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Hockey East: Midseason Report
>>Connecticut
Kummins: It seems this season could be called “The Year of the Freshman Goaltender” in college hockey. At Connecticut, there’s another good one in Adam Huska. The starter for Slovakia’s World Junior Championship team, Huska boasts the best save percentage (.940) in Hockey East play. As expected, he has received plenty of help from sophomores Tage Thompson and Max Letunov as well. The forwards are UConn’s leading scorers, with Thompson having scored ten of his team-best 20 points on the power play. The standout team stat is the Huskies’ penalty kill, which ranks fourth in Hockey East at 84.8 percent. All the right pieces are in place, but getting some other guys going up front and carrying the momentum from winning the Desert Hockey Classic against Brown and St. Cloud State ― without Thompson and Huska, to boot ― will be key for the Huskies as league play resumes.
Cox: As Josh alluded to, UConn has also benefited from a terrific freshman goaltender. Adam Huska is a legitimate game changer in net for Mike Cavanaugh’s team. While much of the hype regarding the Huskies prior to the season surrounded sophomores Max Letunov and Tage Thompson, the Huskies have received secondary scoring. Spencer Naas has 11 goals and Karl El-Mir has six. The defense is better than it has been in Cavanaugh’s tenure in Storrs, and the blue line just received a nice addition of Phillip Nyberg, a Buffalo Sabres prospect, for the second half. Sophomore Miles Gendron and freshman Wyatt Newpower have been solid for the Huskies. The Huskies still might be a year away, but road wins at UMass Lowell, Notre Dame and Boston University prove this is a team to be reckoned with down the stretch.<<
>>Connecticut
Kummins: It seems this season could be called “The Year of the Freshman Goaltender” in college hockey. At Connecticut, there’s another good one in Adam Huska. The starter for Slovakia’s World Junior Championship team, Huska boasts the best save percentage (.940) in Hockey East play. As expected, he has received plenty of help from sophomores Tage Thompson and Max Letunov as well. The forwards are UConn’s leading scorers, with Thompson having scored ten of his team-best 20 points on the power play. The standout team stat is the Huskies’ penalty kill, which ranks fourth in Hockey East at 84.8 percent. All the right pieces are in place, but getting some other guys going up front and carrying the momentum from winning the Desert Hockey Classic against Brown and St. Cloud State ― without Thompson and Huska, to boot ― will be key for the Huskies as league play resumes.
Cox: As Josh alluded to, UConn has also benefited from a terrific freshman goaltender. Adam Huska is a legitimate game changer in net for Mike Cavanaugh’s team. While much of the hype regarding the Huskies prior to the season surrounded sophomores Max Letunov and Tage Thompson, the Huskies have received secondary scoring. Spencer Naas has 11 goals and Karl El-Mir has six. The defense is better than it has been in Cavanaugh’s tenure in Storrs, and the blue line just received a nice addition of Phillip Nyberg, a Buffalo Sabres prospect, for the second half. Sophomore Miles Gendron and freshman Wyatt Newpower have been solid for the Huskies. The Huskies still might be a year away, but road wins at UMass Lowell, Notre Dame and Boston University prove this is a team to be reckoned with down the stretch.<<