#6 Men's Hockey Plays Host to Brown University on Tuesday Night (7 p.m.)
GAME NOTES
DURHAM, N.H. -- The sixth-ranked University of New Hampshire men's hockey team (6-2-3, 4-1-2 HE) plays host to non-conference foe Brown University (3-2-1, 2-1-1 ECACHL) on Tuesday night (7 p.m.) at Whittemore Center. The Wildcats are riding a seven-game unbeaten streak against the Bears coming into Tuesday night's matchup.
SCOUTING THE BEARS: Brown enters Tuesday night's game with a 3-2-1 mark with a 2-1-1 ECACHL record. The Bears enter the tilt with back-to-back road wins at Colgate (5-2) and Cornell (3-2). Brown is led offensively by Jack Maclellan, who has nine points (3g, 6a) in six games. In net, the Bears have split time between junior Mike Clemente and freshman Marco DeFilippo. Clemente is 2-1-1 with a 3.43 GAA and a .887 save percentage, while DeFilippo is 1-1-0 with a 2.52 GAA and a .921 save pecentage. Brown is coached by second-year head coach Brendan Whittet.
SERIES HISTORY VS. The BEARS: The Wildcats own a 20-13-1 all-time record vs. Brown in 34 all-time meetings dating back to Feb. 11, 1927. UNH has won the last seven meetings vs. the Bears and the last time Brown defeated UNH was Dec. 1, 1987 (4-3). UNH last defeated Brown on Nov. 26, 2007 (5-2). UNH has won 11 of the last 12 meetings and are 15-2 in the last 17 games. Phil DeSimone is the active scoring leader against Brown with two assists. Three other Wildcats played in the last meeting between the two teams.
SCORING LEADERS VS. THE BEARS:
Player GP G-A-P
Phil DeSimone 1 0-2-2
Greg Manz 1 0-0-0
Mike Sislo 1 0-0-0
Paul Thompson 1 0-0-0
Goaltending Stats
Player GP/Min GA GAA W-L-T SV SV%
No goalies with experience against Brown
LAST TIME THESE TEAMS MET (11/26/07): Mike Radja and Matt Fornataro both recorded four points to lead UNH to a 5-2 non-conference victory against Brown University at the Whittemore Center. Radja recorded career highs in both goals – with his first career hat trick – and points. Fornataro established personal bests in both assists and points as all four of his points on the night were assists. James vanRiemsdyk and Phil DeSimone also had multiple-point games for the Wildcats. UNH goaltender Kevin Regan made 28 saves, including 11 in the second period. At the other end of the ice, Brown netminder Dan Rosen stopped 32 shots with 14 saves in the middle stanza.
LAST TIME OUT (11/20/10 at Boston Univ.): Paul Thompson tallied a goal and an assist, but the seventh-ranked University of New Hampshire men's hockey team dropped Saturday night's Hockey East contest, 4-2, to No. 2 Boston University at Agganis Arena. The Terriers used a four-goal second period to capture the victory. Brett Kostolansky scored his first collegiate goal, while Thompson netted his third of the weekend for UNH. Terrier netminder Grant Rollheiser stopped a career-high 41 shots to improve to 3-0-0. Matt DiGirolamo turned away 24 shots including 10 in the final frame and moves to 6-2-3.
THOMPSON GARNERS HOCKEY EAST CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Senior forward Paul Thompson was named Hockey East Athletic Republic co-Player of the Week. The announcement was made Monday morning by the league office. Thompson, who collects his first HE Player of the Week award, becomes the first UNH player to earn the league's top honor since Matt DiGirolamo did so Nov. 8. Thompson, who shares the league's player of the week honors with Merrimack's Jesse Todd, scored three goals and added two assists for five points in a weekend split with #2 Boston Univ. He led the offense with two goals and an assist in Friday night's 5-2 win and factored in both UNH goals with a goal and an assist on Saturday night. Thompson ranks second in Hockey East in scoring with 15 points and his six goals are second-best in the league.
TOP LINE PRODUCING: UNH's top line of Phil DeSimone, Paul Thompson and Mike Sislo have combined for seven goals, 17 assists and 24 points over the last four games. The group is averaging 1.75 gpg and 6.0 ppg.
Date Thompson Sislo DeSimone
11/12 UMass 0-2-2 1-1-2 1-1-2
11/13 UMass 0-3-3 1-0-1 0-2-2
11/19 BU 2-1-3 0-1-1 1-2-3
11/20 @BU 1-1-2 0-2-2 0-1-1
Totals 3-7-10 2-4-6 2-6-8
DiGI DOMINANT IN LAST 10: Matt DiGirolamo is 6-1-3 in his last 10 starts with a 2.25 GAA and a .923 save percentage. He's allowed three goals or less in eight of nine and two or less on five occasions.
Opponent Results GA E.S. GA Saves
at #3 Miami W, 6-3 3 3 35
vs. #3 Michigan T, 3-3 3 0 27
at Northeastern T, 2-2 2 1 37
at #14 Cornell W, 7-4 3 1 31
at #4 BC W, 2-1 1 1 31
at Mass.-Lowell W, 2-1 1 0 24
vs. UMass W, 3-0 0 0 19
vs. UMass T, 3-3 3 3 29
vs. #2 Boston U. W, 5-2 3 1 20
at #2 Boston U. L, 2-4 4 3 24
Totals 6-1-3 24 13 234
GIVING IT THEIR BEST SHOT: The Wildcats held a commanding 92-50 shot advantage over the weekend series with Boston U. UNH has 40 shots in six of 11 games this season. The 'Cats allowed 40-plus shots on just one occasion, in the opening game against Miami. New Hampshire averaging 38.7 shots per games this season.
'CATS EXTENDS WHITTEMORE CENTER UNBEATEN STREAK TO 23 AGAINST HOCKEY EAST FOE: UNH is 16-0-7 in the last 23 Hockey East contests at Whittemore Center. New Hampshire's last home league loss came on Jan. 24, 2009 against BU.
POWERFUL POWER PLAY: New Hampshire has scored a power play goal in nine of 11 games this season. UNH did not have a power play opportunity on 11/5 against BC and was just 0-2 against UMass-Lowell on 11/6.
SORKIN LIGHTS THE LAMP: Nick Sorkin tallied his first collegiate goal in Friday night's 5-2 win over the Terriers. The point was the first of his collegiate career and the first point by a New Hampshire freshman this season.
KOSTO POTS FIRST COLLEGIATE GOAL: Sophomore Brett Kostolansky tallied his first collegiate goal on Saturday night at Boston University.
'CATS RIDING SEVEN-GAME WIN-STREAK AGAINST BROWN: UNH has won seven straight against Brown with its last loss to the Bears coming on Dec. 1, 1987. Overall, the 'Cats have won 11-of-12 and are 15-2 in last 17.
SCORING BY CLASS: 2010-11 breakdown of scoring by class.
Class G-A-P G-A-P %.
Seniors: 15-26-41 39-43-42
Juniors: 10-16-26 26-43-27
Sophomores: 12-18-30 32-30-31
Freshmen: 1-0-1 3-0-1
TO THIS POINT LAST YEAR: A comparison through 11 games between this season and last season.
09-10 10-11
Record 3-6-2 6-2-3
HE Record 3-2-1 4-1-2
Goals scored 34 38
Goals scored/PG 3.09 3.45
Goals Allowed 44 29
Goals Allowed/PG 4.00 2.64
Shots 314 426
Shots Allowed 362 342
Power Play 15.6% 21.2%
(7-45) (11-52)
Penalty Kill 74.0% 82.6%
(37-50) (38-46)
Top 3 Scorers Butler Thompson
9-5-14 6-9-15
Kessel DeSimone
3-9-12 4-10-14
LeBlanc Sislo
4-7-11 5-6-11
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
9/27 8th N/P 3rd (pre)
10/4 N/P 10th 3rd (pre)
10/11 9th 9th 4th
10/18 7th 7th 6th
10/25 10th 10th 7th
11/1 10th 10th 9th
11/8 8th 9th 4th
11/15 8th 7th 3rd
11/22 6th 6th 3rd
THE NATIONAL POLLS:
USCHO.com/CBS College Sports Division I Men's Poll (Nov. 22)
Rk. Team (First Place)Rec. Pts LW
1 Minnesota-Duluth (49) 11-1-2 999 1
2 Boston University (1) 7-1-4 893 2
3 Yale 7-1-0 856 5
4 Nebraska-Omaha 9-2-1 824 4
5 Miami 8-3-3 808 6
6 New Hampshire 6-2-3 724 7
7 Boston College 8-4-0 648 10
8 Michigan 8-3-3 635 9
9 North Dakota 8-5-1 631 8
10 Maine 6-3-3 612 3
11 Notre Dame 9-3-1 568 11
12 Denver 8-4-2 442 13
13 Union 7-2-3 421 14
14 Alaska 7-5-2 312 12
15 Minnesota 7-4-1 259 19
16 Wisconsin 6-6-2 199 15
17 Rensselaer 5-3-3 191 18
18 Merrimack 4-2-4 154 NR
19 Western Michigan 6-3-3 147 16
20 Ferris State 6-5-3 48 NR
Others Receiving Votes: Quinnipiac 42, Michigan State 39, Robert Morris 12, Dartmouth 9, Colorado College 5, Princeton 5, St. Cloud State 5, Niagara 4, Clarkson 3, Northern Michigan 2, Providence 2, Brown 1
USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine (Nov. 22)
Rk. School, Pts. (FPV) Last Record Weeks
1 Minnesota Duluth, 509 (34) 1 11-1-2 8
2 Boston University, 438 2 7-1-4 8
3 Yale University, 421 5 7-1-0 8
4 Nebraska Omaha, 389 4 9-2-1 6
5 Miami University, 373 6 8-3-3 8
6 New Hampshire, 299 8 6-2-3 8
7 Boston College, 272 9 8-4-0 8
8 University of Michigan, 265 10 8-3-3 8
9 University of Maine, 263 3 6-3-3 8
10 North Dakota, 252 7 8-5-1 8
11 University of Notre Dame, 201 11 9-3-1 5
12 Union College, 133 12 7-2-3 5
13 University of Denver, 130 14 8-4-2 8
14 University of Alaska, 55 13 7-5-2 7
15 University of Minnesota, 37 NR 7-4-1 3
Others receiving votes: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 19; University of Wisconsin, 15; Merrimack College, 8; Quinnipiac University, 1.
Wildcats Among National leaders: Below is a list of where UNH players and team rank nationally.
Individual Rank Stats
Points Per Game:
Paul Thompson 13th 1.36 ppg
Phil DeSimone 20th 1.27 ppg
Goals Per Game:
Paul Thompson 39th 0.55 gpg
Mike Sislo 66th 0.45 gpg
John Henrion 66th 0.45 gpg
Stevie Moses 66th 0.45 gpg
Assists Per Game:
Phil DeSimone 17th 0.91 apg
Paul Thompson 25th 0.82 apg
Blake Kessel 74th 0.64 apg
Power Play Goals:
Paul Thompson 20th 3 ppg
Short-Handed Goals:
Dalton Speelman 11th 1 shg
Stevie Moses 11th 1 shg
Game-Winning Goal:
Mike Sislo 6th 2 gwg
Dalton Speelman 38th 1 gwg
John Henrion 38th 1 gwg
Damon Kipp 38th 1 gwg
Paul Thompson 38th 1 gwg
Defensemen Scoring:
Blake Kessel 24th 0.73 ppg
Goals Against Average:
Matt DiGirolamo 32nd 2.5 gaa
Save Percentage:
Matt DiGirolamo 23rd .918
Winning Percentage:
Matt DiGirolamo 15th .682
Team
Scoring Offense 13th 3.45
Scoring Defense 23rd 2.64
Scoring Margin 11th 0.82
Penalty Minutes 47th 11.2
Power Play 18th 21.2
Penalty Kill 30th 82.6
Combined Special Teams 28th 50.0
Winnning Percentage 7th .682
Among the League Leaders: Where some of the Wildcats rank in Hockey East.
Player All Games HE Games
Points Paul Thompson 2nd (15 pts.) 2nd 11 pts)
Phil DeSimone 4th (14 pts.) 8th (8 pts)
Goals Paul Thompson 4th (6 g) 5th (4 g)
Mike Sislo 7th (5 g) 29th (2 g)
John Henrion 7th (5 g) 13th (3 g)
Stevie Moses 7th (5 g) 56th (1 g)
Assists Phil DeSimone 2nd (10 a) 3rd (6 a)
Paul Thompson 3rd (9 a) 2nd (7 a)
Blake Kessel 9th (7 a) 28th (3 a)
PP Points Paul Thompson 3rd (8 pts.) 1st (6 pts)
Phil DeSimone 6th (6 pts.) 5th (4 pts)
PP Goals Paul Thompson 3rd (3 ppg) 13th (1 ppg)
Mike Sislo 9th (2 ppg) 13th (1 ppg)
Phil DeSimone 9th (2 ppg) 2nd (2 ppg)
SH Points Four Tied 5th (1 shp) n/a
SH Goals Dalton Speelman4th (1 shg) n/a
Stevie Moses 4th (1 shg) n/a
GW Goals Mike Sislo 1st (2 gwg) 3rd (1 gwg)
Def. Scoring Blake Kessel 2nd (8 pts) 4th (4 pts)
Connor Hardowa9th (5 pts) 22nd (2 pts)
Brett Kostolansky9th (5 pts) 9th (3 pts)
GAA Matt DiGirolamo 5th (2.50) 2nd (1.83)
Save % Matt DiGirolamo 5th (.918) 4th (.934)
Win % Matt DiGirolamo 2nd (.682) 2nd (.714)
Saves Matt DiGirolamo 3rd (313) 8th (184)
Minutes Matt DiGirolamo 3rd (671:45) 5th (427:03)
Wins Matt DiGirolamo 2nd (6) 2nd (4)
WHERE UNH IS RANKED IN HOCKEY EAST:
Overall HE games
Goals/per game 3.45/2nd 2.71/3rd
GAA 2.64/5th 1.86/1st
Power Play 21.2/2nd 21.9/3rd
Penalty Kill 82.6/5th 92.0/1st
Special Teams Net +2/2nd +3/2nd
1st Period Scoring 10/6th 8/2nd
2nd Period Scoring 19/1st 9/2nd
3rd Period Scoring 9/7th 2/10th
Overtime Scoring 0/3rd 0/3rd
UNH HOCKEY ON TELEVISION: UNH will have nine games broadcast live on TV in 2010-11. NESN will air five games, three will air on CBS College Sports, while one will air locally on ONN (Ohio).
DATE GAME Channel RES.
Oct. 8 at Miami CBS-College Sports L, 3-6
Oct. 9 at Miami ONN (OHIO) W, 6-3
Nov. 19 Boston U. NESN W, 5-2
Dec. 10 at Maine CBS-College Sports
Jan. 22 Boston U. NESN
Feb. 4 Maine NESN
Feb. 5 Maine NESN
Feb. 18 at Vermont CBS-College Sports
March 4 at Boston College NESN
ALL IN THE FAMILY: UNH junior defenseman Blake Kessel is the younger brother of Toronto Maple Leafs forward Phil Kessel, while sophomore forward Scott Pavelski is the younger brother of Joe Pavelski of the San Jose Sharks.
WILDCATS PICKED THIRD IN HOCKEY EAST PRESEASON POLL:
Rk. Team (FPV) Pts.
1. Boston College (9 90
2. Maine (1) 80
3. New Hampshire 76
4. Boston University 59
5. Northeastern 54
6. Vermont 53
7. Merrimack 48
8. UMass-Lowell 33
9. Massachusetts 26
10. Providence 21
THE DICK UMILE ERA: Dick Umile, a six-time Hockey East Coach of the Year, enters his 21st season as the head coach of the UNH Wildcats. He passed both Jerry York and Jack Parker in becoming the first coach in league history to six coach of the year honors. 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, 16 NCAA tournament appearances and 20 Hockey East championship tournament showings in his 20-year career in Durham.
In addition, Umile has posted 17 20-victory campaigns over the span of 20 seasons. Umile is now the winningest coach in the history of UNH hockey with 462 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 fifth among active NCAA coaches with a .645 winning percentage and on the active victories list his 462 victories ranks seventh among NCAA coaches. He has been named Coach of the Year a total of 11 times in his career, including New England honors four times and Hockey East Coach of the Year six times Last year, Umile guided the Wildcats, who were picked fourth in the Hockey East Preseason Poll, to their eighth regular season championship including the third in the last four years. The Wildcats led the Hockey East standings for an eye-popping 16-straight weeks, taking over the league lead Nov. 23, 2009 and never relinquishing that position. UNH went unbeaten at home in Hockey East play for the first time since the 1999-00 season and won the regular season series with six of nine league foes. Umile helped guide a team that lost 10 players, including Hockey East All Star and leading scorer James van Riemsdyk, from the 2008-09 squad to its 22nd straight trip to the Hockey East playoffs and home-ice advantage in the quarterfinals for a league-best 14th-straight season. After going just 2-6-2 over its first 10 games, Umile's Wildcats responded with a 10-1-2 mark over the next 13 games, including a 12-game unbeaten streak in Hockey East play. Umile's run in the regular season was capped by a dramatic 3-3 come-from-behind deadlock with Boston College that clinched the league's crown in front of the home fans on Senior Day at the Whittemore Center. The 'Cats earned an at-large bid in the NCAA tournament for the ninth-straight season and captured a convincing 6-2 win over favored Cornell in the opening round, advancing to the regional final for the second-straight season.
'CATS SELECTED IN THE NHL DRAFT: Four current UNH players have been selected in the National Hockey League draft...Greg Burke (Washington), Phil DeSimone (Washington), Blake Kessel (N.Y. Islanders) and Eric Knodel (Toronto) have all been taken.
WILDCAT AWARDS: Here is a list of awards that Wildcat players have won to date this season:
Player Award Date
Blake Kessel INCH Preseason All-America First Team 10/7
Blake Kessel InsideHockey.com's Hobey Watch 10/7
Matt DiGirolamo HE Defensive Player of the Week 10/18
UNH Wildcats HE Team of the Week 11/8
Matt DiGirolamo HE Player of the Week 11/8
Matt DiGirolamo INCH National Player of the Week 11/8
Paul Thompson HE co-Player of the Week 11/22
