UConn men's hockey picked fifth in Hockey East Preseason Poll

In the annual Hockey East Preseason Coaches’ Poll released on Wednesday, UConn men’s hockey placed fifth. The Huskies are coming off a program-best third-place finish this past season and have been a top-five team in Hockey East across seven of the last nine years.

UConn is still searching for its first title in the league after falling in the Hockey East championship game in each of the last two seasons. The Huskies faced significant turnover over the offseason, bringing in 10 new players along with two new members of Mike Cavanaugh’s coaching staff.

Defending regular-season champions Providence topped the poll with eight of the 11 first-place votes. UMass followed in second with a lone first-place vote while Boston University came in third with two first-place votes. Boston College took fourth place.

Behind the Huskies, reigning Hockey East tournament champion Merrimack is sixth with Maine in seventh and Northeastern — which will play all of its games on the road this season — is eighth. There aren’t any surprises in the bottom three. UNH comes in at ninth, UMass Lowell ended up in 10th while UVM — which has finished last five times in the last seven years — wound up in the basement.

Meanwhile, in the Hockey East Writers & Broadcasters Association Poll, UConn came in at sixth but received a first-place vote (for the record: I am eligible to vote in the media poll but always decline because I don’t believe I know the rest of the league well enough. I would’ve picked the Huskies to finish in fourth place, though).

Joey Muldowney was one of five forwards selected to the HEWBA’s all-preseason team, UConn’s only representative. The senior has been named a Hockey East Second Team All-Star in each of the last two seasons.