Spring Break
The Storrs Side: Women's hockey deserves more attention
Brittany Perotti
Issue date: 1/22/09 Section: Sports
Hockey.
It is a sport that has increasingly lost popularity on a national level. The lockout in the 2004-05 season diminished its appeal to many fans. Since then, the sport has tried to revive the fan base, using special events like the Outdoor Classic to draw people to the games.
Here in Storrs, there appears to be much of the same disinterest when it comes to the Huskies, or at least the women's hockey team.
Though the Huskies are one of the top 10 teams in the nation and their games have free admission, there are always seats open. Coach Heather Linstad has turned the program around in less than a decade, building the young team from the ground up.
It appears to have paid off, at least on some level. The Huskies are 15-7-2, 7-4 in the Hockey East. They defeated then-No. 5 New Hampshire in a shootout back in October. They won against then-No. 9 Harvard without All-American Dominique Thibault, who was playing for Canada's U-22 team in the 2009 MLP Cup in Germany. Goalkeeper Brittany Wilson has been named the Pure Defensive Player of the Week twice by the Hockey East. And the team had a nine game winning streak until Jan. 17.
With just 10 games left in the regular season, the Huskies may break the school record for single-season wins, 22, set last year. It would be the third year in a row that the team set a new program mark, just seven years after setting a program record for most losses with 21. The only thing missing now is a large fan base.
Hockey may not be the big sport on campus, but it certainly deserves some recognition.
It is a sport that has increasingly lost popularity on a national level. The lockout in the 2004-05 season diminished its appeal to many fans. Since then, the sport has tried to revive the fan base, using special events like the Outdoor Classic to draw people to the games.
Here in Storrs, there appears to be much of the same disinterest when it comes to the Huskies, or at least the women's hockey team.
Though the Huskies are one of the top 10 teams in the nation and their games have free admission, there are always seats open. Coach Heather Linstad has turned the program around in less than a decade, building the young team from the ground up.
It appears to have paid off, at least on some level. The Huskies are 15-7-2, 7-4 in the Hockey East. They defeated then-No. 5 New Hampshire in a shootout back in October. They won against then-No. 9 Harvard without All-American Dominique Thibault, who was playing for Canada's U-22 team in the 2009 MLP Cup in Germany. Goalkeeper Brittany Wilson has been named the Pure Defensive Player of the Week twice by the Hockey East. And the team had a nine game winning streak until Jan. 17.
With just 10 games left in the regular season, the Huskies may break the school record for single-season wins, 22, set last year. It would be the third year in a row that the team set a new program mark, just seven years after setting a program record for most losses with 21. The only thing missing now is a large fan base.
Hockey may not be the big sport on campus, but it certainly deserves some recognition.
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