University of New Hampshire Athletics
University of New Hampshire
Notre Dame
UNH Travels to No. 14 Notre Dame for Weekend Series (Fri., 7:35 PM | Sat., 7:05 PM)
1/18/2017 2:37:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
New Hampshire (11-8-3, 6-2-2 HEA) at No. 14 Notre Dame (13-8-2, 6-4-1 HEA)
Friday, January 6, 2017 - 7:35 PM (7 PM Radio Pregame Show)
Radio: Mike Murphy (Play-by-Play) // Pete Webster (Analyst)
Next Home Game: Friday, Jan. 27 vs. Providence College - 7 PM - Buy Tickets -- Giveaway: Kennebunk Savings Bank Ice Scrapers
What to Know...
- The Wildcats are coming of a 1-0-1 weekend against Northeastern University with a 5-3 home win on Thursday, Jan. 12 and a 2-2 tie at Frozen Fenway on Saturday, Jan. 14. Saturday's game was the first outdoor game for UNH since Jan. 7, 2012 against Maine at Fenway Park.
- In Friday's win, freshman Patrick Grasso scored twice for UNH while classmate Brendan van Riemsdyk, junior Jason Salvaggio and sophomore Marcus Vela each scored one goal. Freshman Liam Blackburn had a career high three points on three assists. Junior netminder Danny Tirone made 29 saves in the game, including 12 in the third period.
- In Saturday's draw at Fenway, both goal scorers for New Hampshire are Massachusetts natives. Sophomore Ara Nazarian (Boxford) scored in the first period while junior Shane Eiserman (Newburyport) lit the lamp in the second period. Nazarian had an assist on Eiserman's goal.
- The Wildcats lead the all-time series against the Fighting Irish, 7-5-0.
- The following weekend, UNH travels out to South Bend, Ind. to take on the University of Notre Dame. All 12 games have been played in the Dick Umile era.
- Notre Dame is coming off a 1-1-0 weekend at Merrimack College. On Friday, Jan. 13, UND fell behind 1-0 in the first period, but received goals from Andrew Oglevie and Anders Bjork in the second and third to take the game, 2-1.
- On Saturday, Jan. 14, Notre Dame jumped off to a 1-0 lead, but three straight goals from Merrimack put them down 3-1 heading into the third period. Oglevie scored to make it 3-2, but the Warriors capped off the scoring with an empty net goal to win the game 4-2.
- UNH returns home on Friday, Jan. 27 for the first of two home games against Providence College at 7 p.m.
- For more information about men's hockey, visit www.UNHWildcats.com.
Kelleher's Success: Tyler Kelleher is the top point getter in Hockey East with 40 from 14 goals and 26 assists. He is third in the nation in points.
Powerful Power Play: In Sunday's 7-4 win over Brown (Jan. 8), the Wildcats went 4-for-5 on power plays and converted the first four consecutively. It was the first time UNH had four ppgs in a game since Feb. 23, 2008 against Boston College (4-for-8). UNH scored each goal under one minute into the power play, using only 1:43 total out of eight minutes.
Helping out Five Times: Tyler Kelleher had five assists in Sunday's 7-4 win at Brown (Jan. 8). He was the first 'Cat to tally five assists since Nick Sorkin did on Nov. 26, 2011.
Tied: Kelleher's five points against Brown (Jan. 8) tied him with head coach Dick Umile on the all-time scoring list at 31st with 144 points. Kelleher is just three assists away from 100 for his career.
Offensive Defenseman: Senior captain Matias Cleland was named the Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week on Monday, Jan. 9 for his four-assist performance against Brown on Jan. 8. The four points were a career high. He is third in the nation in assists among all skaters with 24.
What a Warrior: Senior forward Tyler Kelleher was named the Warrior Hockey Player of the Month for December by Hockey East. He had six goals and five assists during the month with three two-goal games.
Five is Fine: Senior forward Tyler Kelleher recorded a career-high five points against the University of Massachusetts on Friday, Nov. 22 with one goal and four assists. He was the first 'Cat to record five points in a game since Kevin Goumas on Nov. 24, 2012.
Rookie of the Month: Freshman forward Patrick Grasso was named the HCA National Rookie of the Month as well as the HE Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Month on Wednesday, Nov. 2. He was awarded the league Rookie of the Month accolade again on Thursday, Dec. 1.
Four-on-Four: Patrick Grasso scored four times on four shots against Merrimack in the 6-2 win on Saturday, Oct. 29. He was the first Wildcat to score four goals in a game since Steve Moses in 2012. He netted three goals in the first period in the span of 3:56.
Grasso's National Ranking (Updated 1/18):
Among Freshmen All Players Totals
Goals 1st T-10th 14 goals
Points 3rd T-27th 24 points
Power Play Goals T-1st T-6th 7 goals
Power Play Points 1st T-8th 14 points
Hat Tricks T-1st T-5th 1 hat trick
350 and Counting: Head coach Dick Umile recorded his 350th Hockey East win in the 6-2 triumph over Merrimack (Oct. 29). His league record is 354-190-90. He has the most wins among active HE coaches and is second all-time to Jack Parker (BU; 421).
Longevity: Umile is the third longest tenured coach at their current institution as he is entering his 27th season with the 'Cats. Red Berenson (Michigan) is going into his 33rd season while Rick Gotkin (Mercyhurst) is going into his 29th season.
'C' is for Captain, and Cleland: Senior blueliner Matias Cleland was elected captain by his teammates and is the first Wildcat to be a lone captain with no assistants since James Richmond in 1986-87.
Wildcat Blue Genes: The incoming freshman class has many NHL ties. Brendan van Riemsdyk is the youngest brother of James van Riemsdyk ('09) and Trevor van Riemsdyk ('14), both of whom play in the NHL. Joe Sacco is the son of Boston Bruins assistant coach Joe Sacco, who played 738 games in the NHL. Patrick Grasso is the nephew of Joe Mullen, who won three Stanley Cups. He is currently an assistant coach with the Philadelphia Flyers. Nick Nonis is the son of Dave Nonis, who was a two-year captain at Maine and the former General Manager of the Vancouver Canucks (2004-08) and the Toronto Maple Leafs (2013-15) and is currently the consultant to the GM for Anaheim.
Wildcats Through and Through: Head coach Dick Umile ('72) and associate head coaches Glenn Stewart ('94) and Mike Souza ('00) are all graduates and former players of UNH. Assistant AD for Hockey Operations Colin Shank ('05) is also a graduate of UNH.
Three Coaches, 402 Points: Umile, Stewart and Souza are each members of the Century Club for the men's hockey program. Souza tallied 156 points (66g, 90a), Umile 144 points (60g, 84a) and Stewart notched 102 points (51g, 51a).
Where Kelleher Ranks in his Career Nationally (Updated 1/18):
Points:
1. Mike Vecchione - Union College - 154
2. Tyler Kelleher - UNH - 144
3. Justin Kloos - Minnesota - 131
4. Max French - Bentley - 126
5. Austin Ortega - Omaha - 125
Assists:
1. Tyler Kelleher - UNH - 97
2. Mike Vecchione - Union - 94
3. Justin Kloos - Minnesota - 77
4. Alexander Kerfoot - Harvard - 76
5. David Goodwin - Penn State - 74
Points Per Game (Min. 100 games)
1. Mike Vecchione - Union College - 1.15 (134 games played)
2. Tyler Kelleher - UNH - 1.07 (135 games played)
3. Max French - Bentley University - 1.04 (121 games played)
4. Alexander Kerfoot - Harvard - 1.02 (102 games played)
5. C.J. Smith - UMass Lowell - 0.98 (102 games played)
Wildcats Drafted by NHL Teams: Junior Shane Eiserman and sophomore Marcus Vela have both been drafted by NHL organizations. Eiserman was taken by the Ottawa Senators in the fourth round of the 2014 draft as the 100th overall pick. Vela was picked in the seventh round of the 2015 draft as the 190th pick.
Granite State Connection: Three Wildcats hail from the Granite State; Chris Miller of Windham, Nick Nonis of Hampton Falls and Joe Lazzaro of Hampstead.
