2020–21 New Hampshire Wildcats men's ice hockey season

Mike Souza
Mike Souza
Assistant coaches	Glenn Stewart; Jeff Giuliano; Ty Conklin
Captain(s)	Charlie Kelleher
Alternate captain(s)	Patrick Grasso; Benton Maass; Eric MacAdams
	New Hampshire Wildcats men's ice hockey seasons; « 2019–20 2021–22 »

The 2020–21 New Hampshire Wildcats Men's ice hockey season was the 95th season of play for the program and the 37th season in the

Mike Souza

, in his 3rd season.

Season

As a result of the ongoing

NCAA had previously announced that all winter sports athletes would retain whatever eligibility they possessed through at least the following year, none of New Hampshire's players would lose a season of play.^[1] However, the NCAA also approved a change in its transfer regulations that would allow players to transfer and play immediately rather than having to sit out a season, as the rules previously required.^[2]

After a good start to the season, UNH was bit by the injury bug. The team lost several key upperclassmen for extended periods, including

Hockey East Tournament, knocking off long-time rival Maine 7–2 in the opening round. The Wildcats then took on the top team in the nation, Boston College

and came close to pulling off a stunning upset, falling 2–3 in their final game of the year.

Jeremy Forman sat out the season.

Departures

Player	Position	Nationality	Cause
Liam Blackburn	Forward	Canada	Graduation (Signed with ERSC Amberg)
Matthew Dawson	Defenseman	Canada	Graduation
Justin Fregona	Forward	Canada	Graduation
Max Gildon	Defenseman	United States	Signed professional contract (Florida Panthers)
Robby Griffin	Forward	United States	Left program
Joey Lazzaro	Goaltender	United States	Graduation
Nolan McElhaney	Defenseman	United States	Transferred to Long Island
Joe Sacco	Forward	United States	Graduation
Anthony Wyse	Defenseman	United States	Graduation (Signed with Indy Fuel)

Recruiting

Player	Position	Nationality	Age	Notes
Nick Cafarelli	Forward	United States	18	Middleton, MA
Jeremy Forman	Goaltender	United States	21	Northbrook, IL
Cameron Gendron	Forward	United States	21	Wilmington, MA
Nikolai Jenson	Defenseman	United States	20	Cold Spring, MN
Joe Nagle	Defenseman	United States	21	Weymouth, MA
Luke Reid	Defenseman	United States	19	2020 NHL Entry Draft
Carsen Richels	Forward	United States	18	Ham Lake, MN
Alec Semandel	Defenseman	United States	19	Waunakee, WI; transfer from Lake Superior State
Tyler Ward	Forward	Canada	21	Kamloops, BC; transfer from Denver

Roster

As of February 12, 2021.[4]

No.	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
1	Jeremy Forman	Freshman	G	5' 10" (1.78 m)	150 lb (68 kg)	1999-09-22	Northbrook, Illinois	Corpus Christi (NAHL)	—
2	Drew Hickey	Junior	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	188 lb (85 kg)	1997-10-28	New Canaan, Connecticut	Connecticut (NCDC)	—
3	Ryan Verrier	Junior	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	193 lb (88 kg)	1998-11-19	Reading, Massachusetts	Green Bay (USHL)	—
5	Will MacKinnon	Junior	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	202 lb (92 kg)	2000-04-13	Plymouth, Michigan	Des Moines (USHL)	—
6	Lucas Herrmann	Sophomore	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	2000-08-01	Lancaster, New York	Madison (USHL)	—
7	Alec Semandel	Junior	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	206 lb (93 kg)	1998-05-23	Waunakee, Wisconsin	Lake Superior State (WCHA)	—
8	Nikolai Jenson	Freshman	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	193 lb (88 kg)	2000-07-28	Cold Spring, Minnesota	Youngstown (USHL)	—
9	Angus Crookshank	Junior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	179 lb (81 kg)	1999-10-02	North Vancouver, British Columbia	Langley (BCHL)	2018
10	Kalle Eriksson	Sophomore	D	5' 10" (1.78 m)	178 lb (81 kg)	1999-09-15	Leksand, Sweden	Madison (USHL)	—
11	Jackson Pierson	Junior	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	171 lb (78 kg)	1999-09-10	Zionsville, Indiana	Culver (Midget AAA)	—
12	Eric Esposito	Junior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	186 lb (84 kg)	1998-08-24	West Haven, Connecticut	Youngstown (USHL)	—
13	Nick Cafarelli	Freshman	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	182 lb (83 kg)	2001-12-31	Middleton, Massachusetts	Wenatchee (BCHL)	—
14	Tyler Ward	Junior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	186 lb (84 kg)	1999-08-19	Kamloops, British Columbia	Denver (NCHC)	—
15	Chase Stevenson	Sophomore	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1999-01-13	West Kelowna, British Columbia	Trail (BCHL)	—
16	Filip Engarås	Junior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	199 lb (90 kg)	1999-05-16	Stockholm, Sweden	J20 SuperElit )	2020
17	Carsen Richels	Freshman	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	2001-10-03	Ham Lake, Minnesota	Blaine (USHS–MN)	—
18	Kohei Sato	Senior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1996-09-26	Nishitōkyō, Japan	Northeast (NAHL)	—
19	Eric MacAdams (A)	Senior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	187 lb (85 kg)	1997-04-29	Salem, Massachusetts	Dubuque (USHL)	—
20	Patrick Grasso (A)	Senior	F	5' 7" (1.7 m)	161 lb (73 kg)	1996-05-29	Ankeny, Iowa	Des Moines (USHL)	—
21	Cam Gendron	Freshman	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	181 lb (82 kg)	1999-02-05	Hampstead, New Hampshire	New Jersey (NAHL)	—
22	Joe Hankinson	Sophomore	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	194 lb (88 kg)	1999-06-15	Hopkins, Minnesota	Cedar Rapids (USHL)	—
23	Charlie Kelleher (C)	Senior	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	163 lb (74 kg)	1997-02-04	Longmeadow, Massachusetts	Sioux City (USHL)	—
25	Joe Nagle	Freshman	D	5' 10" (1.78 m)	192 lb (87 kg)	1999-05-17	Weymouth, Massachusetts	New Jersey (NAHL)	—
27	Luke Reid	Freshman	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	192 lb (87 kg)	2001-09-26	Warman, Saskatchewan	Chicago (USHL)	2020
28	Benton Maass (A)	Senior	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	1998-11-25	Elk River, Minnesota	Elk River (USHS–MN)	2017
29	Joseph Cipollone	Junior	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1997-03-29	Purchase, New York	Boston Jr. Bruins (NCDC)	—
31	Mike Robinson	Senior	G	6' 4" (1.93 m)	202 lb (92 kg)	1997-03-27	Bedford, New Hampshire	Springfield (NAHL)	2015
35	Ty Taylor	Junior	G	6' 4" (1.93 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1999-07-05	Richmond, British Columbia	Vernon (BCHL)	2018

Standings

2020–21 Hockey East Standings v t e
	Conference record										Overall record
	GP	W	L	T	OTW	OTL	SOW	HEPI	GF	GA	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
#6 Boston College	21	16	4	1	3	2	0	58.61	82	46	24	17	6	1	91	58
#11 Boston University	14	10	3	1	3	1	1	56.36	49	37	16	10	5	1	52	45
#1 Massachusetts *	22	13	5	4	1	1	1	55.44	76	42	29	20	5	4	103	48
Connecticut	22	10	10	2	1	4	2	52.01	69	63	23	10	11	2	70	69
#16 Providence	23	10	8	5	0	0	2	50.80	63	61	25	11	9	5	71	67
Northeastern	20	9	8	3	1	0	3	49.94	68	60	21	9	9	3	69	64
#19 Massachusetts–Lowell	16	7	8	1	1	1	0	48.00	46	53	20	10	9	1	59	63
Maine	15	3	10	2	0	1	2	46.66	41	61	16	3	11	2	43	68
Merrimack	18	5	11	2	0	1	0	45.38	47	66	18	5	11	2	47	66
New Hampshire	21	5	13	3	3	2	2	43.66	51	83	23	6	14	3	60	88
Vermont	12	1	9	2	0	0	0	38.02	17	37	13	1	10	2	20	42
Championship: March 20, 2021^[5] No Regular Season Champion Awarded^[6] * indicates conference tournament champion (Lamoriello Trophy) Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll

Schedule and Results

Date	Time	Opponent^#	Site	TV	Decision	Result	Attendance	Record
Regular Season
December 11	7:00 PM	vs. Maine	Whittemore Center • Durham, New Hampshire	NESN+	Robinson	T 1–1 ^SOW	0	0–0–1 (0–0–1)
December 12	7:00 PM	vs. Maine	Whittemore Center • Durham, New Hampshire	NESN+	Robinson	W 6–2	0	1–0–1 (1–0–1)
December 30	3:30 PM	vs. #9 Massachusetts	Whittemore Center • Durham, New Hampshire		Robinson	L 0–4	0	1–1–1 (1–1–1)
January 1	4:00 PM	vs. Connecticut	Whittemore Center • Durham, New Hampshire	NESN	Robinson	L 1–2	0	1–2–1 (1–2–1)
January 2	4:00 PM	at Connecticut	XL Center • Hartford, Connecticut		Robinson	W 2–1 ^OT	0	2–2–1 (2–2–1)
January 6	3:30 PM	at #8 Massachusetts	Mullins Center • Amherst, Massachusetts		Robinson	L 0–4	0	2–3–1 (2–3–1)
January 8	7:00 PM	at #2 Boston College	Conte Forum • Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts	NESN	Robinson	W 4–3 ^OT	0	3–3–1 (3–3–1)
January 10	4:00 PM	vs. #2 Boston College	Whittemore Center • Durham, New Hampshire		Robinson	L 2–3 ^OT	0	3–4–1 (3–4–1)
January 13	6:05 PM	at #14 Northeastern	Matthews Arena • Boston, Massachusetts	NESN	Robinson	L 0–7	0	3–5–1 (3–5–1)
January 15	4:00 PM	at Connecticut	Mark Edward Freitas Ice Forum • Storrs, Connecticut		Robinson	L 5–6 ^OT	0	3–6–1 (3–6–1)
January 16	5:00 PM	vs. Connecticut	Whittemore Center • Durham, New Hampshire		Taylor	L 3–8	0	3–7–1 (3–7–1)
January 22	7:00 PM	vs. Merrimack	Whittemore Center • Durham, New Hampshire		Robinson	L 2–5	0	3–8–1 (3–8–1)
January 23	4:05 PM	at Merrimack	J. Thom Lawler Rink • North Andover, Massachusetts		Robinson	T 2–2 ^SOW	0	3–8–2 (3–8–2)
January 29	7:00 PM	at #17 Providence	Schneider Arena • Providence, Rhode Island	NESN	Robinson	L 1–5	0	3–9–2 (3–9–2)
January 31	3:30 PM	vs. #17 Providence	Whittemore Center • Durham, New Hampshire	NESN	Robinson	L 2–3	0	3–10–2 (3–10–2)
February 5	6:00 PM	at #20 Massachusetts–Lowell	Tsongas Center • Lowell, Massachusetts		Robinson	W 2–1	0	4–10–2 (4–10–2)
February 6	5:00 PM	vs. #20 Massachusetts–Lowell	Whittemore Center • Durham, New Hampshire		Taylor	W 7–6 ^OT	0	5–10–2 (5–10–2)
February 12	7:00 PM	vs. #18 Northeastern	Whittemore Center • Durham, New Hampshire		Robinson	L 2–6	0	5–11–2 (5–11–2)
February 13	6:05 PM	at #18 Northeastern	Matthews Arena • Boston, Massachusetts	NESN+	Taylor	L 4–5	0	5–12–2 (5–12–2)
February 19	6:05 PM	vs. Merrimack	Whittemore Center • Durham, New Hampshire		Robinson	T 3–3 ^SOW	0	5–12–3 (5–12–3)
February 20	4:05 PM	at Merrimack	J. Thom Lawler Rink • North Andover, Massachusetts		Robinson	L 2–6	0	5–13–3 (5–13–3)
Hockey East Tournament
March 10	4:30 PM	at Maine	Alfond Arena • Orono, Maine (Opening Round)		Robinson	W 7–2	0	6–13–3
March 14	4:30 PM	at #1 Boston College	Conte Forum • Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts (Quarterfinal)	NESN	Robinson	L 2–3	0	6–14–3
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Eastern Time .

^[7]

Scoring statistics

Name	Position	Games	Goals	Assists	Points	PIM
Jackson Pierson	F	23	9	16	25	4
Angus Crookshank	LW	20	9	9	18	4
Kalle Eriksson	D	23	6	12	18	2
Patrick Grasso	C	23	7	8	15	2
Filip Engarås	C	22	6	5	11	21
Eric MacAdams	RW	16	5	5	10	31
Ryan Verrier	D	23	2	8	10	24
Luke Reid	D	22	3	5	8	12
Kohei Sato	LW	22	1	7	8	33
Lucas Herrmann	F	17	3	4	7	4
Tyler Ward	LW	21	3	4	7	6
Cam Gendron	F	16	2	4	6	6
Nick Cafarelli	F	14	1	5	6	4
William MacKinnon	D	22	0	5	5	20
Benton Maass	D	20	2	2	4	4
Charlie Kelleher	RW	13	0	4	4	10
Joe Hankinson	F	13	1	1	2	4
Nikolai Jenson	D	20	0	2	2	12
Joseph Cipollone	C	12	0	1	1	0
Eric Esposito	LW	17	0	1	1	20
Carsen Richels	LW	22	0	1	1	8
Chase Stevenson	F	4	0	0	0	0
Ty Taylor	G	5	0	0	0	0
Drew Hickey	D	6	0	0	0	4
Joe Nagle	D	7	0	0	0	2
Alec Semandel	D	19	0	0	0	2
Mike Robinson	G	21	0	0	0	2
Bench	-	23	-	-	-	10
Total			60	109	169	251

^[8]

Goaltending statistics

Name	Games	Minutes	Wins	Losses	Ties	Goals Against	Saves	Shut Outs	SV %	GAA
Mike Robinson	21	1227	5	12	3	69	511	0	.881	3.37
Ty Taylor	5	165	1	2	0	17	69	0	.802	6.16
Empty Net	-	10	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	-
Total	23	1403	6	14	3	88	580	0	.868	3.76

Rankings

Poll	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21 (Final)
USCHO.com	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	-	NR
USA Today	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR

USCHO did not release a poll in week 20.^[9]

Awards and honors

Player	Award	Ref
Patrick Grasso	Len Ceglarski Award
Jackson Pierson	Hockey East Second Team	^[10]
Angus Crookshank	Hockey East Third Team	^[10]

Players drafted into the NHL

2021 NHL Entry Draft

Round	Pick	Player	NHL team
3	88	Stiven Sardarian^†	Buffalo Sabres
6	192	Alex Gagne^†	Tampa Bay Lightning

† incoming freshman ^[11]

References

^ "NCAA approves blanket waiver for 2020 fall sports athletes to retain year of eligibility". CBS Sports. August 21, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
^ "DI Council grants waiver to allow transfer student-athletes to compete immediately". NCAA. December 16, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
^ "UNH fighting back from injury midway through the season". The New Hampshire. January 24, 2021. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
^ "2020–21 Men's Ice Hockey Roster". UNH Wildcats. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
^ "Hockey East Unveils 2021 Tournament and Seeding Format - Hockey East Association". hockeyeastonline.com. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
^ "2021 Hockey East Women's Tournament Field Set". hockeyeastonline.com. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
^ "New Hampshire Wildcats (Men) 2020-2021 Schedule and Results". College Hockey Stats. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
^ "Univ. of New Hampshire 2020-2021 Skater Stats". Elite Prospects. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
^ "USCHO Division I Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
^ ^a ^b "Hockey East Names 2020-21 Men's All-Star Teams - Hockey East Association". hockeyeastonline.com. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
^ "NCAA player rankings, selections in 2021 NHL Draft". USCHO.com. Retrieved July 24, 2021.

[1] "NCAA approves blanket waiver for 2020 fall sports athletes to retain year of eligibility". CBS Sports. August 21, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.

[2] "DI Council grants waiver to allow transfer student-athletes to compete immediately". NCAA. December 16, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.

[3] "UNH fighting back from injury midway through the season". The New Hampshire. January 24, 2021. Retrieved March 17, 2021.

[4] "2020–21 Men's Ice Hockey Roster". UNH Wildcats. Retrieved June 24, 2018.

[5] "Hockey East Unveils 2021 Tournament and Seeding Format - Hockey East Association". hockeyeastonline.com. Retrieved February 10, 2021.

[6] "2021 Hockey East Women's Tournament Field Set". hockeyeastonline.com. Retrieved March 13, 2021.

[7] "New Hampshire Wildcats (Men) 2020-2021 Schedule and Results". College Hockey Stats. Retrieved December 5, 2019.

[8] "Univ. of New Hampshire 2020-2021 Skater Stats". Elite Prospects. Retrieved March 7, 2020.

[9] "USCHO Division I Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 26, 2019.

[AHE-10] "Hockey East Names 2020-21 Men's All-Star Teams - Hockey East Association". hockeyeastonline.com. Retrieved March 17, 2021.

[11] "NCAA player rankings, selections in 2021 NHL Draft". USCHO.com. Retrieved July 24, 2021.

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