Nothing in college hockey is more important than getting hot at the right time. Hockey East won’t have as large a representation on the national stage as in past seasons, but the University of Connecticut sure found its stride when the games mattered most.
North Andover, Mass., native and head coach Mike Cavanaugh’s Huskies put together a seven-game winning streak before dropping the final game of the regular season to UMass, positioning themselves for a first-round bye in the Hockey East playoffs and their highest finish since joining the conference four years ago as the No. 5 seed.
The Huskies earned a program-best 11 Hockey East wins and finished 15-17-2 overall. The streak saw UConn upend a trio of nationally ranked league opponents in Northeastern, Boston College and Providence.
"The one legacy that all nine of (our seniors) will be able to leave is that they transformed this program from one that hoped to compete in Hockey East to expecting to win," fifth-year coach Cavanaugh said. "We just keep plugging away. Since I’ve been here with this class, they still gave everything they had. That’s a hallmark of our program. We grind harder and longer than our opponent."
Sophomore Benjamin Freeman of Falmouth, Maine, played some of his best hockey during the streak, recording points in six of the seven victories to set a career high with 20 points, including seven goals, this season.
Junior Maxim Letunov scored goals in the last four games of the win streak, while senior Spencer Naas finished the regular season on an eight-game spurt.
It has been a rapid and remarkable ride for Naas, and his fellow seniors have truly left the Huskies — who averaged 3.3 goals scored over their last 10 games of the regular season, seven of which were victories — in a better place than when they arrived.
"A really good group of guys … and everyone’s worked so hard through the ups and downs here," Naas said. "It’s been tough at times. I remember losing 9-0 and 10-1 (to Northeastern and Providence) my freshman year, but we stuck with it. Everyone wanted to see this thing through, everyone wanted to keep working. I’m so proud of this group."
The best part of March? It’s a new season.
"I’m going to miss them, but I don’t think our story is over yet," Naas said. "I still think we’ve got some more to it."
THE NOTEBOOK
Boston College captured its record 16th Hockey East regular-season championship and the No. 1 seed for the postseason with a 6-3, Feb. 23 win over Maine. Freshman Casey Carreau (Acushnet, Mass.) scored his first collegiate goal in that game. It was also head coach Jerry York’s 50th victory since reaching the career 1,000 marker two seasons ago. …
The following night, UMass freshman Matt Murray concluded the regular season with his program recordbreaking fourth shutout in a 1-0 win over Providence at Mullins Center. Murray passes Jonathan Quick (2006-07) and Markus Helanen (2000-01). With the win, the Minutemen clinched a home Hockey East playoff series for the first time since 2007 as the No. 8 seed. …
Northeastern finished the regular season on a fivegame winning streak to claim second in Hockey East for just the third time ever and first since 2008-09. Junior Adam Gaudette (Braintree, Mass.) finished with 35 points in league play to become the first Husky since Jason Guerriero in 2005 to win the Hockey East scoring crown. Freshman Cayden Primeau’s 1.79 goalsagainst average in league play was tops, so he becomes the league’s first goaltending champion from Northeastern since Brad Thiessen in 2008-09. …
UMass Lowell’s seventh-place finish is its lowest since it was the 10th and last-place team in Hockey East in 2010-11, the season before Norm Bazin took the head coaching job at his alma mater. For the first time in the Bazin era, the River Hawks dropped five straight games before winning the Feb. 24 regular-season finale against Merrimack, 5-0. …
Merrimack did not win a single game during the regular season (0-17-2) when scoring fewer than three goals, though it was only shut out twice. Providence was blanked five times on the year, despite its seventhever No. 3 finish in the league standings. …
Boston University became the first team in college hockey to boast three defensemen — sophomore Dante Fabbro, senior Brandon Hickey and sophomore Chad Krys (Ridgefield, Conn.) — with six or more goals on the season. All eight blueliners with game action recorded at least one point this season. The Terriers saw their longest unbeaten streak since the 2008-09 national championship year (7-0-2) come to an end with a Feb. 12 loss to Northeastern in the Beanpot title game. …
Nashua, N.H., native Brendan Robbins scored his first hat trick as a Maine Black Bear in a Feb. 2 overtime win over Merrimack. He scored goals at even strength, shorthanded and on a penalty shot, making his hat trick one of just three over the past two seasons in college hockey to include a goal scored on a penalty shot. That game began a program-record stretch of four consecutive overtime games for the Black Bears.
THE QUOTE
‘It’s been a year of ups and downs for our club, but to close with an outright trophy for Hockey East, we really feel very proud of that fact.’
— BC coach Jerry York
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Logan Hutsko, Boston College
With a two-goal night in BC’s Feb. 9 overtime win over UMass Lowell and a third-period hat trick three nights later in the Beanpot against Harvard, Hutsko became the first Eagle to score five goals in a two-game span since Nathan Gerbe in December 2007. The freshman from Tampa led BC in scoring during the regular season with 29 points, including 12 goals.
Tim Doherty, Maine
The sophomore from Portsmouth, R.I., had a hand in three goals as Maine played nothing but overtime games over the first two weeks of February. Doherty scored his eighth of the season in a 3-2 loss to Merrimack on Feb. 3 before recording two assists in a Feb. 14 win at rival New Hampshire, including one on Mitchell Fossier’s game-winner.
Liam Coughlin, Vermont
The junior from South Boston was a key offensive piece during Vermont’s seven-game unbeaten streak that spanned from Jan. 20 — when he scored netted a hat trick to complete a four-goal weekend against UMass Lowell — through Feb. 10. Coughlin scored a goal Feb. 2 against Providence and then recorded five assists over his next four outings.
