#7 Men's Hockey Enters Home-and-Home Series with BU (Fri - 7 p.m. - NESN - Whittemore Center) (Sat. - 7 p.m. at BU)
GAME NOTES
DURHAM, N.H. -- The seventh-ranked University of New Hampshire men's hockey team enters into a much-talked about home-and-home series with second-ranked Boston University this weekend. BU enters with the nation's longest unbeaten streak at 10 games (6-0-4), while New Hampshire's eight-game streak is the nation's second-longest (5-0-3). The 'Cats wil play host to the Terriers Friday night (7 p.m.) live on NESN. The teams will play Saturday night (7 p.m.) at Agganis Arena.
SCOUTING THE TERRIERS: No.2/2 Boston University enter the weekend on a nation-best 10-game unbeaten streak (6-0-4). The Terriers slid down one spot in the national poll after back-to-back ties with Merrimack, 1-1 Friday; 3-3 Saturday. BU stormed out of the gate to a 6-0-1 start and extended its streak with three-straight ties. The Terriers sit atop Hockey East with 12 points and a 4-0-4 record. BU is led offensive by junior forward Chris Connolly, who has 12 points (5g, 7a) in 10 games, while freshman Sahir Gill has 10 points (3g, 7a). Junior netminder Kieran Millan has seen the majority of action with a 4-0-4 record. He has a 1.92 GAA and a .938 save percentage in eight games. The Terriers have one of the nation's best penalty kills with a 90.4 percentage.
SERIES HISTORY VS. BOSTON U.: Boston University leads the all-time series with UNH, 95-44-19 in 158 all-time meetings between the two schools dating back to Feb. 5, 1925. UNH won last year's series 2-0-1 with a 4-2 win at home on Nov. 20, a 4-1 win at BU on Jan. 23 and a 3-3 tie at BU Nov. 21. Coach Umile owns a 25-31-9 all-time record against Boston University. The Wildcats have enjoyed success at Agganis Arena with a 5-1-3 mark all time at Jack Parker Rink. Senior forwards Phil DeSimone and Paul Thompson are the active leading career Wildcat scorers against BU with five points, while junior goaltender Matt DiGirolamo is 0-0-0 against the Terriers, with one relief appearance in his collegiate career.
SCORING LEADERS VS. THE TERRIERS:
Player GP G-A-P
Paul Thompson 8 3-2-5
Phil DeSimone 10 2-3-5
Matt Campanale 6 0-3-3
Mike Sislo 10 2-1-3
Damon Kipp 6 2-1-3
John Henrion 3 1-0-1
Blake Kessel 7 0-1-1
Mike Borisenok 4 1-0-1
Greg Manz 4 0-1-1
Connor Hardowa 2 0-1-1
Stevie Moses 6 0-1-1
Dalton Speelman 3 0-1-1
Brett Kostolansky 3 0-1-1
Mike Beck 4 0-0-0
Kevin McCarey 3 0-0-0
Austin Block 3 0-0-0
Goaltending Stats
Player GP/Min GA GAA W-L-T SV SV%
DiGirolamo 1/8:57 0 0.00 0-0-0 1 1.000
DiGirolamo's Game-by-Game vs. the Terriers
Date Min Res. Svs. GA Shots
1-23-09 8:57 ND 1 0 1
Total 8:57 0-0-0 1 0 1
WE'RE STREAKING: The teams with the nation's two longest unbeaten streaks will lay it on the line this weekend for a home-and-home series. BU has not lost a game in 2010-11, while the Wildcats are unbeaten in eight straight after an opening night loss. The nation's top four unbeaten streaks are all held by Hockey East teams. It marks the team's longest unbeaten streak since February 2008.
Team Streak W-L-T
Boston Univ. 10 6-0-4
UNH 8 5-0-3
Maine 6 5-0-1
Providence 6 4-0-2
UNH VS.BOSTON UNIVERSITY LIVE ON NESN: UNH and Boston University will play the first of three highly-touted matchups on Friday night live on NESN. Tom Caron and Bob Beers will call all the action live from Whittemore Center. It is UNH's first NESN appearance of 2010-11.
BLUE OUT THE WHITT: Friday night is UNH's annual "Blue Out the Whitt" night. Fans are encourage to wear blue and support their Wildcats.
TOP LINE PRODUCING: New Hampshire's top line of Sislo (2g,1a), DeSimone (1g,3a) and Thompson (5a) were involved in all six goals over the weekend. The trio combined for 12 points with three goals and nine assists over the weekend.
POWERFUL POWER PLAY: UNH's power play scored three power play goals in the second period on Friday night. It was the first time since Jan. 16 the 'Cats scored three power play goals in a game. It also marks the first time since a Hockey East quarterfinal game against Northeastern on March 10, 2005, the 'Cats scored three power play goals in the same period. In that game, a 6-1 UNH win in the Hockey East Quarterfinals, Preston Callander, Brett Hemingway and Brian Yandle all scored second-period power play goals.
DIGIROLAMO REGISTERS FIRST COLLEGIATE SHUTOUT: Matt DiGirolamo registered his first career shutout on Friday night marking the first time in over a season the 'Cats posted a shutout. The last shutout came on Feb. 28, 2009 against Merrimack, a 1-0 win by Brian Foster
RIGHTEOUS KILLS: The Wildcats penalty kill was a perfect 10-10 over the weekend.
40 SHOTS: UNH has fired off 40-plus shots on four occasions this season and allowed 40-plus shots once.
THOMPSON REGISTERS CAREER-HIGH THREE ASSISTS ON SATURDAY: Paul Thompson registered a career-high three assists on Saturday night, factoring in all three Wildcat goals.
KESSEL CONTINUES TO SCORE BIG GOALS: Blake Kessel continues to have a knack for scoring big goals as he scored the game's equalizer with 42 seconds remaining in regulation.
SCORING A BALANCING ACT FOR UNH: The Wildcats continue to have balanced scoring with nine players with five or more points and eight players with multiple goals this season.
DIGIROLAMO DURING UNH'S SIX-GAME UNBEATEN STREAK: During UNH's unbeaten streak, Matt DiGirolamo is 5-0-3 with a 2.07 GAA and a .932 save percentage and wins over three nationally-ranked programs. He's allowed three goals or fewer in all eight games with three games of one goal or less.
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
Totals 5-0-3 17 9 234
SCORING BY CLASS: 2010-11 breakdown of scoring by class.
Class G-A-P G-A-P %.
Seniors: 11-18-29 35-37-36
Juniors: 10-12-22 32-37-28
Sophomores: 10-19-29 32-39-36
Freshmen: 0-0-0 0-0-0
TO THIS POINT LAST YEAR: A comparison through seven games between this season and last season.
09-10 10-11
Record 2-5-2 5-1-3
HE Record 2-1-1 3-0-2
Goals scored 27 31
Goals scored/PG 3.00 3.44
Goals Allowed 38 23
Goals Allowed/PG 4.22 2.56
Shots 296 292
Shots Allowed 251 303
Power Play 16.3% 23.1%
(7-43) (9-39)
Penalty Kill 72.3% 82.1%
(34-47) (32-39)
Top 3 Scorers Butler Thompson
6-5-11 3-7-10
Kessel DeSimone
3-7-10 3-7-10
LeBlanc Sislo
2-6-8 5-3-8
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
THE NATIONAL POLLS:
USCHO.com/CBS College Sports Division I Men's Poll (Nov. 15)
Rk. Team (First Place) Rec. Pts LW
1 Minn-Duluth (36) 9-1-2 981 2
2 Boston Univ. (11) 6-0-4 941 1
3 Maine (1) 6-1-3 871 5
4 Neb.-Omaha (2) 8-1-1 808 6
5 Yale 5-1-0 786 3
6 Miami 6-3-3 779 4
7 New Hampshire 5-1-3 673 9
8 North Dakota 7-4-1 662 10
9 Michigan 6-3-3 598 8
10 Boston College 6-4-0 592 7
11 Notre Dame 7-3-1 508 11
12 Alaska 7-4-1 405 14
13 Denver 6-4-2 401 15
14 Union 7-2-3 387 12
15 Wisconsin 6-4-2 264 13
16 Western Michigan 6-2-2 227 17
17 Michigan State 4-3-3 200 16
18 Rensselaer 5-3-3 171 18
19 Minnesota 5-4-1 90 19
20 Robert Morris 7-2-1 50 NR
Others Receiving Votes: Merrimack 42, Dartmouth 18, St. Cloud State 11, Cornell 9, Ferris State 8, Lake Superior 5, Princeton 4, Colorado College 3, Clarkson 2, Niagara 2, Providence 1, Quinnipiac 1
USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine (Nov. 15)
Rk. School, Pts. (FPV) Last Record Weeks
1 Minnesota Duluth, 501 (27) 2 9-1-2 7
2 Boston University, 475 (6) 1 6-0-4 7
3 University of Maine, 410 5 6-1-3 7
4 Nebraska Omaha, 380 (1) 7 8-1-1 5
5 Yale University, 370 4 5-1-0 7
6 Miami University, 363 3 6-3-3 7
7 North Dakota, 309 10 7-4-1 7
8 New Hampshire, 282 8 5-1-3 7
9 Boston College, 231 6 6-4-0 7
10 University of Michigan, 220 9 6-3-3 7
11 University of Notre Dame, 178 11 7-3-1 4
12 Union College, 114 12 7-2-3 4
13 University of Alaska, 104 13 7-4-1 6
14 University of Denver, 85 15 6-4-2 7
15 University of Wisconsin, 28 14 6-4-2 5
Others receiving votes: Michigan State University, 8; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 7; Cornell University, 6; Western Michigan University, 6; Robert Morris University, 4; Dartmouth College, 3; University of Minnesota, 2; Rochester Institute of Technology, 2.
Wildcats Among National leaders: Below is a list of where UNH players and team rank nationally.
Individual Rank Stats
Points Per Game:
Paul Thompson 42nd 1.11 ppg
Phil DeSimone 42nd 1.11 ppg
Goals Per Game:
Stevie Moses 39th 0.59 gpg
Mike Sislo 40th 0.56 gpg
John Henrion 40th 0.56 gpg
Assists Per Game:
Paul Thompson 34th 0.78 apg
Phil DeSimone 34th 0.78 apg
Power Play Goals:
Paul Thompson 14th 3 ppg
Short-Handed Goals:
Dalton Speelman 4th 1 shg
Stevie Moses 4th 1 shg
Game-Winning Goal:
Mike Sislo 4th 2 gwg
Dalton Speelman 28th 1 gwg
John Henrion 28th 1 gwg
Damon Kipp 28th 1 gwg
Defensemen Scoring:
Blake Kessel 21st 0.78 ppg
Goals Against Average:
Matt DiGirolamo 30th 2.38 gaa
Save Percentage:
Matt DiGirolamo 16th .924
Winning Percentage:
Matt DiGirolamo 18th .722
Team
Scoring Offense 14th 3.44
Scoring Defense 20th 2.56
Scoring Margin 11th 0.89
Penalty Minutes 42nd 12.1
Power Play 11th 23.1
Penalty Kill 28th 82.1
Combined Special Teams 20th 52.6
Winnning Percentage 7th .722
Among the League Leaders: Where some of the Wildcats rank in Hockey East.
Player All Games HE Games
Points Paul Thompson 7th (10 pts.) 7th (6 pts)
Phil DeSimone 7th (10 pts.) 23rd (4 pts)
Goals Stevie Moses 6th (5 g) 42nd (1 g)
Mike Sislo 6th (5 g) 20th (2 g)
John Henrion 14th (4 g) 20th (2 g)
Dalton Speelman14th (4 g) 7th (3 g)
Assists Paul Thompson 4th (7 a) 2nd (5 a)
Phil DeSimone 4th (7 a) 16th (3 a)
Blake Kessel 12th (6 a) 42nd (2 a)
PP Points Paul Thompson 3rd (6 pts.) 2nd (4 pts)
Phil DeSimone 6th (5 pts.) 6th (3 pts)
PP Goals Paul Thompson 3rd (3 ppg) 8th (1 ppg)
Mike Sislo 8th (2 ppg) 8th (1 ppg)
SH Points Four Tied 2nd (1 shp) n/a
SH Goals Dalton Speelman 1st (1 shg) n/a
Stevie Moses 1st (1 shg) n/a
GW Goals Mike Sislo 1st (2 gwg) 2nd (1 gwg)
Def. Scoring Blake Kessel 2nd (7 pts) 8th (3 pts)
Connor Hardowa 7th (5 pts) 13th (2 pts)
GAA Matt DiGirolamo 5th (2.38) 1st (1.36)
Save % Matt DiGirolamo 4th (.924) 1st (.952)
Win % Matt DiGirolamo 3rd (.722) 2nd (.800)
Saves Matt DiGirolamo 2nd (269) 8th (140)
Minutes Matt DiGirolamo 2nd (553:244) 6th (309:02)
Wins Matt DiGirolamo 1st (5) 2nd (3)
WHERE UNH IS RANKED IN HOCKEY EAST:
Overall HE games
Goals/per game 3.44/2nd 2.40/6th
GAA 2.56/5th 1.40/1st
Power Play 23.1/1st 26.3/1st
Penalty Kill 82.1/4th 94.4/1st
Special Teams Net +2/3rd +3/1st
1st Period Scoring 7/8th 5/5th
2nd Period Scoring 15/1st 5/4th
3rd Period Scoring 9/6th 2/9th
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
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 beginning in January (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
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
