The Ice Bus is officially back on the road for college hockey and their first stop of the 2025-26 will be out west to Colorado College. Turning the page to a new season with new opportunities, the UConn men’s hockey team is opening up their season with a two-game set in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Last season was one to remember for the Huskies. UConn set a new school record for wins as they finished with a 23-12-4 overall record and even made the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance, posting their first ever tournament win against Quinnipiac.
“Everybody seems to think ‘Wow, what a season. That came out of nowhere,’” said head coach Mike Cavanaugh. “Six of the last eight years we have finished in the top 5 Hockey East. Three of the last four we have had 20-1in seasons and finished in the top four.”
“To me [last season] wasn’t a one-off,” he said. “We have been building to get there for a long time. That is what I envisioned for this program. I knew it wasn’t going to happen overnight. Now I think the next step for us is to get in the top three. Let’s get in the top one. Let’s win a conference championship. Those are all things now we are aspiring to do.”
UConn does not have much of a history book with Colorado College, as they have only faced off once prior to this weekend, where the Huskies fell 4-1 in the 2015 season. Heading into Friday’s opener, the USCHO preseason rankings have the Huskies sitting at No. 10 in the nation. In conference play, the Hockey East league ranked UConn at No. 3 in the preseason rankings poll.
On offense, UConn is returning nine of their top 10 scorers from last season’s team. Two including the Huskies dynamic duo, junior forwards Joey Muldowney and Jake Richard. Muldowney is coming off a historic season for the Huskies, setting program records for goals with 29, points with 47 and hat tricks with three in an All-American season. Richard finished the season with a similar offensive impact, having 15 goals and 28 assists for a total of 43 points.
“I mean I think there’s always room for improvement,” said Muldowney. “You know, 28 to 29 goals, that’s a lot of goals in college hockey. I can’t put too much pressure on myself, I try not to. I think I kind of look like ‘this year let’s try to be a good leader, try to be a good captain, let’s try to maybe get more assists, try and make more plays,’ stuff like that. Just try to round out my game in all areas and kind of carry that into the pro level for the following years to come.”
Last season’s team leader in assists was none other than Hudson Schandor (31) who now plays in the AHL. Despite losing Schandor, the Huskies are returning six players who had 10 assists or more last year. This includes Ryan Tattle (18 goals, 14 assists), Tabor Heaslip (8 goals, 13 assist) and Jake Percival (9 goals, 10 assists). On defense, UConn is also returning senior goaltender Tyler Muszelik, who went 12-6-3 last season with a 2.28 goals against average and a 91.4 save percentage. On top of all of the returners, the Huskies welcomed seven new freshmen players to their roster who will bring a fresh set of talent to the ice.
As for Colorado College, the Tigers were selected at No. 5 in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) preseason media poll. Colorado College returns 2024-24 second-team all-NCHC junior defenseman Max Burkholder, sophomore Owen Beckner and 2023-24 All-American senior goaltender Kaidan Mbereko. Mbereko has a career .915 save percentage and a 2.45 goals against average which puts him near the top of Colorado College’s program statistics. Another player to watch out for on the Tigers is junior Drew Montgomery, who was tied for the team lead in goals last season with 10 and a career-high 18 points. Additionally, they welcomed 14 newcomers to their team with two transfers and 12 freshmen. The Tigers freshman class has been consistently ranked in the Top 10 nationally by various college hockey outlets.
Another element of this year’s UConn team is their experienced leadership, with Tattle, Heaslip and Muldowney being named captains of the Ice Bus. All three of them plan to carry on most of the characteristics that last year’s captains, Schandor and John Spetz, brought to the ice with more confidence than ever before.
“We do have great leadership coming back,” said Cavanaugh. “We have great goaltending back and we have some experience on defense. We have seven seniors and they have been through a lot of wars. They have seen good, down, good. They also understand that rankings and where people predict you to be are not an indicator of success.”
The Huskies know what it takes to be successful and are carrying all the momentum from last season into the start of this year as they have unfinished business in the world of college hockey. The Ice Bus’s season will officially commence against Colorado College on Friday, Oct. 3. Puck drop is set for 9 p.m. UConn will then wrap up the two-game series the following day on Saturday, Oct. 4, at 8 p.m.