How Hudson Schandor went from fourth-liner to UConn's Hockey East Era points leader

The first time UConn head coach Mike Cavanaugh saw Hudson Schandor, the coach didn’t think he was cut out for Hockey East.

After all, the 5-9 forward only landed on the Huskies’ radar by chance. When former associate head coach Joe Pereira traveled to watch someone else play in the BCHL, Schandor ended up catching his eye. Pereira reported the find back to Cavanaugh, who flew out to take a look himself.

He didn’t see much — literally.

“When I first met him, I was like, ‘How's this kid gonna play in this league?’” Cavanaugh said. “I went out to Vancouver and I watched him play. He was a good player but when I saw him off the ice, I was like, ‘He's going to get killed in this league. There's nothing to him.’”

Then Cavanaugh met Schandor’s parents and realized his mental makeup was different than most other hockey players.

“The kids don't grow up like the neighbors,” the coach said.

That convinced Cavanaugh to give Schandor a spot on the roster, though he only received a partial scholarship. The North Vancouver, British Columbia native committed and arrived in Storrs as a freshman in 2020.

Five years later, he has the most points in UConn’s Hockey East Era with 106 (and counting) while also being the leader on a resurgent team that’s primed to reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. Schandor has become the ultimate Husky.

“He's the epitome of what I want in a UConn hockey player — on the ice, off the ice,” Cavanaugh said.

Nobody could’ve predicted that when the Huskies first started recruiting him — Schandor included. At the time, he wasn’t very high on himself.

“It means everything, man,” Schandor explained. “These guys gave me an opportunity when I didn't have a ton back home in Vancouver. I wasn't in the best head space when they first reached out and talked to me.”

As a freshman, Schandor was a fourth-liner who finished with a solid-but-unspectacular total of 14 points in 22 games during the Covid-shortened season. The next year, he had 18 points in 28 games. 32 points through two seasons — far from record-breaking pace.

Then came the breakout. As a junior, Schandor matched his previous career total with 32 points on 11 goals and 21 assists — all of which were new highs. The next season, he was one of three players to record 20+ points despite UConn’s team-wide offensive struggles.

Schandor returned for a fifth year with the Huskies and ultimately surpassed Jachym Kondelik as the program’s Hockey East Era points leader with an assist against Maine on Jan. 17.

“I'm proud to get this done as a Husky,” Schandor said about the accomplishment. “I'm so grateful for really everyone here and all that they've given to me and the opportunity they've given me. It's hard not to get emotional when I talk about it. It's a special place and I feel special to be a part of it.”

Yet Schandor only reached the mark because he decided to come back to UConn for his final season of eligibility. After a dysfunctional season in which the Huskies underperformed significantly, nobody would’ve blamed him if he wanted to turn pro or check out another program. In fact, Schandor probably would’ve gone that route if the offseason unfolded differently.

Instead, he and fellow fifth-year John Spetz chose to return with one goal in mind: Get the program back on track.

“I think establishing a super consistent culture that can be continued year over year…and finding a way to really bring out consistency in this program was at the both of our minds throughout the whole summer,” Schandor said during the preseason.

The first step? Fixing the locker room. To do that, they came up with the “Playbook”, a guide for how a UConn men’s hockey player should handle themselves — on and off the ice.

“Just a couple stories are in it about what they thought was analogous with our program. There were a couple themes that they wanted to play out throughout the year that they thought were important to having a successful program,” Cavanaugh explained. “I thought it was really well done what they did. They distributed it to the entire team and we've made that rallying cry for the year.”

Behind that leadership, the Huskies are in the midst of their best season in program history. Not only are they 14-8-2 — one off their win total from last year — and coming off their first CT Ice title, they’re currently fourth in the Pairwise and have a 95 percent chance of making the NCAA Tournament per College Hockey Insider.

Safe to say Schandor and Spetz have the program headed back in the right direction.

Even with the business end of the season still to go, Schandor has built quite a legacy for himself in Storrs between the points record, his leadership and the team’s success during his five-year career — three fourth-place finishes, a trip to the Hockey East title game in 2022 and everything this season.

Not bad for a kid that Cavanaugh didn’t think could play in the league at first.

“It's special. It's truly a family here,” Schandor said. “To be a part of it and to be a leader on this team now, it's an unbelievable feeling and something that I'll be grateful for for the rest of my life.”

Other notes

• As of 11 a.m. on Thursday, there are 10,500 tickets out for UConn’s showdown with Providence on Saturday at the XL Center. That would shatter the Huskies’ previous attendance record of 9,428, set on Jan. 13, 2024 against Maine. In fact, it could be the largest crowd at a Hockey East home game ever.

• A huge congratulations to former UConn Hockey Hub co-host (and longtime Hockey East rinkside reporter) Laura Stickells, who finally caught her big break by being named one of the Texas Rangers’ field reporters for the 2025 season. Well-deserved.

• After winning CT Ice, UConn moved up to No. 9 in the USCHO Poll. This is just the second time the Huskies have entered the top 10 in program history. They previously spent six weeks there at the start of the 2022-23 campaign, climbing as high as No. 6.

• Meanwhile, UConn women’s hockey is No. 15 this week.

• Tyler Muszelik won Co-Hockey East Goaltender of the Week after stopping 57 of 58 shots on the weekend and earning CT Ice Most Outstanding Player. Ryan Tattle and Filip Sitar landed on the league’s weekly top performers list.

• When UConn returned to Storrs after capturing its first-ever CT Ice championship, the hardware didn’t immediately go into the trophy case. Instead, it’s displayed in the players’ lounge — where it’ll remain the rest of the season.

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