MEN'S HOCKEY TRAVELS TO 10TH-RANKED MASSACHUSETTS FOR TWO-GAME SERIES
NOTES
THE MATCHUPS: The University of New Hampshire men’s
hockey team will hit the road this weekend for a two-game series
against No. 10 Massachusetts. The Minutemen have stormed out of the
gate and are 6-1-0 overall. Puck drops Friday and Saturday night at
7 p.m. at Mullins Center.
SCOUTING THE MINUTEMEN: No. 10 UMass enters this
weekend’s series with an impressive 6-1-0 overall record and
a 3-1-0 mark in Hockey East. Most recently, the Minutemen completed
a two-game road sweep at Niagara where they outscored the Purple
Eagles 8-3. The weekend before the Minutemen split a home-and-home
series with Providence with each team winning on the road. The
Minutemen are led by junior James Marcou, who is the league leader
and ranks third nationally in scoring with 13 points on three goals
and 10 assists in seven games. Casey Wellman has 11 points with
four goals and seven helpers. Junior netminder Paul Dainton is
5-1-0 with a 2.18 GAA and a .934 save percentage, while Dan Meyers
is 1-0-0 with a 2.00 GAA and a .926 save percentage in his only
start.
SERIES HISTORY VS. MASSACHUSETTS: UNH has a 75-17-7
lifetime record vs. Massachusetts in 99 all-time meetings dating
back to Feb. 13, 1926. UNH captured last year’s season series
1-0-2 with all three games going into overtime. Coach Umile owns a
36-9-6 all-time record against UMass in his 20-year coaching
career. The Wildcats have won six of the last nine meetings,
including a 5-0-2 record over the past seven games. Senior
Bobby Butler is the active scoring leader against the Minutemen
with nine points on five goals and four assists, including an
overtime goal in last year’s win at Whittemore Center on Jan.
10. Senior netminder Brian Foster owns a 1-2-2 career mark against
the Minutemen in five career starts with a 2.31 GAA and a .933 save
percentage.
SCORING LEADERS VS. THE MINUTEMEN:
Player GP G-A-P
Bobby Butler 12 5-4-9
Mike Sislo 8 2-3-5
Peter LeBlanc 12 1-1-2
Nick Krates 8 0-1-1
Brian Foster 5 0-1-1
Blake Kessel 3 0-1-1
Phil DeSimone 8 0-0-0
Paul Thompson 3 0-0-0
Stevie Moses 3 0-0-0
Damon Kipp 3 0-0-0
Mike Beck 1 0-0-0
Mike Borisenok 2 0-0-0
Greg Manz 1 0-0-0
Matt Campanale 1 0-0-0
Goaltending Stats vs. Massachusetts
Player GP/Min
GA GAA
W-L-T SV SV%
Foster 5/311:36
12 2.31
1-2-2 166 .933
Foster Game-by-Game vs. the Minutemen
Date Min
Res. Svs. GA
Shots
1-20-07
60:00 L 35
3 38
12-8-07
60:00 L 27
4 31
10-24-08 65:00
T 38 1 39
1-9-09
65:00 T 31
2 33
1-10-09
61:36 W 35
2 37
Totals
311:36 1-2-2
166 12 178
LAST TIME THESE TEAMS MEET (JAN. 10, 2009): Bobby Butler
scored the game-winning power-play goal at 1:36 of overtime to lift
UNH to a 3-2 victory against Massachusetts in Hockey East
action at the Whittemore Center. With the score tied 2-2, UMass was
whistled for a penalty with 24 seconds remaining in
regulation. Brian Foster recorded double digits in saves all
three periods of regulation (13-10-12) and finished with 35 saves.
UMass Meyers also had double-digit saves all three frames
(15-12-13) and had one stop in overtime for a total of 41.
BUTLER CONTINUES TO DELIVER FOR THE WILDCATS: Bobby
Butler had four points (2g,1a) over the weekend including the
game-tying goal in the tie in the Boston College game with under a
minute left. The team leader in points and goals has 11
points and six goals in nine games for the Wildcats.
AUSTIN BLOCK NETS FIRST COLLEGIATE GOAL: Austin
Block potted his first career goal on Sunday afternoon vs.
UMass-Lowell.
HARDOWA, SPEELMAN HANDS OUT FIRST CAREER ASSIST: Connor
Hardowa and Dalton Speelman handed out their first career assist on
Sunday at UMass-Lowell. It was Hardowa’s first career
point.
SISLO BEGINNING TO HEAT UP: Mike Sislo registered a
pair of goals and an assist over the weekend. The team’s top
returning scorer has five points on three goals and two assists
through nine games this season.
‘CATS’ OFFENSE SCORES SEVEN OVER THE
WEEKEND: After scoring just two goals last
weekend, the Wildcat offense potted seven goals in two games.
UNH has scored in five-straight periods not including a five-minute
overtime period on Friday night.
Kostolansky Dishes Out First Two Career Assists: Freshman
defenseman Brett Kostolansky handed out his first two helpers of
his career on Friday night. Kostolansky was inserted into
UNH’s top defensive pair as senior Nick Krates is out with
injury.
Three Goals in a Period: Saturday night’s
three-goal third period marks the third time the ‘Cats score
three or more in a period this season.
Date
Opponent goals
period
10/17
Miami 5
3rd
10/24 Maine
3 2nd
11/6 Boston
College 3
3rd
100th Meeting Between Minutemen and Wildcats:
Friday’s game will be the 100th meeting all time between
these two regional foes. The Wildcats have won 75 of the previous
meetings.
WORKING OVERTIME AGAINST THE MINUTEMEN: All three of last
year’s meetings between these two teams went to overtime with
UNH winning the last of the three 3-2 at Whittemore Center, while
the first two ended at a 2-2 deadlock.
RACKING UP GAMES AGAINST RANKED FOES: This
weekend’s games against Massachusetts is the fourth- and
fifth-straight games against a nationally-ranked team. Overall, the
Wildcats have played six of its first nine games against nationally
ranked teams. In addition, the road ahead includes four-straight
against ranked foes.
Date
Opponent
10/30 at #19 Wisconsin
10/31 at #19 Wisconsin
11/6 #16 Boston College
11/8 at #8 Mass.-Lowell
11/13 at #10
Massachusetts
11/14 at #10
Massachusetts
11/20 #7 Boston Univ.
11/21 at #7 Boston Univ.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: UNH is in a stretch where it will play
nine of 12 games on the road before heading into holiday break.
They are 0-3-1 through four games in this stretch with three road
losses and a home tie.
SCORING BY CLASS: 2009-10 breakdown of scoring by
class.
Class G-A-P G-A-P %.
Seniors: 9-11-20 33-26-29
Juniors: 6-9-15 22-21-21
Sophomores: 9-16-25
33-37-36
Freshmen: 3-7-10 11-16-14
WHERE IS UNH RANKED?: Here is a week-by-week look at the
‘Cats in the national polls and the HE standings:
Date USA TODAY USCHO
HE
9/28
RV N/A t-4th (pre)
10/5
N/A 16 t-4th (pre)
10/12 RV
RV t-4th (pre)
10/19 RV
RV N/A
10/26 RV
RV t-1st
11/2
NR RV t-2nd
11/9
NR RV t-3rd
THE NATIONAL POLLS:
USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine (Nov. 9)
Rk. School, Pts. (FPV)
LW Record
WIP
1 Miami University, 510
(33) 1 8-1-1
6
2 North Dakota, 471
(1) 2
6-1-1 6
3 University of Denver,
407 3
6-3-1 6
4 Cornell University,
397 6
3-0-0 6
5 Massachusetts Lowell,
357 8 5-2-1
6
6 University of Michigan,
272 4 4-4-0
6
7 Bemidji State University,
226 12 7-0-1
3
8 University of Notre Dame,
214 9 5-4-1
6
9 University of Alaska,
174 14
6-1-1 2
10 Massachusetts, 155
NR 6-1-0
1
11 Yale University,
148 7
1-1-1 6
12 Nebraska Omaha,
142 10
4-1-3 5
13 Colorado College,
140 11
5-2-1 3
14 Michigan State University,
119 NR 7-2-1
1
15 University of Vermont,
95 15 3-3-1
6
USCHO.com/CSTV Division I Men’s Poll (Nov. 9)
Rk. Team
(First Place)
Record Pts LW
1 Miami
(49) 8-1-1
999 1
2 North Dakota
(1) 6-1-1
948 3
3 Cornell
3-0-0 855
5
4 Denver
6-3-1 830
2
5 Mass.-Lowell
5-2-1
778 8
6 Michigan
4-4-0 653
4
7 Bemidji State
7-0-1
599 11
8 Notre Dame
5-4-1
549 9
9 Alaska
6-1-1 521
13
10 Colorado College
5-2-1 478
12
11 Nebraska-Omaha
4-1-3 456
10
12 Yale
1-1-1 435
6
13 Michigan State
7-2-1
425 17
14 Massachusetts
6-1-0
357 19
15 Vermont
3-3-1 329
15
16 Boston College
3-2-1
316 16
17 Boston University
2-5-0 235
7
18 Minnesota-Duluth
6-3-1 178
20
19 Princeton
2-2-0
175 14
20 Quinnipiac
6-1-0
139 NR
Others Receiving Votes: Wisconsin 137, St. Cloud State 20,
Rensselaer 18, Northeastern 16, Minnesota 13, Providence 9, Ferris
State 8, Merrimack 8, Western Michigan 8, New Hampshire 5, St.
Lawrence 3
WILDCAT AWARDS: Here is a list of awards that Wildcat
players have won to date this season:
Player Award
Date
Dalton Speelman HE Rookie of the
Week
10/26
Wildcats Among National leaders: Below is a list of where
UNH players and team rank nationally.
Individual Rank Stats
Points Per Game:
Blake Kessel 39th 1.25 ppg
Bobby Butler 47th 1.22 ppg
Goals Per Game:
Bobby Butler 22nd 0.67 gpg
Assists Per Game:
Blake Kessel 28th 0.88 apg
Power Play Goals:
Bobby Butler 29th 2 ppg
Mike Borisenok 29th 2 ppg
Mike Sislo
29th 2 ppg
Short-Handed Goals:
Peter LeBlanc 4th 1 shg
Game-Winning Goals:
Bobby Butler 30th 1 gwg
Stevie Moses 30th 1 gwg
Defensemen Scoring:
Blake Kessel 7th 1.25 ppg
Freshmen Scoring:
n/a
Goals Against Average:
Brian Foster 75th 4.19 gaa
Save Percentage:
Brian Foster 73rd .871
Winning Percentage:
Brian Foster 57th .333
Team
Scoring Offense 24th 3.00
Scoring Defense 55th 4.22
Scoring Margin 51st -1.22
Power Play 33rd 16.3
Penalty Kill 54th 72.3
Combined Special Teams 46th
45.6
Winnning Percentage 44th
.333
WHERE UNH IS RANKED IN HOCKEY EAST:
Overall HE games
Goals/per game 3.00/6th
4.00/2nd
GAA 4.22/10th 3.50/10th
Power Play 163/7th
26.7/5th
Penalty Kill 72.3/10th
58.3/10th
Special Teams Net -5/9th
-6/9th
1st Period Scoring 5/9th
3/6th
2nd Period Scoring 15/1st
7/2nd
3rd Period Scoring 7/5th
6/1st
Overtime Scoring 0/NR
0/NR
UNH HOCKEY ON TELEVISION: UNH will have 13 games
broadcast live on TV in 2009-10...NESN will air four games, while
three will air on ESPNU, while COX-TV and WABI will each broadcast
one.
DATE GAME
Channel RES.
Oct. 23 Northeastern
NESN W, 4-2
oct. 30 at wisconsin tvw
madison/wc L, 1-4
Oct. 31 at wisconsin
wisc-tv3/wc L, 1-6
Nov. 6 Boston College
NESN T, 4-4 (OT)
Nov. 8 AT Mass-Lowell
ESPNU L, 3-6
nov. 21 at boston univ.
nesn
Dec. 6 at Vermont ESPNU
Dec. 11 at Providence
Cox-TV
Jan. 3 Cornell ESPNU
jan. 23 at boston univ.
nesn
Feb. 6 at Maine WABI-TV
Feb. 19 Vermont NESN
March 5 Boston College
NESN
ALL IN THE FAMILY: UNH sophomore defenseman Blake Kessel
is the younger brother of Toronto Maple Leafs forward Phil Kessel,
while freshman forward Scott Pavelski is the younger brother
of Joe Pavelski of the San Jose Sharks.
WILDCATS PICKED THIRD IN HOCKEY EAST POLL: UNH was picked
to finish tied for fourth in the Hockey East preseason
Coaches’ Poll, which was announced on Sept. 30 at the
league’s annual media day at Legends Restaurant at the TD
Garden.
2009-10 Hockey East Men’s Preseason Coaches Poll
Rk. Team (FPV)
Pts
1. Boston University (6)
84
2. UMass-Lowell (2) 79
3. Boston College (2) 76
4. New Hampshire 59
Vermont
59
6. Northeastern
57
7. Massachusetts
47
8. Maine
32
9. Providence
24
10. Merrimack
23
THE DICK UMILE ERA: Dick Umile, a five-time Hockey East
Coach of the Year, enters his 20th season as the head coach of the
UNH Wildcats. He earned his fourth Leonard Fowle New England Coach
of the Year award following the 2007-08 season. After signing a
long-term contract in 2008, Umile will conclude his coaching career
at his alma mater. During his time spent at UNH, Umile has molded
UNH hockey into one of the top programs in all of Division I
hockey, guiding the Wildcats to four Frozen Four appearances, 15
NCAA tournament appearances and 19 Hockey East championship
tournament showings in his 19-year career in Durham. In
addition, Umile has posted 17 20-victory campaigns over the span of
19 seasons, including a current streak of 13 20-win seasons. Umile
is now the winningest coach in the history of UNH hockey with 444
career victories. He surpassed legendary coach Charlie Holt on Feb.
16, 2005 in a 6-1 victory at Merrimack at Thom Lawler Arena in
North Andover, Mass. Umile ranks fourth among active NCAA coaches
with a .652 winning percentage and on the active victories list his
444 victories ranks eighth among NCAA coaches. He has been named
Coach of the Year a total of 10 times in his career, including New
England honors four times. Umile’s five Hockey East Coach of
the Year Awards is an all-time league best.Last season, Umile
directed the Wildcats to a 20-13-5 mark as they captured their
eighth-consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament. Umile guided the
Wildcats to 20+ wins in 13 straight years, the second longest
streak in the nation and five seasons more than its closest
competition; no other team in Hockey East has an active streak
longer than one season. After struggling through a 1-5-2 stretch in
November, New Hampshire went 14-4-2 to close out the regular season
and claimed third place in the league and home-ice in the Hockey
East quarterfinals for a Hockey East-best 13th straight season. The
crowning moment of the 2008-09 season was the Wildcats’ goal
with 0.1 seconds remaining to tie and eventually win 6-5 in
overtime in their NCAA Northeast Regional opening-round game
against perennial power North Dakota in front of UNH faithful at
Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester.
DICK UMILE INDUCTED INTO NEW HAMPSHIRE LEGENDS OF HOCKEY:
Head Coach Dick Umile was among a group of seven Hall of Fame
inductees for the New Hampshire Legends of Hockey for 2009. In
addition, former Wildcat assistant coach and longtime voice of the
team Bob Norton will also be inducted. The ceremony was held
on 10/11 at C.R. Sparks in Bedford, N.H.
THE PROGRAM’S HISTORY: UNH has appeared in
the NCAA Tournament 19 times in the 82-year history of the program,
including the nation’s second best streak at eight-straight
appearances. UNH has appeared in the Frozen Four seven times,
including national championship game appearances against Maine in
1999 and Minnesota in 2003. UNH earned Hockey East Tournament
titles in 2002 and 2003 and regular-season championships in 1997,
1999, 2002, 2003, 2007 and 2008. The Wildcats won the ECAC
regular-season title in 1974 and the tournament championship in
1979. UNH has posted 30 seasons with 20-plus wins, including the
last 13 consecutive seasons.
‘CATS SELECTED IN THE NHL DRAFT: Five current UNH
players have been selected in the National Hockey League
draft...Greg Burke (Washington), Phil DeSimone (Washington), Brian
Foster (Florida), Blake Kessel (N.Y. Islanders) and Peter LeBlanc
(Chicago) have all been taken.
‘CATS IN THE PROS: Here is a listing of former
Wildcats playing professional hockey:
Justin Aikins: Bossier Shreveport Mudbugs (CHL)
A.J. Bucchino: Amarillo Gorillas (CHL)
Joe Charlebois: Toledo Walleye (ECHL)
Greg Collins: Las Vegas Wranglers (ECHL)
Ty Conklin: St. Louis Blues (NHL)
Matt Dzieduszycki: Hannover Scorpions (DEL)
Matt Fornataro: South Carolina Stingrays (ECHL)
Thomas Fortney: ESV Buchloe (GER)
Jamie Fritsch: Gwinnett Gladiators (ECHL)
Lanny Gare: Bad Nauheim EC (GerObL)
Darren Haydar: Lake Erie Monsters (AHL)
Brett Hemingway: Alaska Aces (ECHL)
Colin Hemingway: Alaska Aces (ECHL)
Kevin Kapstad: Riessersee SC (2.GBun)
Jason Krog: Chicago Wolves(AHL)/Atlanta Thrashers
(NHL)***
Nathan Martz: Alleghe HC (Italy)
Jacob Micflikier: Florida Everblades (ECHL)
Mark Mowers: Fribourg-Gotteron (Swiss NL)
Josh Prudden: Las Vegas Wranglers (ECHL)
Mike Radja: TPS Turku (FNL)
Kevin Regan: Reading Royals (ECHL)
Steve Saviano: Vaxjo Lakers (SEL)
Tyler Scott: Allen Americans (CHL)
Trevor Smith: Bridgeport Sound Tigers (AHL)
Garrett Stafford: Texas Stars (AHL)
Craig Switzer: Las Vegas Wranglers (ECHL)
James van Riemsdyk: Philadelphia Flyers (NHL)
Daniel Winnik: Phoenix Coyotes (NHL)
*** Spent some time in the NHL during 2009-10
UNH HOCKEY ON THE RADIO: In the summer of 1999, the
University of New Hampshire Athletic Department formed the
“UNH Sports Network” — the largest network ever
to broadcast UNH sporting events.
Wildcats Sports Properties has added WGIN-AM
930 (Rochester) and WQSO-FM 96.7 (Portsmouth) as flagship stations
on the Wildcat Sports Network, joining WGIR-AM 610 (Manchester),
which was added in 2008. All three stations are part of the Clear
Channel family and this change will go into effect at the beginning
of the 2009-10 season.
These three aforementioned stations -- along
with WUVR-AM 1490 (Lebanon), WNTK-FM 99.7 (New London) and WCNL-AM
1010 (Newport) -- will carry the following: all UNH football &
men’s hockey broadcasts and weekly coaches’ shows, a
select number of men’s basketball, women’s basketball,
and women’s hockey broadcasts, as well as “Wildcat
Sports Today”, a three-minute daily update concerning UNH
athletics.
The game can also be heard on the internet at
www.UNHWildcats.com through a service from Stretch Internet.
Stretch has also partnered with UNH to develop a podcast page for
UNH fans to listen to archived broadcasts.
Dan Parkhurst will be handling the play-by-play
for the third straight season, while Pete Webster will once again
be doing the color commentating. Webster has been announcing
Wildcat hockey for 16 years since the 1993-94 season.
LISTEN LIVE ON THE INTERNET: UNHWildcats.com via Stretch
Internet Broadcast will carry all of the UNH men’s ice hockey
action again this season...If you can not attend Wildcat hockey,
you can still tune into the game from anywhere you can gain access
to the internet...Fans can get to the UNH men’s ice hockey
broadcast site by going to the men’s hockey schedule page at
www.unhwildcats.com.
THE DICK UMILE SHOW ON RADIO: The Coach’s Show
featuring UNH men’s hockey head coach Dick Umile and hosted
by Mike Murphy begins its 10th season in 2009-10. The Coach’s
Show is broadcast Mondays on the Wildcat Sports Network from
various locations around the seacoast and features Coach Umile, as
well as a student-athlete from the men’s ice hockey team. In
front of a live audience, Murphy and his guests talk about the
latest news and notes regarding UNH hockey.
GRANITE STATE CONNECTION: The Wildcat hockey team
features three players from New Hampshire with Greg Burke (Lee)
Brian Foster (Pembroke) and Paul Thompson (Derry) all hailing from
the Granite State.
WATCH ALL THE ACTION WITH THE UNHWILDCATS.TV: UNH and
Pack Network have once again partnered to provide online video
streaming of UNH’s seven ticketed sports for the upcoming
2009-10 season with UNHwildcats.TV.
Wildcat fans are encouraged to buy the
“Wildcat All-Access Pass” which is an annual
subscription for $79.95 that provides all the live coverage of UNH
home athletic events. Fans can also purchase home events on a per
game basis of $6.95.
