn moved into Toscano both with their own locker rooms and custom facilities within the arena. It becomes a new home that they can take advantage of during game time and behind the scenes.
“The thing I like about it the most is, one, it allows our players to really have state of the art facilities to develop their game, two, it allows our student fan base to come watch our product on the ice,” Cavanaugh mentioned. “That was something that was really hard for them when we were playing at the XL Center. Now when those tickets go on sale, 500 of them, they are sold out in 15 minutes. So I really like the fact that our student body can come to support our program.”
Cavanaugh has expressed that he’s always wanting to chase national titles, but that’s not his ultimate drive in bringing success to the program; it’s all about the well-being of his players.
“I hope when kids leave here that they’ll say that they loved playing here, they loved being a Husky, they bleed blue for a lifetime and it was a tremendous experience for them.”
After being an alternate captain last season behind Flynn and now-graduated Roman Kinal, Schandor has now stepped up to the full captain position. He will be alongside fifth year seniors Flynn and Rees. However, he sees being picked by his teammates to be captain as a privilege, and he is going to work to be the best he can be in that role as a senior.
“It’s a real privilege to be voted by your teammates. The reason they picked you is for who you are so there’s no reason to change anything you do to an extent. Overall, it’s just a huge honor and a privilege, just super thankful to the guys and can’t wait to lead them this year.”
The entire team has expectations of success this season, but that all starts within the locker room and the initial goals that are set. Schandor is confident in the process and trusts everyone around him that the Ice Bus is going to make whatever they set their minds to happen this season.
“We know what we have in this locker room. Even though it is early, we have our own expectations that we want to achieve and accomplish. We are going to trust the process,” said Schandor. “The one that coach has built, the one that we’re going to build and one that everyone is going to chip in on. Wherever we end up at the end of the season, we believe that the process that we are going to follow is going to take us where we want to go.”
Hockey season is just around the corner, and although the Ice Bus starts off against non-conference teams, they will eventually make their way to their biggest battles in the Hockey East conference.
“It’s always a privilege playing against BU and BC, two great, historic franchises and programs that are bringing some really top talent back to their programs,” said Schandor. “Overall, I think Hockey East is just going to be a powerhouse this year. I don’t think one game is more valuable or more important than the other besides the next one, like Harry said, so the first one is the one I think I’m looking forward to the most right now.”