#7 MEN'S HOCKEY OPENS HOCKEY EAST PLAY AT NORTHEASTERN FRIDAY
GAME NOTES
DURHAM, N.H. -- The seventh-ranked University of New
Hampshire men's hockey team opens Hockey East play in defense of
its regular season title on Friday, Oct. 22 at Northeastern. The
puck drops at 7:30 p.m. at Matthews Arena with coverage on the
Wildcat Sports Radio Network.
SCOUTING THE
HUSKIES: Northeastern enters the weekend with a 0-2-1
record including an 0-2-0 mark in Hockey East. The opening weekend
Northeastern dropped league losses to Providence (3-2) and Boston
College (2-0). Most recently, the Huskies skated to a 2-2 tie with
Rensselaer. Through NU's first three games, all four goals have
come from four different freshmen. Cody Ferriero, Brodie Reid, Rob
Dongara and Jamie Oleksiak have accounted for each tally while two
of those markers have come with an extra attacker. In net,
sophomore Chris Rawlings is 0-2-1 with a 1.96 GAA and a .936 save
percentage in three games played.
SERIES HISTORY VS. NORTHEASTERN: UNH owns an
86-57-12 all-time record against Northeastern in 155 meetings in
the series history between the two teams.The Wildcats were 2-0-1 in
the season series last year. Coach Umile owns a 41-15-10
record all-time against Northeastern. Senior forward Mike Sislo (3g, 4a) is
the Wildcats' leading career scorer vs. NU. Junior netminder
Matt
DiGirolamo is 0-0-1 with a 1.85 GAA all time against the
Huskies. DiGirolamo's first collegiate start was on Nov. 1, 2008
against Northeastern.
SCORING LEADERS VS. THE HUSKIES:
Player GP
G-A-P
Mike Sislo 9 3-4-7
Blake
Kessel 6 1-4-5
Paul
Thompson 8 3-2-5
Stevie
Moses 6 1-3-4
Phil
DeSimone 9 1-3-4
Dalton
Speelman 3 3-0-3
Matt
Campanale 5 0-2-2
Mike
Beck 3 0-1-1
Damon
Kipp 5 0-1-1
Mike
Borisenok 4 0-1-1
John
Henrion 2 0-1-1
Kevin
McCarey 3 0-0-0
Greg
Burke 3 0-0-0
Connor
Hardowa 3 0-0-0
Austin
Block 2 0-0-0
Greg
Manz 1 0-0-0
Scott
Pavelski 1 0-0-0
Goaltending Stats
Player GP/Min
GA GAA W-L-T
SV SV%
DiGirolamo 1/64:51
2 1.85 0-0-1
22 .916
DiGirolamo Game-by-Game vs. the Huskies
Date Min
Res. Svs. GA
Shots
11/1/08 64:51
T 22 2
24
Totals
64:51 0-0-1
22 2 24
LAST TIME OUT (10/16/10 VS. MICHIGAN): Paul
Thompson and Phil DeSimone each notched a goal and an assist in
UNH's 3-3 tie with No. 3 University of Michigan in front of a
sellout crowd at the Whittemore Center for the home opener.
Trailing 3-2 with 4:33 remaining in regulation, the Wildcats evened
the score on a Thompson power-play tally. DeSimone carried the puck
into the zone up the left side below the goal line where he dished
the puck to Thompson, who whistled the puck into the top right
corner of the net to knot it at three. Matt DiGirolamo made 27
saves, including 12 in the first period. Shawn Hunwick stopped 45
shots, including 14 in the second period and eight in overtime.
LAST TIME THESE TEAMS MET (2/27/10 VS.
NORTHEASTERN): Dalton Speelman and Paul Thompson
scored late third-period goals 12 seconds apart to lift UNH to a
3-1 victory over Northeastern at Whittemore Center. New Hampshire
goaltender Brian Foster, after surrendering a goal 38 seconds into
the game, made 21 of his 24 saves through the first two periods of
play to keep the Wildcats within one goal. NU counterpart Chris
Rawlings stopped 20 shots, including nine in the final frame.
DIGIROLAMO FETED AS HOCKEY EAST DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE
WEEK: Matt DiGirolamo was named Hockey East Pure
Hockey Defensive Player of the Week. DiGirolamo earns this award
for the first time in his career and the first time a UNH player
collected this honor since Brian Foster did so Jan. 25. DiGirolamo
stopped 27 of 30 shots against Michigan Saturday night, while all
three of Michigan's goals came on the power play.
WIN, LOSE OR DRAW: UNH moved to 1-1-1 with a 3-3
tie against Michigan in the home opener. Over the first three
games, UNH has a win, a loss and a tie.
THREE OF A KIND: It was the 'Cats third-straight
game against the third-ranked team in the nation.
FIRING RANGE: The Wildcats recorded a season-best
48 shots on net against Michigan, outshooting UM 48-30 including
8-1 in overtime. It was the first time UNH tallied 45+ shots since
Jan. 30, 2010 against Merrimack.
THREE FOR ALL: UNH has scored three goals or more
in all three games this season, all against top-five programs.
A POINT A GAME: Senior forward Mike Sislo and
junior defenseman Blake Kessel have each registered a point in all
three game for New Hampshire.
POWERFUL POWER PLAY: The 'Cats have scored a
power play goal in each of the first three games including a Paul
Thompson tallied that tied the game at 15:27 of the third period.
Thompson's two goals have both come on the power play.
DESIMONE SECOND IN LEAGUE IN SCORING: Phil
DeSimone ranks second in Hockey East in points with five. Maine's
Spencer Abbott is first in the league with seven points in four
games.
DIGIROLAMO FIRST IN HOCKEY EAST IN SAVES,
MINUTES: Matt DiGirolamo is first in Hockey East in saves
with 98 and minutes played at 184:50.
SCORING BY CLASS: 2010-11 breakdown of scoring by
class.
Class G-A-P G-A-P
%.
Seniors: 5-6-11 42-33-37
Juniors: 4-6-10 33-33-33
Sophomores: 3-6-9 25-33-30
Freshmen: 0-0-0 0-0-0
'CATS OPEN WITH FIVE OF SIX AGAINST TOP-15 OPPONENTS AND
SIX OF SEVEN ON THE ROAD: New Hampshire has perhaps the
most difficult early schedules in collegiate hockey. The 'Cats will
play five of its first six games against top-15 opponents with six
of its first seven games on the road.
Date
Opponent
Results
10/8 at #3 Miami
L, 3-6
10/9 at #3 Miami
W, 6-3
10/16 vs. #3
Michigan T, 3-3
10/22 at
Northeastern
10/29 at #12 Cornell
11/5 at #1 Boston College
11/6 at Mass.-Lowell
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 10 3rd (pre)
10/11 9th
9th 4th
10/18
7th 7th
6th
THE NATIONAL POLLS:
USCHO.com/CBS College Sports Division I Men's Poll (Oct.
18)
Rk. Team
(First Place)
Record Pts
LW
1 Boston College (49)
3-0-0 999
1
2 North Dakota (1)
3-0-1 941
2
3
Miami
2-1-1
872 4
4
Michigan
2-0-2
848 3
5
Yale
0-0-0
758
5
6
Minnesota-Duluth
3-0-1
730 7
7 New
Hampshire
1-1-1
617 9
8 Boston
University
2-0-1
543 10
9
Alaska
3-1-0
514 14
10
Nebraska-Omaha
4-0-0
467 17
11
Denver
1-2-1
443 6
12
Maine
1-1-2
429 8
13
Cornell
0-0-0
406 12
14 St. Cloud
State
1-2-1
368 11
15
Wisconsin
3-1-0
341 15
16 Michigan
State
1-0-1
267 20
17 Notre
Dame
3-1-0
242 19
18
Union
3-1-0
236 16
19 Colorado
College
2-1-1
126 18
20
Minnesota
2-2-0
118 13
Others Receiving Votes: Michigan Tech 61, Robert Morris 42, Ferris
State 27, Rensselaer 27, Colgate 25, Vermont 19, Bemidji State 12,
RIT 10, Merrimack 8, Quinnipiac 2, Massachusetts-Lowell 1, Western
Michigan 1
USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine (Oct. 18)
Rk. School, Pts. (FPV)
Last Rec.
Weeks
1 Boston College, 510 (34)
1 3-0-0 3
2 North Dakota, 473
2 3-0-1
3
3 University of Michigan, 413
3 2-0-2 3
4 Miami University, 409
4 2-1-1
3
5 Minnesota Duluth, 333
7 3-0-1
3
6 Yale University, 324
5 0-0-0
3
7 New Hampshire, 250
9 1-1-1
3
8 Boston University, 236
T-10 2-0-1
3
9 University of Alaska, 172
14 3-1-0 3
10 Nebraska Omaha, 164
NR 4-0-0
1
11 University of Maine, 134
6 1-1-2 3
12 Cornell University, 113
12 0-0-0
3
13 University of Denver, 107
8 1-2-1 3
14 University of Wisconsin, 102
15 3-1-0 3
15 St. Cloud State University, 71
T-10 1-2-1 3
Others receiving votes: Union College, 63; University of
Minnesota, 59; Michigan State University, 53; University of Notre
Dame, 38; Michigan Tech University, 27; Colorado College, 16;
Robert Morris University, 7; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 4;
Ferris State University, 1; Rochester Institute of Technology,
1.
Wildcats Among National leaders: Below is a list
of where UNH players and team rank nationally.
Individual Rank
Stats
Points Per Game:
Phil DeSimone 26th
1.67 ppg
Goals Per Game:
Paul Thompson
46th 0.67 ppg
Phil DeSimone
46th 0.67 ppg
Stevie Moses
46th 0.67 ppg
Assists Per Game:
Phil DeSimone 29th
1 apg
Blake Kessel
29th 1 apg
Power Play Goals:
Paul Thompson 5th
2 ppg
Mike Sislo
25th 1ppg
Short-Handed Goals:
Dalton Speelman 2nd 1
shg
Game-Winning Goal:
Damon Kipp 5th 1
gwg
Defensemen Scoring:
Blake Kessel 12th
1.00 ppg
Goals Against Average:
Matt DiGirolamo
48th
3.57 gaa
Save Percentage:
Matt DiGirolamo 39th
.899
Winning Percentage:
Matt DiGirolamo 25th .500
Team
Scoring Offense 11th
4.00
Scoring Defense
38th 4.00
Scoring Margin 24th 0.00
Penalty Minutes 16th
17.3
Power Play 18th 21.4
Penalty Kill 40th
73.3
Combined Special Teams 28th
43.3
Winnning Percentage 21st
.500
Among the League Leaders: Where some of the
Wildcats rank in Hockey East.
Player All
Games HE Games
Points Phil DeSimone
2nd (5 pts.) n/a
five tied 14th (2
pts.) n/a
Goals
three tied 8th (2
g) n/a
Assists
Blake Kessel 4th (3
a)
n/a
Phil DeSimone 4th (3
a)
n/a
PP Points
four players
4th (2) n/a
PP Goals
Paul Thompson 1st (2 ppg)
n/a
SH Points Dalton Speelman1st (1 shp)
n/a
Brett
Kostolansky1st (1 shp) n/a
SH Goals Dalton Speelman1st (1 shg)
n/a
GW Goals Damon Kipp 1st (1
gwg) n/a
Def. Scoring Blake Kessel
3rd (3 pts) n/a
GAA Matt DiGirolamo 9th
(3.57) n/a
Save % Matt DiGirolamo 7th
(.899) n/a
Win % Matt
DiGirolamo 6th (.500) n/a
Saves Matt
DiGirolamo 1st (98)
n/a
Minutes Matt DiGirolamo 1st (184:50)
n/a
Wins Matt DiGirolamo 2nd
(1) n/a
WHERE UNH IS RANKED IN HOCKEY EAST:
Overall HE
games
Goals/per game 4.00/3rd
n/a
GAA 4.00/7th n/a
Power Play 21.4/3rd n/a
Penalty Kill 73.3/7th
n/a
Special Teams Net 0/3rd
n/a
1st Period Scoring
0/9th n/a
2nd Period Scoring
8/1st n/a
3rd Period Scoring 4/3rd
n/a
Overtime Scoring
0/1st
n/a
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
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.
SISLO TABBED CAPTAIN; CAMPANALE WILL SERVE AS ALTERNATE
CAPTAIN: Mike Sislo was named the 106th captain in the
history of the UNH hockey program for the 2010-11 season. Matt
Campanale was named the alternate captain for the upcoming
season.Sislo finished a well-balanced junior campaign with 29
points on 14 goals and 15 assists. He is one of two players with 68
points (36g, 32a) to lead all returners coming into the upcoming
season, while his 36 goals is tops among all returners. Sislo
scored 22 of his 29 points in Hockey East play, scored four times
on the power play and twice short-handed. In the season prior,
Sislo was the team's leading goal scorer with 19 goals that season,
while also tallying 12 assists. Campanale was a leader on a young
Wildcat defense in 2009-10, playing on both the first and second
defensive pair throughout the season. He played in all 39 games for
New Hampshire this year, posting 12 points on three goals and nine
assists.
WILDCATS PICKED THIRD IN HOCKEY EAST POLL: UNH
was picked to finish third in the Hockey East Preseason Coaches'
Poll, which was announced on Wednesday afternoon at the league's
annual media day at Legends Restaurant at the TD Garden. The
Wildcats garnered 76 points in the poll, which was good enough for
a third place preseason standing. UNH was picked fourth in the
preseason and finished in first place in last year's regular season
standings.
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.
UNH HOCKEY ON THE RADIO: In the summer of
1999, the University of New Hampshire Athletic Department formed
the "UNH Sports Network" — the largest network ever to
broadcast UNH sporting events. Wildcats Sports Properties has added
WGIN-AM 930 (Rochester) and WQSO-FM 96.7 (Portsmouth) as affiliate
stations on the Wildcat Sports Network, joining flagship WGIR-AM
610 (Manchester), which was added in 2008. All three stations are
part of the Clear Channel family. These three aforementioned
stations -- along with WUVR-AM 1490 (Lebanon), WNTK-FM 99.7 (New
London), WASR-AM 1420 (Wolfeboro) and WCNL-AM 1010 (Newport) --
will carry the following: all UNH football & men's hockey
broadcasts and weekly coaches' shows, a select number of men's
basketball, women's basketball and women's hockey broadcasts. Dan
Parkhurst will be handling the play-by-play for the fourth-straight
season, while Pete Webster will once again be doing the color
commentating. Webster has been announcing Wildcat hockey since the
1993-94 season.ouncing Wildcat hockey for 16 years since the
1993-94 season.
LISTEN LIVE ON THE INTERNET: UNHWildcats.com via
Stretch Internet Broadcast will carry all of the UNH men's ice
hockey action again this season. If you can not attend Wildcat
hockey, you can still tune into the game from anywhere you can gain
access to the internet. Fans can get to the UNH men's ice hockey
broadcast site by going to the men's hockey schedule page at
www.unhwildcats.com.
THE DICK UMILE SHOW ON RADIO: The Coach's Show
featuring UNH men's hockey head coach Dick Umile and hosted by Mike
Murphy begins its 11th season in 2010-11. The Coach's Show is
broadcast Mondays (7 p.m. to 8 p.m.) on the Wildcat Sports Network
from various locations around the seacoast and features Coach
Umile, as well as a student-athlete from the men's ice hockey team.
In front of a live audience, Murphy and his guests talk about the
latest news and notes regarding UNH hockey.
GRANITE STATE CONNECTION: The Wildcat hockey team
features a pair of players from New Hampshire with Greg Burke (Lee)
and Paul Thompson (Derry) all hailing from the Granite State.
WATCH ALL THE ACTION WITH THE UNHWILDCATS.TV: UNH
and Pack Network have once again partnered to provide online video
streaming of UNH's seven ticketed sports for the upcoming 2010-11
season with UNHwildcats.TV.
Wildcat fans are encouraged to buy the "Wildcat
All-Access Pass" which is an annual subscription for $89.95 that
provides all the live coverage of UNH home athletic events. Fans
can also purchase home events on a per game basis of $7.95.
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
