Erickson leads young team

By Kevin Duffy The Daily Campus

October 17, 2007

Storrs, CT (CSTV U-WIRE) -- Sean Erickson is no stranger to success on the ice. Erickson has been a starter and solid contributor in his first two seasons with the UConn men's hockey team. This year, however, he will have to do a bit more for UConn to be successful. He will have to serve as a leader and mentor for one of the youngest teams in the Atlantic Hockey Association.

The youth movement for the men's hockey team started when the team lost its top three scorers to graduation and continued when its No. 4 scorer Chris Myhro was suspended for the beginning of the season. To make matters worse, forward Charles Solberg, the lone senior on the team, went down with an MCL injury in Sunday's exhibition game versus Ryerson.

As a result, Erickson has become responsible for leading a roster in which 15 of the 29 players are freshmen.

"It's a lot more responsibility," said Erickson. "You're accounted for all the small things. You have to make sure everyone's on time and things like that. You have to be a good role model; you have to set standards for the young guys."

While he serves as a vocal leader for the team, Erickson truly sets the standard with his play on the ice. The junior co-captain dished out 18 assists last season and was a key defensive stopper en route to being named to the all-Atlantic Hockey Third Team. Erickson's performance in early-season practices and in UConn's 4-3 exhibition victory over Ryerson drew rave reviews from head coach Bruce Marshall.

"Sean has always been one of our best defenders over the years and I thought he was tremendous against Ryerson," Marshall said. "The game changes when he is out there. Everything settles down and nothing gets in a panic mode."

Erickson realizes how important it is for freshman to feel comfortable on the ice with new teammates and is trying to make their transitions as smooth as possible. After all, two seasons ago Erickson stepped into a veteran lineup as a freshman and didn't miss a beat. Erickson's quick transition - he racked up 16 assists and 21 total points, ranking third and fourth respectively on the entire team - was partly due to the comfort level he had previously established with fellow freshman Ryan Hawkins. Erickson, Hawkins and Myrho are all natives of Eden Prarie, Minn. and they all enrolled at UConn in the 2005-2006 season.

"I didn't know Myhro, but Hawkins played high school hockey with me," Erickson said. "He was a junior when I was a senior.

"Ryan and I came on a recruiting trip together and we talked about it after. We both had the same thing in mind that UConn was the best fit for us. Having him here with me as a freshman really helped my transition. It was good to have a buddy that you had a past with who you could talk to."

None of UConn's 15 freshmen this season share the same high school bond that Erickson and Hawkins shared, but thanks to Erickson, the team is gelling remarkably well to this point.

"Sean has helped us a lot," said freshman defender Jarett Costello. "We have six freshman defensemen, and anything you can get from the upperclassmen is great considering we've never played at this kind of level before.

"Most importantly, he's helped us focus on competing, intensity and keeping your feet moving. The higher level you get to, the faster everything is and the more you have to compete. We have nine defensemen on the team competing for six or seven spots, so you have to compete every shift and every practice."

With the freshmen maturing and competing so hard right from the start, the Huskies may be able to surprise some people in the Atlantic Hockey Association, in which they were projected to finish seventh out of 10 teams in the preseason coaches poll.

Overall, Erickson is happy with the team's effort, but noted that they can't get too excited about Sunday's exhibition victory because there is still a lot of room to improve.

"It was up and down," Erickson said. "We had spurts of things we wanted to do and obviously spurts that weren't too hot. The majority of the game was sluggish. We have a lot of work to do. We need to continue to improve on the little things."

The accountability for that improvement will fall squarely on Erickson, and if his play in the preseason is any indication, he's ready to take on the task.