2023–24 UConn Huskies men's ice hockey season explained

The 2023–24 UConn Huskies men's ice hockey season was the 64th season of play for the program, the 26th at the Division I level, and the 10th in Hockey East. The Huskies represented the University of Connecticut and were coached by Mike Cavanaugh in his 11th season.

Season

Hopes were high for UConn entering the season but the Huskies had trouble getting off the ground. While the goaltending rotation of Ethan Haider and Arsenii Sergeev performed well in the first month, the offense did not. Matthew Wood, the team's top prospect, had just 3 goals through the first eight games while the rest of the team wasn't much better. Then, when they least could afford it, the Huskies had to contend with a crisis in goal. Once November rolled around, Sergeev appeared to play properly in goal and a pair of very poor performances landed him on the shelf for two months.^[1] Haider was able to shoulder the load in the interim thanks to a modest improvement in scoring.

Connecticut was unable to find any consistency in the first half and they were hoping to remedy that with a strong performance after the winter break. They were able to improve their position with a pair of split series against ranked teams, which included Sergeev's triumphant return against Maine. A second place finish in Connecticut Ice didn't do them many favors but the team had a great opportunity to make a charge for the postseason with six straight games against ranked opponents. Unfortunately, Connecticut won just one of those games and had no hope of securing an at-large bit by the end of the season.

UConn was given a date with Vermont to start the conference tournament and Sergeev, who had played very well down the stretch, was given the starting job in goal. UConn was able to use a pair of power play markers to capture the match and reach the quarterfinals. The nation's top team, Boston College, was their next opponent but the Huskies didn't appear to be intimidated in the least. Even when BC built a 3-goal lead just 8 minutes into the game, UConn didn't quit. Hudson Schandor got his team back in the game, contributing on a pair of goals, before Matthew Wood scored two in the third period to tie the game 4–4. However, UConn was unable to keep the momentum and a fifth goal from the Eagles was one too many for Connecticut.^[2]

Departures

Ty Amonte	Forward	Graduation (retired)
Adam Dawe	Forward	Graduation (signed with Newfoundland Growlers)
Ryan Keane	Goaltender	Graduation (retired)
Roman Kinal	Defenseman	Graduation (signed with San Jose Barracuda)
Aidan Metcalfe	Defenseman	Left program (retired)
Justin Pearson	Forward	Graduation (signed with Cleveland Monsters)
Logan Terness	Goaltender	Transferred to Ohio State
	Forward	Signed professional contract (Toronto Maple Leafs)

Recruiting

Oliver Flynn	Forward	20	Wolcott, CT
Ethan Haider	Goaltender	22	St. Louis Park, MN transfer from Clarkson; selected 148th overall in 2019
Ryan Mahshie	Forward	24	Stoney Creek, ON graduate transfer from Rensselaer
Joey Muldowney	Forward	19	Lake View, NY selected 176th overall in 2022
Jake Richard	Forward	19	Jacksonville, FL selected 170th overall in 2022
Owen Simpson	Defenseman	20	Toronto, ON
Bauer Swift	Defenseman	21	West Hartford, CT

Roster

As of September 21, 2023.^[3]

Schedule and results

Scoring statistics

	35	16	12	28	43
	31	11	11	22	53
	34	5	16	21	31
	36	7	11	18	6
	35	7	10	17	35
	36	5	11	16	16
	36	7	7	14	18
	35	5	9	14	12
	34	4	8	12	22
	35	7	4	11	33
	36	0	11	11	2
	32	4	4	8	46
	36	1	7	8	16
	36	3	4	7	10
	36	2	4	6	18
	33	1	5	6	10
	21	2	3	5	4
	24	2	2	4	2
	23	1	1	2	6
	14	0	1	1	4
	16	0	0	0	0
	1	0	0	0	0
	11	0	0	0	0
	21	0	0	0	0
	1	0	0	0	0
	24	0	0	0	6
Total		90	141	231	401

^[4]

Goaltending statistics

	16	934:02	8	8	0	42	443	1	.913	2.70
	22	1216:33	7	11	2	59	564	2	.905	2.91
	2	7:28	0	0	0	1	4	0	.800	8.04
Empty Net	-	20:05	-	-	-	3	-	-	-	-
Total	36	2178:08	15	19	2	105	1011	3	.906	2.89

Rankings

See main article: 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey rankings.

Poll	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26 (Final)
USCHO.com	NR	20	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	–	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	–	NR
USA Hockey	NR	20	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	–	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR

Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 11 and 25.^[5]
Note: USA Hockey did not release a poll in week 12.

Notes and References

Web site: How Arsenii Sergeev bounced back from his early season struggles . UConn Huskies . May 1, 2024.
Web site: Boston College at UConn - 2024 Hockey East Semifinal Highlights . YouTube . May 1, 2024.
Web site: 2023-24 MEN'S ICE HOCKEY ROSTER . UConn Huskies . September 21, 2023.
News: Univ. of Connecticut 2023-2024 Skater Stats . Elite Prospects . July 2, 2020.
Web site: USCHO Division I Men's Poll . USCHO.com . November 26, 2019.