Hartford — Narratives in Connecticut sports always begin with the little guy. We espouse the romance of look-how-far-they've-come. All the Calhoun/Auriemma legends start in the dumpy fieldhouse with the leaky roof from the wilderness of Storrs.

Makes for good copy. Even better: It's all true. No longer are sports in Connecticut a mere choice between Sox and Yanks, Pats and Giants. A flagship state university arose from nowhere, winning national titles in both genders.

This is why we view UConn hockey through the same prism. How tempting, really, to trumpet look-how-far-they've-come in the absurdly short era of coach Mike Cavanaugh. The Huskies took down another brand name Tuesday night at the XL Center. This time: Five-time national champion Boston University, the defending Beanpot and Hockey East champs. UConn 5, BU 2. Boom.

Cavanaugh, in his third season, has become the masterful maestro, coaching in eight games against top 10 teams. Record: 4-3-1. That's four wins against the iron. Imagine if Bob Diaco ever beat Ohio State, Alabama, LSU and Oregon. Stupefying.

Cavanaugh, a perpetual good guy, was asked to explain the 4-3-1 record after Tuesday's game.

"Hear that, Warde?" Cavanaugh said to his boss, UConn athletic director Warde Manuel, who attended the news conference.

Everyone in the room giggled.

And then Cavanaugh delivered the answer that suggested he'll be raising banners here one day like Geno and Jim.

"I told our team this," Cavanaugh said. "I don't want to be known as the team that knocks off top 10 teams. I want be a top 10 team. I don't want this to be the conversation anymore. 'Hey we beat a top 10 team.' I want UConn hockey to be a top 10 team. There's no reason why we can't if we keep putting in the work and committing to play for each other. I'm hoping that talk will go away soon.

"Don't get me wrong," Cavanaugh said. "I like being 4-3-1. But that's the thing about this league I love. I love the fact that we can enjoy this for 24 hours and we turn around and have another great team (Notre Dame) coming in here. It keeps you on your toes. That's the type of pressure that gets you up in the morning."

Goalie Rob Nichols: "Even last year, we always expected to win. We don't come to the rink to try to keep the game close. We expect to win against anyone in the country. With the team we have here, if we play the right way, we think we can get two points."

Cavanaugh and recruiting right arm, assistant coach Joe Pereira, have upgraded the talent in a number of ways. Coaching up the kids who were here — and not recruited a few years ago as Hockey East players — and signing some electrifying freshmen.

Freshman Max Letunov, who comes to Storrs via that familiar Moscow-Dallas-Youngstown pipeline, is the guy Cavanaugh calls "our Ray Allen." Freshman Tage Thompson, whose dad, Brent, coaches the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, could have played anywhere, you figure, given the family's hockey contacts. He chose UConn.

He also scored three goals Tuesday night.

"I believe in what we're doing here and what coach Cav and rest staff is doing," Thompson said. "I want to be part of a new program and I want to build it, like coach said, to be a top 10 team."

Suddenly, the promise of this season — and the program — makes college hockey a part of the menu. A solid midweek crowd of 5,225 showed up Tuesday. Plenty of fun awaits. No. 3 Providence, No. 4 Boston College, No. 8 UMass-Lowell and No. 9 Quinnipiac all visit the XL Center soon.

"It doesn't surprise me because of the type of coach Mike is and the person he is," BU coach David Quinn said. "Not to take anything away from him and his staff, but there's a lot of parity in college hockey. I think our sport allows for that. That doesn't mean it's easy. You have the right guy in a situation like this. You've got a school like the University of Connecticut — when they do something they do it right. You have a lot of good hockey players in this state and this region and you hire good people the way Mike has. I'm not surprised at all."

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro.

Twitter: @BCgenius