Our biggest surprise in Hockey East is the University of Connecticut, with only one point on a deep conference. Can Mike Cavanaugh keep his Huskies rolling?
It is another strong year for the Hockey East so far, with 25% of the spots in the most recent USCHO top 20 poll.
When you look further, you might see that the Hockey East is a very deep conference, but the top talent has started to fade away this year.
None of those USCHO top 20 teams are inside the top 10 as we speak.
It has opened up a shot to take control in a wide-open Hockey East, and UConn is ready for every single test that comes along the way.
The Huskies from Storrs lead the Hockey East with 22 points as NCAA hockey makes its return from the holiday break. That gap on the conference is minuscule, with just one point on the Boston College Eagles. Boston University, Maine, and Northeastern are within striking distance as well, just a handful of points behind.
The Huskies have a strong resume against top 20 opponents this season, with victories from #4, #11, #15, and #16 teams ranked at the time. To sweeten that, they even swept Northeastern, not just beat them once.
The Huskies were not even given a first place vote in the preseason coaches poll. 7 of the 11 votes went to Boston University, while just three found Providence and a singular vote went to Maine.
The Huskies have been only getting hotter. Winning five and tying once in their last seven, they have scored three goals or more in every game, and offense has had no shortage in Hockey East play for UConn.
UConn is averaging 3.6 goals a game in Hockey East play when they had just 3.2 on average in conference play last year. The Huskies carry one of the deepest offenses in the entire nation.
No one has more then 12 points in 17 games this season, which might sound alarming to some.
That is, until you realize there are 8 different UConn skaters with 11 or more points, just a stones throw away.
Junior Jake Richard leads the way with 12 points, while Joey Muldowney, Ethan Gardula, Ryan Tattle, Kaden Shahan, Alexandre Blais, Tabor Heaslip, and Mike Murtagh all share 11 points each.
In the crease, it has been a dominant season for Florida Panthers prospect Tyler Muszelik. He sure hasn’t regretted his decision to transfer from New Hampshire over the 2024 offseason.
A 2.10 goals against average and 0.931 save percentage, career highs in both, he has seen improvements all around.
UConn has earned impressive victories, but still have a daunting path ahead to close out.
January is fairly easy, but February is a complete gauntlet. Their first five games are against a mixture of Northeastern, Maine, and Boston College, all teams currently nationally ranked.
There is a reason for Toscano Family Ice Forum to be absolutely rocking the rest of this season, the new state of the art arena built in 2023 has a state of the art team to follow with it under Mike Cavanaugh in his 13th season.
Category: General Sports
