#15 MEN'S HOCKEY HOSTS PROVIDENCE FRIDAY NIGHT (7 P.M.) IN SECOND-ANNUAL OPERATION HAT TRICK
GAME
NOTES
THE MATCHUP: The 15th-ranked University of
New Hampshire men’s hockey team returns home to complete the
season series with Hockey East foe Providence College on Friday
night. Puck drops at 7 p.m. at Whittemore Center, where UNH is
6-0-2 against league foes this season. Friday night is also the
second-annual Operation Hat Trick night.
SCOUTING THE FRIARS: Providence enters the
weekend with a 9-16-2 overall record and a 4-14-2 mark in league
play. The Friars are currently positioned in 10th place four points
behind Merrimack and seven points out of the playoffs. PC is
winless in its last seven games (0-6-1), but three of those games
went to overtime including the last meeting with UNH a 3-2 Wildcat
overtime win on Jan. 22. Most recently, the Friars skated to a 1-1
tie with Vermont. PC is led offensively by junior forward Kyle
MacKinnon, who has 20 points (9g, 11a). Defensively, Alex Beaudry
is 8-14-2 with a 2.68 GAA and a .920 save percentage.
SERIES HISTORY vs. PROVIDENCE: The Wildcats
and Friars have met 139 times in the all-time series history dating
back to Feb. 12, 1927, with UNH leading the series at 75-50-14.
Coach Umile owns a 44-21-7 all-time mark vs. Providence. New
Hampshire is unbeaten in its last 10 games (8-0-2) against the
Friars dating back to Feb. 24, 2007. UNH won this year’s
earlier meetings 4-3 and 3-2 (OT) 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 nine points. Senior goaltender Brian Foster is 4-0-1 all
time in five starts against PC, while Matt DiGirolamo started and
won on Dec. 11, 2009 for New Hampshire. In Foster’s six
games, he turned away 30 shots or more on five occasions. He has a
3.25 GAA and a .908 save percentage all time against the
Friars.
SCORING LEADERS VS. THE FRIARS:
Player GP
G-A-P
Paul Thompson 6 6-3-9
Stevie Moses 4 2-5-7
Mike Sislo 7 2-1-3
Bobby Butler 12 3-3-6
Peter LeBlanc 12 1-2-3
Phil DeSimone 7 2-3-5
Damon Kipp 3 0-2-2
Mike Borisenok 3 2-0-2
Blake Kessel 4 0-2-2
Dalton Speelman 2 0-1-1
Nick Krates 4 0-0-0
Greg Manz 3 0-0-0
Mike Beck 3 0-0-0
Matt Campanale 5 0-0-0
Greg Burke 2 0-0-0
Austin Block 2 0-0-0
John Henrion 2 0-0-0
Brett Kostolansky 2 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 6/350:02
19 3.25 4-0-1
188 .908
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
1-22-10
62:17 W 30
2 32
Totals
350:02 4-0-1
188 19 207
LAST TIME THESE TEAMS MET (Jan. 22, 2010): Bobby Butler
recorded a pair of assists including the primary assist on a
game-winning overtime goal (100th point) to lift UNH to a 3-2
overtime win over Providence College in Hockey East action at
Schneider Arena. Butler carried the puck into the offensive zone
and behind the net. After holding the puck for several seconds,
Butler found a crashing Phil DeSimone (1g, 1a) for the one-timer
from the right slot. Blake Kessel tallied his team-high 21st assist
on the game-winning goal at 2:17 of overtime.
HOME-SWEET-HOMESTAND: After dropping three-straight road
games, the Wildcats will return to the Whittemore Center where they
are 6-0-2 against Hockey East opponents. UNH will play
three-straight games at home, starting with Providence on Friday
night, and five of the final seven.
2,000 SAVES FOR FOSTER: Senior netminder Brian Foster
turned away 30-plus shots in each game this weekend and became just
the eighth player in UNH history to register 2,000 career
saves.
RNK PLAYER
GAMES
SAVES
1. Kevin
Regan 112
3,235
2. Greg
Moffett 101
2,602
3. Mike
Ayers 101
2,532
4. Greg
Rota 78
2,282
5. Ty
Conklin 93
2,188
6. Todd
Pearson 81
2,178
7. Bruce
Gillies 71
2,140
8. Brian
Foster 74
2,017
‘CATS BOASTS FOUR IN TOP 10 HOCKEY EAST SCORING:
UNH has four of Hockey East’s top 10 in scoring in league
play.
Points Bobby Butler
1st(31 pts)
Paul
Thompson 5th(24 pts.)
Phil
DeSimone 8th(22 pts.)
Blake
Kessel 10th(21 pts.)
DeSIMONE IS STREAKING: Junior forward Phil
DeSimone remains on a roll for the Wildcats. He potted a goal in
both games this weekend and is riding a nine-game scoring streak
that includes 11 points (5g, 6a).
KESSEL JOINING ELITE COMPANY, 30 POINT BLUELINER: Blake
Kessel had a pair of assists on Friday night and now has 30 points
this season. Kessel is the first defenseman to post 30 points since
Brian Yandle had 30 in 2005-06.
SCORING BY CLASS: 2009-10 breakdown of scoring by
class.
Class G-A-P G-A-P
%.
Seniors: 29-33-62 32-21-25
Juniors: 36-47-83 40-30-33
Sophomores: 20-56-76
22-35-31
Freshmen: 6-22-28 7-14-11
KESSEL MOVES UP TO SECOND NATIONALLY IN DEFENSIVE
SCORING: Blake Kessel ranks second nationally in defensive
scoring behind Wisconsin’s Brendan Smith and his 24 assists
matches the best total by a UNH defenseman (Yandle 24 –
2005-06) in the last decade.
20-plus assists for defenseman in single season since 1997-98
Year
Player
Assists
1998-99 Jayme
Filipowicz
30
1997-98 Jayme
Filipowicz
28
1998-99 Steve
O’Brien
27
2009-10 Blake
Kessel
24
2005-06 Brian
Yandle
24
2008-09 Kevin
Kapstad
23
2004-05 Brian
Yandle
22
2001-02 Garrett
Stafford
22
2000-01 Garrett
Stafford
21
LONG TIME AWAY FROM THE WHITT FOR FRIARS: It has been a
long time since Hockey East foe Providence has been to the
Whittemore Center. The teams have played its last three games at
PC’s Schneider Arena with the last game at the Whitt coming
on February 13, 2009, 365 days ago. The Friars are 3-24-1 lifetime
at the Whittemore Center.
CLOSE CALLS FOR ‘CATS AND FRIARS: Seven of the last
eight games with Providence have by decided by one goal or less
with four of those games going to overtime. The Wildcats are 6-0-2
in those games.
COLLEGEHOCKEYNEWS.com’s PAIRWISE RANKINGS (Feb.
9):
Rk Team PCWs
W-L-T Win % Rk
RPI Rk
1 Miami 24
20-4-6 .7667
1 .5899
1
1 Miami 24
20-4-6 .7667
1 .5898
1
2 Denver 23
18-6-4 .7143
3 .5827*
2
3 Wisconsin 22
16-7-4 .6667
5t .5708
3
4 St. Cloud State 20
18-8-4 .6667
5t .5666
4
5t Bemidji State 19
18-6-2 .7308
2 .5548
6
5t Boston College 19
16-8-2 .6538
8 .5539
7
7t Maine 16
14-9-3 .5962
14 .5455
9
7t Colorado Coll. 16
17-10-3.6167 11t
.5555 5
9t Massachusetts 15
16-11-0.5926 15
.5373 15
9t Minn.-Duluth 15
18-11-1.6167 11t
.5484 8
11t Vermont 14
13-9-4 .5769
17 .5390
12
11t North Dakota 14
13-10-5.5536 21
.5390 11
13 Ferris State 12
17-9-4 .6333
10 .5402
10
14 Michigan State 11
17-10-5.6094 13
.5375 14
15t Cornell 10
13-6-3 .6591
7 .5367
16
15t New Hampshire 10
13-10-4.5556 20 .5382
13
17t Yale 8
14-6-3 .6739
4 .5366
17
17t Union 8
15-7-6 .6429
9 .5325*
18
19 Alaska 6
11-9-8 .5357
25t .5171
23
20t Michigan 5
16-13-1.5500 22t
.5239 19
20t Lake Superior 5
14-11-5.5500 22t
.5185 20
22 Minnesota 4
13-13-2.5000 32t
.5180 21
23 No. Michigan 3
12-10-8 .5333 29
.5175 22
24 Northeastern 1
13-12-1 .5192 31
.5170 24
25 Mass.-Lowell 0
14-12-2 .5357 25t
.5153 25
HATS OFF TO OPERATION HAT TRICK: Friday night’s
game is the second-annual Operation Hat Trick night. Operation Hat
Trick was created in the fall of 2008, and is dedicated to Chief
Petty Officer Nate Hardy, a Navy SEAL and son of a UNH professor
and his wife, who was killed while on a covert mission in Iraq.
Operation Hat Trick provides blue and white baseball caps to
injured soldiers. For every two hats sold, a third is donated to VA
Medical Centers around the country. Hats have already made their
way to VA Medical Centers in Manchester, N.H., West Roxbury, Mass.,
La Jolla, Calif., and now Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington,
D.C. and Bethesda Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. The second
annual Operation Hat Trick Night will provide fans the opportunity
to donate to Operation Hat Trick buy purchasing raffle tickets to
win one of three team signed hats. Proceeds will go to benefit the
NH VA Medical Center’s Recreation Therapy program. Hats will
be available for sale at the game at the Friends of Hockey
merchandise booth.
T-B-D LINE EXTENDS GOAL SCORING STREAK TO EIGHT GAMES:
UNH’s top line of Bobby Butler, Paul Thompson and Phil
DeSimone have combined to score at least one goal in each of the
past nine games for UNH. Overall, the line has 17 goals (1.88
gpg) during this nine-game span and 32 since its formation 17 games
ago (1.88 gpg).
‘CATS REMAIN IN FIRST PLACE PERCH: Despite losses
last weekend,, UNH holds on to a three-point lead in Hockey East
over Boston College and Maine. The Wildcats have been in first
since since Nov. 23, 2009.
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
1/25
12 13 1st
2/1
13 13 1st
2/8
15 15 1st
THE NATIONAL POLLS:
USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine (Feb. 8)
Rk. School, Pts. (FPV)
LW Record
WIP
1 Miami University, 509 (33)
1 20-4-6 18
2 University of Denver, 478
(1) 2 18-6-4
18
3 University of Wisconsin, 441
3 16-7-4 11
4 St. Cloud State University,
400 4 18-8-4
7
5 Bemidji State University,
305 7 18-6-2
15
6 Cornell University, 289
5 13-6-3
18
7 Yale University, 286
8 14-6-3
18
8 Minnesota Duluth, 260
6 18-11-1
12
9 Colorado College, 244
10 17-10-3
15
10 Boston College, 227
14 15-8-2
15
11 University of North Dakota,
199 9 13-10-5
18
12 University of Maine, 136
NR 14-9-3
1
13 Ferris State University, 98
11 17-9-4
9
14 Michigan State University,
87 12 17-10-5
13
15 New Hampshire, 48
13 13-10-4
3
Others receiving votes: University of
Massachusetts, 27; Union College, 21; University of Vermont, 18;
University of Michigan, 6; Rochester Institute of Technology,
1.
USCHO.com Div. I Men’s Poll (Feb. 8)
Rk. Team
(First Place)
Record Pts LW
1
Miami
(46)
20- 4-6 996
1
2
Denver
(3)
18- 6-4 949
2
3
Wisconsin
(1)
16- 7-4 899
3
4 St. Cloud
State
18-
8-4 844
4
5 Bemidji
State
18-
6-2 703
7
6
Yale
14-
6-3 650
8
7
Minnesota-Duluth
18-11-1
642 6
8
Cornell
13-
6-3 637
5
9 Colorado
College
17-10-3
635 10
10 Boston
College
15-
8-2 598 14
11 North
Dakota
13-10-5 538 9
12
Maine
14-9-3 432
16
13 Michigan
State
17-10-5 389 12
14 Ferris
State
17-9-4 387
11
15 New
Hampshire
13-10-4
258 13
16
Union
15-7-6 248
20
17
Vermont
13-
9-4 242
17
18
Massachusetts
16-11-0 201 15
19
Michigan
16-13-1 131 19
20
Mass.-Lowell
14-12-2 29 18
Others Receiving Votes: St. Lawrence 28, Alaska
18, RIT 15, Boston University 8, Rensselaer 8, Northern Michigan 6,
Sacred Heart 5, Lake Superior 3, Minnesota 1
A BALANCED SHORT-HANDED ATTACK: UNH has five short-handed
goals scored by five different scorers this season including most
recently Mike Sislo on Friday night. It marks the first time five
Wildcats have scored short-handed since the 2006-07 season. Bobby
Butler, Phil DeSimone, Paul Thompson and Peter LeBlanc have also
scored short-handed for UNH.
HARDOWA MOVING ON UP: For the first time in his
college career freshman defenseman Connor Hardowa skated as a
forward. Hardowa centered UNH’s fourth line on Saturday night
against Maine.
SISLO POTS SHORT AT ALFOND FOR SECOND-STRAIGHT SEASON:
Friday night was a bit of deja vu for junior Mike Sislo, he scored
a short-handed goal for the second-straight season at Alfond. Last
year’s goal started a three-goal rally that lifted the
Wildcats to a 5-4 win.
T-B-D LINE, A DETERMINED SUCCESS: Since its formation on
Nov. 14, 2009, the Wildcat TBD line (Thompson, Butler, DeSimone)
have posted 32 goals, 37 assists for 69 points in 17 games (4.05
ppg) and guided UNH to a 11-4-2 record over span.
Since the T-B-D line was formed
Player Goals
Assists
Points PPG
Butler 11 14
25 1.47
Thompson 13
10
23 1.35
DeSimone 8
13
21 1.24
Totals 32 37
69 4.05
FOSTER CLIMBING UNH RECORD BOOKS: After sitting the wings
behind Wildcat legendary netminder Kevin Regan, Brian Foster is
writing his name in the Wildcat goaltending record book.
Career GAA: 2.85 (5th) Career
Save %: .908 (5th)
Career Games: 74 (8th)
Career Saves: 2,017 (8th)
Career Wins: 35 (9th)
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
Brian Foster HE Defensive Player of
Week 1/25
Brian Foster HE Goalie of the
Month
Jan.
Bobby Butler Walter Brown
Semifinalists 2/1
Blake Kessel Walter Brown
Semifinalists 2/1
Bobby Butler Frozen Four Skills Challenge
Nom. 2/1
Wildcats Among National leaders: Below is a list of where
UNH players and team rank nationally.
Individual Rank Stats
Points Per Game:
Bobby Butler 7th 1.37 ppg
Blake Kessel 28th 1.15 ppg
Paul Thompson 48th 1.07
ppg
Goals Per Game:
Bobby Butler 8th 0.67
gpg
Paul Thompson 24th 0.54
gpg
Assists Per Game:
Blake Kessel 6th
0.92 apg
Bobby Butler 31st
0.70 apg
Power Play Goals:
Bobby Butler 24th 6 ppg
Short-Handed Goals:
Bobby Butler 25th 1 shg
Peter LeBlanc 25th 1 shg
Phil DeSimone 25th 1 shg
Paul Thompson 25th 1 shg
Game-Winning Goal:
Bobby Butler 21st 3 gwg
Defensemen Scoring:
Blake Kessel
2nd/2nd 30pts. /1.15 ppg
Freshmen Scoring:
n/a
Goals Against Average:
Brian Foster 54th 3.14 gaa
Save Percentage:
Brian Foster 49th
.903
Winning Percentage:
Brian Foster 33rd .538
Team
Scoring Offense 10th
3.37
Scoring Defense 44th 3.26
Scoring Margin 26th 0.11
Penalty Minutes 57th 10.5
Power Play 40th 17.2
Penalty Kill 47th
78.3
Combined Special Teams 46th
47.6
Winnning Percentage 20th
.556
***HOBEY BAKER CANDIDATE BOBBY BUTLER***
BUTLER SEVENTH NATIONALLY IN GOALS, SCORING: Bobby Butler
ranks seventh in the nation in goals with 0.67 goals per game. In
addition, his 1.37 ppg is good for seventh nationally.
BUTLER’S GOT SKILLS: Bobby Butler is a nominee for
the 2010 NCAA Frozen Four Skills Challenge team. Fans can log onto
http://www.ncaa.com/frozenfourskillschallenge/index.html.
BUTLER ONE OF 16 NOMINEES FOR 2010 HOCKEY HUMANITARIAN:
Bobby Butler was among a group of 18 college hockey players
nominated for the 2010 BNY Mellon Wealth Management Hockey
Humanitarian Award. The award honors college hockey’s finest
citizen, someone who gives back to his or her community. The
finalists will be announced later this month, and the recipient
will be announced at the Frozen Four in Detroit on April 9. For
more on the award, visit hockeyhumanitarian.org.
Butler going for 20-goal season: Bobby Butler is the team
leader in goals with 18 goals. Butler is looking to become the
first 20-goal scorer since Trevor Smith had 21 goals in 2006-07.
Mike Radja led the team in scoring in 2007-08 with 19 goals, while
Mike Sislo had a team-best 19 a year ago.
BUTLER, KESSEL NAMED SEMIFINALISTS FOR WALTER BROWN
AWARD: Bobby Butler and Blake Kessel were named
semifinalists for the 58th annual Walter Brown Award, presented
annually to the best American-born college hockey player in New
England. Butler and Kessel were among a group of 16 semifinalists
selected by the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston, as announced by
president Steve Grogan on Feb. 1. In total 11 players from Hockey
East were selected. The Wildcats have a storied tradition in the
Walter Brown Award history that includes seven former Wildcats that
have earn the Walter Brown Award including Bob Miller (1977), Ralph
Cox (1979), Ty Conklin (2001), Mike Ayers (2003) Steve Saviano
(2004) and most recently Kevin Regan (2008).
UNH’S OFFENSE 10TH NATIONALLY: New
Hampshire’s offense ranks 10th in the country at 3.37 gpg
including 13 games with four or more goals.
Among the League Leaders: Where some of the Wildcats rank
in Hockey East.
Player All
Games HE Games
Points Bobby Butler
3rd (37pts.) 1st(31 pts)
Blake
Kessel 8th (30
pts.) 10th(21 pts.)
Paul
Thompson 9th (29 pts.)
5th(24 pts.)
Phil
DeSimone 13th (24 pts.)
8th(22 pts.)
Goals Bobby
Butler 2nd (18 g) 1st (14
g)
Paul
Thompson 5th (15 g) 3rd
(12 g)
Assists Blake Kessel
4th (24
a) 4th
(17 a)
Bobby
Butler 6th (19 a)
4th (17 a)
Phil
DeSimone 13th (16 a) 7th
(15 a)
PP Goals Bobby Butler 8th (6
ppg) 8th (4 ppg)
Mike
Sislo
8th (4ppg) SH Points
Bobby Butler 4th (2 shp) 2nd (2
shp)
Paul
Thompson 4th (2 shp) 2nd (2
shp)
GW Goals Bobby Butler 4th (3
gwg) 5th (2 gwg)
Def. Scoring Blake Kessel 1st
(30 pts) 1st(21 pts)
GAA Brian Foster
9th
(3.14)
5th (2.74)
Save % Brian Foster
9th (.903) 5th (.912)
Win % Brian
Foster
7th(.538)
2nd (.658)
WHERE UNH IS RANKED IN HOCKEY EAST:
Overall HE games
Goals/per game 3.37/3rd
3.65/1st
GAA 3.26/8th 2.85/4th
Power Play 17.2/8th
17.5/8th
Penalty Kill 78.3/9th
74.1/9th
Special Teams Net 0/8th
-4/6th
1st Period Scoring
23/5th 19/3rd
2nd Period Scoring
44/1st 32/1st
3rd Period Scoring 22/8th
20/5th
Overtime Scoring
2/2nd
2/1st
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 W, 4-1
Feb. 6 at Maine
WABI-TV L, 3-6
Feb. 19 Vermont NESN
March 5 Boston College
NESN
WILDCATS PICKED FOURTH 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.
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.
