The warm and fuzzies were out in force last night in Storrs as the UConn
Hockey Faithful bid a fond adieu to their Seniors. Huskies Geoff Angell,
Dan Sheehan, and Rob Martin were honored in a tasteful pregame ceremony
with the parents on the ice as well. We'll miss these players as they have
certainly been fun to watch over the past four years. It was one of those
evenings when one was proud to be a Husky Hockey fan.
 
        As often happens in these instances, however, someone was guilty of very
sloppy communication with the Sacred Heart hockey team. The Pioneers
apparently did not get the message that it would be appropriate for them to
roll over and play dead for the Huskies in their last regular season home
game.  Winners the last time in Storrs by a 4-1 margin (despite being
outshot by 44-12), and with certainly nothing to lose, Sacred Heart decided
to find out what it would be like to stand toe to toe with the Huskies.
They started the game sending two deep on the forecheck and playing an
aggressive style. And for 15 minutes it worked to perfection pinning UConn
in their own zone for long periods. Sacred Heart showed in that time span
that it was another one of those lower echelon MAAC teams which had
dramatically raised their game in the second half of the season.
 
        But superior talent and size finally won out for the Huskies starting in
the last 5 minutes of the period when UConn showed the Faithful some of the
speed and quick puck movement we knew they were capable of all along. The
result was three quick goals and a 3-0 lead going into the first
intermission. They were never threatened after that.
 
        What a difference a couple of weeks makes! After the Fairfield home game a
fortnight ago, it appeared that UConn was going to have trouble crossing
the finish line with home ice in the MAAC tournament. Staring at a two game
road trip to Canisius, the hottest team in the MAAC at that moment, and
with some glaring deficiencies in their game, the Huskies looked like they
were staggering. But two tough road wins in Buffalo followed. And last
night UConn demonstrated in person that they too have come a long way in a
short time.
 
        The key to the game was that UConn drove to the net without the puck, they
moved the puck quickly with only an occasional relapse of stickhandlers
disease, they got plenty of players in front of Sacred Heart goalie Alexis
Jutras Binet, and they consistently went upstairs on him having been
absolutely stoned down low on the last Pioneer visit. That turned out to be
just what the doctor ordered as they chased Jutras Binet after two periods
and six goals. The final score was 7-1 on only a 27-17 shot margin. Surely
there was a quality-quantity message in those stats for the Huskies in view
of their previous experience with Sacred Heart.
 
        No doubt the atmosphere will be different for the rematch tonight. Still
more emphasis on the bumping and grinding aspects of the game may be
required in Sacred Heart's building to repeat last night's result. But
Huskies fans have to be encouraged by the back-to-basics performance last
night and what it might bode for the future. They can play even better, but
last night was a great start.
 
        -- Dick Tuthill
 
 
 
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