New Hampshire Wildcats men's ice hockey

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New Hampshire Wildcats men's ice hockey
2013
Conference Tournament championships
1979, 2002, 2003
Conference regular season championships
1992, 1997, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2010
Current uniform

The New Hampshire Wildcats men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents the University of New Hampshire. The Wildcats are a member of Hockey East. They play at the Whittemore Center Arena in Durham, New Hampshire.[2]

History

Early years

Efforts to organize an ice hockey team at New Hampshire College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts date to the early 1910s.[3] By January 1914, a college team was playing "a short schedule of games" against local teams such as an athletic association from Exeter, New Hampshire.[4] A summary of the 1914 hockey season—the team had a record of two wins and two losses—appeared in the college's 1916 yearbook.[5] However, games from this era are not considered part of varsity history. In July 1923, the school was renamed the University of New Hampshire (UNH).

Team photo of the first varsity squad, which played its games in January and February 1925

The first UNH ice hockey team considered part of varsity history played in January and February 1925. The team won its first two games, on consecutive days, in away matches against Bates College and Colby College in Maine.[6] A year later, under the stewardship of Ernest Christensen, UNH played its first home game on a local rink, an outdoor facility that was dependent on cold weather for its surface. The Wildcats played a small number of games for their first 15 seasons, fluctuating between an undefeated season in 1926–27 and a winless campaign in 1931–32.[6]

In 1938, Christensen retired and the team eventually came under the tutelage of Anthony Dougal, but his tenure was suspended in 1943 due to the outbreak of World War II. The team finally returned to the ice in January 1947, with Dougal remaining for one year before handing the program over to Joseph Petroski. After four rather poor seasons, Horace "Pepper" Martin took over and New Hampshire's fortunes began to change. By the mid-1950s, the Wildcats started to play more and win more games than they ever had before. In 1955, an artificial ice rink was constructed on campus to help the team play more than a handful of home games.[7]

ECAC

In 1961 New Hampshire was one of 28 schools that were founding members of

Snively Arena
after his late predecessor and a year later the program was readmitted into the top echelon of college hockey.

It was Bjorkman's successor,

1977 and captured their first Conference championship two years later, but no matter how good Holt's teams were national success continued to elude him. under Holt the Wildcats went 0–6 in the frozen four and 2–8 in the tournament overall. While the wins started to come few and far between in the mid-1980s Holt continued to helm the program as it left ECAC Hockey to form Hockey East
with six other northeastern schools.

Bob Kullen

Holt stepped down in 1986 and was replaced by long-time assistant

coach of the year award
in his honor while the team continued the upward swing he began, allowing Umile to be the first recipient of the rechristened award.

Umile years

In Umile second season New Hampshire made the NCAA tournament for the first time in almost a decade and retroactively finished first in the conference after

Hockey East tournament finale
The team received the #2 overall seed and a bye into the second round. The Wildcats defeated two Michigan schools to reach their first national championship game where they would ultimately fall in overtime to conference rival Maine.

UNH would continue to be a power in Hockey East, winning back to back conference championships in

2011 but the team could not make it out of the Regionals after 2003. Starting in 2012 the program began a slow decline, ending up dead-last in the conference in 2017–18. After that season Umile decided to retire, leaving the school as the all-time leader in just about every coaching category and recording the third most wins all-time for one school at the Division I
level.

Umile's final act for the program was to name his successor, allowing 1999 alumnus Michael Souza to become the 14th head coach in program history.

John "Jack" French

After his tour of duty in the US Navy, he worked at the UNH as the Athletic Equipment Manager for a total of 38 years from 1963-2001. He was beloved by the students and staff and holds the record for most games attended including hockey, football, baseball and basketball. He was a member of the Athletic Equipment Managers Association.

Seasons

Main article: List of New Hampshire Wildcats men's ice hockey seasons

[10]

Head coaches

As of the completion of 2023–24 season[11]

Tenure Coach Years Record Pct.
1924–1925 Hank Swasey 1 2–2–0 .500
1925–1936, 1937–1938 Ernest Christensen 12 55–54–8 .504
1936–1937 Carl Lundholm 1 3–5–0 .375
1938–1939 George Thurston 1 5–4–0 .556
1939–1943, 1946–1947 Anthony Dougal 5 15–28–0 .349
1947–1951 Joseph Petroski 4 9–20–0 .310
1951–1962 Horace "Pepper" Martin 11 76–76–3 .500
1962–1964 A. Barr Snively 2 23–22–0 .511
1964–1968 Rube Bjorkman 4 57–40–0 .588
1968–1986 Charlie Holt 18 347–232–18 .596
1986–1987, 1988–1990 Bob Kullen 4 37–66–8 .369
1987–1988 Dave O'Connor 1 7–20–3 .283
1990–2018 Dick Umile 28 598–375–114 .603
2018–Present Michael Souza 6 78–102–21 .440
Totals 14 coaches 98 seasons 1312–1039–175 .554

Statistical Leaders

Source:[12]

Career points leaders

Player Years GP G A Pts PIM
Ralph Cox 1975–1979 128 127 116 243
Jason Krog 1995–1999 151 94 144 238
Darren Haydar 1998–2002 158 102 117 219
Jamie Hislop 1972–1976 119 77 132 209
Mark Mowers 1994–1998 144 85 112 197
Louis Frigon 1967–1971 89 98 95 193
Bob Gould 1975–1979 135 91 101 192
Cliff Cox 1972–1976 108 87 88 175
Jon Fontas 1974–1978 107 72 102 174
Frank Roy 1975–1979 131 71 103 174
Joe Flanagan 1988–1992 140 85 89 174

Career goaltending leaders

GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

minimum 30 games played

Player Years GP Min W L T GA SO SV% GAA
Ty Conklin 1998–2001 93 5580 57 23 12 202 1 .915 2.18
Kevin Regan 2004–2008 112 6599 70 29 10 250 9 .928 2.27
Casey DeSmith 2011–2014 97 5637 48 36 8 218 9 .923 2.32
Jeff Pietrasiak 2002–2006 55 2904 27 13 6 119 2 .917 2.46
Mike Ayers 2000–2004 102 5755 58 25 12 239 12 .914 2.49

Statistics current through the start of the 2019–20 season.

Current roster

As of August 24, 2024.[13]

No. Nat. Player Class Pos Height Weight DoB Hometown Previous team NHL rights
2 Jack Babbage Senior D 6' 1" (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2000-08-30 Tully, New York Quinnipiac (ECAC) —
3 Conor Lovett Senior F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 2001-04-07 Franklin, Massachusetts Cedar Rapids RoughRiders (USHL) —
5 Zach Hahn Sophomore D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 2002-08-06 Huntington, New York
P.A.L. Jr. Islanders (NCDC
) 		—
6 Marty Laviņš Sophomore F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2003-04-10 Riga, Latvia Cedar Rapids RoughRiders (USHL) —
7 Ryan MacPherson Freshman F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2005-03-02 Windsor, Ontario Penticton Vees (BCHL)
2023
8 Nikolai Jenson Graduate D 5' 11" (1.8 m) 193 lb (88 kg) 2000-07-28 Cold Spring, Minnesota Youngstown Phantoms (USHL) —
9 Connor Sweeney Senior F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 2000-05-05 North Andover, Massachusetts Islanders Hockey Club (NCDC) —
10 Ronan Walsh Sophomore F 6' 4" (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 2002-05-03 Andover, New Hampshire Amarillo Wranglers (NAHL) —
12 Liam Devlin Senior F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 192 lb (87 kg) 2001-01-07 Needham, Massachusetts Omaha Lancers (USHL) —
13 Josh Player Freshman D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 2005-05-13 Thorofare, New Jersey Green Bay Gamblers (USHL) —
15 Luis Lindner Senior D 5' 11" (1.8 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 2001-05-16 Spittal an der Drau, Austria American International (AHA) —
16 Luke Reid Graduate D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 192 lb (87 kg) 2001-09-26 Warman, Saskatchewan Chicago Steel (USHL)
2020
17 Kristaps Skrastiņš Junior F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 2001-11-20 Grobiņa, Latvia Amarillo Wranglers (NAHL) —
19 Brendan Fitzgerald Freshman D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 2003-03-06 North Reading, Massachusetts Cedar Rapids RoughRiders (USHL) —
20 Colton Huard Senior D 6' 3" (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 2000-11-27 Foothill Ranch, California Chicago Steel (USHL) —
22 J. P. Turner Sophomore F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 2003-01-31 East Falmouth, Massachusetts Fargo Force (USHL) —
23 Jason Siedem Sophomore F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2002-10-17 Madison, New Jersey Blackfalds Bulldogs (AJHL) —
24 Robert Cronin Senior F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 187 lb (85 kg) 2000-08-15 Plymouth, Massachusetts Dubuque Fighting Saints (USHL) —
25 Nick Ring Sophomore F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 2003-10-26 Abington, Massachusetts Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL) —
26 Morgan Winters Junior F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 2001-12-08 Osprey, Florida Omaha Lancers (USHL) —
27 Connor MacPherson Freshman F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 176 lb (80 kg) 2005-03-02 Windsor, Ontario Penticton Vees (BCHL) —
28 Alex Gagne Senior D 6' 4" (1.93 m) 207 lb (94 kg) 2002-08-12 Bedford, New Hampshire Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL)
2021
29 Cy LeClerc Junior F 5' 9" (1.75 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 2002-08-17 Brentwood, New Hampshire Janesville Jets (NAHL) —
30 Rico DiMatteo Senior (RS) G 6' 3" (1.91 m) 161 lb (73 kg) 2001-01-01 Brasher Falls, New York Long Island (NCAA) —
35 Rafe Gaughan Graduate G 6' 1" (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2000-02-11 Somersworth, New Hampshire Northeast Generals (NA3HL) —
36 Ryan Conmy Sophomore F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 2004-10-23 Alexandria, Virginia Sioux City Musketeers (USHL)
2023
41 Jared Whale Junior G 6' 0" (1.83 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 2002-11-01 Calgary, Alberta Alaska Anchorage (NCAA) —

Awards and honors

NCAA

Individual awards

All-American teams

AHCA First Team All-Americans

AHCA Second Team All-Americans

ECAC Hockey

Individual awards

All-Conference teams

First Team All-ECAC Hockey

Second Team All-ECAC Hockey

Hockey East

Individual awards

All-Conference teams

First Team All-Hockey East

Second Team All-Hockey East

Third Team All-Hockey East

Hockey East All-Rookie Team

Program Records

Hockey East

Individual

Olympians

This is a list of New Hampshire alumni were a part of an Olympic team.

Name Position New Hampshire Tenure Team Year Finish
Bob Miller Center 1974–1975, 1976–1977 United States USA 1976 5th
Steve Leach Right Wing 1984–1986 United States USA 1988 7th
Adrien Plavsic Defenseman 1987–1988 Canada CAN 1992  Silver
Jeff Lazaro Right Wing 1986–1990 United States USA 1994 8th
James van Riemsdyk Left Wing 2007–2009 United States USA 2014 4th
Bobby Butler Right Wing 2006–2010 United States USA 2018 7th
Daniel Winnik Forward 2003–2006 Canada CAN 2022 6th

New Hampshire Wildcats Hall of Fame

The following is a list of people associated with the New Hampshire men's ice hockey program who were elected into the New Hampshire Wildcats Hall of Fame (induction date in parentheses).[16]

Wildcats in the NHL

See also: Former NCAA players in the National Hockey League

As of July 1, 2024.

= NHL All-Star team =
NHL All-Star[17]
 =
NHL All-Star[17] and NHL All-Star team
 = Hall of Famers

WHA

Several players also were members of WHA teams.

Player Position Team(s) Years Avco Cups
Gordie Clark Right Wing CIN 1978–1979 0
John Gray Center
WIN
 1974–1979 1
Jamie Hislop Forward CIN 1976–1979 0
Gary Jacquith Defenseman SDM 1975–1976 0
Rod Langway Defenseman BIR 1977–1978 0
Cap Raeder Goaltender
NEW
 1975–1977 0
Guy Smith Left Wing
NEW
 		1972–1974 1

Source:[18]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Athletics Branding". University of New Hampshire Brand & Visual Guidelines. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
  2. ^ "USCHO.com :: U.S. College Hockey Online :: New Hampshire Wildcats Men's Hockey". Archived from the original on 2007-10-24.
  3. ^ "The Hockey Situation". The New Hampshire. Vol. 3, no. 13. Durham, New Hampshire. December 17, 1913. p. 2. Retrieved December 2, 2024 – via UNH.edu.
  4. ^ "Hockey Game". The New Hampshire. Vol. 3, no. 15. Durham, New Hampshire. January 14, 1914. p. 1. Retrieved December 2, 2024 – via UNH.edu.
  5. ^ "Hockey Season of 1914". The Granite. Vol. VII. 1916. p. 173. Retrieved December 2, 2024 – via unh.edu.
  6. ^ a b "New Hampshire man's ice hockey 2013-14 Media Guide". New Hampshire Wildcats. p. 78. Retrieved December 2, 2024 – via issuu.com.
  7. ISBN 9780738511023
    . Retrieved 2017-06-06.
  8. ^ "A. Barr Snively, Former Williams Grid Coach, 65". North Adams Transcript. 1964-04-16.
  9. ISBN 9780738511023
    . Retrieved 2014-07-12.
  10. ^ "MHOC Year-by-Year Quick Look". New Hampshire Wildcats. Retrieved May 6, 2019.
  11. ^ "MHOC Year-by-Year Quick Look". New Hampshire Wildcats. Retrieved May 6, 2019.
  12. ^ "Team Records". New Hampshire Wildcats. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  13. ^ "2022–23 Men's Ice Hockey Roster". UNH Wildcats. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
  14. ^ "Legends of Hockey". Hockey Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2018-10-07.
  15. ^ "United States Hockey Hall of Fame". Hockey Central.co.uk. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
  16. ^ "Wildcat Hall of Fame". New Hampshire Wildcats. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  17. ^ a b Players are identified as an All-Star if they were selected for the All-Star game at any time in their career.
  18. ^ "Alumni report for U. of New Hampshire". Hockey DB. Retrieved May 9, 2019.
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