16TH-RANKED MEN'S HOCKEY TRAVELS TO PROVIDENCE (FRI - 7 P.M.) AND BOSTON UNIV. (SAT. - 7 P.M. - NESN)
Game
Notes
THE MATCHUP: The 16th-ranked University of New
Hampshire men’s hockey team returns to action with a pair of
road games against Hockey East foes. The Wildcats travel to
Providence College on Friday night and conclude the season series
with Boston University on Saturday night in Boston.
Saturday’s game will be broadcast live on NESN.
SCOUTING THE FRIARS: Providence enters the week 9-10-1
and will play at Northeastern on Tuesday night before playing host
to the Wildcats on Friday night. The Friars ended a six-game slide
with definitive wins over Boston Univ. (3-1) and Maine (3-2) over
the weekend. PC is 4-8-1 in Hockey East and its nine points
is good for ninth play in the league standings. Matt Bergland and
Kyle MacKinnon pace the Friar offense with 18 and 16 points,
respectively. Netminder Alex Beaudry is 8-8-1 with a 2.42 GAA
and a .925 save percentage.
SERIES HISTORY vs. PROVIDENCE: The Wildcats and
Friars have met 138 times in the all-time series history dating
back to Feb. 12, 1927, with UNH leading the series at
74-50-14.Coach Umile owns a 43-21-7 all-time mark vs. Providence.
New Hampshire is unbeaten in its last nine games (7-0-2) against
the Friars dating back to Feb. 24, 2007. UNH won this year’s
earlier meeting 4-3 at Schneider Arena. Paul Thompson had a career
game in his first game against PC with a hat trick and two assists
in the 5-4 win, he is the active scoring leader against PC with
eight points. Senior goaltender Brian Foster is 3-0-1 all time in
five games against PC, while Matt DiGirolamo started and won on
Dec. 11, 2009 for New Hampshire. In Foster’s five games, he
turned away 30 shots or more on four occasions. He has a 3.54 GAA
and a .902 save percentage all time against the Friars.
SCORING LEADERS VS. THE FRIARS:
Player GP
G-A-P
Paul Thompson 5 5-3-8
Stevie Moses 3 2-4-6
Mike Sislo 6 2-1-3
Bobby Butler 11 3-1-4
Peter LeBlanc 11 1-2-3
Phil DeSimone 6 1-2-3
Damon Kipp 2 0-2-2
Mike Borisenok 2 1-0-1
Blake Kessel 3 0-1-1
Nick Krates 3 0-0-0
Greg Manz 2 0-0-0
Mike Beck 2 0-0-0
Matt Campanale 4 0-0-0
Greg Burke 1 0-0-0
Dalton Speelman 1 0-0-0
Austin Block 1 0-0-0
John Henrion 1 0-0-0
Brett Kostolansky 1 0-0-0
Connor Hardowa 1 0-0-0
Goaltending Stats
Player GP/Min
GA GAA W-L-T
SV SV%
DiGirolamo 1/60:00
3 3.00 1-0-0
32 .914
Foster 5/287:45
17 3.54 3-0-1
158 .902
DiGirolamo Game-by-Game vs. the Friars
Date Min
Res. Svs. GA
Shots
12-11-09
60:00 W 32
3 35
Totals
60:00 1-0-0
32 3 35
Foster Game-by-Game vs. the Friars
Date Min
Res. Svs. GA
Shots
2-24-07
40:00 ND 34
4 38
11-17-07
62:57 W 41
4 45
11-22-08
59:50 W 32
3 35
2-13-09
64:58 T 20
4 24
2-14-09
60:00 W 31
2 33
Totals
287:45 3-0-1
158 17 175
LAST TIME THESE TEAMS MET (Dec. 11, 2009): Five skaters
recorded multiple points to lift the 19th-ranked UNH to a 4-3 win
over Providence College at Schneider Arena. Phil DeSimone (1g, 1a),
Bobby Butler (1g, 1a), Paul Thompson (1g, 1a), Damon Kipp (2a) and
Stevie Moses (2a) all recorded multiple points, while sophomore
netminder Matt DiGirolamo stopped 32 shots including 13 in the
final stanza to earn his first win as a starter and second win
overall.
SCOUTING THE TERRIERS: Boston University enters
this weekend 7-10-3 overall, 5-8-2 in Hockey East and will travel
to play cross-town rival Boston College on Friday night live on
NESN before playing host to New Hampshire on Saturday. The Terriers
are winnings of three of their last four with a 3-1 loss to
Providence being their only set back since the holiday break. Most
recently, the Terriers captured a 6-4 win over Merrimack. Juniors
Kevin Shattenkirk and Nick Bonino power the BU offense with 18 and
16 points, respectively. Sophomore netminder Kieran Millan is
5-10-0 overall with a 3.35 GAA and a .869 save percentage, while
Grant Rollheiser is 2-0-3 with a 3.25 GAA and a .881 save
percentage.
SERIES HISTORY VS. BOSTON U.: Boston University leads the
all-time series with UNH, 95-43-19 in 157 all-time meetings between
the two schools dating back to Feb. 5, 1925. Saturday’s game
is the final game of this year’s series. UNH leads this
year’s series 1-0-1 with a 4-2 win at home on Nov. 20 and a
3-3 tie at BU the following night. Coach Umile owns a 24-31-9
all-time record against Boston University. The Wildcats have
enjoyed success at Agganis Arena with a 4-1-3 mark all time at Jack
Parker Rink. Senior forward Bobby Butler is the active leading
career Wildcat scorer against BU with nine points, while senior
goaltender Brian Foster is 2-3-1 against the Terriers, despite a
2.53 GAA and an .906 save percentage.
SCORING LEADERS VS. THE TERRIERS:
Player GP
G-A-P
Bobby Butler 12 3-6-9
Paul Thompson 7 3-2-5
Phil DeSimone 9 2-2-4
Matt Campanale 5 0-3-3
Mike Sislo 9 1-0-1
Peter LeBlanc 12 0-1-1
John Henrion 2 1-0-1
Blake Kessel 6 0-1-1
Damon Kipp 5 1-0-1
Greg Manz 4 0-1-1
Connor Hardowa 2 0-1-1
Nick Krates 7 0-0-0
Stevie Moses 5 0-0-0
Mike Beck 3 0-0-0
Mike Borisenok 3 0-0-0
Kevin McCarey 3 0-0-0
Austin Block 2 0-0-0
Dalton Speelman 2 0-0-0
Brett Kostolansky 2 0-0-0
Goaltending Stats
Player GP/Min
GA GAA W-L-T
SV SV%
Foster 6/355:35
15 2.53 2-3-1
146 .906
DiGirolamo 1/8:57
0 0.00 0-0-0
1 1.000
Foster’s Game-by-Game vs. the Terriers
Date Min
Res. Svs. GA
Shots
10-19-08
60:00 W 31
1 32
1-23-09
51:03 L 24
5 29
1-24-09
59:47 L 15
2 17
3-29-09
59:45 L 21
2 23
11-20-09
60:00 W 21
2 23
11-21-09
65:00 T 34
3 37
Totals
355:35 2-3-1
146 15 161
DiGirolamo’s Game-by-Game vs. the Terriers
Date Min
Res. Svs. GA
Shots
1-23-09
8:57 ND 1
0 1
Total 8:57
0-0-0 1 0
1
LAST TIME THESE TEAMS MET (Nov. 21, 2009): UNH’s
top line combined for three goals and four assist in a 3-3 tie with
Boston University in Hockey East action at Agganis Arena.
Paul Thompson potted a pair of goals and an assist, Phil DeSimone
had a goal and an assist, while Bobby Butler notched helpers on all
three goals for the Wildcats. In addition, Brian Foster stopped 34
shots, including 15 in the third and overtime combined.
TO THIS POINT LAST YEAR: A comparison through 21 games
between this season and each of the last two seasons. Bold are
categories UNH is ahead of the pace of the last two seasons.
07-08 08-09
09-10
Record 13-7-1
11-6-4 10-7-4
HE Record 7-3-1
7-4-3 9-2-3
Goals scored 72
68 73
Goals scored/PG 3.40
3.24 3.48
Goals Allowed 58
63 70
Goals Allowed/PG 2.80
3.00 3.33
Shots 716
730 681
Shots Allowed 652
647 607
Power Play 15.4%
15.2% 19.4%
(16-104)
(18-118) (18-93)
Penalty Kill 84.7%
80.8
79.5%
(94-111)
(97-120) (70-88)
Top 3 Scorers Fornataro van
Riems. Butler
7-18-25
9-17-26
16-14-30
van Riemsdyk
LeBlanc
Kessel
9-11-20
8-10-18
6-20-26
Radja Sislo,
Butler Thompson
11-8-19 14-3-17;
6-11-17 12-12-24
98 AND COUNTING FOR BUTLER: Senior Bobby Butler has 98
(48g, 50a) career points and is fasting approaching the
Wildcats’ Century Club. Butler looks to become the 67th
member of this prestigious group and the first since Mike Radja and
Matt Fornataro did so in the same game at Boston University on Jan.
26, 2008.
‘CATS GRAB GRANITE STATE BRAGGING RIGHTS: UNH
captured a 5-2 win over intrastate rival Dartmouth College in the
annual Battle for the RiverStone Cup IX. The Wildcats capture their
second-straight win over the Big Green improve to 6-2-1 in the all
time series.
KESSEL HANDS OUT CAREER HIGH FOUR ASSISTS IN WIN OVER
DARTMOUTH: Blake Kessel was named co-MVP at the Battle for
the RiverStone Cup IX. Kessel posted career highs in points and
assists with four helpers. He factored in all but one New Hampshire
goal. Kessel’s four assists is the most by any Wildcat since
James van Riemsdyk had four helpers on Dec. 11, 2008 against Holy
Cross.
KESSEL SECOND NATIONALLY IN DEFENSIVE POINTS, MOST POINTS
BY UNH BLUELINER SINCE BRIAN YANDLE: Blake
Kessel’s 26 points (6-20-26) is second only to
Wisconsin’s Brendan Smith (30). In addition, his 26 points
are the most points by defenseman since Brian Yandle had 30 points
in 2005-06.
NEW HAMPSHIRE’S OWN THOMPSON LEADS WILDCATS TO GRANITE SKATE
BRAGGING RIGHTS: Paul Thompson was named co-MVP at the
Battle for the RiverStone Cup IX for his two goals and an
assist effort. Thompson has been on fire for New Hampshire with
seven points (4g, 3a) in the last two games.
‘CATS SKATE TO 8-1-2 MARK OVER THE LAST 11 GAMES:
New Hampshire is 8-1-2 in last 11 games (7-0-2 in HE) and has
outscored its opponents 43-28 in that span.
T.B.D. LINE DETERMINED TO BE EXTREMELY SUCCESSFUL:
The top line of Paul Thompson, Bobby Butler and Phil DeSimone were
formed exactly 11 games ago. UNH is 8-1-2 since the line’s
formation and the trio have put up some eye-popping numbers.
Overall, New Hampshire is outscoring opponents 43-28, converting
power plays at 22.4 percent and are 87.5 percent on the penalty
kill.
Player GP
G-A-P
Note
Thompson 11
10-8-18 (1.63
ppg) 4pp, 1sh
Butler 11
9-9-18 (1.63 ppg) 3pp,
1sh
DeSimone 11
5-9-14 (1.27 ppg) 3pts prior
UNH’S OFFENSE CRACKS TOP 10 NATIONALLY: The
‘Cats cracked the top 10 in the nation in total offense
averaging 3.48 gpg (ninth) including 11 games with four or more
goals.
T.B.D. LINE AGAINST DARTMOUTH: The trio of Thompson, Phil
DeSimone and Bobby Butler had seven points (4g, 3a) on Saturday and
15 points (8g, 7a) in the last two games (7.5 ppg).
BUTLER THIRD NATIONALLY IN GOALS, SIXTH IN POINTS: Bobby
Butler ranks third in the nation in goals with 0.75 goals per game.
In addition, his 1.45 ppg is good enough for sixth nationally.
UMass’s Casey Wellman (0.85 gpg) and Cornell’s Blake
Gallagher (0.79 gpg) are the only two with better goals per game
averages than Butler.
30-30 FOR BUTLER: Bobby Butler posted 30 points for the
second-straight season. Butler finished 2008-09 with 30 points
(9-21-30). Butler’s 16 goals is a career-best for any single
season.
SPECIALTIES PAVE THE WAY TO WIN OVER DARTMOUTH, 3 POWER PLAY
TALLIES, 4 PENALTY KILLS: UNH went 3-4 on the power play
and was a perfect 4-4 in the kill. The last time UNH scored three
times on the power play was when it was 3-10 in a win at Maine on
Jan. 4, 2009. The Wildcats are 4-0-1 when scoring two or more
on the power play.
PROTECTING THE LEAD: UNH is 5-0-0 when leading after one
period and 8-0-0 when leading after two periods.
ROAD WARRIORS: After three in a row at home and one at
home-away-from-home Verizon Wireless Arena, the Wildcats will hit
the road for three-straight road games. After dropping the first
five road decisions, UNH is 4-0-1 in the last five road games.
‘CATS RESUME LEAGUE PLAY ON NINE-GAME UNBEATEN
STREAK: After capturing its first non-conference win of
the season on Saturday against Dartmouth, UNH looks to extend its
Hockey East unbeaten streak, which currently sits at nine games
(7-0-2), a streak which dates back to Nov. 14.
Among the League Leaders: Where some of the Wildcats rank
in Hockey East.
Player All
Games HE Games
Points Bobby
Butler 3rd (30pts.) 1st(24
pts)
Blake
Kessel 5th (26 pts.) 5th(17
pts.)
Paul
Thompson 6th (24 pts.) 3rd(19
pts.)
Goals Bobby
Butler 2nd (16 g) 1st (12
g)
Paul
Thompson 5th (12 g) 4th (9
g)
Assists Blake
Kessel 2nd (20 a) 3rd (13
a)
Bobby
Butler 9th (14 a) 5th (12
a)
Phil
DeSimone 15th (12 a) 6th (11
a)
Def. Scoring Blake Kessel 1st
(26 pts) 1st(17 pts)
GAA Brian
Foster 9th (3.24) 5th
(2.71)
Save % Brian
Foster 9th (.898) 6th
(.908)
Win % Brian
Foster 8th (.550) 2nd
(.731)
COLLEGEHOCKEYNEWS.com’s PAIRWISE RANKINGS (Jan.
18):
Rk. Team PC
W-L-T Win %
Rk. RPI Rk.
1t Miami 23
15-4-5 .7292
1 .5869
1
1t Denver 23
14-5-3 .7045
4t .5853
2
3 Minn.-Duluth 21
16-7-1 .6875
6 .5722*
3
4t Wisconsin 20
13-6-3 .6591
8 .5666
4
4t Ferris State 20
16-6-2 .7083
3 .5637*
5
6 St. Cloud State 18
14-7-3 .6458
12 .5629
6
7t Union 17
13-4-5 .7045
4t .5557*
8
7t Bemidji State 17
15-5-2 .7273
2 .5544
9
9 Boston College 16
12-6-2 .6500
11 .5533
10
10t Massachusetts 14
14-8-0 .6364
13 .5501
13
10t Colorado College14
13-8-3 .6042 15t
.5580 7
12t North Dakota 13
12-7-5 .6042
15t .5527
11
12t Vermont 13
11-7-2 .6000
17 .5446
14
14 Michigan State 12
15-7-4 .6538
10 .5512
12
15t UNH 9
10-7-4 .5714 19
.5438 15
15t Yale 9
10-4-3 .6765
7 .5368
16
17t Lake Superior 8
14-8-4 .6154
14 .5322
17
17t Cornell 8
9-4-3 .6562
9 .5319
18
17t Michigan 8
13-10-1 .5625 24t
.5297 19
20 Maine 5
11-9-2 .5455
26 .5293
20
21 Alaska 4
10-7-5 .5682
20t .5198
24
22 Mass.-Lowell 3
12-9-2 .5652
22t .5210
22
23t Minnesota 2
12-10-2 .5417 27t
.5260 21
23t No. Michigan 2
10-8-6 .5417
27t .5200
23
25 Notre Dame 1
10-10-6.5000 31t
.5100 25
SCORING BY CLASS: 2009-10 breakdown of scoring by
class.
Class G-A-P G-A-P %.
Seniors: 24-25-49 33-20-25
Juniors: 27-37-64 37-30-32
Sophomores: 17-45-62
23-36-31
Freshmen: 5-17-21 7-14-11
OLYMPIANS 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. Both pros were
selected to honor Team USA in the 2010 Olympics.
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
11/16 NR
RV t-2nd
11/23 NR
RV t-1st
11/30 NR
RV 1st
12/7
RV 19 1st
12/14 RV
16 1st
12/21 RV
NP 1st
12/28 NP
NP 1st
1/4
RV RV 1st
1/11
RV 20 1st
1/18
RV 16 1st
THE NATIONAL POLLS:
USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine (Jan. 18)
Rk. School, Pts. (FPV)
LW Record
WIP
1 University of Denver, 500
(24) 1 14-5-3
15
2 Miami University, 483 (10)
2 15-4-5 15
3 University of Wisconsin, 420
3 13-6-3 8
4 Minnesota Duluth, 361
10 16-7-1
9
5 Yale University, 304
5 10-4-3
15
6 North Dakota, 295
4 12-7-5
15
7 Cornell University, 263
8 9-4-3
15
8 Colorado College, 249
9 13-8-3
12
9 Ferris State University, 237
7 16-6-2 6
10 Boston College, 232
12 12-6-2
12
11 Michigan State University,
214 6 15-7-4
10
12 St. Cloud State University,
173 15 14-7-3
4
13 Union College, 158
13 13-4-5
2
14 Bemidji State University,
90 11 15-5-2
12
15 University of Massachusetts,
58 NR 14-8-0
8
Others receiving votes: University of New Hampshire,
35; University of Massachusetts Lowell, 3; University of
Vermont, 3; University of Alaska, 2.
USCHO.com Div. I Men’s Poll (Jan. 18)
Rk. Team
(First Place)
Record Pts LW
1 Denver
(39)
14-5-3
989 1
2 Miami
(11)
15-4-5
957 2
3 Wisconsin
13-6-3 863
3
4
Minnesota-Duluth
16-7-1 795 10
5 North
Dakota
12-7-5 654
4
6
Yale
10-4-3
651 5
7 Colorado
College
13-8-3 641 8
8 Ferris
State
16-6-2 633
6
9
Cornell
9-4-3 573
9
10 Michigan
State
15-7-4 563
7
11 Boston
College
12-6-2 554 12
12 St. Cloud
State
14-7-3 523 14
13
Union
13-4-5 485 13
14 Bemidji
State
15-5-2 435 11
15
Massachusetts
14-8-0 310 19
16 New
Hampshire
10-7-4 220 20
17
Vermont
11-7-2 185 18
18 Lake
Superior
14-8-4 118 NR
19
Mass.-Lowell
12-9-2 97
15
20
Maine
11-9-2 83
16
Others Receiving Votes: Michigan 52, Quinnipiac
47, Minnesota 30, Alaska 20, Notre Dame 19, St. Lawrence 2, RIT
1
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
Bobby Butler HE Co-Player of the
Week 11/16
Brian Foster HE Defensive Player of
Week 11/23
Bobby Butler HE Player of the
Month
Nov.
Brian Foster HE Defensive Player of
Week 12/7
Brian Foster HE Goalie of the
Month
Dec.
Bobby Butler HE Co-Player of the
Week 1/11
Brian Foster HE Defensive Player of
Week 1/11
Paul Thompson Co-MVP Battle for the RiverStone
IX 1/16
Blake Kessel Co-MVP Battle for the RiverStone
IX 1/16
Wildcats Among National leaders: Below is a list of where
UNH players and team rank nationally.
Individual Rank Stats
Points Per Game:
Bobby Butler 6th 1.43 ppg
Blake Kessel 16th 1.30 ppg
Paul Thompson 35th 1.14
ppg
Goals Per Game:
Bobby Butler 4th 0.76 gpg
Paul Thompson 23rd 0.57
gpg
Assists Per Game:
Blake Kessel 4th 1.00 apg
Bobby Butler 53rd 0.67 apg
Power Play Goals:
Bobby Butler 24th 5 ppg
Short-Handed Goals:
Bobby Butler 19th 1 shg
Peter LeBlanc 19th 1 shg
Phil DeSimone 19th 1 shg
Game-Winning Goals:
Bobby Butler 11th 3 gwg
Defensemen Scoring:
Blake Kessel 2nd/3rd 26pts.
/1.30 ppg
Freshmen Scoring:
n/a
Goals Against Average:
Brian Foster 54th 3.24 gaa
Save Percentage:
Brian Foster 57th .898
Winning Percentage:
Brian Foster 36th .550
Team
Scoring Offense 9th 3.48
Scoring Defense 42nd 3.33
Scoring Margin 27th 0.14
Penalty Minutes 56th 10.5
Power Play 26th 19.4
Penalty Kill 39th 79.5
Combined Special Teams 43rd
48.6
Winnning Percentage 19th
.571
WHERE UNH IS RANKED IN HOCKEY EAST:
Overall HE games
Goals/per game 3.48/3rd
3.93/1st
GAA 3.33/8th 2.79/2nd
Power Play 19.4/6th
21.1/5th
Penalty Kill 79.5/8th
74.1/9th
Special Teams Net +4/5th
E/5th
1st Period Scoring 17/6th
13/3rd
2nd Period Scoring 36/1st
24/1st
3rd Period Scoring 20/7th
19/3rd
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 T, 3-3 (OT)
Dec. 6 at Vermont
ESPNU W, 5-2
Dec. 11 at Providence
Cox-TV W, 4-3
Jan. 3 Cornell
ESPNU L, 2-5
jan. 23 at Boston Univ.
NESN
Feb. 6 at Maine WABI-TV
Feb. 19 Vermont NESN
March 5 Boston College NESN
