March in UConn Country usually means the men’s and women’s basketball teams battling for Final Four berths. This spring, the UConn men’s hockey team gave Husky fans hope for the school’s first-ever Frozen Four berth. 

The Huskies fell 3-2 in overtime in the Allentown regional final against Penn State in UConn’s first NCAA tournament appearance on ice. And while this season ended in heartbreaking fashion, it was the best hockey season in history. 

After being picked to finish eighth in Hockey East, the Huskies finished fourth, earning an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. The regular season featured wins against NCAA tournament teams like Boston College, Maine, and Quinnipiac. UConn beat the Bobcats in the CT Ice final, raising Connecticut’s version of the Beanpot trophy for the first time. The Huskies made a run to their second Hockey East championship game in program history by beating NCAA teams Providence and Boston University before falling in the title game to Maine at TD Garden in Boston. 

UConn won its first NCAA tournament game with a 4-1 win over Quinnipiac on Friday. The second-seeded Huskies faced a pro-Penn State crowd, with the fourth-seeded Nittany Lions using a home-ice advantage to go to the Frozen Four for the first time in their history. 

What does this all mean for UConn hockey? The program used to play outside in Storrs winters, to a glorified high school rink in Freitas Ice Forum, to a now AHL sheet of ice at the XL Center, and finally the sparkling on-campus Toscano Family Ice Forum. For die-hard fans of the skating Huskies this was a long build and a long time coming. Making it one shot away from a Frozen Four may sting, but shows how Mike Cavanaugh is building the UConn hockey program into a winner. 

Cavanaugh has been at the helm since 2013. After the Huskies move to Hockey East, a conference with some of the best national programs, it took a decade to finally break through and get to the tournament. In that time, Hockey East rivals like BC, BU, UMass, and Providence have remained contenders on the national stage. And not just fellow New England conference opponents, but in-state schools have raised the Nutmeg State’s hockey profile. 

Quinnipiac has made three Frozen Fours in the last 13 years, winning a national championship in 2023, and Yale upset the Bobcats in 2013 for their only national title. For the best sports school in the state, the only thing missing was hockey relevance. 

The UConn women’s hockey team made its first NCAA tournament last year, winning the Hockey East regular season and conference titles. They added another regular season title this year. And for the men, they now have left their own mark in hockey history in Storrs. 

But this may not be as much a culmination as a beginning. The team that denied UConn its Frozen Four dream, Penn State, lost two regional finals before getting over the hump. The Huskies surpassed Yale, Sacred Heart, and most importantly Quinnipiac, this year, in the Connecticut college hockey hierarchy. The future is bright. 

The Ice Bus did not roll into the Frozen Four this year, but even more exciting than the stops its previously made, are the ones that lie ahead.