Hockey East here we come...roster make up for next season

[FDNY99]

The AHA banner came down after the loss to Robert Morris ending our season. The AHA chapter of UCONN hockey is now over with Hockey East membership upon us. I went through the latest roster on the UCONN hockey website and the recruiting section for 2014 recruits to get an idea of what the roster for 2014-2015 season might look like.
We lose 4 seniors from this team 3 forwards (Harris, Latta, and Sims) and 1 goalie (Grogan). The 3 forwards were the top 3 scorers on the team (Latta 13 G, 13 A, 26 pts; Harris 11 G, 15 A, 26 pts; Sims 7 G, 15 A, 22 pts).
Here is a look at the remaining players on the roster:
Junior Class
There are 7 Juniors
Forwards: Cody Sharib (3 G, 5 A, 8 pts); Trevor Gerling (9 G, 11 A, 20 pts); Ryan Tyson (4 G, 5 A, 9 pts); Brad Smith (0 G, 0 A, 0 pts)
Defenseman: Kevin Tuohy (0 G, 1 A, 1 pt); Jacob Poe (4 G, 11 A, 15 pts).
Brad Smith and Kevin Touhy both played in less than 20 games.

Tom Comunale is the only goalie in the Junior class

Sophomore Class
There are 8 Sophomores
Forwards: Shawn Pauly (9 G, 12 A, 21 pts); Joe Birmingham (0 G, 0 A, 0 pts), Tyler Bouchard (4 G, 3 A, 7 pts), Pat Kirtland (6 G, 9 A, 15 pts); Joey Ferriss (3 G, 5 A, 8 pts)
Defenseman: Kyle Huson (1 G, 5 A, 6 pts); Chris Bond (0 G, 0 A, 0 pts); Tyler Cooke (1 G, 4 A, 5 pts)
Joe Birmingham played in 1 game and Chris Bond played in less than 20 games.

There is no goalie in the sophomore class

Freshman ClassThere are 7 Freshman
Forwards: Brett Skibba (1 G, 4 A, 5 pts); Brent Norris (9 G, 10 A, 19 pts); Sean Gaffney (3 G, 3 A, 6 pts)
Defenseman: Christian Neumann (o G, 1 A, 1 pt); Ryan Segalla (1 G, 13 A, 14 pts); Joona Kunnas (2 G, 11 A, 13 pts)

Robby Nichols is the only goalie in the freshman class
Incoming Freshman
Between the official release from UCONN on about NLI's and what I found in the recruiting thread I count 10 incoming freshman (2 defenseman, 3 centers, and 5 forwards). They are listed below:
Forwards:
Jesse Schwartz, Will Galonka, Corey Ronan, Kaspuri Ojantakanen, Jeff Wright, Karl El-Mir, Spencer Naas, Marco Richter
Defenseman:
Johnny Austin, Derek Pratt

Goalie:
Stephen Thulin

There seems to be some size, speed and grit in this group. Cav was able to get a few of them by offering them playing time right away instead of hiding them at Prep school or in the USHL.
Powerplay
The dismal showing on the power play this year is magnified by the loss of Latta (8 ppg) , Harris (4 ppg) and Sims (3 ppg).
Here are the returning PP goal scorers:
Juniors:
Poe (3 ppg); Gerling (1 ppg)
Sophomore:
Bouchard (2 ppg); Kirtland (1 ppg)
Freshman:
Norris (2 ppg), Kunnas (1 ppg)

With only 4 seniors graduating and 10 incoming freshman this roster will be changing. It is time to step up the game with our move to Hockey East official. I can see some serious turnover on this roster with some of the players that are eligible to return being phased out for the freshman. Expect to see Nichols get the majority of work...depth here could be an issue though. Thulin had some flat out horrible numbers playing Jr hockey, and Medic had to do some serious digging to find out about his commitment. I' thinking he was invited to play but isn't on scholarship. I hope I'm wrong...but..we shall see.

 

[Adios]

Thulin sure is ready to be peppered and humiliated, at least.

 

[hockeyfan44]

Thulin sure is ready to be peppered and humiliated, at least.

No, i heard they brought Thulin in as the 3rd goalie - invited walk on he wont see the ice. Nichols will be the back up - still trying to recruit a #1 goalie who is ready for HE caliber games.

 

[FDNY99]

No, i heard they brought Thulin in as the 3rd goalie - invited walk on he wont see the ice. Nichols will be the back up - still trying to recruit a #1 goalie who is ready for HE caliber games.

It definitely makes sense what you say about Thulin considering his abysmal numbers. It will be interesting to see what happens with the goalie position going forward. They definitely need to bring in a goalie that is for sure.

 

[Adios]

http://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2014/03/07_saint_john_pursuing_eichel.php

A taste of Hockey East culture. By the way, went to Conte on Sunday vs ND. What an ugly arena inside. I go from seeing one MAAC banner at UConn one day, losing to Robert Morris, to seeing countless banners at BC the next day, losing to ND. ND's helmets are AWESOME.

Was showing off my UConn sweatshirt on BC's campus, telling students to get us into the ACC. They got a laugh out of that.

 

[Rondogg]

I was at BU, Agganis Arena. Most beautiful Arena I have ever been to. Top to bottom the best for a small hockey Arena. When UConn plays there I plan to be there.

 

[FDNY99]

I really hope that the athletic dept markets this program with all the youth hockey organizations in the state. If it is done right, they will become VERY popular. It will be interesting to see how they do it.

 

[freescooter]

No, i heard they brought Thulin in as the 3rd goalie - invited walk on he wont see the ice. Nichols will be the back up - still trying to recruit a #1 goalie who is ready for HE caliber games.

I hadn't heard exactly what they were doing but that they are still in the market for another goalie does make a ton of sense. Whether Nichols is the backup or the #1, they really need another one who can take the ice.

 

[FDNY99]

If you go through my list and add the guys who played less than 20 games (Juniors: Brad Smith, Kevin Touhy and Sophmores: Joe Birmingham and Chris Bond) to the 4 graduating seniors that gives you 8 openings on the roster.

 

[freescooter]

If you go through my list and add the guys who played less than 20 games (Juniors: Brad Smith, Kevin Touhy and Sophmores: Joe Birmingham and Chris Bond) to the 4 graduating seniors that gives you 8 openings on the roster.

I would guess that some of the guys you list are not going to be incoming freshmen in 2014-15. A few of them will spend next year playing in the USHL or someplace and come on campus in 2015. My guess anyway and it is pretty typical.

 

[Adios]

I really hope that the athletic dept markets this program with all the youth hockey organizations in the state. If it is done right, they will become VERY popular. It will be interesting to see how they do it.

Those ND helmets will work wonders for us in marketing!

 

[FDNY99]

I would guess that some of the guys you list are not going to be incoming freshmen in 2014-15. A few of them will spend next year playing in the USHL or someplace and come on campus in 2015. My guess anyway and it is pretty typical.

You may be right...I say maybe 1 or 2 tops though.

 

[mac2351]

October article from overtheboards.net:

This week saw Connecticut jump on two seriously high-upside forwards after committing a potential pro prospect in Jeff Wight out of the BCHL and another high-risk, high-reward forward-turned-defenseman in Miles Gendron out of Rivers (NE-Prep). In the modern recruiting landscape where top young prospects are being picked up all over the country, UConn is faced with a situation – three years down the line, say – that there may not be many talents who are college-ready and more importantly, Hockey East ready, left on the board. With recruiting giants Boston College, Notre Dame and Boston University all pushing hard, Providence and Northeastern sharpening their blades moving forward, and the rest of the conference bringing the heat as well, there’s almost no way to jump into this environment and stay competitive early without going for these marquee, younger guys.

http://overtheboards.net/hitting-the-links-a-look-at-recruiting/

 

[FDNY99]

October article from overtheboards.net:

This week saw Connecticut jump on two seriously high-upside forwards after committing a potential pro prospect in Jeff Wight out of the BCHL and another high-risk, high-reward forward-turned-defenseman in Miles Gendron out of Rivers (NE-Prep). In the modern recruiting landscape where top young prospects are being picked up all over the country, UConn is faced with a situation – three years down the line, say – that there may not be many talents who are college-ready and more importantly, Hockey East ready, left on the board. With recruiting giants Boston College, Notre Dame and Boston University all pushing hard, Providence and Northeastern sharpening their blades moving forward, and the rest of the conference bringing the heat as well, there’s almost no way to jump into this environment and stay competitive early without going for these marquee, younger guys.

http://overtheboards.net/hitting-the-links-a-look-at-recruiting/

Mac nice find on this website! Thanks for posting the info..

 

[freescooter]

Seems like to me there are 2 options, this route or the Quinnipiac route of landing a bunch of 23 year old Canadians who have largely been overlooked but make up for their weaknesses with experience and physical strength.

 

[Jimdish255]

The key is difficulty projecting a 15 year old, but everyone is navigating the same landscape. The ability to mature under quality coaching in an academic environment provides advantages, and may be a better fit for some athletes and their families. There will always be trade-offs but that's a nice article for people like me esp just learning about the nuance of c-hockey recruiting.

 

[hockeyfan44]

If you go through my list and add the guys who played less than 20 games (Juniors: Brad Smith, Kevin Touhy and Sophmores: Joe Birmingham and Chris Bond) to the 4 graduating seniors that gives you 8 openings on the roster.

i

You may be right...I say maybe 1 or 2 tops though.

After watching this team the last few years they are in need of a complete overhaul of talent. Hopefully Cav will bring in 13-14 new players by the start of school year in the fall. Btw have they announced the captains for next years team ?

 

[mac2351]

1. Just because players have signed LOI does not mean they are coming for the 2014-15 season. Carl El-Mir, Jeff Wight, Anthony Siderio, and Miles Gendron have signed LOI but will not be on campus until 2015. Wight might come for 2014 but not sure at this point.

2. From what I can gather, there are 7 recruits coming in the fall, unless there are late commits. 3 defensemen, 4 forwards, and maybe Stephen Thulin.

Johnny Austin, D, 5-9, 183: Benilde St. Margaret (MN)
Will Golonka, LW, 5-10, 165: Carlisle, Mass.Belmont Hill (NEPSIHA) (MA)
Spencer Naas, D, 5-10, 175: Benilde St. Margaret (MN)
Kasperi Ojantakanen, RW, 5-10, 165: Helsinki, Fin.Jokerit U20 (Finland)
Derek Pratt, D, 6-3, 185: Mount Hermon, Mass.Waterloo (USHL)
Corey Ronan, F, 5-7, 158: Franklin, Mass.St. Sebastian's (NEPSIHA) (MA)
Jesse Schwartz, RW, 6-0, 190: Toronto, Ont.Victoria (BCHL)

Marco Richter (Austria) said in an article he might enroll for 2014 but in all likelihood it will be in 2015.

I am hoping Coach Cavanaugh can get another recruit or two for this upcoming season or talk some recruits into enrolling early. I have seen that Brandon Fortunato decommitted from Harvard. Would be a great high end recruit pickup but do not know if he has any interest in UConn.

 

[FDNY99]

i
After watching this team the last few years they are in need of a complete overhaul of talent. Hopefully Cav will bring in 13-14 new players by the start of school year in the fall. Btw have they announced the captains for next years team ?

Not that I know of for Captains. Unfortunately for some of the kids on the roster now that Cav is elbows deep into the job he was hired for the writing may be on the wall about playing time.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Hopefully Cav will bring in 13-14 new players by the start of school year in the fall.

To spread out the scholarships over academic classes, I suspect Cavanaugh will not bring in as many as 10 players this coming fall. If he does, some of the scholarships will most likely be shared.

 

[FDNY99]

The one thing I think we can all agree on here is this:
Cav tried his best with the group he inherited...and he worked at the job at hand last year: winning the AHA.
Now the job he was hired for starts full bore. Unfortunately there are kids on this team that are not up to the talent level of HE competition. Is that a bad thing..nope...they just got caught up in a conference change/upgrade. As Cav brings in his players..kids he deems to have HE skills..we will see some of the kids on last years team either leave or see reduced playing time. Again not a bad thing..just reality.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

The one thing I think we can all agree on here is this: Cav tried his best with the group he inherited...and he worked at the job at hand last year: winning the AHA.

Sure, but how involved was FDNY99 in the FDNY-NYPD charity brawl at Nassau Coliseum? Inquiring minds want to know ..., and who won the game and brawl?

 

[FDNY99]

Sure, but how involved was FDNY99 in the FDNY-NYPD charity brawl at Nassau Coliseum? Inquiring minds want to know ..., and who won the game and brawl?

I was there as a fan (my hockey skills are not even good enough to be on the practice team...the FD and PD A teams are made up of guys who played at the college and Junior a level...some even in the USHL). There had to be about 12,000 people there yesterday (at $20 per ticket they raised a LOT for charity)...our side was opposite the benches..their side was behind the benches. A guy from the PD team caught one of our guys with a cheap shot during a line change right in front of the bench's...and it was on from there. There are usually 2-4 fights each year during the game...this year they all happened at once.

 

[hockeyfan44]

The defense next year heading into Hockey East will have a new and improved look. My buddy who is closer to the situation told me these players will be the top six defenseman Segalla/Kunnas/Pratt/Drake/Poe/Austin looks like 3 returning and 3 new defenseman.

 

[huskymedic]

General thought seems to be that Drake will be on campus 2015?

“@russbites: UConn keeping at for its upgrade to HE as adds shutdown D-man David Drake '95 (Des Moines). '13 7th rder of Flyers. Will do 1 more USHL yr.”

Saw a few similar comments to the above.