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UConn's move to Hockey East was made official today, along with an announcement from the school on the schedule and availability of season tickets.
The move to Hockey East is a great one for the hockey program. The conference has claimed eight NCAA Championships since 1993 and has been a trusted pipeline for NHL talent. The increased level of competition, improved recruiting and move to a higher capacity rink should help the school develop another well respected athletic program in a few years.
Second-year head coach Mike Cavanaugh is a longtime Boston College assistant who should be able to help UConn quickly become competitive in what is considered the premier conference in college hockey. He was an assistant for four national championship teams and was reportedly a stellar recruiter. Last year he guided the Huskies to a third place finish in Atlantic Hockey.
Conference play will consist of a 22-game schedule home and away against the eleven other members of the conference: Boston College, Boston University, Maine, New Hampshire, UMass-Lowell, Merrimack College, Northeastern, Notre Dame, Providence and Vermont.
Schedule Highlights Include:
- The season opens with a two-game series at Penn State in the extremely nice and fairly new Pegula Ice Center.
- The home opener will be November 5th against BC. In case you've been living under a rock, we hate BC.
- UConn will play in the first ever Frozen Holiday Classic at Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport. The field includes Sacred Heart, UMass-Lowell (2nd place in Hockey East last year) and the reigning National Champions from Union.
- 10/10-11 @ Penn St.- Football is at Michigan so it would be a good atmosphere on campus
- 10/25 @ Vermont- Burlington is a pretty sweet place to spend a weekend
- 2/7 @ Providence- one of the best teams in the conference, close to Connecticut, close to the casino's and an underrated nighttime destination
GO HUSKIES!!