By Matt Mackinder
Clarkston News Editor

Roman Kinal barely had time to catch his breath and get his emotions in check.
Playing his graduate season (fifth year) for the University of Connecticut hockey team, Kinal and the Huskies were eliminated from the Hockey East tournament March 11 by the University of Massachusetts Lowell, ending any hopes to get an at-large bid for the NCAA tournament.
It was also Kinal’s last college hockey game.
Two days later, Kinal, who was UConn’s captain this season, was on his way to San Jose, Calif., to play for the American Hockey League’s San Jose Barracuda after signing with the top affiliate of the NHL’s San Jose Sharks.
“We finished our season Saturday night and I found out I was headed to San Jose on Monday night,” said Kinal, a 2017 Clarkston High School graduate. “I’m not sure how it all worked out, but all I knew was I had to catch a plane at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday morning. I landed in San Jose Tuesday evening and had to play my first game Wednesday morning (March 15) at 10:30 a.m.
“It was such a quick turnaround I didn’t have any time to get nervous, just jumped right into it. But the organization has been first-class and has helped me out a lot. The city and weather seem awesome, definitely excited to see more of it.”
Once in San Jose at the brand-new Tech CU Arena where the Barracuda was hosting the Henderson Silver Knights, the top farm club for the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights, Kinal quickly got acclimated to pro hockey.
“I had to go to the rink in the morning to get a bunch of medical stuff done to be cleared,” Kinal said. “Had to try on all new equipment and someone came up to me and said, ‘We are ‘D’ partners today,’ so that’s the moment I found out I was playing. After that, I looked at the clock and I had to be on the ice in 10 minutes. So it worked out for the best. I didn’t really have time to get nervous; I just jumped right into it. It finally set in after the game of what just happened.
“It was a special moment, for sure.”
In his debut, a 6-2 win for the Barracuda, Kinal didn’t score a goal or get an assist, but he did pick up his first penalty as a professional player, a two-minute minor for holding.
“It was questionable, but I don’t think I was in the position to argue at all,” Kinal said.
Looking back on his five years at UConn, Kinal said that a few games stand out as highlights.
“Last year, we made it to the Hockey East championship and lost in overtime, but that was an awesome run and a great group of guys,” said Kinal. “This year, we were able to play at Fenway Park, Madison Square Garden, and open up our new rink on campus (Toscano Family Ice Forum).”
In his senior season, Kinal appeared in all 35 games for UConn, scoring two goals with five assists for seven points with 21 blocked shots.
Over the course of his five-year career in Storrs, Conn., Kinal skated in 121 games for the Huskies, scoring seven goals with 20 assists for 27 points and blocked 91 shots. Kinal had a multi-point game five times in his college career.
Now on to the next phase of his career, Kinal is pumped for the possibilities.
“I plan on taking it day by day here,” said Kinal. “It’s an adjustment, for sure, but I’d like to soak it all in and learn as much as I can.
“My dream is to make a living playing hockey and, hopefully, this is the first step to doing so. It’s been an awesome time here so far and I’m excited to see where it takes me.”

PHOTO: Roman Kinal spent five seasons at UConn, serving as team captain in 2022-23, and is now off and running on his professional career with the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda. Photo: Clarus Multimedia Group