Elizabeth Thomas, News Correspondent
The Northeastern men’s hockey team will no longer be the only Huskies playing in Hockey East.
The University of Connecticut officially announced on June 29 that it will move from the Atlantic Hockey Association (AHA) to the Hockey East Association. Eight of the last 20 NCAA champions have come from Hockey East.
UConn will not be able to move to Hockey East until the 2014-2015 season, a year after the University of Notre Dame debuts in the conference, due to AHA regulations. With these two additions, Hockey East will be comprised of 12 teams with at least one team coming from each New England state.
“[UConn] has had a tremendous amount of athletic success … and it’s a great addition to our league,” Northeastern head coach Jim Madigan said. It “not only fits geographically, but they just add to the quality of the teams that are in our league. For us, it’s a win-win for our league, and for those two schools [UConn and Notre Dame] coming in, they get to play in the best conference in college hockey.”
UConn will play home Hockey East games at the XL Energy Center in Hartford, the home arena of the school’s men’s and women’s basketball teams, the school said in a statement. The Huskies will play home non-conference games at the Mark Edward Freitas Ice Forum in Storrs, Conn.
To comply with Hockey East standards, UConn will add the NCAA maximum of 18 scholarships to its men’s hockey program beginning in 2014-15.
Madigan said UConn’s additional scholarship will have an impact on recruiting throughout Hockey East.
“With [UConn] and Notre Dame coming into the league, it’s going to create greater competition with better players,” he said. “[We] just have to continue to be stronger in the areas that we do well recruiting in. Northeastern has certain places where we are always able to attract some good players and we will just have to continue to do that. … We will just have to keep accentuating and promote what we have to offer to these young men and that will attract them to the school.”
Athletics Director Peter Roby voiced his support of the UConn addition after Hockey East issued a press release July 21 announcing the Huskies’ plan to join the conference.
“UConn addition will be great for Hockey East and our fans,” Roby tweeted July 22. “Alumni in Hartford area will see the [Northeastern] Huskies up close.”
The UConn women’s hockey team is already a member of the Women’s Hockey East Association.
Hockey East is one of many men’s hockey conferences across the country in the process of restructuring. In a major announcement in March, the Big Ten released plans to form a hockey conference in 2013-14 that will include the University of Minnesota, the University of Wisconsin, Ohio State University, the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and the newly formed hockey program at Pennsylvania State University.
Northeastern releases 2012-13 schedule
Northeastern released its 2012-13 schedule June 19, and the Huskies will play 17 of their 34 games this season at home. Of those, 13 will be against Hockey East foes, including two against defending NCAA champions Boston College (Oct. 13 and Jan. 19). The Huskies will also welcome three non-conference opponents to Matthews Arena: the University of Alabama-Huntsville (Nov. 10 and 11), St. Lawrence University (Nov. 23) and Bentley University (Jan. 5).
The Huskies will take part in the 61st annual Beanpot Tournament in February, facing off against crosstown rivals Boston University in the first round Feb. 4 at TD Garden. Northeastern came out on the losing end of a 2-1 decision the last time the two sides met in the first round of the tournament in 2010.
Assistant coach Patrick Foley said the team is looking forward to getting back on the ice this fall.
“The offseason is an anguish period for the players and staff. We are certainly excited to get our new freshmen in here and get our time back on track here for our new season,” Foley said. “The first game will be here before you know it.”
Northeastern will kick off its season at home against Merrimack College in a rare Wednesday night game Oct. 10 at 7 p.m.
Madigan said his team is setting high standards for itself in the upcoming season.
“We are excited about our returning players, which is a good core group of players being leaders,” he said. “Couple that with the new recruits coming in and this is the year – as a staff we have one year under our belt, we know the players and the players know us so we can start on day one with the system of play and start along our route of reaching our goal. We are excited for our hockey team and getting the chance to challenge for first place in the league this year.”
