CANTLON: UCONN HOCKEY OPENS UP AGAINST UMASS (PREVIEW) 

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HARTFORD, CT – From Sunday through Wednesday, UCONN Huskies Head Coach, Mike Cavanaugh, was unsure if his team would start their season or not.

What was supposed to be their opening season series this past weekend against the University of Vermont was postponed as a result of COVID issues in the Green Mountain State and Connecticut.

On Wednesday, the nine-year Huskies bench boss walked out of a meeting thinking his team had one game against UMASS-Amherst, only to discover halfway thru his team’s practice they had two games.

That’s the current state of hockey in a pandemic world. Nothing is easier.

“Right now, I’m more concerned about how we compete and how we play than the opponent.”

The Huskies travel to UMASS to play the 8th-ranked Minutemen for a 6:00 PM puck drop for Fridays’ season opener (NESN PLUS). On Saturday afternoon, UCONN will skate at Freitas Ice Forum at 4 PM (CBS VIACOM Digital on-line).

The head coach and his Huskies are not immune from the rapid and ever-changing daily circumstances in some cases.

The last time the two teams clashed was on February 28th. That was a magical game at the XL Center when the Huskies scored two late goals, including the game-winner off a deflection by Kale Howarth with 8.9 seconds left to clinch a playoff berth. The goal had the XL Center rocking.

The Huskies nearly pulled off another wild win the following night at the Mullins Center as they tried to get a home playoff series, but their comeback fell short. The Covid shutdown followed, but that was nearly nine months ago and it is now a clean hockey slate for Friday’s clash.

“They always say you have to be flexible in marriage,” Cavanaugh remarked. “Dealing with this pandemic and a hockey team makes marriage look like a walk in the park. It really has been something, but we’re excited. Our players are really excited to play hockey this weekend. It’s been long training sessions, so to speak. Between quarantines, and sitting out, and contact tracing; there hasn’t been any structure. It hasn’t been fluid. It’s been fractured, to say the least, but our guys have been mentally tough.”

For team captain, Adam Karashik (Ridgefield/Avon Old Farms), the team is ready to play.

“We thought we were going to play Vermont, now we’re playing UMASS instead. We’re super eager to play. We’ve been practicing against each other for so long. It’s been a long wait. We just wanna get the season going,” Karashik said in a Zoom press conference.

Karashik will carry the “C” on his left shoulder and become just the fourth defenseman to captain the team in the era of UCONN in Hockey East.

“I’m very thankful my teammates showed so much (faith) in me to lead the team. I appreciate it greatly.”

For junior, Carter Turnbull, it was an adjustment. “It was a little different (this week). We didn’t know when we were going to play. We’ve made the most of it. Our practice has been tough. We’ve had scrimmages where it’s been team-against-team. We made it like a game situation and gets us ready for this weekend.”

Not playing at the XL Center has its pluses, and the team will have to adjust to their practice rink, the aforementioned, Freitas Ice Forum, being their home turf for this winter.

“It feels a little bit smaller. It’s a quicker game there, I think,” said Karashik. “We practice there every day. We’re going to be ready to go. We’re excited to be playing at Freitas. Right from our dorm rooms, right to the rink. It’s what we’re used to. We’re used to being at that rink, practicing there every day. No one else has had that experience, so I think it’s a huge advantage.”

Turnbull, the junior right-wing from Nanaimo, BC, had a breakout sophomore campaign. He finished second on the team with 24 points after playing his freshmen season with a broken bone in his ankle. Good health and upper classmen’s tutelage helped aid his strong season.

“My confidence, more confidence in my abilities. A lot that came from guidance from the older guys last year, like Ben Freeman, Sasha Payusov picking me up and showing me the ropes,” Turnbull, 21, Said. He worked his off-season with his long-time personal trainer, Clayton Smith, and is a player on the radar of several NHL teams for a possible free-agent signing.

Speaking of his line combinations, Cavanaugh was pleasantly opaque, “Upper-classmen will play together, and most of the incoming players will play with upper-classmen. How’s that?”

Turnbull let it slip that he’s playing with sophomore, Vladislav Firstov, and highly-regarded freshmen, Artem Schlaine (pronounced Schline).

“We’ve been playing in practice together, a Canadian with two Russians. It’s our international line.”

Right off the bat, Schlaine’s talent and attitude caught Turnbull’s attention.

“He’s fast and skilled, but he says just wants to learn.”

One important returning piece of the puzzle is goalie junior, Tomas Vomacka, a Nashville Predators draft pick. He may well be the best-kept secret in Hockey East.

Last season, in a conference laden with top goalies, namely Tyler Waller of UMASS-Lowell, who’s now with the Hartford Wolf Pack and competing with former UCONN goalie, Adam Huska, for the top job as well as Jeremy Swayman of Maine, who’s now with the Providence Bruins (AHL).

“He’s played a lot of minutes here, he’s a very talented goalie obviously. He’s a goalie who galvanizes our team. He brings everybody together. When he is playing well, he gives so much confidence to the other players on the ice. He’s gonna be big, big, piece of our team this season,” remarked Cavanaugh.

Vomacka’s work in the net is certainly well-regarded by his teammates.

“We’ve all seen when Tomas is on his A-game back there. He’s like a brick wall back there. We’re expecting that this year. We’re going to need that. We always push each other in practice, a little scoring competition against each other. How many goals I can get. How many saves he can get. He has a great attitude. I think he’s gonna be great this year,” Turnbull commented.

A freshman, Nick Capone (East Haven/Salisbury School), is already raising eyebrows and it’s obvious why the Stanley Cup Champion, Tampa Bay Lightning, drafted him.

“Nick’s a great player — he’s a big boy,” Turnbull said. “He’s definitely going to bring a physical presence this year. He’s actually been scoring a lot of goals in practice, so I think he’s going to bring a lot to the table.”

NOTES:

Defenseman Yan Kuznetsov leads three Husky draft picks this year. He was taken in the second round by the Calgary Flames.

Capone is one of the others and Cavanagh made it clear it’s one of his recruiting objectives.

“I’ve always said, I don’t want players driving by UCONN to go to another Hockey East school. I want to keep them right here.”

Getting Capone and Schaline to de-commit from Maine and BU respectively is a feather in Cavanaugh’s cap in the very tough conference recruiting business.

Former forward Ruslan Iskhakov’s decision to leave school was not driven by the New York Islanders, who drafted him in the second round (43rd overall) in the 2018 Draft. It was a result of his father, back in Russia, losing his job because of COVID-19 and the family needed the money.

A big decision for any young person in or out of hockey has to make.

“’Coach, I’ve got to turn pro because my family needs money.’ And what was I going to say? Of course. He was a fabulous player for us and a wonderful human being. He came over and was just wasn’t a 3.0 student, he became a 3.5 (GPA) student and he learned English over the summer, a tremendous young man.”

He has played 12 games with TPS Turku (Finland-FEL) potting two goals and adding eight assists for the 20-year-old playing in a men’s league.

The game postponement with Vermont delayed the debut of the new Vermont head coach, Todd Woodcraft, and his staff. A new date of December 18th was announced.

Ironically, Vermont’s Assistant Coach and Director of Hockey Operations, Jeff Hill, was the only person to survive the complete staff turnover.

Hill played at South Kent Prep, before the Selects Academy program was established there, and played nine games for the defunct Danbury Mad Hatters (EPHL).

Christian Krygier, the son of former UCONN Husky (Division-II era), Hartford Whaler, and New Haven Nighthawk, Todd Krygier, scored his first collegiate goal in a 1-1 OT tie with Arizona State Thursday night.

Father Todd is an assistant coach with the Grand Rapids Griffins (AHL).