{"id":54075,"date":"2012-01-27T17:13:41","date_gmt":"2012-01-27T22:13:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=54075"},"modified":"2012-01-31T12:12:41","modified_gmt":"2012-01-31T17:12:41","slug":"men%e2%80%99s-ice-hockey-gaining-confidence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2012\/01\/men%e2%80%99s-ice-hockey-gaining-confidence\/","title":{"rendered":"Men\u2019s Ice Hockey Gaining Confidence"},"content":{"rendered":"

Update January 30: The men’s ice hockey team swept its weekend series against Holy Cross with a 3-1 win in Storrs on Friday and a 3-0 victory in Worcester, Mass., on Saturday, improving its record to 12-12-2 overall and 11-8-1 in the Atlantic Hockey conference. Junior goaltender Garrett Bartus ’13 (CLAS) broke the UConn Division I career saves record, recording his 2,432nd save in a Connecticut uniform.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Forward<\/a>
Forward Sean Ambrosie '13 (BUS), the team captain. (Steve Slade '89 (SFA) for UConn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By making it to the semifinals of last season\u2019s Atlantic Hockey semifinals and opening the 2011-2012 season with a 4-2-1 start, the men\u2019s ice hockey team was gaining confidence as conference play was about to begin.<\/p>\n

However, starting conference play against the top teams in the league resulted in a rough few weeks for head coach Bruce Marshall\u2019s young Huskies, who found stability after the holiday break in late December, winning six of their last nine games and positioning themselves for a stretch run to the AHA Tournament in March. The Huskies\u2019 record is 10-12-2 overall and 9-8-1 in the conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still a relatively young group. We had a lot of success last year at the end and maybe that gave us a little false identity in the beginning,\u201d says Marshall \u201985 (ED). \u201cAfter coming back from Christmas break, we\u2019ve kind of settled down and realized we kind of have to do it all together. It wasn\u2019t like the effort wasn\u2019t there. We have to stay within the process, within the structure [of our game plan] and then let that dictate. Every now and then, you need that individual to step up and get that goal or make the big save. That\u2019s kind of where we\u2019ve evolved to.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Junior<\/a>
Junior forward Cole Schneider '13 (CANR). (Steve Slade '89 (SFA) for UConn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Huskies have generated increasing offensive strength from the first line of the sophomore trio of left wing Cole Schneider \u201913 (CANR), 12 goals, 14 assists; center Jordan Sims \u201914 (CLAS), 6\/13; and right wing Billy Latta \u201914 (CLAS), 7\/15, who together piled up 39 points in an 11 game stretch.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey play well together,\u201d Marshall says. \u201cBilly sees guys very well, Jordan is a good two-way center hockey player, and Cole has the knack to drive down and score from outside the top of the circle. We don\u2019t get a lot of goals from outside the top of the circle, but he\u2019s been able to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The line has also improved the Huskies\u2019 efforts on power plays \u2013 when the opponent has a player in the penalty box \u2013 with junior forward Sean Ambrosie \u201913 (BUS), Latta, and Schneider among the leaders in conference power play points.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels good to have confidence in a line like that,\u201d says Ambrosie, the team captain. \u201cThey can score two goals on a shift or three goals in a period. … Our third and fourth lines have been playing well, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Junior<\/a>
Junior goaltender Garrett Bartus '13 (CLAS). (Steve Slade '89 (SFA) for UConn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On defense, junior goalkeeper Garrett Bartus \u201913 (CLAS) is second in the conference in saves with 738, in part a reflection that he has played most of the minutes in goal this year. He doesn\u2019t mind staying so busy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI almost like it better. It keeps you in the game, keeps your mind from wandering, keeps you in the game, focused, and keeps you on top of your game,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

It also means that Bartus is active in talking with Husky defensemen, so everyone knows where the puck is and can help him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re always talking with each other on every play,\u201d he says. \u201cI trust my D to tell me what\u2019s going on. It\u2019s like an extra set of eyes. I\u2019ve got a lot of confidence with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marshall says the early season schedule \u2013 which had the Huskies playing 11 of its first 15 games on the road to games in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Colorado \u2013 should help the team as it moves through the balance of the regular season, when more games are at Mark Edward Freitas Ice Forum and the remaining road trips are within an hour of Storrs.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got to learn how to win on the road,\u201d says Marshall. \u201cI think it makes you stronger, it makes you tougher. What helps us in the second half of the year is most everything is an hour bus trip. It\u2019s close and it\u2019s home and away.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you look at the [conference] standings, there\u2019s not a lot points that separate teams in the middle,\u201d he adds. \u201cYou could have a sweep, and next week you could be in third and the following week you could be in sixth, and there\u2019s not that much separating you. Every game is huge points.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ambrosie says he is confident the team is making continued progress during the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a roller coaster season. It\u2019s the first time I\u2019ve been captain in my life, but it\u2019s pretty easy being a leader on a team like this, with most of the guys on the same page,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019re still young, still learning, and I think we\u2019ve got a lot to look forward to over the rest of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Senior<\/a>
Senior defenseman Brad Cooper '12 (CLAS). (Steve Slade '89 (SFA) for UConn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Senior defenseman Brad Cooper \u201912 (CLAS) says the Huskies are working to keep taking \u201cthe little details of every day and translating them from practice to the game,\u201d which he hopes will continue to bring crowds to support the team at Freitas Ice Forum.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great when people from the community and students and the band support us. It\u2019s nice to play in front of a big crowd,\u201d Cooper says. \u201cWe\u2019ve been playing pretty well at home. As long as we continue to play, hopefully the crowds will get bigger. For younger kids \u2013 it means a lot. We were all there at one point, looking up to older guys at your rink, or college guys or professional guys. Even the interaction we have with the local teams and kids with Skate with the Huskies and the other community service. I think it\u2019s good for them and us to realize where they can go, and how lucky we are to have the opportunities we have here at the University of Connecticut.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Huskies\u2019 upcoming home games include Holy Cross on Jan. 27, Army on Feb. 7, Sacred Heart on Feb. 11, Bentley on Feb. 17, and American International on Feb. 25.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The men’s hockey team are positioning themselves for a stretch run to the AHA Tournament in March.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":54011,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[55],"class_list":["post-54075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-11 06:21:57","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54075"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54075\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54091,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54075\/revisions\/54091"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/54011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54075"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=54075"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=54075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}