The UConn men’s hockey team just wrapped up their first half of the season with games against UMass Lowell and Maine this past weekend. The Huskies finished the first slate of their 2023-24 schedule with a 7-9-1 overall record and 4-6-0 in Hockey East action.
Looking back at their non-conference opponents to start the season, the Huskies started slow, going 2-3-1 in non-conference play. Once they began Hockey East action, they split multiple series with UMass Lowell, Vermont and Merrimack. All of their wins, though, were on the road and they did not get a win at the Toscano Family Ice Forum until this past Friday against UMass Lowell, to seal the season series against the River Hawks. Their first official home win came two weekends ago, in a non-conference matchup against Dartmouth at the XL Center where they had an offensive explosion and earned the 6-1 win in Hartford.
Midway through the season, sophomore forward Matthew Wood leads the team with 12 points, seven goals and five assists. Additionally, he’s taken 65 shots which tied for fifth-most in the nation. Junior Chase Bradley trails behind him with 11 points, six goals and five assists. Based on the team’s statistics, some of the other key players have been senior captain Hudson Schandor (one goal, 10 assists for 11 points), sophomore Jake Percival (five goals, three assists for eight points), senior Andrew Lucas (four goals, four assists, for eight points) sophomore Samu Salminen (four goals, three assists, for seven points) and senior Nick Capone (two goals, two assists, for four points).
Another huge part of the team has been goaltender Ethan Haider. He has completed two shutout games this season for Connecticut, one at the start of the season against Union and the second against UMass Lowell. He has 290 saves (.915%) on the season so far with a 5-5-1 record at the net. The Minnesota native has become the staple goaltender for the Huskies as a senior and his first season with the Ice Bus.
Ever since the team’s matchup against Boston College on Nov. 17, where the Huskies took the Eagles to overtime at Chestnut Hill, Ryan Tattle, Joey Muldowney and Tristan Fraser have been an essential trio for head coach Mike Cavanaugh.
“They all just skate really well and they compete and they get their sticks on pucks,” said Cavanaugh following the Huskies 2-0 win over UMass Lowell last Friday. “They’re just a hard line to play against and if you turn the puck over on them, they’re coming at you pretty quick. The last four games they’ve played, they’ve been fantastic.”
Of the freshman class, Jake Richard has stood out. Having three goals and six assists for nine points, the UConn forward has been a solid playmaker on the ice for his squad. The freshman is a well-versed skater who has had a solid amount of action in UConn’s offense with 33 shots taken so far this season.
On Tuesday, the team announced that Wood is one of 30 players invited to Hockey Canada’s World Juniors camp. It will run from Dec. 10 to Dec. 13 in Oakville, Ontario. The star sophomore is one of two college players included on this roster, alongside Boston University’s Macklin Celebrini. Among all the invited players already selected, Wood is the sixth-highest draft pick after going 15th overall to the Nashville Predators this past June. That selection made Wood the top pick in UConn men’s hockey program history.
The Ice Bus’s schedule in the second half is filled with more home games than what they had in the first half. UConn will have 11 home games between the XL Center and Toscano Family Ice Forum in Storrs rather than the six home games they played in the first stretch of the year. The Huskies could definitely use this as an advantage, even though a majority of the wins they earned in the first half were on the road. Toscano Family Ice Forum has added a new culture of student fans, which could be huge for Connecticut’s second-half slate.
Even if the Huskies record isn’t picture perfect, the Ice Bus is starting to heat up and their ceiling is high. Getting the season series and the home win at Toscano against Lowell gave the team a boost, as well as their six-goal performance against Dartmouth two weekends ago. The program has a lot of leadership behind captains Jake Flynn, Harrison Rees and Schandor. Graduate student transfer Ryan Mahshie has also been a massive veteran piece for this squad with two goals and two assists for four total points. There is still so much season left for Connecticut. They have a lot to look forward to in this second half with a lot more Hockey East action, a nationally televised New Year’s Eve matchup against Harvard and the annual CT Ice Tournament at the end of January.
That about wraps up the first half of the season for the UConn men’s hockey team. The Ice Bus will be back in action from their holiday break on Dec. 31 to face off against Harvard at Toscano Family Ice Forum in Storrs. The game will be broadcast on ESPN for the team’s last game of 2023.