Photo credit: Scott Kinville/315 Hockey.
By Scott Kinville/315 Hockey.
Last Saturday, defenseman Justin Allen and forward Regen Cavanagh were in Utica playing in the semifinals of the NCAA Division III Men’s Hockey Tournament. Four days later, the pair has jumped to the professional ranks as they have signed with the Norfolk Admirals of the ECHL. They will make their ECHL debuts on Wednesday night in Trois-Riviéres, Quebec when the Admirals take on the Lions.
Episode #26 of 315 Hockey Live featuring the Utica Pioneers Men’s Hockey Team: https://www.youtube.com/live/fuqJzEBkzTk?feature=share.
Both Allen and Cavanagh were graduate students at Utica and out of NCAA eligibility at the end of the season, and both had standout careers. Allen is a native of Hilton, NY, and came to the Pioneers from the Rochester Monarchs NCDC team of the USPHL. He was injured at the beginning of November but returned with a vengeance at the start of January – posting five goals (three of which were game-winners) and fourteen assists in eighteen games played since his return. Known as a sparkplug for the offense from the blue line, here are his career numbers at Utica.
| Season | GP | G | A | PTS | Shots | Shot% | PEN | PIM | PPG | SHG | GWG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-2019 | 29 | 2 | 11 | 13 | 42 | .048 | 6 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2019-2020 | 29 | 4 | 19 | 23 | 47 | .085 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020-2021 | 10 | 0 | 11 | 11 | 22 | .000 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021-2022 | 29 | 8 | 32 | 40 | 80 | .100 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| 2022-2023 | 22 | 5 | 16 | 21 | 63 | .079 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Total | 119 | 19 | 89 | 108 | 254 | .075 | 12 | 24 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Cavanagh was the sixth leading scorer this season for a high-powered Pioneer offense, registering twelve goals and nineteen assists in twenty-nine games played. He leaves Utica as the program’s all-time leader in game-winning goals with thirteen. Prior to his arrival in Utica, Cavanagh played for the Sioux Falls Stampede of the USHL. Here are his NCAA career statistics:
| Season | GP | G | A | PTS | Shots | Shot% | PEN | PIM | PPG | SHG | GWG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-2019 | 18 | 8 | 6 | 14 | 46 | .174 | 4 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 2019-2020 | 25 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 73 | .137 | 5 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 2020-2021 | 10 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 26 | .038 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021-2022 | 29 | 20 | 26 | 46 | 90 | .222 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 2 |
| 2022-2023 | 29 | 12 | 19 | 31 | 95 | .126 | 10 | 36 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Total | 111 | 51 | 70 | 121 | 330 | .155 | 24 | 75 | 12 | 1 | 13 |
The Norfolk Admirals are in seventh place in the ECHL’s North Division and are affiliated with the Chicago Wolves of the AHL, and the Carolina Hurricanes of the NHL. Allen and Cavanagh will join fellow recent Central New York college hockey graduate Griffin Lunn, who played for Colgate from 2018 – 2022. The official website of the admirals is https://norfolkadmirals.com.
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