This year, the UConn men’s hockey team will take a weekend away from Hockey East play to host the fourth annual CT Ice Tournament in Hartford at the the XL Center. Three other Connecticut Division I hockey teams are set to compete for the trophy;: Sacred Heart, Quinnipiac and Yale. Current No. 7 Quinnipiac was crowned the champions of last year’s tournament hosted in Hamden, CT at M&T Bank Arena.
“We’re really excited for the tournament,” said Head Coach Mike Cavanaugh. “I’ve been lobbying for a while that this tournament be played at the XL Center. I think it’s the best venue in the state to play the tournament, especially now that we have our own rink and Sacred Heart as their own rink. It’s more of a neutral site for everybody. — I’m excited to see what the tournament brings this weekend at the XL Center.”
UConn will open up the tournament on Friday to face Sacred Heart. Friday night will be the first time that the Pioneers and the Huskies will meet at CT Ice. To date, UConn has faced SHU 67 times and holds a tight 31-30-6 record in their competition history. The Pioneers are coming into the tournament with an 11-12-2 overall record and 6-7-1 in conference play. Last weekend, Sacred Heart split a home-and-home Atlantic Hockey Series with Holy Cross. The Pioneers had a 2-1 overtime victory at home last Friday night after a goal by senior forward John Jaworski. Holy Cross then found an answer to defeat Sacred Heart 5-2 in Worcester on Saturday night to split the weekend.
As for the Huskies, they have recorded a 3-2-1 record in the second half of the season thus far. After a poor performance last Friday against New Hampshire at the Toscano Family Ice Forum, UConn responded on Sunday with a victory in Durham. A stellar performance from goaltender Aresenii Sergeev paved the way for the Huskies behind two goals scored by sophomore forward Ryan Tattle and junior forward Chase Bradley. Despite some inconsistencies throughout the season, there have been many moments where the Huskies have pulled together and capitalized with wins. The Ice Bus looks to keep that momentum going this weekend in the CT Ice Tournament.
“I just think we gotta stick to our game plan every game,” said Bradley. “We have plans going into every single game and sometimes pucks, you don’t get the bounces that you want. Like I haven’t found the back of the net in some games. I don’t think that’s our issue. But, I think just sticking with it and being able to go out there and play our brand of hockey and try to get wins out of it. I think that’s really important for us.”
To scout out the other competition, the defending NCAA national champions Quinnipiac currently has a 15-6-2 overall record and 9-2-1 in ECAC action. Before being swept on a trip to New York at Colgate (2-1 loss) and Cornell (3-2 loss in OT) last weekend, they had been unbeaten for seven games with a 6-0-1 record. As for Yale, they are entering this tournament with a 7-12-0 overall record and 5-8-0 in the ECAC. Coming off the semester break, they have split six games with a 3-3-0 record, however they have lost their last three games. Last weekend, the Bulldogs were swept as they fell to Clarkson, 5-3 and St. Lawrence, 4-2. The Huskies will be missing out on facing one of these teams as they face Sacred Heart first and then the winner of the second game between Yale and Quinnipiac. In last year’s CT Ice Tournament, UConn faced Quinnipiac in the championship game and were defeated, 4-3 in Hamden at the home arena of the Bobcats.
The Huskies are set to face off against Sacred Heart to commence the annual CT Ice Tournament on Jan. 26. Puck drop is set for 4:00 p.m.. After the result of the UConn and Sacred Heart matchup, Quinnipiac will face off against Yale at 7:30 p.m.. After Friday’s games, the losing teams of each game will play in a consolation game at 3:30 p.m.. on Saturday Jan 27th. It will be followed by the championship game played between the winners of each game at 7:00. All of the games in the CT Ice Tournament will be broadcasted on SNY.