The 2024–25 UConn Huskies men's ice hockey season was the 65th season of play for the program, the 27th at the Division I level, and the 11th in Hockey East. The Huskies represented the University of Connecticut in the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, played their home games at the Toscano Family Ice Forum and were coached by Mike Cavanaugh in his 12th season.
Season After a disappointing season in '24, Connecticut received even worse news when top prospect Matthew Wood announced that he was transferring. The loss of their 2-time scoring leader was bad enough but the Huskies also lost several other players, including their entire stable of goaltenders. While UConn was able to dip into the transfer portal for a few new pieces, most of the incoming players were freshmen. With such a young roster to work with, UConn was not expected to do much this season.
Tyler Muszelik was given the starting job in goal entering the year as he was not only the only goaltender on the roster with any college experience but Callum Tung had been injured prior to the start of the year. Muszelik did well for the first month or so but his game began to sour in mid-November. After a poor weekend against Merrimack he rebounded with a solid performance versus Boston College, however, the junior was forced to leave after the second period due to a knee injury and would be out until January. Fortunately for the Huskies, that injury happened just after Tung had returned to practice and the freshman was available to take over in goal. In the freshman first active of the year, he posted several outstanding results and allowed 4 goals in three games, all against ranked opponents.
Despite UConn receiving quality goaltending for most of the first half of the year, the team could only boast a .500 record as they went into the winter break. The main culprit was an inconsistent offense that had been held to under 3 goals in five of the last eight games. Jake Richard had been the leading force for the Huskies but had missed five games in November due to an upper-body injury. Team captain Hudson Schandor picked up the pace in his absence but didn't receive much help for the rest of the team. However, once the team returned from the break the Huskies saw a marked increase in the output from Joey Muldowney. The sophomore had posted a respectable total of 10 points in the first 15 games but his performance in the second half dwarfed that result. From their match with Alaska onward, Muldowney was held off the scoresheet only three times and put up 37 more points in the second half of the year.
Complimenting the increased scoring was the combined efforts in goal from Muszelik and Tung. With both goaltenders finally healthy, the two alternated starts for the second half of the year and Connecticut benefited mightily from their full roster. The Huskies lost just 2 games after the first of the year and swiftly shot up the national rankings. The gaudy win totals were made even more impressive by UConn earning six victories against ranked teams. The team posted an outstanding record in the second half, finishing 10 games above .500 despite playing one of the toughest scheduled in the nation. The result was that not only was UConn able to rise up to #4 in the Hockey East standings but the team jumped up into the top 10 of the PairWise rankings. This meant that the Huskies were guaranteed to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, ending the programs decades-long chase for a tournament berth.
Postseason UConn began their postseason with a bye into the conference quarterfinal round. In their final home game of the year, the Huskies hosted another tournament-bound team in Providence. Muszelik got the start and allowed a short-handed goal less than 4 minutes into the match. He recovered quickly and turned aside every succeeding shot, giving the Huskies plenty of time to make up the difference. Richard and Muldowney combined to lead the offense down the stretch, resulting in three goals with the two forwards having a hand in all three. The semifinal saw a similar story, this time with Tung surrendering a power play marker in the first 10 minutes of the match to Boston University. UConn came out charging in the second and scored three goals in under nine minutes. The third saw Muldowney finish off a natural hat-trick with Richard assisting on each of his goals. BU tacked on one more goal with 10 seconds to play but that did nothing to stop Connecticut from advancing to the championship game.
For the third consecutive game, UConn fell down early, allowing Maine to gain the upper hand, however, this time the Huskies' luck ran out. Instead of being able to hold off the opposing offense, Muszelik was beaten twice more while the Connecticut offense was silent. Entering the third period, with the Huskies down 0–3, the team was forced to abandon any pretense at defense and try to throw everything at the Black Bears' net. Tabor Heaslip tried to become the hero by scoring twice but each of his goals were answered by Maine and UConn opportunity to earn a Hockey East championship slipped away.
Despite the disappointing loss, UConn still had to get themselves ready for the NCAA tournament. Thanks to their outstanding run in the second half, the Huskies received a #2 seed and were set opposite in-stare rival Quinnipiac in the Allentown Regional. While the Bobcats wanted revenge for their loss during the Connecticut Ice tournament earlier in the year, UConn had no intention of simply enjoying their national tournament debut. The Huskies' depth came up big in the match with Hugh Larkin and Ethan Gardula both netting goals in the first. Quinnipiac was able to cut the lead in half around the midway point of the game but that was the only goal that Tung let in. Two more Connecticut goals sealed the deal for the team and the huskies advanced to the Regional Final.
With the team just one win away from the first Frozen Four, the Huskies abandoned their goaltender rotation and allowed Tung to start consecutive games for the first time in three months. Muldowney gave his goaltender early support by opening the scoring just over 3 minutes into the game with his 29th of the year. Penn State was no pushover and was able to even the score about 10 minutes later. Both teams were skating up and down the ice, forcing the netminders to stay on top of their game and Tung looked fully capable of carrying his team to victory. It wasn't until the second half of the match that Heaslip was able to give UConn their second lead of the game, however, the Nittany Lions were able to respond just 30 seconds later. The rest of regulation features several chances with UConn firing 14 shots in the third but neither side could find the back of the net so overtime was required. Connecticut remained on the attack and fired another 14 shots in the extra period but nothing could get through the Penns State goaltender. With the period winding down, the Lions turned the puck over at the UConn blueline, broke in, and beat Tung high-blocker. The goal ended UConn's season, unequivocally the best year the program had ever seen.
Departures Jake Black Forward Transferred to Bentley Chase Bradley Forward Signed professional contract (Colorado Avalanche) Nick Capone Forward Graduation (signed with Lehigh Valley Phantoms) Mark D'Agostino Forward Transferred to Endicott Jake Flynn Defenseman Graduation (signed with Greenville Swamp Rabbits) Ethan Haider Goaltender Graduation (signed with Milwaukee Admirals) Andrew Lucas Defenseman Graduation (signed with San Diego Gulls) Ryan Mahshie Forward Graduation (signed with Orlando Solar Bears) Matt Pasquale Goaltender Graduation (retired) Harrison Rees Defenseman Graduation (signed with Fort Wayne Komets) Samu Salminen Forward Transferred to Denver Arseni Sergeyev Goaltender Transferred to Penn State Jake Veilleux Defenseman/Forward Left program (retired) Matthew Wood Forward Transferred to Minnesota
Recruiting Nick Carabin Defenseman 24 Mahwah, NJ; graduate transfer from Princeton Kevin Fitzgerald Defenseman 19 Bath, ON Ethan Gardula Forward 19 Princeton, MA Viking Gustafsson Nyberg Defenseman 21 Stockholm, SWE; transfer from Northern Michigan Thomas Heaney Goaltender 21 Oceanport, NJ Kai Janviriya Defenseman 19 Bloomfield, MI Hugh Larkin Forward 25 Livonia, MI; graduate transfer from Western Michigan Mike Murtagh Forward 20 East Greenbush, NY Tyler Muszelik Goaltender 20 Long Valley, NJ; transfer from New Hampshire; selected 189th overall in 2022 Trey Scott Defenseman 20 Lunenburg, MA Kaden Shahan Forward 19 Everett, WA Filip Sitar Forward 19 Ljubljana, SLO Callum Tung Goaltender 20 Port Moody, BC Ethan Whitcomb Forward 20 St. Catharines, ON
Roster As of September 24, 2024.
Standings
Schedule and results
!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular Season
!colspan=12 style=";" |
!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular Season
!colspan=12 ! style=""; |
!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular Season
!colspan=12 style=";" |
!colspan=12 style=";" |
NCAA tournament
Regional semifinal
Game summaryThe start of the game saw Cooper Moore get crosschecked to the ice and then slide into his goal post but he was able to skate away without injury. The two teams were skating fast to start but both seemed to be trying to force the play a bit on offense and failed to connect on their opportunities. The first good chance came then Quinnipiac coughed up the puck behind their net but Dylan Silverstein was able to make the save on Tristan Fraser. The two teams skated up and down the ice for the next several minutes but produced very few shots on goal. Near the middle of the period, the Bobcats turned the puck over at their blueline and UConn was able to set up in the zone. After missing on their first chance, Hugh Larkin fired the puck top corner for Connecticut's first ever NCAA tournament goal. On the following attack, UConn was nearly able to double the lead but did end up forcing Travis Treloar into taking a slashing penalty. Quinnipiac's remade penalty kill was effective in keeping the Huskies to the outside and didn't give up a scoring chance on the disadvantage. Connecticut was able to get better chances once they were back at even strength but Silverstein was able to keep the puck out of the net. In the back half of the period, the Bobcat offense began to show signs of life but couldn't get much of a chance on the goal. Near the 5-minute mark, Quinnipiac made another mistake at its own blueline. Ethan Gardula was able to skate in alone and backhand the puck over the outstretched leg of Silverstein for the second goal of the match. After Quinnipiac was able to work the puck down low in the final minutes, Jake Richard was called for crosschecking to give the Bobcats their first power play of the game. With the #1 power play in the nation, Quinnipiac took the chance to get their first real scoring opportunity of the game but UConn's defense was able to prevent any further shots from getting on goal. Though they failed to score, the Bobcats' offense looked far better in the remaining few seconds and headed into the first intermission with momentum if nothing else.