Dawn of New Era Tonight in ‘Hockey Valley’
Any time something new comes along, there’s a level of excitement, optimism and a sense of the unknown of what it will become. UConn begins their road down a new path in athletics tonight in State College, PA as the men’s hockey program opens up their first season as a member of the best conference in the land, Hockey East.
Unlike football, Connecticut is home to some of the nation’s elite players and will be a solid recruiting ground for the program to take the next step. Current NHL stars that called the Nutmeg state home include F Max Pacioretty, F Kevin Shattenkirk and G Jonathan Quick, the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs MVP and two-time Stanley Cup Champion.
The program should be a replacement for the hardcore hockey fans in the state, as finally, the best of the best are here in Connecticut, filling a hole that was left empty when the Whalers picked up and left Hartford in 1997.
They are led by a coaching legend, Mike Cavanaugh, the long-time assistant at perennial power Boston College, who helped lead the rival Eagles to four national championships.
Tonight’s game, which kicks off the Big Ten/Hockey East challenge will be played at the Pegula Ice Arena, a two year old state of the art on campus arena that UConn should try to emulate. The Penn State program is in their infancy stages as well, also battling in one of the top conferences in America, as the Nittany Lions joined hockey’s elite in 2011. The below video captures the challenges UConn will face, when taking the ice at 7PM.
Captain Ryan Tyson will look to lead the Huskies straight into the Lion’s den in what is called ‘Hockey Valley.’ They have experience walking into intimidating places to play, winning at No. 10 Providence last season, 3-2.
This year, however, the team will be facing the elite night in and night out. Husky Nation, it’s time to hop on board, enjoy the ride and take in the start of a new era in UConn athletics.
The game can be seen live on BTN2Go.
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