The Forecheck: Matthew Wood begins sophomore season at center

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Matthew Wood begins sophomore season at center

Whenever Mike Cavanaugh spoke about his hopes for Matthew Wood’s sophomore season, the coach mentioned wanting the talented forward to lead a line after playing most of his freshman year alongside two veterans in Hudson Schandor and Justin Pearson.

As opening weekend at Colgate showed, part of that process includes transitioning to a new position — Wood made his collegiate debut at center in UConn’s first two games of the year.

“He's certainly skilled enough,” Cavanaugh said about the change. “I think he has the ability to do play in the middle but really, it's just about winning face-offs… that's the biggest part of that position.”

Wood didn’t dominate at the dot — winning eight draws compared to 12 losses (40 percent) — but he improved as the weekend went on. He had a dreadful night on Saturday with a 2-8 mark but bounced back Sunday by winning more than he lost — six victories compared to four losses — and went 5-2 after the first period.

After the face-off, the Huskies’ system doesn’t distinguish between centers and wingers as much. As the name suggests, the center typically plays more in the middle of the ice.

That immediately paid off for Wood as he scored the team’s first goal of the season off a one-timer from the slot. That’s also partially why Cavanaugh slid him into the middle — the more often he’s around the net, the better.

“If you get him the puck in the middle of the ice, that's where he can create and make things happen,” Cavanaugh explained.

Other headlines

Lucas gets a letter

For the past two seasons, UConn has changed the way it votes for captains. It holds an early vote at the end of the previous campaign then does it again at the end of preseason. Last year, Ty Amonte ended up as an assistant captain despite only just arriving on campus after transferring in from BU and this year, the Huskies again voted to give a transfer a letter: Andrew Lucas.

Unlike Amonte, Lucas is in his second year at UConn and quickly made an impression by putting together one of the best seasons by a defenseman in the Huskies’ Hockey East Era with two goals and 22 assists. He’s also made an impact away from the ice, which is how he earned the “A” on his sweater.

“He does everything right. The guys really respect them. They voted for him,” Cavanaugh said. “We have a lot of guys that can wear that letter, but he's a kid that shows up every day and gives you everything he has. He's very composed. He's just got an excellent demeanor on the bench, too.”

Bradley’s return a “possibility” this weekend

Junior forward Chase Bradley left UConn’s game on Saturday with an upper-body injury and did not play on Sunday, either. The Huskies don’t expect to be without him long, but the exact timing of his return is still uncertain.

“I think there's a possibility he plays this weekend. I'll certainly know more (later in the week) but it's not a serious injury,” Cavanaugh said on the 97.9 ESPN Coach’s Show on Monday. “It was enough to keep him out on Sunday.”

Week in review

• Mike Cavanaugh breaks down UConn's newcomers

• 10 predictions for UConn men's hockey's 2023-24 season

• Notebook: UConn wants to play quicker; Cav on the lineup

• UConn men's hockey defeats Colgate 4-2 in season opener

• Big guns carry UConn through shaky performance in season opener

• UConn mounts third-period comeback to tie Colgate, 3-3

• UConn is unbeaten after opening weekend, but not without concerns

Three stars

First star: Matthew Wood

After a stellar freshman season followed by a summer in which he became the highest draft pick in program history, Wood continued his ascent in the first weekend with a goal in each game as well as an assist on Sunday. And while it might not count for anything, he undressed the Colgate goalie during the exhibition shootout with a nasty series of dekes.

Second star: Jake Richard

While Wood gets the credit for the two goals, Richard arguably made both happen. On the first, he settled a bouncing puck and found Wood in the slot. On the second, he won a puck battle behind the net and made a tough pass to set up the score. Then with just a few minutes left and UConn chasing a goal, he scored the goal of the weekend with a blocker-side snipe into the top corner to tie the game.

Through two games, Richard has a goal and a pair of assists. Pretty good start for the freshman.

Third star: Tabor Heaslip

The sophomore recorded one point on the weekend and received high praise from his coach afterward.

“I thought maybe our best player on the weekend throughout all six periods might have been Tabor Heaslip,” Cavanaugh said during the Coach’s Show on Monday. “I thought he was outstanding on both ends of the ice and whether it was killing penalties or when Chase went down, he jumped up and filled that role with Matty (Wood) and Jake Richard and did it seamlessly. He was like a Swiss Army knife for us this weekend and really brought a ton of energy to our team.”

Play of the Week

Since it’s too hard to pick just one:

Ice-cold capture

The week ahead

On Friday, Chris MacKenzie’s squad will head up to Chestnut Hill to battle Boston College at 2 p.m. ET while Mike Cavanaugh and co. will take on the Holy Cross Crusaders in Worcester at 7 p.m. ET.

Both teams will play their first games at home this weekend during a double-header at Toscano Family Ice Forum on Saturday. UConn women’s hockey will start it off at 2 p.m. ET against BC followed by UConn men’s hockey vs. Holy Cross at 7 p.m. ET.