MEN'S HOCKEY TRAVELS TO RIVAL MAINE FOR TWO-GAME ROAD SERIES
GAME NOTES
DURHAM, N.H. -- The No. 13 University of New Hampshire
men's hockey team travels to league foe and 16th-ranked Maine for a
two-game road set this weekend. The teams will play Friday, Feb. 5
and Saturday, Feb. 6 at 7 p.m. at Alfond Arena in Orono, Maine.
SCOUTING THE BLACK
BEARS: No. 16 Maine enters this weekend’s series
with New Hampshire with a 12-9-3 record overall and a 9-6-2 mark
and 20 points good for fourth place in Hockey East. After stumbling
out of the gate, the Black Bears are 8-2-3 over the past 13 games
including taking three points from Vermont in a road series last
weekend. Maine is led by sophomore forward Gustav Nyquist, who
ranks third in the nation in points per game with 36 points in 24
games (1.5 ppg). The Black Bears own the nation’s best power
play converting on 30 percent with the extra attacker with 42 goals
in 140 tries. After missing a pair of league games with a knee
injury, Scott Darling returned in net last weekend for the Black
Bears. Darling is 12-3-3 with a 2.70 GAA and a .908 save
percentage.
SERIES HISTORY VS. MAINE: The Black Bears own the
advantage in the all-time series history at 54-45-5 in 104
meetings.The Wildcats have won seven of the last night including
this year’s only meeting 5-2 on Oct. 24 at Whittemore Center.
Overall, UNH is 10-2-0 in the last 12 meetings with Maine including
a five-game active winning streak at Alfond Arena. Coach Umile is
31-37-5 all-time in his coaching career vs. the Black Bears. Senior
forward Bobby Butler is the active leader in Wildcat scoring
against Maine with five points in 11 games, while Peter LeBlanc and
Mike Borisenok each have four career points against Maine. In net,
Brian Foster is 3-1-0 lifetime against the Black Bears with a 2.00
GAA and a .921 save percentage.
SCORING LEADERS VS. THE BLACK BEARS:
Player GP
G-A-P
Bobby Butler
12 4-1-5
Peter LeBlanc
10 1-3-4
Mike Borisenok 4
1-3-4
Steve Moses
4 3-0-3
Mike Sislo
7 2-1-3
Paul Thompson 6
0-3-3
Phil DeSimone
7 1-1-2
Blake Kessel
3 1-1-2
Mike Beck
4 0-1-1
Damon Kipp
3 0-1-1
Greg Manz 1
1-0-1
Greg Burke
1 0-1-1
Matt Campanale 3
0-0-0
Nick Krates
6 0-0-0
Kevin McCarey
3 0-0-0
Connor Hardowa 1
0-0-0
Austin Block
1 0-0-0
Dalton Speelman 1
0-0-0
Brett Kostolansky 1
0-0-0
Goaltending Stats
Player GP/Min
GA GAA W-L-T
SV SV%
Foster 4/239:07
8 2.00 3-1-0
94 .921
Foster Game-by-Game vs. the Black Bears
Date Min
Res. Svs. GA
Shots
1-4-09
60:00 W 29
4 33
2-6-09
59:56 W 21
1 22
2-7-09
59:23 L 22
1 23
10-24-09
59:48 W 22
2 24
Totals
239:07 3-1-0
94 8 102
LAST TIME THESE TEAMS MET (NOV. 24, 2009): Stevie Moses
notched two goals and classmate Mike Borisenok tallied a goal and
two assists in a 5-2 Hockey East victory over Maine in front of a
sold-out crowd of 6,501 fans, who were decked out in white for the
annual “White Out the Whit,” at the Whittemore
Center.
FOSTER TABBED HOCKEY EAST GOALIE OF THE MONTH:For the
second-consecutive month, senior netminder Brian Foster was named
Hockey East Goalie of the Month for January. The league office made
the announcement Tuesday, Feb. 2. Foster earns this honor for the
fourth time in his career. Foster went 5-2-1 in the month allowing
two goals or fewer on five occasions in the month. Foster posted a
2.33 goals against average and a .928 save percentage. Foster was a
two-time Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week during the
month.
WORKING OVERTIME FOR WINS: UNH captured its second
overtime win of the season. The Wildcats had a pair of overtime
wins in each of the last two seasons. However, it’s the first
time UNH had two regular season overtime wins since the 2002-03
season.
***HOBEY BAKER CANDIDATE BOBBY BUTLER***
BUTLER THIRD NATIONALLY IN GOALS, FOURTH IN SCORING:
Bobby Butler ranks third in the nation in goals with 0.72 goals per
game. In addition, his 1.44 ppg is good for fourth nationally.
THE BUTLER DID IT: Bobby Butler extended his scoring
streak to seven games and recorded his 50th goal in the process.
Butler has 12 points in the last seven games. Butler now has a
league best 30 points in Hockey East, most since Mike Radja had 30
points in league play in 2007-08.
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 going to 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 records 50th career goal:Bobby Butler tallied the
50th goal of his career on Friday night at Merrimack.
BUTLER, DESIMONE RIDING SEVEN-GAME SCORING STREAK: Top
liners Bobby Butler and Phil DeSimone are riding seven-game active
scoring streaks. Butler has 12 points in the last seven games (5g,
7a), while DeSimone has nine points in that same span (3g, 6a).
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).
T-B-D LINE, A DETERMINED SUCCESS:Since its formation on
Nov. 14, 2009, the Wildcat TBD line (Thompson, Butler, DeSimone)
have posted 30 goals, 34 assists for 64 points in 15 games (4.26
ppg) and guided UNH to a 11-2-2 record over span.
Since the T-B-D line was formed
Player Goals
Assists
Points PPG
Butler 11
13
24 1.60
Thompson 13
8
21 1.40
DeSimone 6
13
19 1.26
Totals 30 34
64 4.26
ANOTHER LETHAL LINE???:While the T-B-D line has been on
fire, UNH’s newly formed second line of Mike Sislo, Peter
LeBlanc and Stevie Moses combined for eight points (3g, 5a) in a
winning effort on Saturday against Merrimack.
HOCKEY EAST TAKE NOTICE; NOT IN OUR HOUSE: With the win
over Merrimack on Saturday night, New Hampshire improved to 6-0-2
in eight Hockey East games at Whittemore Center. The ‘Cats
will play five more league games at Whittemore Center.
DESIMONE IS STREAKING: Phil DeSimone also extended his
active scoring streak to seven games.
‘CATS GOES 5-2-1 IN JANUARY: The Wildcats finished
January with a 5-2-1 record, overall UNH is 19-7-2 in January since
2007.
UNH HOPES TO CONTINUE RECENT SUCCESS AT ALFOND: UNH
travels to play rival Maine in a two-game road series next weekend.
The Wildcats have won five-straight at Alfond Arena dating back to
Nov. 7, 2004.
GIVING IT THEIR BEST SHOTS: UNH peppered Merrimack with a
season-high 47 shots in an overtime win on Saturday night.
PROTECTING THE LEAD: UNH is 8-0-0 when leading after one
period and 11-0-0 when holding a lead after two period.
40-SAVE FOSTER: Brian Foster turned away 40 shots for the
second time this season. Foster had a career high 47 saves at
Wisconsin on Oct. 30, 2009.
ONE SERIES AT A TIME: UNH has won four season series thus
far and has split the series with Mass.-Lowell.
School
UNH’s 09-10 Record
Boston Univ.
2-0-1
Massachusetts
2-1-0
Merrimack
2-1-0
Mass-Lowell (Tied)
1-1-1
Providence (one game remaining)
2-0-0
Vermont
1-0-0
Northeastern
1-0-0
Maine
1-0-0
BC
0-0-1
SCORING BY CLASS: 2009-10 breakdown of scoring by
class.
Class G-A-P G-A-P %.
Seniors: 28-32-60 33-21-26
Juniors: 33-44-77 38-30-33
Sophomores: 20-52-72
23-35-31
Freshmen: 5-21-26 6-14-11
TO THIS POINT LAST YEAR: A comparison through 25 games
between this season and last season.
07-08 08-09
09-10
Record 17-7-1
13-8-4 13-8-4
HE Record 13-4-1
9-6-3 12-3-3
Goals scored 91
76 86
Goals scored/PG 3.64
3.04 3.44
Goals Allowed 65
74 79
Goals Allowed/PG 2.60
2.96 3.16
Shots 818
814 820
Shots Allowed 751
753 758
Power Play 17.9%
13.7% 18.3%
(21-117)
(19-138) (20-109)
Penalty Kill 85.2%
80.8% 79.2%
(110-129)
(110-136) (84-106)
Top 3 Scorers Fornataro van
Riemsdyk Butler
12-21-33
10-19-29
18-18-36
Radja
LeBlanc
Kessel
13-14-27
8-12-20
6-22-28
van Riemsdyk
Sislo
Thompson
10-14-24
16-4-20
15-22-27
KESSEL SECOND NATIONALLY IN DEFENSIVE POINTS, MOST POINTS BY UNH
BLUELINER SINCE BRIAN YANDLE: Blake Kessel’s
28 points (6-21-28) is second only to Wisconsin’s Brendan
Smith (31). In addition, his 28 points are the most points by
defenseman since Brian Yandle had 30 points in 2005-06.
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: 2.81 (5th) Career
Save %: .909 (5th)
Career Games: 72 (9th)
Career Saves: 1,952 (9th)
Career Wins: 35 (9th)
UNH’S OFFENSE EIGHTH NATIONALLY: New
Hampshire’s offense ranks eighth in the country at 3.44 gpg
including 13 games with four or more goals.
USCHO.com’s PAIRWISE RANKINGS (Feb. 2):
Rk Team PWR
Rk W-L-T Win %
Rk RPI
1 Miami 24
1
18-4-6 .7500
1 .5875
2 Denver 23
3 16-6-4
.6923 2
.5807
3 Wisconsin 22
7 15-7-4
.6538 3
.5671
4 St. Cloud State 21
5t 17-8-3
.6607 4
.5625
5 Bemidji State 20
2 18-6-2
.7308 5
.5566
6 Minn-Duluth 18
10t 17-10-1
.6250 6
.5519
7t Ferris State 17
5t 17-8-3
.6607 8
.5502*
7t Massachusetts 17
12t 16-10-0
.6154 10
.5449
9 New Hampshire15 14
13-8-4 .6000
9
.5482
10 Colorado College14 17t
15-10-3 .5893
7
.5518
11t Michigan State 13
9 17-9-4
.6333 11
.5446
11t Boston College 13
10t 14-8-2
.6250 12 .5441
11t Cornell 13
4 12-5-3
.6750 13
.5421
14 Vermont 11
21t 12-9-3
.5625 15 .5378
15t North Dakota 9
23t 13-10-5
.5536 14
.5386
15t Union 9
12t 13-7-6
.6154 20 .5256*
15t Maine 9
21t 12-9-3
.5625 16 .5332
18t Yale 8
8 12-6-3
.6429 17
.5322
18t Mass.-Lowell 8
19t 14-10-2
.5769 18
.5266
20 Michigan 6
23t 15-12-1
.5536 19
.5263
21 Lake Superior 4
17t 14-9-5
.5893 21 .5254
22t St. Lawrence 2
16 14-9-4
.5926 23 .5148
22t Boston Univ. 2
36t 10-11-3
.4792 24
.5138
24t Notre Dame 1
30t 12-11-7
.5167 25
.5135
24t Minnesota 1
32t 13-13-2
.5000 22
.5157
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
THE NATIONAL POLLS:
USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine (Feb. 1)
Rk. School, Pts. (FPV)
LW Record
WIP
1 Miami University, 506 (30)
1 18-4-6 17
2 University of Denver, 480
(4) 3 16-6-4
17
3 University of Wisconsin, 436
2 15-7-4 10
4 St. Cloud State University,
381 5 17-8-3
6
5 Cornell University, 358
8 12-5-3
17
6 Minnesota Duluth, 289
9 17-10-1
11
7 Bemidji State University,
278 6 18-6-2
14
8 Yale University, 251
7 12-6-3
17
9 University of North Dakota,
241 4 13-10-5
17
10 Colorado College, 172
11 15-10-3
14
11 Ferris State University,
169 10 17-8-3
8
12 Michigan State University,
166 13 17-9-4
12
13 New Hampshire, 138
12 13-8-4
2
14 Boston College, 112
15 13-8-2
14
15 University of Massachusetts,
57 14 16-10-0
10
Others receiving votes: University of Maine, 16;
Union College, 11; University of Massachusetts Lowell, 10;
University of Michigan, 3; University of Vermont, 2; Rochester
Institute of Technology, 1; Sacred Heart University, 1; St.
Lawrence University, 1; University of Nebraska Omaha, 1.
USCHO.com Div. I Men’s Poll (Feb. 1)
Rk. Team
(First Place)
Record Pts LW
1
Miami
(43)
18-4-6
993 1
2
Denver
(6)
16-6-4
950
3
3
Wisconsin
(1)
15-7-4
895
2
4 St. Cloud
State
17-8-3
817 5
5
Cornell
12-5-3
718 8
6
Minnesota-Duluth
17-10-1 690
9
7 Bemidji
State
18-6-2
635 7
8
Yale
12-6-3
603
6
9 North
Dakota
13-10-5 581
4
10 Colorado
College
15-10-3 548
11
11 Ferris
State
17-8-3
516 10
12 Michigan
State
17-9-4
483 12
13 New
Hampshire
13-8-4 443
13
14 Boston
College
13-8-2
432 14
15
Massachusetts
16-10-0 347
15
16
Maine
12-9-3
212 19
17
Vermont
12-9-3
167 17
18
Mass.-Lowell
14-10-2
149 16
19
Michigan
15-12-1
137 20
20
Union
13-7-6
100 18
Others Receiving Votes: St. Lawrence 46, Lake
Superior 24, Sacred Heart 6, Notre Dame 4, RIT 2, Alaska 1,
Minnesota 1
Among the League Leaders: Where some of the Wildcats rank
in Hockey East.
Player All
Games HE Games
Points Bobby Butler
2nd (36pts.) 1st(30 pts)
Blake
Kessel 7th (28
pts.) 10th(19 pts.)
Paul
Thompson 8th (27 pts.)
4th(22 pts.)
Phil
DeSimone 18th (22 pts.)
9th(20 pts.)
Goals Bobby
Butler 2nd (18 g) 1st (14
g)
Paul
Thompson 5th (15 g) 3rd
(12 g)
Assists Blake Kessel
3rd (22
a) 6th
(15 a)
Bobby
Butler 7th (18 a)
4th (16 a)
Phil
DeSimone 13th (16 a) 5th
(15 a)
Def. Scoring Blake Kessel 1st
(28 pts) 1st(19 pts)
GAA Brian Foster
10th
(3.06)
3rd (2.59)
Save % Brian Foster
9th (.905) 3rd (.915)
Win % Brian
Foster
5th(.583)
2nd (.735)
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
Wildcats Among National leaders: Below is a list of where
UNH players and team rank nationally.
Individual Rank
Stats
Points Per Game:
Bobby Butler 4th 1.44 ppg
Blake Kessel 25th 1.17 ppg
Paul Thompson 42nd 1.08
ppg
Goals Per Game:
Bobby Butler 3rd 0.72
gpg
Paul Thompson 20th 0.60
gpg
Assists Per Game:
Blake Kessel 8th
0.92 apg
Bobby Butler 30th
0.72 apg
Power Play Goals:
Bobby Butler 25th 6 ppg
Short-Handed Goals:
Bobby Butler 21st 1 shg
Peter LeBlanc 21th 1 shg
Phil DeSimone 21st 1 shg
Paul Thompson 21st 1 shg
Game-Winning Goal:
Bobby Butler 16th 3 gwg
Defensemen Scoring:
Blake Kessel
2nd/3rd 28pts. /1.17 ppg
Freshmen Scoring:
n/a
Goals Against Average:
Brian Foster 53rd 3.06 gaa
Save Percentage:
Brian Foster 47th
.905
Winning Percentage:
Brian Foster 26th .583
Team
Scoring Offense 8th
3.44
Scoring Defense 40th 3.16
Scoring Margin 23rd 0.28
Penalty Minutes 56th 10.3
Power Play 31th 18.3
Penalty Kill 41st
79.2
Combined Special Teams 44th
48.4
Winnning Percentage 14th
.600
WHERE UNH IS RANKED IN HOCKEY EAST:
Overall HE games
Goals/per game 3.44/3rd
3.78/1st
GAA 3.16/7th 2.67/2nd
Power Play 18.3/7th
19.2/7th
Penalty Kill 79.2/8th
75.0/9th
Special Teams Net +2/7th
-2/7th
1st Period Scoring
20/3rd 16/3rd
2nd Period Scoring
43/1st 31/1st
3rd Period Scoring 21/8th
19/5th
Overtime Scoring
2/2nd 2/1st
