It’s almost that time for the University of Connecticut’s men’s hockey team as their season opener against Colgate is just one short week away. Head coach Mike Cavanaugh and captains Hudson Schandor and John Spetz have been busy preparing for the upcoming season, but recently spoke to the media earlier this week for the first time this fall.
Cavanaugh said he is excited for this group and their potential as they have added a number of new players to the roster.
“We do have 14 new faces but same token, we have 14 experienced veterans coming back,” he said. “Of those 14 new faces, two are undergraduate transfers who’ve played college hockey before and two are graduate players who’ve played a lot of college hockey so we’ll be intertwining, mixing some freshman, true freshman in as well. But I like the team’s speed that we have…. I think we’re a quicker team than we were a year ago and I like our depth.”
Fifth-year captain Schandor said, “it’s been great, things have been going super smoothly as a team, they’re coming together a lot, you know there’s a lot of faces and new guys but I think as a full group, the chemistry has been really good.” He continued, saying, “for all we can ask, the new guys that have come in, especially the younger guys, we have a huge freshman class, it’s been almost a seamless transition for them.”
Like Cavanaugh mentioned, the Ice Bus has 14 new faces on their roster this season. That would include them having some losses from last year’s team, especially on the blue line. However, he believes that the team is well equipped and has new players that will fill the missing roles and step up in different ways.
“Well I think Nick Carabin, who’s a grad transfer from Princeton has been excellent so far, Tom Messineo is doing a great job, he’s got some experience, Spetzy’s (Spetz) obviously got a lot of experience. You know, Viking (Gustafsson Nyberg) coming in here as a transfer, he played a lot of minutes for Northern Michigan last year, he’s kinda had a seamless transition here. Jack Pascucci had a strong year for us last year and then we have, you know, the three freshmen we brought in; Trey Scott, Kai Janviriya, Kevin Fitzgerald. We brought those three in and, you know, Bauer Swift is back and Owen Simpson as well – I’m glad we have some depth back there.”
According to Schandor, “there’s no limit to what they can accomplish at some point, there is the utmost confidence in all these freshmen coming in. Do they have a lot to learn in some areas? Yeah of course, but the fact that, the way these kids can skate and make plays at such a high level is pretty cool to see.”
The Huskies also have a new slate of players that will protect the net. In total, three new goaltenders, one experienced transfer and two new freshmen.
There’s no limit to what they can accomplish at some point, there is the utmost confidence in all these freshmen coming in.
UConn Men’s Hockey Captain Hudson Schandor
“There’s definitely standards that we have in this program that we need to get fourth and get put into these kids’ [freshmen] minds right away about…as simple as living in the moment every single day,” Schandor explained about his leadership as co-captain. “Being super focused and prepared every day cause you can’t waste days in college. I think, if there was something to get into younger guy’s minds, it’s that exactly. You have to be ready every single day for practice, lift, everything because it means so much. And you can’t let one day go to waste here.”
With a positive and open mindset, the Ice Bus has their eyes set on the prize this season. The UConn men’s hockey season will officially begin next Friday, Oct. 4 and Saturday, Oct. 5 against Colgate. Both games will be played in Storrs, Connecticut at the Toscano Family Ice Forum, and both puck drops are set for 7:30 p.m.