Men’s Hockey: No Regular Season Title, But…
Athletic director Manuel Warde managed to lure Mike Cavanaugh from the nearby newly-minted hockey powerhouse, Boston College, to take the head coaching position at UConn. Last season, interim coach Dave Berard led the Huskies to a rare winning season since UConn has been playing Division I hockey, after head coach Bruce Marshall stepped down mid-season, his 25th season.
In Coach Cavanaugh’s first season leading UConn, the Huskies have exceeded expectations. The team’s stated mission at the beginning of the season was to win a regular season title for the seniors. Was it attainable? Of course. But it didn’t happen. We may have lost to Army and Sacred Heart but we did better than most thought we would. The AHA regular season title was really for grabs. A title was attainable until Mercyhurst clinched during the second to last weekend of the regular season with a win at Niagra. Third to last game of the season. Mercyhurst and Air Force lived up to their expectations at the top of the standings. Bentley and UConn were predicted to finish in or near the bottom half of the league by coaches and writers.
Preseason poll: coaches and USCHO writers.
Final Standings Coach’s Poll USCHO
Mercyhurst T-2nd 1st
Bentley 9th 5th
Air Force T-2nd 3rd
Connecticut 6th 7th
Robert Morris 7th 8th
Niagara 1st 2nd
Canisius 4th 4th
Holy Cross 8th 9th
RIT 5th 6th
Sacred Heart 12th 12th
AIC 11th 10th
Army 10th 11th
The win over #9 Providence is historic. First win ever over a Top 10 D-I college hockey team. Some of us have been waiting a very long time to see that happen. We have a winning season in Cavanaugh’s first season.
To our advantage going into the AHA playoffs, Robert Morris is 0-2-1 in their last three games, 2-3-1 in their last six. They will be playing Army. We will likely be playing RMU in the quarterfinals at home, unless Army pulls of a monumental upset. Army is 2-2 in their past four, against UConn and Holy Cross. We may be 2-2 in the past four, as well. But that is probably an indictment of Bruce Marshall’s recruiting more than anything else, given the resources present at UConn. If Army wins, we’ll be playing the highest seed remaining from the first round.
We have not won a postseason hockey tournament since 2000. We were a 4 seed in the MAAC tournament that year, ironically. The hockey MAAC existed from 1997-2003, when Fairfield and Iona fielded D-I teams, then the AHA carried over most schools and added more teams, such as Army and Air Force, from 2003 till today. Our playing days within the AHA are in it’s last weeks. Hopefully, we come out victorious. We have yet to make it to the national championship tournament.
Going by probabilities, we have an 18% chance to make the tournament as a 16 seed and a less than 1% chance to make it as a 15 seed. Will not be seeded any higher. Mercyhurst has a 27% chance to make the tournament, Air Force has a 23% chance, Bentley has an 18% chance, and the team with the fifth best chance, RMU, has a 4% chance. The end of an era for UConn hockey is truly about to begin.
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