Why Ryan Tattle was named an alternate captain mid-season

In Mike Cavanaugh’s first 11 years as UConn men’s hockey’s head coach, the captains and alternate captains were all selected before the puck dropped on the campaign. Traditionally, the entire team votes for the next season’s captains in the spring, though over the last few years, the Huskies have picked another at the end of the preseason to account for any deserving transfers that came in over the summer.

That changed last month. Ahead of Connecticut Ice, UConn announced that junior Ryan Tattle would join the leadership team and wear an “A” on his sweater. It wasn’t Cavanaugh’s idea, though. Instead, it was driven by the Huskies’ other captains — Hudson Schandor, John Spetz and Tabor Heaslip.

“The captains had came to me and they said that they thought that Ryan deserved to be in a leadership role,” the coach explained. “I said, ‘Well, I'm not choosing that. I never have and I never will. So if you guys want to hold a team vote, and the team votes in favor of Ryan wearing a letter, I'm fine with that.’ So they did and they came to me and said it's unanimous.”

While Tattle is one of UConn’s most veteran forwards and leads the team with 14 goals, that’s not what got him the letter. Instead, it’s about what he does behind the scenes on a daily basis.

“Day in and day out, his commitment to getting better, his commitment to the team winning, it's never about him,” Cavanaugh said. “He's played on a bunch of different lines this year and it doesn't matter whatever line he plays on, that line seems to play well. So it's just being completely, 100 percent committed to the team's success.”

Two moments epitomize Tattle’s commitment to winning. The first came before he earned the letter — back in late December at the Kwik Trip Holiday Classic in Milwaukee.

“I think probably playing 18 minutes at Wisconsin, throwing up in between periods was one of the things that endeared him to his teammates,” Cavanaugh said. “Battling through that flu just to try to win that tournament.”

The second happened during his first week with the “A” on his sweater. The Wednesday before Connecticut Ice, Tattle had to fly home to Vancouver, British Columbia to deal with a family matter. Despite being on the other side of the continent, he never considered missing UConn’s Friday night battle with Quinnipiac. Tattle took a redeye flight to New York’s JFK Airport that landed at 7 a.m. on Friday morning.

Almost 12 hours later, he scored a pair of goals — including a buzzer-beater with 0.7 seconds left in regulation — to help the Huskies take down the Bobcats. Captain behavior.

“This is what I love to do,” Tattle said postgame. “I love to be around the guys. It's home. UConn’s home. So being here and being with the guys, it's easy.”

Muszelik of the month

January proved to be the month of Tyler Muszelik, who was named Hockey East’s Goaltender of the Month.

The net-minder went undefeated with a 4-0-1 record, putting up a 1.38 goals against average and .951 save percentage in the process. He also claimed CT Ice’s Most Outstanding Player award after stopping 57 of 58 shots on the weekend to help UConn win its first state title.

Handrahan honored

On Friday, UConn women’s hockey associate head coach Casey Handrahan won 2025 the Assistant Women’s Coach Award, given by the Hockey Coaches Association to recognize an assistant’s career achievements.

Handrahan has been on head coach Chris MacKenzie’s staff since his arrival in Storrs back in 2013, focusing on goaltenders, defense, power plays, recruiting and video analysis.

"I am privileged to be receiving The Assistant Women's Coach Award," Handrahan said in a release. "When considering the former recipients, I am extremely flattered to be in their company. There are many worthy coaches in women's hockey who I hold in high regard, so this means a lot to be chosen." 

"I would like to acknowledge UConn Athletics, Coach MacKenzie, Coach Wulf, and the rest of the UConn hockey staff for supporting me to work in this great game."

Handrahan will be formally honored at the 2025 AHCA Convention in Naples, Florida which runs from May 4-6. 

Subscribe to Premium to read the rest.