One Chapter of UCONN Hockey getting ready to be finished...the next ready to be written

[FDNY99]

After going to the game last night I have been thinking how tonight's game will be our last regular season AHA game ever...and the upcoming tournament will be the ending of the AHA chapter of UCONN's hockey history. My take after watching last night's game...we have a long way to go..the right pilot and co-pilot's to navigate our ship...and a new on-campus facility in the planning stages that will give Cav, Souza, and Pereira the tool they need to recruit and build the program. It is exciting to say the least...but that excitement is tempered by knowing it will take some time..and we could be in for some LONG nights in the beginning. I look forward to the end of this season...UCONN has a shot to win this tournament and gain a NCAA Frozen Four Tournament bid.

 

[mac2351]

Two teams in the country which are in a similar position and will become perennial top 20 teams are UConn and Penn State. Penn State is slightly ahead of UConn at the moment because their facilities are in place, this is their first year in the Big Ten, and have a better recruiting base. Penn State has struggled a great deal in their inaugural season in the Big Ten. They lost their first ten games and had not won a Big Ten game this year until a couple weeks ago but they have become much more competitive finishing out the season. I truly believe UConn has the chance to be a top 20 team in college hockey however it is going to take some time. The next few seasons will not be successful record wise following the switch to Hockey East but its important to see growth with the program. With the building of new facilities and better recruiting classes, the program should climb steadily up the rankings.

It will more than likely be the last time any players on the team will have a chance at the NCAA tournament so please come out and support the team when they take the ice for the playoffs in a couple weeks. Heck, it will probably even be the last time for a few seasons UConn even hosts a conference playoff series.

 

[huskymedic]

Penn State is slightly ahead of UConn at the moment because their facilities are in place, this is their first year in the Big Ten, and have a better recruiting base.

Mac - Can you expand on the highlighted part? UConn (and Cav) are recruiting nationally and internationally w/ some success so I'm not sure about PSU having a better recruiting base unless I misunderstand your point.

 

[FDNY99]

Mac - Can you expand on the highlighted part? UConn (and Cav) are recruiting nationally and internationally w/ some success so I'm not sure about PSU having a better recruiting base unless I misunderstand your point.

There is NO WAY Penn St has a better hockey recruiting base than UCONN does. CT consistently puts out some of the top recruits in the country for hockey. A LOT more than PA puts out!!!! PSU has the recruiting edge because of facilities...not because of a recruiting base!!

 

[mac2351]

Starting off Penn State will be able to recruit all of Pennsylvania and western NY a lot better than UConn will recruit kids in New England based upon the heavy saturation of Hockey East teams in New England. The Penn State name will carry a lot more weight within Pennsylvania and western NY than UConn hockey does in New England starting off.

 

[FDNY99]

No way I see PSU hockey having a "built in recruiting advantage" over UCONN. You forget...PSU will be competing with schools like RPI, ND, BC, BU among others. If a kid is good enough to play for PSU he is good enough to play for those schools...and the education angle just isn't there like it is in football. There is absolutely NO WAY you can even compare PA high school talent with CT, it is the total opposite of football. I'll give you upstate NY maybe..but again you have a schools like RPI and Union that consistently are in the top 10 right up there.