How UConn's fifth-years made an impact this season

UConn men’s hockey is set for a less-than-traditional senior night ceremony on Friday. The Huskies don’t have a single four-year player on their roster. Instead, they’ll honor four fifth-years: Hudson Schandor, John Spetz, Hugh Larkin and Nick Carabin.

They represent the last of their generation — players who gained a bonus season of eligibility for playing through the Covid-marred 2020-21 campaign. Schandor and Spetz spent their entire careers in Storrs but both Larkin (Western Michigan) and Carabin (Princeton) transferred in this past summer for their final year.

Without them, UConn would’ve lacked experience up and down the board with no one more veteran than a group of juniors. The fifth-years provided some desperately-needed leadership and have all helped the Huskies put together a historic campaign in different ways.

Hudson Schandor

Schandor will leave quite a mark on the program’s record books. He’s currently UConn's Hockey East Era leader in points (116) and assists (81), then needs just two more helpers to set the single-season mark.

Yet even with all numbers, Schandor will likely be remembered more for his impact off the ice. A three-year captain known for his ultra-positive personality, he helped create “The Playbook”, a guide for how UConn men’s hockey players should act.

Schandor also played a key role in the Huskies’ recruitment of defenseman Viking Gustafsson Nyberg. A late entrant to the transfer portal after his head coach at Northern Michigan left, he looked like a perfect fit for UConn. The team wanted another blue liner and new assistant Nick Peruzzi had just coached him the previous season.

There was just one problem: The Huskies didn’t have a scholarship for him.

So head coach Mike Cavanaugh approached Schandor to ask if he’d be willing to give up his own scholarship in exchange for an equivalebrt amount of NIL money. While Gustafsson Nyberg required full tuition, Schandor was set to complete a graduate certificate as a fifth-year, which didn’t require as much money.

The move made sense financially — but only if Schandor was up for it. He agreed and UConn landed Gustafsson Nyberg.

“That's the type of kid he is,” Cavanaugh explained on one of his recent radio shows. “He's just a selfless kid.”

The move has paid off — literally. Gustafsson Nyberg has proven to be one of the Huskies’ best defensive defensemen and yet he’s still tied for third among blue liners with eight points.

“He's been a great addition to our defensive corps,” Cavanaugh said about Gustafsson Nyberg. “He's long, he's coachable, he's got sneaky, subtle offense that people probably don't realize. He's very good at getting pucks down to the net.”

John Spetz

Like Schandor, Spetz has also worked his way up the program’s leaderboards: His 11 goals, 44 assists and 55 points are all the most by a defenseman in UConn’s Hockey East Era. Spetz has been a staple on the Huskies’ blue line from day one.

“He played a lot of junior hockey,” Cavanaugh said. “He came here pretty seasoned.”

Spetz lives and breathes hockey like few others. He’s regarded as one of the smartest players on the team, re-watches film from every practice and spends his free time around the sport. A fan of EA Sports’ NHL video game series, Spetz was once ranked second in the world in online multiplayer when sequestered during a Covid quarantine.

“He's a hockey nerd. He really is,” Cavanaugh said. “I'll ask him about a play in practice and he'll say, ‘Yeah, I watched that last night.’”

Whenever Spetz’s playing career comes to an end, his head coach expects him to stick around the game.

“When he's done playing some day, I’d bet my mortgage that he's going to get into coaching because he’s like having an extra coach on the ice,” Cavanaugh predicted.

Hugh Larkin

The oldest player on UConn’s roster (he’ll turn 26 on Mar. 27), Larkin has something no one else on the roster does: NCAA Tournament experience. Western Michigan made the 16-team field in his final three seasons with the team and he’s set to go back this year with the Huskies.

That’s proven valuable for the young squad.

“It's more just him saying, ‘I've been to the tournament, this team's as good as the teams that I've played on that can get to the tournament.’ Giving the kids the confidence that we're good enough to get there,” Cavanaugh said. “‘I don't care that we've never gotten there, that's meaningless. I'm telling you right now that this team is good enough to get there.’ So I think when someone who's been there says that, it carries a lot of weight.”

Though Larkin hasn’t been all that productive in terms of points with just five on the season, he’s made an impact in other ways. The team has been happy with his leadership on the bench during games and he’s also set the tone with big hits.

“He's a big, heavy power forward that brings a lot of energy to our games,” Cavanaugh said. “He's a physical presence.”

Nick Carabin

When the 2023-24 season ended, UConn was primed for significant turnover on the blue line. Andrew Lucas, Jake Flynn and Harrison Rees were all out of eligibility and it wasn’t clear whether Spetz would return for his fifth year.

So when the transfer portal opened, the Huskies struck quick to land Nick Carabin. After three seasons at Princeton (the Ivy Leagues didn’t play during Covid), he came to UConn as a plug-and-play defensemen. While the team eventually added more experience at the position with Spetz and Gustafsson Nyberg, Carabin has done his part.

“He's really brought a calming presence in our defensive corps,” Cavanaugh said.

Though Carabin got off to a slow start, he’s settled in during the second half. Not only has he become a lockdown defender, three of his four points have come since the break.

The would-be seniors

Before the 2021-22 season, UConn brought in five freshmen. None of them made it to their senior years.

Chase Bradley, by far the best player of the bunch, signed an NHL contract with the Colorado Avalanche last summer. Since then, he’s already made his debut in the league.

Aidan Metcalfe played two seasons before stepping away from the team to focus on academics. Jake Veilleux did the same one year later.

Sasha Teleguine transferred out after his freshman season, spent an entire campaign back in the BCHL and eventually landed at Lake Superior State. After putting up just three points in his first year with the Lakers, Teleguine has 14 goals and five assists in 30 games this season.

Lastly, Logan Terness entered the transfer portal following his sophomore year and landed at Ohio State. In 18 starts this season, he owns a 2.32 GAA and .923 save percentage.

Matthews memories

Barring something unexpected, Saturday will be UConn’s last trip to historic Matthews Arena. Due to structural issues with the building, Northeastern is planning to tear it down and construct a new facility on the same footprint — though nothing is official yet.

Cavanaugh reminisced about playing there during his high school days.

“I remember we played Christopher Columbus and we won the North Sectional. We lost the year before to them in that game, and then we beat them there,” he said. “It was great. It's an awesome building to play in — but that was the old Matthews when it was very tight. It was before they enlarged it a little bit. That sheet was really, really tight. If you beat a guy out of the corner, you got a grade-A scoring chance at that old building.

“It's just has so much history. It's sad that it's going to go away because, I mean, the Bruins used to play there. The Beanpot started there. It's gotta be one of the oldest buildings in the country. So I wish they could refurbish it because it's one of those buildings you don't want to lose. But it sounds like they’re gonna have to knock it down.”

Other notes

• UConn men’s hockey held at No. 9 in the USCHO Poll and is currently eight in the Pairwise. The women’s hockey team is ranked 12th at the start of the postseason.

• Claire Murdoch landed on the Hockey East All-Rookie Team. She should be favorite for the league’s freshman of the year award, too.

• UConn women’s hockey will take on Merrimack in the Hockey East Quarterfinals on Saturday at 4 p.m. in Storrs. The Huskies went 3-0-0 against the Warriors in the regular season.