Notebook: Tabor Heaslip's impact goes beyond the numbers

Tabor Heaslip isn’t one of UConn’s more productive players. As a freshman, the forward recorded just six points (two goals, four assists), which ranked 17th on the team. All six defensemen put up more points than him, as did every other player who appeared in all 35 games. In the Huskies’ season-opening series over the weekend, he grabbed just one assist.

But afterwards, head coach Mike Cavanaugh went out of his way to spotlight the sophomore’s performance.

“I thought maybe our best player on the weekend throughout all six periods might have been Tabor Heaslip,” Cavanaugh declared on the 97.9 ESPN Coach’s Show on Monday.

Why? Well, as is the case with Heaslip’s game, it’s not about the numbers.

“I thought he was outstanding on both ends of the ice and whether it was killing penalties or when Chase (Brady) went down, he jumped up and filled that role with Matty (Wood) and Jake Richard and did it seamlessly,” Cavanaugh continued. “He was like a Swiss Army knife for us this weekend and really brought a ton of energy to our team.”

When Cavanaugh builds his lineups, he likes to have three “standard” lines along with an “energy” line. The former are expected to do the bulk of the scoring while the latter contributes in other ways — turning around momentum, wearing down the opposition or just generally making life miserable for the other side.

It’s the perfect spot for Heaslip. He’s never been a big point-producer — in his two combined seasons with the Sioux City Musketeers in the USHL, he had 42 points in 126 career games — but earned an “A” on his sweater despite putting up just a 4-10—14 line in his rookie year. On the ice, Heaslip does the dirty work while off it, he’s an important part of the locker room.

“It’s always sunny out with Tabor. He brings so much energy and positivity to our locker room, to our practice. He raises the level of the practice,“ Cavanaugh said. “Every team needs a guy like him. Then his compete and work ethic is second to none on this team.”

Heaslip can be more than an energy-line guy, too. In the Huskies’ 3-3 tie on Sunday, he spent much of the game playing alongside Matthew Wood — a first-round pick. While he usually lines up at wing, he can slide to center when needed and most importantly, he can do well there. On Saturday, he went 6-3 on draws and followed it up with a respectable 3-3 effort on Sunday.

Whatever UConn asks of Heaslip, he’s ready to answer the bell.

“If you ask him to play wing, he did that. He won big face-offs for us because we were struggling a little bit in the face-off dot on Saturday and he came in and won some key face-offs for us and it kind of turned the tide,” Cavanaugh said. “He’s kind of our Swiss Army knife. We can play him in a lot of different roles and he excels at all of them.”

The old home

After the hockey teams moved into Toscano Family Ice Forum last January, the school began converting Freitas Ice Forum into a volleyball facility. The project still isn’t finished — it has multiple phases to it — but it’s hosted the Huskies’ entire home slate this year as the aptly-named UConn Volleyball Center.

Cavanaugh understands the excitement of getting a new facility as well as anyone, so he’s happy to see the old barn find new life.

“It’s great. I know there’s like four stages or phases to what they’re going to do over there and they finished Phase 1, I think it looks pretty good,” he said. “It’s fantastic. I’m glad that volleyball now has a home and I know what it’s like to have a place now that they can call their own. Their team’s not as big as is our team... there’s certainly enough space over there where they can carve out a great lounge and a place to work out and have a home like we have here.”

The building still does serve a purpose for UConn men’s hockey, though. It’s now a piece of nostalgia that they utilize on the recruiting trail.

“I was actually over there yesterday. I was walking a recruit through just to show him ‘This is where we used to play,’” Cavanaugh said.

Saturday night’s alright for playing

Saturday is shaping up to be a busy day in UConn’s “Olympic Village” where most of the athletic facilities are located. At 2 p.m., UConn women’s hockey will play at Toscano Family Ice Forum. Two hours later, volleyball will take on Butler at the former Freitas, then at 7 p.m., UConn men’s hockey and men’s soccer will start at Toscano and Morrone Stadium, respectively.

That means in the span of one afternoon, four games will take place in a 300-yard stretch of campus.

“It’s going to be pretty busy here on Saturday night. We have a soccer game, a volleyball game and a hockey game,” Cavanaugh said. “So there’s gonna be a lot of energy here on this part of campus and I’m looking forward to a full barn and big student section and a rowdy crowd for the Crusaders on Saturday.”

With everything going on, expect traffic to be heavier and parking to be harder to find prior to the game.

Last meeting with Holy Cross

UConn and Holy Cross haven’t faced off since the Huskies departed Atlantic Hockey for Hockey East in 2014. The last meeting came during a home-and-home on Feb. 14 and 15, 2014 where the away team won each contest. The Crusaders earned a 3-1 victory at Freitas Ice Forum but UConn came back with a 5-0 thumping in Worcester the next day.

Robby Nichols (that’s how he’s listed in the official box score) made 38 saves while Joe Ferriss (2), Cody Sharib, Jacob Poe and Brent Norris all scored.

“The last time we faced off against them our director of [operations], Joe Ferriss, had a couple of goals against them,” Cavanaugh remembered. “That’s how long ago was since we’ve played them.”

So how did Holy Cross end up back on the schedule after all this time?

“A couple of years ago when Joe Pereira was still here, he was doing our scheduling. He reached out to Holy Cross or they reached out to us and it makes sense,” Cavanaugh said. “They’re 50 minutes up the road. They’ve got a great program and they’re in the league on the women’s women’s side so I think it’s a natural non-conference type game we should be playing.”

Look back

Mike Cavanaugh’s postgame press conference after Holy Cross’s last trip to Storrs: