University of Connecticut Athletics
Men's Ice Hockey
- Title:
- Head Coach
The 2024-25 hockey season will be the 12th season for head coach Mike Cavanaugh at the helm of the UConn men’s hockey program. Hired in the spring of 2013, Cavanaugh is looking to have the Huskies bounce back following a 15-19-2 overall season. Prior to last season, Cavanaugh had the Huskies coming off back-to-back 20-win seasons and the head coach is set to lead UConn into the future after agreeing to a new six-year contract in May 2022.
Coach Cavanaugh saw UConn through the transition to Hockey East, the toughest hockey conference in the country, and has the program set to take the next step with the Huskies moving into their new state-of-the-art, on-campus arena in January.
Each season has seen a new set of “firsts” for the UConn program under Cavanaugh’s guidance. In 2022-23 the Huskies achieved their highest ranking in program history as they reached No. 6 in the USCHO.com poll and finished the year with 20 wins for the second straight season. The Huskies finished the 2021-22 season ranked No. 19 in the final USCHO.com Top-20 poll after finishing 20-16-0 overall, the first time in program history UConn ended a season ranked in the national polls. For the second-straight season, the Huskies had a player earn All-American honors as sophomore Ryan Tverberg was named a CCM / AHCA All-American.
UConn's 20 wins was the highest win total under Cavanaugh and the most wins since his first season in Storrs in 2013-14 (18-14-4). The 20 wins match their highest win total in the Division I era and the most since that first season in 1998-99. He led his team to a 14-10-0 Hockey East record, their best league mark since joining the conference in 2014-15. UConn finished tied for fourth in the final standings, matching their highest finish. In seven of eight seasons in the league, Cavanaugh has led the Huskies to outplay their preseason coaches’ poll prediction. UConn has finished as the No. 4 or 5 seed in four of the last five seasons.
In what was one of the most challenging seasons ever due to the pandemic, the 2020-21 campaign saw UConn finish the regular season at 10-10-2, good for fourth place and the program's highest finish since joining the conference as well as leading the Huskies to the program's first-ever ranking in the national polls. For the second time in his tenure, Cavanaugh was named a finalist for the Hockey East Bob Kullen Award for Coach of the Year. In addition, Husky forward Jonny Evans was named a CCM / AHCA All-American after the season, the program’s first All-American since 1998 and the first during the Division I era.
The 2019-20 season was no different, Cavanaugh guided the Huskies to a program-best 12 league wins and 26 points to finish fifth in the standings. Along the way, he had seven players post 20 or more points on the season, the highest number during his tenure and the most since the 2010-11 season. UConn also accrued the fewest penalty minutes of any team in the league, averaging just 9.5 penalty minutes per game, and winning the program’s first Hockey East Charlie Holt Team Sportsmanship award.
The program also saw its first winners of Hockey East’s Len Ceglarski Individual Sportsmanship Award and the ’47 Best Defensive Defenseman Award to senior captains Benjamin Freeman and Wyatt Newpower, respectively. In addition, Vladislav Firstov became the third Husky under Cavanaugh to earn a spot on the league’s All-Rookie team. For his efforts, Cavanaugh was named a finalist for the Bob Kullen Award for Bauer Hockey East Coach of the Year.
Since coming to UConn, Cavanaugh has had 18 players on the UConn roster who were selected in the NHL Entry Draft. The Huskies had three players taken in the 2020 NHL Draft in Yan Kuznetsov and incoming freshmen Artem Shlaine and Nick Capone and heading into the season, the 2020-21 roster featured eight players who are NHL draft picks, the highest in program history.
Academically, UConn’s hockey program was honored with a NCAA Public Recognition Award for the third-straight season in 2019-20 for outstanding academic performance. The Huskies have earned 97 Hockey East All-Academic Team awards and seven Huskies have been named AHCA All American Scholars under Cavanaugh.
The 2018-19 campaign featured the largest recruiting class under Cavanaugh as 12 rookies made their way to Storrs. Highlighting the rookie class was goaltender Tomas Vomacka who was the Huskies’ starter in the second half last and played his way on to the Hockey East All-Rookie team. In addition, fellow rookie Jachym Kondelik was second on the team in scoring (4-22-26) and was the third player under Cavanaugh to play internationally in the IIHF World Junior Championship. The Huskies ended the season with another program first in beating the highest ranked opponent in UConn history when they knocked off then No. 2 ranked UMass, 4-3, in the season finale.
UConn’s previous best season in the league came in 2017-18 when the Huskies played to an 11-12-2 conference record finishing tied for fifth in the final standings, earning the No. 5 seed in the league playoffs, giving the team its’ first-ever bye and quarterfinal appearance in the post season. The run to their fifth-place finish was highlighted by tying the school record with a seven-game winning streak during the regular season. Junior Maxim Letunov became the program’s first two-time Hockey East All-Star (2nd Team) at the end of the season.
The 2016-17 season saw a pair of program “firsts” under Cavanaugh with Tage Thompson becoming UConn’s first-ever NHL first round draft pick when he was selected by the St. Louis Blues, 24th overall. In addition, Thompson (USA) and Adam Huska (Slovakia) became the first Huskies to play in the 2017 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship for their respective countries. Thompson and Team USA brought home the gold medal at the tournament.
During the 2014-15 Hockey East debut season, the Huskies were tabbed to finish last in the preseason coaches’ poll, but Cavanaugh led his team to a 7-11-4 league mark, tied with Maine for ninth in the final standings. Along the way the Huskies knocked off four teams ranked in the national polls, highlighted by a 1-0 win over No. 3 ranked Boston College in the program’s first-ever Hockey East home game. During year two in Hockey East, Cavanaugh led the Huskies continued climb up the league ranks. UConn earned the program’s first-ever home playoff series in the league and the program saw another first as Letunov became the first Husky to earn all-conference honors after a 40-point season placed him on the Hockey East All-Rookie team and the Hockey East All-Star second team.
The new era of UConn hockey also saw the Huskies move into a new home at the XL Center in downtown Hartford. The program finished their inaugural season leading Hockey East in home attendance, averaging 5,396 fans per game, and set new records for season ticket sales in both 2014-15 and 2015-17. The Huskies have ranked in the top-5 in Hockey East home attendance at the XL Center in each of their six seasons calling the downtown Hartford arena home.
On May 8, 2013, Cavanaugh was named the fourth head men’s hockey coach in UConn history dating back to the inception of the program in 1960. During his first season as a head coach, Cavanaugh led the Huskies through their final season in the Atlantic Hockey Association with a .611 winning percentage and 15-9-3 record in the conference, tying them for third place in the standings with Air Force. Overall, the Huskies finished with an 18-14-4 record, posting consecutive winning seasons for just the second time in the program’s Division I history (1998-present) and capping off the program’s best four-year Division I stretch with 68 wins (2010-11 through 2013-14).
The Huskies’ defense was tops in Atlantic Hockey in 2013-14, allowing a league-low 2.39 goals per game and finishing with an 82.5 penalty killing percentage. UConn’s 15 league wins matched the AHA win total during the 2006-07 campaign for most in program history. The season’s highlight was the Huskies first-ever win against a top-10 nationally ranked team when they dealt future Hockey East foe and #9 ranked Providence College a 3-2 defeat at Schneider Arena.
Off the ice, Cavanaugh was the recipient of the Jim Calhoun Community Service Award at the 2017 Franciscan Sports Banquet. He has forged a partnership with the Hartford Police Activities League (PAL), a non-profit unit with the Hartford Police Department, as a way to encourage community service within the men’s ice hockey team. PAL offers inner city youth recreational and educational activities that provide a welcomed alternative to violence, gang membership, truancy and substance abuse. The men’s ice hockey team regularly participates in pick-up street hockey and ice hockey games with youth who attend the after-school program in Hartford.
Prior to arriving in Storrs, Cavanaugh spent 18 seasons at Boston College on legendary head coach Jerry York’s coaching staff. During his time at BC, he helped guide the Eagles to four national titles (2001, 2008, 2010 and 2012) in addition to nine Hockey East Tournament championships, six league regular-season titles and 10 Frozen Four appearances.
During his tenure at Boston College, Cavanaugh was vital in establishing a decade-strong winning culture for the program in the Hockey East. As one of the nation’s premier recruiters, Cavanaugh saw his efforts produce more than 30 National Hockey League players, two Hobey Baker Award recipients (Johnny Gaudreau, 2014; Mike Mottau, 2000), 22 All-Americans and two USA Hockey College Players of the Year (Mottau, 2000 and Nathan Gerbe, 2008) in his 18 seasons - the last nine as associate head coach.
He was named the winner of the 2013 Terry Flanagan Award by the American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA). The Flanagan Award is given annually to honor an assistant coach’s career body of work in the college game.
In addition to his on-ice achievements, Cavanaugh was highly involved in the greater Boston community. He spearheaded an academic mentoring program with St. Columbkille Partnership School, a local elementary school where 19 different languages are spoken, and many students are receiving financial support. Boston College players are matched with fifth graders for academic mentoring that often turns into life mentoring. Cavanaugh also founded and led the coordination of the Annual BC Race to Educate, a 5k road race and 1k kid’s fun run held in the spring. The race has raised over $130,000 in just two years for St. Columbkille’s that has been put toward financial aid, a music program and staffing at the school.
A 1990 graduate of Bowdoin College, Cavanaugh was a three-year ice hockey letterman for the Polar Bears. He served as team captain in 1989-90. Cavanaugh also captained and played wide receiver on the school’s football team. He is a graduate of North Andover High School, where he played hockey.
Upon his graduation from Bowdoin, Cavanaugh spent one year in London serving as player/coach of the Richmond Ice Hockey Club. He returned to the United States and was the assistant hockey coach at the Belmont Hill School for the 1991-92 season. From there, he joined Jerry York’s staff at Bowling Green from 1992-93. While at BGSU, Cavanaugh earned a master’s degree in sports management.
Prior to coming to Boston College in 1995-96, Cavanaugh spent two years as an assistant coach at Dartmouth College (1993-95). He was promoted to associate head coach at BC prior to the 2004-05 season.
